‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful’.

I read this quote about 15 years ago and it has become a mantra for me – guiding me through shedding layers, leaving behind a marriage, home-ownership, a safe job, and finally England. It has helped me create an environment that I love, that works, that isn’t filled with clutter and that leaves me feeling light and free.

In the third of a series of posts inspired by this quote, I’m turning my attention to one of the most functional rooms in the house: The kitchen.

Move your mind’s eye to your kitchen. What equipment do you have in your cupboards? Do you use it? Are the contents of your food cupboards/freezer things that you love, that make your life beautiful, that bring you joy? What about at the back of that top cupboard that you haven’t opened for nearly a year?!

Remember, order and organisation in your living space = order and organisation in your mind.

Having an ordered kitchen will bring you more peace of mind AND will also give you a space that supports the way you want to live, and the life you want to create!

If your kitchen is in need of a useful/beautiful overhaul, here is my suggestion for a game plan. Depending on the size of your kitchen, you’ll need from a couple of hours to a day for this:

First, let's work on useful.

Clear some serious workspace.

Start with you the food:

1. Have a good look at what you have: Cupboard by cupboard, take the contents out and place them on a work surface.

2. Look at each item and ask yourself the following:

• Is it within its use-by date?
• Have I used it in the last 6 months?
• Am I likely to use it in the next 6 months?
• Do I want to be including this food in my diet? Does it help support me to become everything I know I can be?

If you get a ‘no’ for ANY of these questions, put the food into the bin or, if appropriate, take it to a place that collects food for those in need.

Beware of un-useful things that are just crowding your kitchen space:

• Spices are a great one for hoarders – we use them once for that special curry and then they stay at the back of the cupboard for years.
• How many tins of food do you really need? Do you actually want to be eating tinned food?
• Beware if you use flours – these products go rancid quickly when exposed to air.

Think about not only what you are likely to eat but what you WANT to eat going forward. If you want to avoid wheat, throw out the bread flour. If that tub of chocolate eggs for cake decorations always sees you raiding it then get rid of it – it’s not useful!

3. Clean all your cupboards and then make a plan for where your remaining foodstuffs would best go. You want order and easily-accessible ingredients.

4. Place everything back into the cupboards using your newly-organised system and be prepared to be amazed at how much extra space you have!

I challenge you to do the same for your freezer!

Then move on to equipment, crockery and cutlery:

1. Have a good look at what you have, get it all out of cupboards/drawers – include all the electronic equipment, plates, dishes and bowls, knives, forks and other implements.

2. Item by item, ask yourself the following questions:

• How much of this do I use every day? How much each week?
• How much of this have I not used in the last 6-9 months?
• What do I want to use in the future?

3. Create one pile for equipment and utensils you use or want to use daily or every other day.

4. Create another pile for equipment and utensils you use or want to use less regularly but at least once a month.

5. Create a third pile for equipment and utensils you haven’t used in the last 6-9 months.

6. Check all your equipment works well and is sharp/ready to use.

7. Clean the cupboards and surfaces. Re-place everything based on how often you use/want to use it. If you want to use that blender to make smoothies but you haven’t managed as it was at the back of the cupboard, I’m not surprised – get it out!

8. Give away or sell the things you haven’t used for 6-9 months. Be ruthless – this equipment is taking up precious space in your kitchen and your head!

9. If you’re really not sure about some equipment, put it in a box out of sight for 6 months. Then decide.

Good work!

You should have a super-organised, clean kitchen that’ll support you in a diet that you want to eat! Everything in it should be useful and able to be accessed with ease.

Your kitchen is going to be a super-efficient joy to work in.

To avoid the same thing happening in the future with both food and equipment think before you replace:

When you shop, think 'do I need this? Is there something else that I have at home that I could have instead? Will I feel good after I eat this?’

So now, let’s get to the beauty:

Beauty makes you smile…but also makes you feel at peace.

Beauty in food is that which you love to eat, and that which makes you feel positive about yourself and the world. You might love that chocolate muffin, but the real test is how you feel afterwards. Does its beauty persist after you’ve eaten it – filling you with energy, love, peace and happiness?

Bring foods into your kitchen that you think are beautiful and that breed and enhance that positivity for you. For me the list’s something like this: Mango, passion fruit, carob, extra virgin olive oil, coconut, algae, strawberries, brazil nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, sweet potato and maca.

Nature is beauty. Have you ever really looked at a strawberry when it’s ripe? It’s a beautiful miracle. Deep red, glossy, delicate, ripe, prickled with dark red seeds and soft gentle hairs – and then that shock of green where it grew. Learn to be amazed and enchanted by the beauty with which nature provides us, and your kitchen will become an art gallery, each bowl or container housing a piece of work to be marvelled at.

Be an artist in the kitchen; get hold of what you love and create with it. Pamper yourself and your loved ones with natural, wholesome, beautiful produce.

Think about the decoration in your kitchen:

Ensure what you are displaying fits in with the useful or beautiful mantra. Is everything on that noticeboard useful? Can you put up photographs which remind you of beautiful connections or places? How about displaying those stunning postcards you get from friends in magical places, or that little note that you niece wrote you? Choose utensils for their aesthetic as well as their efficiency.

If you commit to this kitchen overhaul you’ll have a super-organised, efficient and stunning room. It sounds complicated, but in essence it’s really simple – you will have just made everything in it either useful or beautiful.

You’ll be totally supported by the things around you and their beauty will enhance your life and ensure that every moment you spend in the kitchen is one that you love and that fills you with bodily energy and mental joy.

Fancy a cookbook full of tasty, easy-to-follow, wheat and sugar-free recipes that will fill your body and life with lightness, energy and joy?

Then Light Touch, my newly-released vegan cookbook is for you!

In this 20-page cookbook you will learn:

• How to make tasty, satisfying vegan food

• Delicious wheat replacements 

• Quick, easy and fun raw recipes that really satisfy

• The ultimate way to prepare whole grains

• How to make vegan, wheat and sugar-free muffins

• Simple, energising food combinations to lighten body and mind

• 12 tips to brighten and energise your diet and life

Click here to see all the details and bag your copy.

1. Tell us about the work that you do.

SheNOW is for women who want to focus on their own adventures and lives.  I created the site to share the ‘Whys’ and ‘Hows’ on going out, living it up, and following your dreams.

I believe women should provide themselves with time to explore their own strengths, possibilities, feelings, motivations, wants, and needs. Women should have the freedom to choose to marry, and they should do so from a powerful, informed, and free place void of any pressure from society and family.

When I’m not working with my SheNOW team, or interviewing amazing women for the website, I am out speaking for corporations, colleges/universities, women’s organizations and women’s conferences. I work with the Board of Texas A&M’s Women’s Former Students’ Network as the Vice Chair of the Communications Committee, I am on the Young Professionals Board with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) and am working to develop their Dallas Speakers Bureau, I’ve been a guest host on several radio shows, a guest blogger on a variety of women focused websites, a consultant for start-up companies, and I am the author of a forthcoming book.

In my free time, I am an avid philanthropist, spending much of my energy on Habitat for Humanity and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

2. What inspired you to become the voice of women through She NOW? 

As I made my way from college to, and then up, the corporate ladder, I felt the same societal and familial pressure that every woman feels when it comes to marriage, relationships, career, children, etc.  I found that there were no resources out there with the exact message and advice I was looking for.  

I believe we were given life not with the goal of weddings and procreation, but with the goal to accomplish our dreams, see the world, have adventures, and to embrace all the wonders our life has to offer.

The only help I found was either telling me how to “fix” myself to find a guy (don’t even get me started on that one!), or how to be single.  Both of those miss the mark on our needs, and they leave out an entire group of women. 

It was time for a change, for a new voice and for a new women’s movement:  Live Now. Be Now. SheNOW!!! ™

3. How does it feel to be doing work you love?

Amazing!  It’s actually not “work” but play, love, hope, pride and all of those other fabulous feelings. 

“Find a job you like and you add five days to every week." H. Jackson Brown

4. You were previously working in a high profile role for an oil and gas company – what prompted you to make the change?

I came to a crossroads where I had to look at my life 5, 10, 20 years down the road.  What would it be like if I stayed where I was?  What COULD my life be like if I left and ventured out on my own?  Which future did I like more, and which would leave me with fewer regrets. 

Take a look at your own life and try the same exercise.  The answer to what you SHOULD be doing might be staring you in the face. 

Remember, you are determining the future you every day. Will the decisions you make today lead you closer to the person you want to be tomorrow?

5. How did the people around you react to you wanting to follow this path?

Love, support, fear, confusion and every other emotion possible.  The important thing is to surround yourself with people that are supportive, mentors, advisors and even some that can be a shoulder for you to cry on if needed. 

“You have to realize that the people that criticize you the most are often the ones that are most afraid that you are going to do something big.”  Heather Lamb

Use doubt and fear to fuel your fire, and you’ll prove your haters wrong and yourself right every time.

6. How do you get over the fear of putting yourself out there?

There are two ways:  Test the water and slowly walk in as you get used to it.  Or, take a running start and then cannon ball the heck out of your fear.

Stick your toe in:  Start by telling someone about your idea, your project, your goal or whatever it is.  You can start small by telling a friend and then expand from there as you reach a level of comfort with each new group. 

Cannon Ball:  Who cares if the water is cold?!  The quickest way to deal with a fear is to look it in the face and jump!

Either way, by telling others that you’re putting yourself out there doing XYZ, you now have people not only supporting you, but checking in on you.  “How is your book coming?”  “How is it coming finding a factory?” Etc. This is a GREAT way to give you added motivation and accountability to make sure it happens.  Then, you have no time for fear!
 
Remember, the feeling of accomplishment is often greater than the fear itself, and no one will know you're scared unless you tell them.  Act the part and you will become the part. You can do it!

7. What tools have you picked up along the way that you’d like to share with us?
 
Mentoring and Partnering.  Have as many of these two things as you can!

Mentors:  Find a mentor for every aspect of your personal and professional life, and, in turn, mentor the younger generations to come. 

“Mentors are vehicles to take you to places you could never go, never learn, and never understand on your own.” Deb Scott

Partnerships:  Mutually beneficial relationships with organizations and people that believe in your mission will take you much farther than you can potentially go on your own.  They’ll open new doors, expand your network, and add support and positivity to your goals and dreams.

“It’s amazing that some people don’t use this easy technique to grow their database, sell their products, co-market their companies and basically be in more than one place at a time.” Kristi L. Jackson

8. What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Aside from my chickens?  Yes, I am an urban chicken farmer. 

But, what keeps me from going BACK to bed is the excitement that I am making a difference in this world.  I am doing what I love, I am touching lives and I am adding a face and a name to this new women’s movement.

9. How do you ensure you have enough energy physically?

I do my best to eat well and exercise.  I know, that is such a cliché thing to say, but it’s true.  If you want to be motivated and see how healthy eating and exercise can help you and your body, watch the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  You’ll be amazed!

Get your food as close to the sources as possible and/or grow your own, eat organic, understand how the food system works and what you are putting into your mouth. 

10. You’ve had a rough week, things are testing you – what do you do to bring yourself back into balance?

Drink a glass of wine.  Ha!  Just kidding!  Sometimes, the best thing to do is just walk away and take a break.  By getting away from things, you are able to clear your head, lower your blood pressure and attack everything later with renewed energy and enthusiasm.  So, go to the park, go see a movie or call a girlfriend up for dinner.  Then…..breathe, get organized and start kicking butt again!

11. What thing in your life has taught you the most?

I don’t know who says the quote, “Life is too short for me to make all the mistakes myself,” but it’s a fact!

I watch everyone around me in their successes and failures, their happiness and sadness, and in their personal and professional situations.  What can I learn from them?  What would I do differently?  What are they doing well that I can mimic, adopt, and/or capitalize on? You don’t live in a bubble so take something away from every single interaction you have every single day.

12. What advice would you give to anyone thinking about following their passions and going after their dreams?

“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.” Sydney J. Harris

Studies show that when we reach the end of our lives, it is the things that we did NOT do that we regret the most.  So, give your dreams a chance. 

And, failing doesn’t make YOU a failure. Get up. Rethink it, rework it, redo it, and then conquer it!

After all, how do you want to be remembered? As a person that dreamed or as a person that LIVED their dreams? 

***

Find out more about the work that Brenna Smith does by visiting the She NOW community at www.sheNOW.org

It's temptingly easy to bend our beliefs, values and personality try to appease or fit in, but when we do that, we aren't being true to ourselves. Being yourself will bring you peace of mind and happiness - whilst in the park in Florence last week I decided I wanted to talk to you about just that. Click on the video picture above to watch.

Could you do with more energy?
Do you want to feel light and inspired?
Do you want to love your body and everything you put into it?

If your answer's 'yes' then this free teleclass is for you!

Spring is the ultimate energy-giver. The world is coming to life around us. Use the natural energy that this time of year brings as a spring-board for moving into your best summer yet, one where you're lean, bright and healthy.

In this invaluable call you will learn:

What role your food plays in living your dreams.
How the right food can transform not only your body but how you look and feel.
What's been stopping you eating the way you really want to.

You'll leave with:

5 ways to bring light, energy and fun into your diet.
3 keys strategies you can implement to turn around your energy levels straight away.
Plus the number 1 thing you need to be aware of to be at peace with your food.

Plus I'll be sharing 2 very special, time-limited offers with everyone on the call!

Get the date and time, Monday 30th April 2012 7pm UK time (BST) in your diary and book your seat here

Want your own one? It's simple. Click here and answer a few questions, telling me how you are doing along the path to your own dreams before April 13th.

Good luck!

(full link to enter competition: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C2PZLH2)

Busily? Distractedly? On auto-pilot? Timidly? With resignation? On a treadmill?

Do you have any children in your life? Have you noticed how they live?

I have 2 beautiful nieces and some words I words that describe how they live are experimentally, openly, with fascination, through imagination, with enthusiasm and wonder…and above all, joyfully.

Think about the children you come into contact with. Next time you’re around some, watch them as they laugh, sing, talk, play and explore. Do you live half as joyfully as they do…even on a good day?

Before you jump on me, I’m not suggesting that as ‘grown ups’ we can always live like children do. Things are different in the adult world. But since when did growing up mean losing that fascination, that curiosity, that joy? If it has for you, then there’s no question you’ll know about it. You’ll sense it’s lack. You’ll feel something’s missing.

Follow Your Passions, Change Your Life Challenge:

Open the door to the joy that living as a child, in awe and wonder, with excitement and imagination brings through creativity.

1.   What did you love to do when you were a child?

I used to colour. I was great at it – I love aesthetics and also am really neat, so I was good at staying in between the lines! I won competitions. I remember this young, excited girl getting lost in her colouring book for days – I went through plenty of sets of felt tips!

2.    When you’ve thought of something you know you used to love to do, find a way to bring it back into your life! I don’t care if you think it’s childish…do it!

Recently, I searched Amazon and found that they still publish my old love – pattern colouring books. I ordered one and the last week or so I’ve been colouring. It has been an absolute revelation. The state of mind it transports me to is one of involvement, joy and pleasure. I feel totally connected to the world, myself and beauty.

This practice has let light, creation and joy into my life. I’m connecting with a part of me that can be filled with wonder and ultimately it’s creating a more beautiful life for me; one where I’m a little bit more like my nieces…in a good way!

If you ache to live more joyfully and want less of that distracted, auto-pilot, ‘grown-up’ thing find some time in your life to go back to the best bit about being a child – engage with something you used to love and allow it to light your life.

One of the biggest things that stops people changing their life is being afraid of giving up security.

I know, I’ve been there. The great job, nice pay packet, health benefits, loyal husband, money in bricks and mortar…I lived in a world that I tried to make as safe and secure as possible.

It’s great to be practical, but not moving towards what you really want to do in life because you’re afraid of losing that security is not a beneficial thing for your happiness, sanity and well-being. Security, like Helen Keller so beautiful said above, is a mis-nomer.

Let’s look at these words a little more closely:

Security n. – state of safety.

Secure a. – free, safe from fear, anxiety.

Security is feeling secure. Feeling secure means you feel free – without worries or anxiety.

“Security is mostly a superstition.”

We think what we have around us will protect us and we build it up, believing it will make us safe, but in reality nothing is 100% secure. Everything you think of as your security could fall in around you at the blink of an eye. It’s not real.

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.”

Things can go wrong. And imagine if they go wrong when you’ve been scared all your life and tried to avoid danger. How would you feel then? They are just as likely, or just as NOT likely to go wrong whether you are living in fear and building that security or going after the Life of Your Dreams.

“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

Living life the way YOU want to, following your passions, being engaged – that’s real. 

So, follow the Path Less Trodden: Go after those dreams, stand up for your own unique place in the world and accept that joy, happiness, connection and peace it brings, knowing that security isn’t secure at all.