Embracing the happy and sad.

Embracing the happy and sad.

If you've read any of my other posts, or glanced at my twitter or Instagram, you'll know that I'm into Disney and embracing happy.

I watched Inside Out this week and I noticed a lot of similarities between what goes on in my head and what goes on in Riley's.

I wouldn't like to spoil Inside Out for anyone who hasn't seen it yet so I'll try not to go into too much detail.
The basic premise of Inside Out is that Riley, a fairly upbeat 11 year old girl, is controlled by her emotions, Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear and Anger who spend their days manning the control board and making sure that Riley's emotions and forming memories run smoothly and for the most part, Joy has things under control....sometimes a little too under control.

I've mentioned before that I like to embrace the happy in situations and that it's my comfort zone emotion, but I don't actually cope well with some others, particularly being sad.

I went for an interview last week and found out that I didn't get the job, which isn't an uncommon occurrence, but it doesn't get any less unpleasant or disappointing to hear it.
I spent a few minutes trying to brush it off but eventually, I allowed myself to be a bit sad about it before finding a way to cheer myself up.

What I learned from Inside Out is that while Joy should absolutely be working her butt off to make sure that everything is going good in the world of Rachie, it's okay to let some of my other emotions come to the surface as well.  For example, sometimes I have to be a little bit sad in order to pick myself up  and discover something else that makes me happy. 

I mentioned a few blog posts ago that I'm trying to embrace the happy challenge (photo a day for 100 days on my Instagram), I think it would also be good for me to be a bit more accepting of some of the things that make me sad - although I probably won't post a picture of those every day! :-)

I made another happy list this week :-)

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Clumsiness and Muppet Dreams.

Clumsiness and Muppet Dreams.

My name is Rachie......and I am Muppet.

When I say Muppet, I'm not referring to my aspiration to join Kermit and co on their travels, swap shoe advice with Miss Piggy and hang out with Animal, Beaker, Fozzy, Rizzo and Gonzo....although I'd totally love that and if someone wanted to make that happen I'd be eternally grateful.

I'm referring to my tendency to do silly things.

I'm not sure if clumsy is a better word for it, or maybe spatially unaware.... 
For example, I have lived in the same home for the past 26 years and have had the same bedroom for at least 15 of those years if not more.... I still manage to walk into the door on my way out every day.

Most mornings, I find that I wake up because I've hit my head off the wall or my headboard, I constantly hit my arm or my hand off of the door post on the way into the living room (which is basically a straight line across the hall from my bedroom).

When I invigilate, I'm forever tripping over wires and bags or walking into table corners and when I'm playing my brass instrument, I always find a way to hit myself in the face or drop it on my toe or whack my hand off it.

My mum suspects that I could sit alone in an empty field and still find a way to cause myself an injury  and whilst she's joking - I don't think she's wrong!

Sometimes I can be accident prone without even doing anything, the other night I accidently got hit in the head with an unfolding music stand because I was bent down in the wrong place at the wrong time so even when it's not caused my own stupidity, I still find a way to be clumsy!

I'm also particularly talented in dropping things, like my phone (which thankfully has yet to smash), my keys, food, I once spectacularly tipped an entire bowl of microwave popcorn all over the floor, it literally looked like the carpet was a sea of popcorn and my mum was still finding un-popped bits months later.

Getting back to my earlier Muppet thought, I think I'd make a great Muppet and they found a place for Walter, although to be fair, he did help them save the Muppet Theatre!

I'll find a way to join! Maybe my clumsiness could be my talent! :-)

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Quirky Reads: The Tiny Wife by Andrew Kauffman

Rachie's Musings on: The Tiny Wife by Andrew Kauffman


The Tiny Wife was a fairly short read but it’s packed full of awesomeness.

At the beginning of the story a thief comes into a bank.
Instead of taking money from everyone, he instead takes whatever item in the possession of those in the bank that holds the most sentimental value to them.

The story takes some strange twists and turns as a result, but the most notable consequence of the robbery is that the narrator’s wife, who was in the bank that day, begins to shrink a little more each day and begins to lose sense of herself and who she is as she finds navigating her way through the every day tasks and experiences.
Her shrinking also has an effect on her relationship with her husband who does his best to try and help with her situation and keep her spirits raised.

Whilst I can't relate to shrinking, I can relate to allowing something I can't control get to me and start to influence how I feel, act and live my life.

The story, without getting too cheesy, reinforced to me that even when you are feeling at your lowest, other people can help you feel like your normal self again.

I'm looking forward to reading more Andrew Kaufman stories.

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100 Happy Days

100 Happy Days


I mentioned in previous post 'Things That Make Rachie Smile' that Happy is my favourite mood to be in and that sometimes when I struggle with the happy part, I make a list of things that make me smile.  

I recently came across a challenge called 100 Happy Days, where you post a picture every day for 100 days, using either your facebook, twitter, instagram etc and use that one picture everyday to mention something that made you happy.  

I thought it would be fun to try and I'm currently on day 4, hopefully I can keep it up for another 96!

If you fancy checking my 'happy' progress, I'll be sticking them on my instagram which is linked at the top of the page!

Something I'm really happy about just now is that it's almost Autumn, I adore Autumn! Spring and Summer and Winter are great, but those are my prime sneezing, sunburn or shivering months!

Autumn is where my seasonal comfort zone is at! 

I guess Autumn can seem like a sad season because its when the trees lose their leaves and start to look a bit dead but it reminds me that the year is drawing to a close and that the atmosphere is simply getting its crap together for the winter in order to move into the new year where it can start things over again.

Walking on crunchy leaves and spotting conkers/chestnuts is my favourite part but only when they are crisp, not when they get soggy and stick to my shoes!

Autumn should be out in full force during my 100 Happy Days Challenge so I'll be sure to stick in some Autumn pictures!

You can read more about the 100 Happy Days challenge on their website.

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