Why I must follow my playfulness

In many ways, this was always coming. And I knew it.

For years I felt a familiar entity following me around. Always out of the corner of my eye. Sitting, waiting patiently, yet never still.

Almost like a ghost pet.

I knew what it was. It was a part of me I left behind years ago. A part of me that I hid away when I decided to 'grow up' and be an adult.

It was my playfulness.

It had always made me sad to think about it, I would grieve for it like it was a lost loved one. Without realizing the danger that each day brought without having play as a part of my life.

And then one day, the wind changed course.

A stroke of perfectly timed bad luck put me in one of the worst states of health than ever before.

Crippled by pain and suffering, it was in this state that I was ready to hear the message of my playfulness.

She propped up, looked me square in the eye and said (with an obnoxious grin on her face), "So are you finally ready?"

I was.

I am.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

This weekend I have been reading Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and there was one particular chapter where I felt like she was writing directly to me.

"Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest through collaboration with a human partner. It is only through humans efforts that an idea can be brought out of the ether and into reality. Ideas will spend an eternity swirling around us searching for available human partners willing to do the work. If you miss it, the idea will try to wave you down, maybe for a moment, a few months or a few years, but when it finally realizes you're oblivious to it's message it will move on to someone else."

This is exactly what my playfulness had been doing. Hanging out for me to notice it sitting in the corner, waiting to offload the ideas it holds. I think if I waited any longer, it may very well have left me. I think that's what my "health warning" was about.

Since then I have been cultivating my playfulness bit by bit, letting it learn to trust me again and learning to understand the terms of our contract together.

And the first agreement of our contract is that I must be unapologetically true to myself.

This means that I have to allow my work in this world - including my business and this website - to mould into the quintessence of who I am and what I stand for.

I must follow my playfulness and let it guide me.

So from here forward I will be expanding on what I do here, what I write about. It won't be solely about money and mindset. It will have more about wealth, adventure, creativity, purpose, passion and freedom.

This is all about playful living and how to integrate it into your life.

If this is something you have been craving more of in your life, I ask you to stick around and see how this unfolds for yourself. If not, I won't be offended if you need to move on.

I wish you all warm fuzzies.

Elise xo

Live your dream

Most of us go through life pretending that we don’t have any special goals or ambitions or desires when really deep down inside we do really want more. 

We block ourselves and we use these words almost like we’re in a trance, like we’re sleep-walking through life, that we find ways to cancel out our dreams, that a lot of things that we want to do, a lot of places we would like to go, a lot of things we would like to experience, and we just stop at "but."

But will cause you to hide out behind fear, but will cause you to come up with all types of excuses that you can validate your inaction and not acting on your dream. ”But” is a dream-killer.

But most people, you know what they do? Most people go through life quietly and safely tiptoeing to an early grave. 

We’ve been holding back, we have ideas we that don’t act on, things that we want to do, we’re afraid to take chances. A lot of people say no to things and they don’t even know what they’re saying no to! Don’t allow but to keep you in the corner.

A lot of people say, “But I tried once,” or “twice,” “and it didn’t work out,” and so they use that as an excuse not to ever come out again. Even if things don’t work out, even if I experience defeat or failure, that does not make me a failure. There’s a difference between failing and being a failure.

If things don’t work out, if you don’t produce the results you want, that’s all, but don’t confuse who you are with the results that you produce. Do what you can where you are with what you have, and never be satisfied. 

Yeah, don’t get satisfied with yourself. Always know that wherever you are, you can enjoy more, that you deserve more. Why don’t you decide now that you can expand your world, that if other people can learn you can learn, too.

If you’re working on you dream, sure they’re gonna be times when you’re gonna want to give up, sure there will be times when life will knock you down and catch you on the blind side, but the challenge is to hold on.

And if you hold on tenaciously, I say the universe is on your side. If you don’t decide to act on your dream, if you don’t decide to make a decision to live your life, if you don’t decide to step into your fears, if you don’t decide to say yes to your life, it will never work for you. You’ve got to live what’s in life, life is too short and unpredictable.

But what do we say? ”But there will always be tomorrow.” Oh, no. There’s no guarantees that you’re gonna show up tomorrow. Always something there, the reason you can’t move on, the reason why you can’t grow to the next level, why you can’t being to manifest your greatness, why you can’t begin to live life on your terms, that you’re gonna say “it’s not worth it.”

Yes, that’s going to be right there for you, it’s going to be in your face, telling you to go back. So if you want to do something, if you’ve thought about something you want to do, take it head-on. Life will never be the same.

Live your dream.

#Wanderlust

I've always had the heart of an explorer. 

When I was little, every school holidays we would swim at Lake Tarawera - a majestic lake, with a mysterious story of it's own. My cousins and I used to dive off the jetty's, swim along the bays and dive deep down into the dark depths where there was only you and the lake weed - and maybe a trout or two.

But there was one place only the daring could get to. A hidden cove with a waterfall and a sheltered sandbar lay almost untouched. The only thing was you had to venture deep into the forest that ran the outline of the lake. The only way to get to it was to trek upstream through the creek. It was tricky, and most gave up because it looked dangerous, but when you reached the cove it was worth the scratches from the thorn bushes and bugs knotted in your hair.

Unfortunately today the forest has taken back it's hidden treasure, the entire creek leading out from the waterfall is overgrown with thorns. But that little explorer, that little treasure hunter still lives in me.

Here's proof! My favourite book is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. My favourite games are Uncharted and Tomb Raider. My childhood hero growing up was Carmen Sandiego. Movies? Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, National Treasure and The Goonies. Tell me I wasn't mean't to be a treasure hunter!

Genie from Bunny Eats Design evoked out of me a deep and dormant desire by creating this #Wanderlust tag amongst the Brunch Clubbers. I knew I had to participate.

Where was your first plane to?

New Caledonia. I mean I was only 3 months old - so I remember squat. If that doesn't count, then it was Fiji when I was four. Where I got bitten by a baby shark, swam the coral reef with the All Blacks, wandered the hotel alone, used my "I'm lost" cuteness skills on the pool barman for free fizzy drinks and returned back to NZ a shade darker than night.

Where have you traveled to that you would love to visit again?

The entirety that is Italy. I swear to god you let me loose in that country, you'll never see me again. Other than that, I'm very much drawn to countries and cities with thousands of years of ancient history like Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico & China.

You’re leaving tomorrow, money is no object, where are you going?

Ziplining through Costa Rica, Glamping in Tanzania, Hiking to Machu Piccu, Riding a camel through the Sahara Desert. I'm going to the places myths and legends were written about. Places with history and unsolved mysteries. And, I also really want to go to this water park in China.

Preferred method of travel; planes, trains or car?

I should say planes for the convenience, but I crap myself every time there's turbulence or I have to flush the toilet, and having long spider legs they tend to dislike being forces into a small confined space for several hours. So my first choice is the train. You see so much more that most don't ever see. Leg space isn't an issue when you're in a booth. You can face the people you travel with and have a conversation. And you get to marvel at the scenery longer. I like that a lot.

Favourite travel website?

When I need in-depth information with clear advice and opinions, I go to my Aussie friends at yTravelBlog. For bookings, I love Expedia. I had such an unfortunate turn of events happen last time I booked through them, but they moved heaven and earth for me and turned my smile right back around, so I am a die-hard fan now. And for guilty pleasure? The Londoner.

Where would you travel to just eat the food?

Easiest question of all. Two countries. Italy and Thailand. Expose me to either one of these cuisines and I become a gluttonous pig. The fresh simplicity of Italian food - pasta, pizza, prosciutto, and the spicy flavours of Thai - I cannot resist. *drool*

Is there a place you would never go again?

LA. It sucked soooooo bad when I was there. I was so unimpressed by it's dirty averageness. I don't know whether I just met the wrong people, took the wrong tour, explored the wrong streets. It just seemed like some big ass concrete block. I mean, I'm a big fan of second chances - especially if they're deserved - so if you believe you can change my opinion, give me your best tips for the next time I go!

Can you recite your passport number from memory if asked?

Yes-ish. Which reminds me, I'm pretty sure I have to renew my passport this year. Yikes!

Do you prefer the Window, Aisle, or Middle seat?

Window always - except for when my bladder is about to burst because I've been needing to go to the bathroom for the last hour but the stranger next to me is asleep. That's never fun.

How do you pass the time on the air plane?

My ritual is: Movie first, then some inspirational "high-on-life" music. If the flights a long one, I'll touch on some light reading, usually my Mothers self-published book, Make Love With Travel, for great tips and to feel like she's actually there with me - yes that is me on the cover. And then maybe a nap, because sleepy panda.

What about you? Is there an explorer in you? Where would you go if time or money wasn't an issue? Tell me in the comments below!

xo Elise

P.S - These stunning bloggers are the #BlogBrunchers who also participated in the #Wanderlust tag, pleae go visit them! Bunny Eats Design, The Life and Times, Sarah Sees The World, This is Meagan Kerr, Move Love Eat, Becca Jane Lee, Dani Pohlod, xoxBubbles, Love from Jess xo

A Fresh Start

Here's to failure, mistakes and imperfection.

To lessons learned, and learned, and learned, and learned.

To the many excuses made.

And the many reasons believed.

To stubbornness, and all that it entails.

To fear and it's validated presence.

To the breaking of bad habits.

And the making of an iron fist in a velvet glove.

It's a brand new day.

It's time for a fresh start.

Bring on the creativity.


xo Elise

The Secret to Extraordinary Happiness

Do you ever feel like happiness is always out there, just out of your reach? Or do you ever feel that you wont have true, real, authentic, life-altering happiness until everything is perfect?




I want to share a little lesson with you that I learned while on my holiday in Fiji. When it hit me, my eyes widened, my mouth dropped and a BIG-ASS shift happened.




But first, we gotta take it back a couple of years..





When I was 14, I remember saying to my bestie "holiday's make you hate your life". We were both holidaying in Australia with my mother at the time.






The reason I said that was because this was my first trip as a teenager overseas and I remember feeling like I was a brand new person, like I could do anything I wanted and I was free from the chains of life (or in my case at the time, boys and homework).




I remember feeling this incredible sense of fulfilment, vitality and excitement and that anything was possible. I knew without a doubt that my current life did NOT match up to what I wanted and I didn't want to return to it.




But hey, you don't get much say when you're fourteen huh? LOL.




That happiness and fulfillment returned once again on my excursion in Europe and America. I was free once again! I could be anybody, I could do anything and I could do whatever I wanted right now - be it swimming in Lake Como or wandering the streets of New York City with nothing but my feet guiding me. But even then I still couldn't grasp what it was I felt.




Third time lucky (and only last week) I had the chance for that feeling to come back once again. And it did! The aliveness followed me to Fiji! And this time I got the message loud and clear (finally!), the secret to my extraordinary happiness hit me so hard I almost fell out of my hammock!


You have to do shit NOW. There is no tomorrow!



I know right, it's actually not that profound or anything out of the ordinary - nor a secret.




But I wanna break down my discovery for you.




Life isn't this mundane, repetitive, 'work-till-you're-dead' game. That's what we're told life is. We go to work, we save a lil money, party on the weekends and then do it all over again the next week. We write our dreams and goals down and we stuff them away somewhere in the closet hoping that they'll come true soon.




We say we'll go to that cute little market this afternoon but then can't be bothered when the time comes around. We tell ourselves we'll eat only leafy green salads for lunch and then we put it off till next week. We say we'll ask for a raise, quit our jobs, have sex more often and lose the weight but it never happens and we just keep putting it off till tomorrow.








In Fiji, we had a set amount of time to get shit done and if we didn't do it we didn't get to experience it. So we had toup our game.




We caught the Bula Bus to Port Denarau even though we were hot, bothered and tired. We went swimming in the pool at night with cocktails even though we were exhausted from our day. We had our breakfasts, lunches and dinners in 5-star restaurants even though we weren't used to spending money like that. We took the last island tour that was left even though we wanted to go somewhere else.




And you know what happened?




We had the most delicious lunch with cocktails at the port together and I found some fantastic gifts for my family. Swimming in the pool, staring at the stars & dreaming about our future together was one of the highlight moments with my hunny. We got to have full and happy tummy's while being treated like superstars and we had the most incredible day snorkelling in crystal clear blue water discovering little fish and drinking to our hearts content.


Doesn't that sound so scrumdiddilyumptious?!?




If we didn't do any of that, if I bitched and moaned that I was too tired, too sore, too hot, too stubborn and too cheap I wouldn't have experienced the magic of our trip. I would have just spent all my time in my resort room watching tv. How dumb would that have been?







If you're bitching about why nothing has changed in your life, ask yourself what effort you've actually made to do it?




Did you get up this morning and go for a walk or did you tell yourself you'll do it later? Did you reward yourself with that massage or did you skimp on the fee and say it was too much?




The secret to extraordinary happiness is living your life as you want it to be RIGHT NOW. Not waiting till you're richer, thinner, happier, in a relationship, with a degree or with more confidence. You get all of that when you take the action beforehand. It's like losing weight, the results don't happen till a couple of weeks after you've started your weight loss plan.




This is bigger than just you, this is you and the universe collaborating and moving mountains. This is you and who you truly are creating universes and escaping the illusion.






I get it now, I get why when trekking round Europe (even on days when I didn't really want to but made the effort anyway) made me happier, more fulfilled, wiser, eat to my hearts content and lose weight, fall back in love, forgive, dream, believe, make peace, have more energy, become bold, express my true feelings, connect with the universe and trust my intuition.






I get it.




Because I showed up and did it anyway, regardless of how I (the ego) felt. I upped my game for the cause and life showed up for me and gave me all the things I truly wanted. I didn't even give it my 100% effort, action and focus. I just showed up and guess what? It gave me 100% what I wanted anyway.


If there is anything you do in your life from now on, I hope that you choose today instead of tomorrow.


There is actually no time. There is only right now. Chose right now to start living in it because THAT is how life was always meant to be. Extraordinary.