2014 taught me

        2014 has come to an end, clearing the way for a new chapter in our lives to begin. As for me, 2014 was full of ups and downs which taught me a plenty of lessons. I had taken a bunch of solemn life decisions that turned my life upside down and impacted me in an obvious way. I'll have to admit that I wept a lot this year, yet I laughed more, because I realized that nothing is worth crying over. So, before celebrating the New Year, I had decided to jot down the 10 important lessons that 2014 taught me. Here we go:

#1. "Trust that when the answer is NO, there is a better YES down the road."

I abruptly came across this quote when I was in desperate need of it. Circumstances had forced me to change my school back then; I was literally dejected for 2 entire weeks and in birthday because I loved my previous school so much. Now, I'm so happy at my new school and there are no difficulties at all; whereas, in my previous school I used to suffer from a lot of difficulties in learning. To sum the entire story up: my new school is the better YES.

#2. Always be grateful and happy with your imperfections.

This year taught me that people will keep blaming you - for your imperfections- as long as you feel insecure about them; however, when you start proving to them that you're happy and confident about them, your imperfections would certainly be attractive and impress them.

#3. Freedom of soul is the key to happiness.

Never ever confine your soul, always set it free. Setting your soul free will unleash all the beautiful and splendid things within you. I used to confine my soul when fortunately I found "La Vie Boheme" where free spirits exist along with peace of mind. I simply started to do whatever I love and whatever satisfies my soul; that's why I'm utterly happy.

#4. Never ever give up.

Try harder & harder, and stop thinking about the results as long as you're actually progressing. You'll –without any doubt- have to work really hard to reach your aim and it's never easy. On the other hand: "Hard work never hurts".

#5. Have faith in god and you'll be rewarded.

Never underestimate god's power of doing anything. God's power will always exceed your expectations. Just pray, have faith and you'll be rewarded.

#6. If it's meant to be it'll be.

In a single moment, your life can flip 180 degrees and changes will always happen when they’re least expected, because at the end it's your destiny and you can never ever change it even if you did what you consider "impossible".

#7. Don't ever under any circumstances do something you're not convinced with.

I did something that I was –absolutely- not convinced with. And guess what? I ended up with remorse.

#8. "It's never too late or too soon. It's when it's supposed to be"- Mitch Albom, The time keeper.

So I read The Time Keeper in 2014 and it had totally changed my aspects about time. This quote especially taught me a lot. I have to admit that the book is so thoughtful and inspiring. Give it a read, it may teach you something too!

#9. "Reading is a Rendezvous with your soul".

Want to meet your soul and set it totally free? Read! Reading is a terrific combination between silence, words and deepness. It speaks directly to the soul and knows exactly how to communicate with it. It also makes your mind smile and your heart laugh.

#10. Tend to be brave.

If we're not brave enough, we would be totally confined along with limiting our skills, abilities and selves. Just do it and don't think about any side effects. One other thing, ignore what other people think of you, because at the end it's your own life and you are the only one who is responsible for it.

      As we live and time flies, it carries a bunch of lessons that teach us a lot and the more you experience new things, the more you learn. Put the bad events of 2014 aside, be ready for a new and better start with a lot of enhancements as well as lessons and open up your heart to a whole new year!

Spread Love!

               Bohemians are artists, musicians and writers with strong artistic sensations. Therefore they're utterly sensitive and emotional.  They feel truly and deeply because they always give there soul and heart a chance to speak up and express whatever inside them.

               We can observe beauty in the dull and ugly. We can transform any conventional thing into art which is spectacular because simply, we see everything from the rose-colored glasses in addition to our artistic sense which we put in every single slight detail in our lives.  Moreover, we usually see things through our heart and soul.

               There are a lot of people in this world who certainly need our help since they lack relief and happiness. So why don't we try to cheer them up, put a vast smile on their faces and try to change their lives? Trust me when you cheer someone up, you'll certainly be ecstatic.

               Think about it, how does it feel like if you are the reason why someone is happy? Spreading love is one of the most exquisite things that anyone could ever do. Help and support everyone whether it's a physical or emotional help.

               There are a lot of ways and ideas that would help you in spreading felicity, for example: You can go to an orphan's charity and help the young children, bring toys and sweets, spend time with them playing and listening to what they believe in and what they feel. Allay them if they are sad or anxious about something. Be creative even when it comes to kindness.

               Draw a smile on everyone face, inspire and motivate them. If you ever find anyone sad, don't hesitate to cheer him up and turn his day to be utterly better. Let's all share kindness, peace and love among the world and contribute to make this world a better place.

               Now tell me what is the best thing that anyone had ever done for you, when you were feeling down? I'm waiting for your answers.

Time Flies

        In life, you will meet countless number of people coincidentally or by your own choice,
some just drift in and out of your life, yet some others genuinely leave footprints in your
heart. I met a bunch of people who were the reason why I changed, why I became happier,
why I lived my life with a purpose, and why I revealed some pretty good things which were
buried deep inside me. These people are impossible to forget. I'm so grateful for what they
did for me to an infinite extent. Well, I might have never showed them how essential they
are in my life. I might haven't thanked them enough; however I just want to tell them that
"Without you I would have been nothing until I die".

        Well, the credit all goes to my parents who had always supported me throughout the
way and gave me precious advice that guided me. They never left me, they were holding
my back and they gave me a hand whenever I needed one. I wouldn't have been something
without their support, love and care. I truly love them and I'm so grateful for all what they
did to me.

           Also, I won't ever forget my science teacher in the fifth grade; she had always supported me and believed in me. She taught a lot –excluding what's in our school's syllabus-. She actually cared. Besides, my ICT teacher in the sixth and 9^th grade, my English teacher in the 7^th, 8^th and 9^th grade and all my teachers that taught me how to deal with hard situations in life and how to move on, the ones with a conscience. I owe them.

          Last but not least, are the writers who influenced me, taught me a plenty of lessons, inspired me, motivated me and supported me. Especially Khadeega Rehab and Nour Farid. Those two writers taught me a lot. They're one of the reasons, why I actually love writing and why I started to believe in myself. They gave me a push and turned me into an utterly different person, a better one. I love them so much. 

           Sometimes we get stuck in our life affairs or circumstances, therefore, we forget about our loved ones. We don't contact them or ask if they're fine. So we have to face that massive problem. Why don't we write the names of the ones we love in a small notebook, take that notebook wherever we go and whenever we're free, we've to call the ones we put in our list, so we won't forget anyone. Don't underestimate the power of the little things, like an unexpected call, or a text, trust me they would make a difference. Don't be lazy, and Let's all confine negativity.

           We all have to tell the people who impacted us positively, how much we love them and we have to be so grateful for them, because they're the reason why we've changed and became someone better. Learn how to be loyal, adhere to loyalty and love deeply and truly. Cheer those people up; tell them how crucial they are in your life. Because when you make them happy, you'll certainly be ecstatic. What's even more important is to allay those people whenever they are anxious about something. Always be by their side.

           Time flies and nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow, you may not find the ones you love again. And trust me you'll suffer from a desperate heartache, you're life we'll be a grey wasteland of desolation. So spend every moment putting in mind that nothing lasts forever, and everything is possibly imminent. Acquire the smile of everyone, so they won't forget you, and you'll live happily. Most importantly, never ignore anyone in your life. Life is too short to waste your time, so rather than doing ridiculous stuff and getting stuck in the massive hole which is the social media,  spend some time with everyone you love.

How beautiful the world of colors is

              For me, seeing colorful things totally shatter my depression; because colors are an astounding source of inspiration and felicity. Colors always spice things up, revive them and give them a special effect which makes them completely flattering. It is also a pretty good helper for imagination, since it can expand imagination to a great extent. Simply colors mean happiness.

              Imagine a world with no colors; how bloody hideous and depressing would it be! I can't even imagine living in such a world. I anticipate that dejection along with cruelty and harshness will entirely fill it. I would certainly recoil from it, or rather than recoiling I would try to devour it by filling it with enchanting colors.

              So why don't we spend some time wandering around nature, recognizing how magnificent it is with all its colors and details, the amazing green color of trees and leave patterns that separates it into two halves equally, the pure blue color of the sky, the bright yellow color of the sun, the various colors of flowers, the marvelous color combination in a horizon, and the spectacular rainbow colors together, what else could be better than watching them in a balmy and serene place. "Colors are the smiles of nature." -Leigh hunt

              Having got a bunch of inspiration from the nature's stunning colors, I went back to my home, brought out a paper, a brush and my colors; I went to an entirely dissimilar world while painting, a perfect world for me. Where imagination with all its beautiful stuff exists to cheer me up and put a smile on my face, because simply my soul started to speak, the soul of a bohemian, and colors are the reason behind that. "Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? no. Just as one can never learn how to paint." -Pablo Picasso

              See how beautiful the world of colors is? Inexplicably it's full of elation, serenity and hope. Colors never hurt; they mend your pain instead. We all have to adhere to colors and painting since it drives dejection away and cheers us all up, and put a vast wide smile on our faces.

 

It all started with a daydream

          We all have come to realize that bohemians are the dream catchers; yes this is how we are symbolized. However, how do bohemians dream, I mean in what form? Do they dream normally in their sleep or just dream that "they would do a certain thing one day?" and turn it into a goal or do they daydream? And how do their dreams impact them and influence what they do?

          Certainly, bohemians do the 3 of these forms, they dream at their sleep and dream big to do or have a certain thing. Yet what about daydreaming? Surely bohemians daydream deeply and to a great extent, actually they gobble daydreams as daydreaming swoop inspiration down into their minds and soul, it enriches them with creativity (the #1 weapon for bohemians).

          A daydream is where bohemians can easily find coziness along with peace of mind, it's where they wind down, totally relax and it's also how they pamper their selves whenever and wherever they want , since daydreams contain imagination which takes them to an entirely different world, where everything is spiced up with their style, which brings them felicity.

          No sooner had a bohemian daydreamed than a bulb starts to pop and glow over his head, yes this is the idea of what he is going to create, it finally had arrived and crossed his mind, as if it said brightly  "Hey there, I'm an idea, go turn me into some form of art now." So that's how it all starts, with just a daydream, we get inspired, the idea arrives and we create. "Daydreaming is okay, even better if you can make something lasting out of it.” 
― Leslie Dean Brown

          So yes next time you daydream, be sure that an idea is imminent, you no longer have to struggle to search for an idea, remember inspiration is everywhere, even if you are in an entirely dull place with no beauty, you only need to imagine and daydream,  go far, so far with your imagination, let your fear collapse and shatter them, ignore all the screeches that surrounds you, and set your soul and mind totally free.

   

La Vie Boheme

     This is life, apparently you'll find some bad in the good, yet certainly in every single slight bad thing you'll find the good. 

     The thing is how you find it, and how can you seek felicity?I found it in " La vie Boheme", where opportunities  are given to your soul to speak up, smile and laugh. Whenever I'm dejected or even a little sad, I remember that there is something called "La vie Boheme", which will always be there for me to revive my soul and cheer me up.

     What's better than living as a free spirit with your own terms and rules? What's better than living a free life spontaneously? Do whatever makes you elated, even if it doesn't satisfy the people around you, at the end it's your life. 

    It's time to let the magnificent trapped stuff inside you out! Draw more, Write more, Read more, Sing more, Dance more, Create more, simply, do more of what makes your heart smile and  your soul roam.

     Live for the moment and never regret anything, set your soul totally free and try to amuse life as much as you can,Viva la vie boheme. "With freedom, books, flowers and the moon, who could not be happy?" - Oscar Wilde. Vive La vie Boheme. We are the dreamcatchers. #lavieebohemee #Laviebohemearmy

Zentangle Art

Amusing or a waste of time? You decide it!

              Water splashes, juicy Popsicle, bright colors, cold drinks, fun everywhere, parties all the time, beach walks, sea views that brings you peace of mind and constant sun shines, yes I'm talking about summer! Without any doubt we are all waiting eagerly for the summer vacation to come and putting plans for the spectacular things that we are willing to do in this summer. 

           Vacation is that time of the year when we all wind down, doing nothing or doing the stuff we like - which are particularly useful-, however doing nothing seems boring, ain't it? There is an old Italian expression which says “Dolce far niente” that means delicious idleness or in other words the sweetness of doing nothing, yet when it comes to my opinion I completely disagree with that concept. Because like what I said, doing nothing is desperately boring, so everybody have to take advantage of this summer doing the stuff they love. 

              But you know what? Every year when the summer vacation is about to come, I constantly plan tons of stuff to do, yet the ugly truth is that I end up sitting in front of my computer or watching TV and eating like a couch potato, so all what I gain from this is actually WEIGHT (Such a massive bummer, isn't it?). Normally I will miss school nonetheless I hate it big time, technically the reason behind missing school is that at least I was busy doing some stuff like: studying, searching, doing projects ….etc. Whether I love doing these stuff or not, being busy drives boredom away, because simply I have no time to get bored!

             So yes we need to find a solution for this problem, and I already thought of a bunch of ideas to make this summer amusing for me and you. First of all you need to grab a paper and a pen, then write down a bucket list for yourself, with all what you want to do or get this summer, and put a deadline for every single thing you wrote in your bucket list, in order to accomplish what you want easily and if you are feeling too slothful to do anything, then tap into the support of one of your friends or relatives, make a bucket list for the two of you with mutual and dissimilar ideas, so you can do loads of stuff together.

              Moreover, try to experience new stuff, that you didn't ever do before, for example: rock climbing, riding horses, skydiving ……etc.Something adventurous, forget about fear yet be aware. Who knows, may be you could reveal a new talent which was buried deep inside you! Amusement is every where, all you just need is letting the creative part in you out, instead of trapping it inside you. Do what you makes you happy, everything you feel depends on you, it’s no one’s choice but you.

              Let’s all promise ourselves to make this summer, “A summer to remember”. Let’s all promise that we are gonna let the beautiful trapped things inside us, out! Because there is no more time to waste, just forget about being lazy, and get active, -being active never hurts by the way. Try to use every moment in this summer. I’m sure you will be extremely elated.

It all started with a dream!

       Walt Disney said something that is really noteworthy, “if you can dream it,you can do it.” I completely agree with all what he said, therefore a dream is the root of success. It is a strongly desired goal or purpose. So it can easily fetch our goals, however the thing is how can it fetch our goals? And what about failing, is it the end? Or is it just a new start? How did these successful people that made life easier for us start, and be who they are today?

     There are some steps to follow for achieving your main purpose (goal) after dreaming. First of all you need to deeply desire your goal, keep this constantly in your mind: weak desires always get weak results. You've got to REALLY want to achieve your goal.

       Second, you have to visualize yourself achieving your goal. Think about how your achievement would be like? How many changes will happen in your life?

        The next step is to start planing, make a plan with all steps for the path you need to follow! -A plan is a group of little goals that gather to form the grand goal, it explains in detail what needs to be done, when, how and it often includes predictions. Always remember a dream without a plan is just a wish.

         The step after is to commit to achieving the goal by writing it down
Lee Lacocca said, “The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.” Always write down your goals, plans and your action steps. It is as if you are making a deeper commitment to goal accomplishment, so you can’t fool yourself later.

       Establish times for checking your progress in your calendar
system, make a time plan whether on the computer or written with your own hand writing. Adopt a pessimist’s viewpoint; something will and probably is going to go wrong. Take a look at all of the factors that are keeping you from accomplishing your goal and develop your plan to overcome them.

       What about failure, is it the end? Actually there is nothing called failure, it is something to alert you that there is an error in your planning. You won’t lose anything if you try again, failure is just a new start to achieve your goal in a better way. Regularly make sure you are making progress. If you are not making progress, hire a coach, tap into the support of your loved ones, analyze why the goal is not being met. Never ever allow the goal to just fade away.

      Thomas Alva Edison was one of the most well known inventors. He had a laboratory in the basement of his family’s home and spent most of his time experimenting. Edison will forever be remembered for his contributions to the incandescent light bulb. Thomas Edison was asked by a young reporter, if he felt like a failure and if he thought he should just give up by now. Edison replied, ”Young man,why would I feel like a failure? And why would i ever give up?”And shortly after that, and over 10,000 attempts, Edison invented the light bulb. See how many attempts?! And without his invention, our life would be so hard. He
made a huge change!

     Why not be like Thomas Edison and try again, dream then follow the steps and I’m sure your life is gonna turn to be so much better. Failure is never an obstacle to stop dreaming, yet it’s just an alert! “The dream in not what you see in sleep, dream is the thing which does not let you sleep”.

The secret behind our chocolate cravings

        Without any doubt most of us –if it’s not all of us- adore chocolate, to an extent that if we finished one, we keep asking for more and more. Isn’t it too odd that we never feel full of eating chocolate?! That’s maybe because how it tastes, once you take a little bite of it, you feel as if you’re in heaven, cause it simply tastes delectable!  I bet you anything that you would never feel anything but happy (and a little guilty, when considering weight gaining).

        Once the bite of chocolate gets into your mouth, it drives depression away, it gives you glimpses of heaven, it winds you down, makes you extremely elated, and that’s why I call chocolate “The best treatment for depression.” Trust me, I constantly try that: when it comes to depression, one thing and only is the medicine “Chocolate”, nobody can deny that it changes his/her mode to be extremely better. Moreover, when we see any impressing picture of chocolate, we feel like “get in my tommy”. So it simply provides us with an ultimate satisfaction.

        However, did you ever ask yourself from where comes all this super incredible magic? Well, actually there is a science behind that: Chocolates, gives off the “happy hormone” also known as “Serotonin”. So just for everyone to know, Serotonin as well as endorphin are both responsible for controlling and affecting our mode, the difference between them is that Serotonin which chocolate gives off acts as a neurotransmitter, whereas endorphin are hormones that work with the endocrine system and released in our bodies.

        An imbalance in serotonin levels would have negative outcomes. To put it simply, if you do not have serotonin, chances of getting depression would be skyrocketing (oh no!). So take care, and eat chocolate for avoiding depression! Merely, Chocolate is for pleasure seekers.

Written by/ Zahraa Moddather