Month: November 2015

The Nose Knows

Yvette # # #

Hi Lovelies,

It comes down to the old clichés.  You don’t know what you have until it’s gone and You don’t know what you’ve been missing until you have it.  I’m sure we can all relate to both.  I certainly can!

In June 2010 I was working on a shoot for Crown Resort and our base camp for the day was Eve nightclub.  As we walked in, the whole crew exclaimed at how the room smelled of stale booze and cigarettes.  Having done countless rehearsals for fashion parades in closed nightclubs back in my modelling days, I knew what they were experiencing but on that particular day, I had nothing.  Sniffing the air like a crazy person to get a whiff of it, I realised that I couldn’t smell a thing.

I know there are some obvious benefits to not being able to smell because if you can’t smell the good, you can’t smell the bad either.  But…as someone who had an acute sense of smell (and taste) up until that time, I was absolutely gutted.  I used to tell everyone what perfume they were wearing and loved the fact that I always had a ‘nose that knows’.  I hoped it was temporary but days later, I still had nothing.  Food wasn’t tasting as it should either (taste is 70-75% smell).  Boooooooooo!!!!!  It was time for me to go the doctor.

you smell good

My doctor didn’t have an answer for me, so she sent me to an ear, nose and throat specialist.  I had to wait a while before I could get in for an appointment and hoped I might get it back in that time, but no such luck.  They discovered that I had a couple of polyps but where they came from is impossible to diagnose.  They’re caused by a number of different factors, including allergies, so the ENT sent me to an allergy specialist.

It turns out that I’m allergic to dust mites, grass pollen and cats.  I always knew I was allergic to cats but I wasn’t aware of the other two and they’re kind of everywhere.

What next then?  It was suggested that I undergo a process known as desensitization, whereby they inject what you are allergic to every week in order to try and reduce the body’s reaction to it.  The allergy specialist thought it was very possible that both the polyps and my lack of smell were caused by my allergies, which made sense, so I agreed to give it a go.  It wouldn’t be cheap but getting my smell back would be worth it.  I was also prescribed a steroid nasal spray and a sinus cleanser.

Thinking I should cover all of my bases, I went to a naturopath as well.  They told me I had a bacterial infection on my trachea and prescribed bucketloads of herbal medicines.  I took them for the three months that I was told to but that didn’t work either.

Fast forward 18 months of needles and further testing and….. zip.  Frustrating?  Yes.  It had to be something else.  We even tried taking alternative anti inflammatory medication for my headaches (caused by neck and shoulder tension from my work as a makeup and hair artist) because apparently ibuprofen can affect the olfactory system.  Did that work?  Nope.

I then began educating myself further on nutrition and healing the body through nourishment rather than medicine.  I’m a big believer in what we consume contributing towards our health in every sense of the word and the results speak for themselves.

I tried removing gluten and dairy.  I tried not drinking alcohol at all.  I tried reducing sugar.  I tried not having chilli.  I tried everything.  I got small results here and there but nothing was consistent.

Then, I noticed when I went running, I could smell for snippets of time.  It felt so good to get a little bit of a whiff of the trees back in to my life!  I even appreciated being able to smell a stinky bin for a minute or two.  Then it went again.  It would come and go at lightening speed with no reason or rhyme.

Stink Out LogoBut….this week, after years of trying this and trying that, I have been able to smell consistently for 7 days in a row.  Its the most I’ve been able to smell since it disappeared and I can’t tell you how happy I am!  And everything tastes amazing too!!!!!

So, what I am I doing?  I am exercising 6 days a week.  I only have a drink of alcohol on the weekends.  I stopped drinking coffee (except maybe once every 6-8 weeks).  I have green tea with lemon juice first thing every morning.  I only have a teeny, tiny bit of gluten or dairy if I’m eating out, but never at home.  I don’t have any sweets, except for maybe once a week at most.  I rarely eat anything that’s processed.  I’m having sole every second day (you can look that one up) to make sure I’m getting all of the salt and minerals that my body needs and I’m telling myself that I can smell on a daily basis.  I don’t believe that it’s any one of these things working on their own; it’s a combination of all of them and after five and a half years of searching, I’ve finally found the recipe for me.  Yay!

Here’s to discovering what works for our own bodies and never giving up hope!  Healing through nutrition should never be underestimated.  Love your body!

Until next time…

Love & Light Always,

Yvette xxx

 

 

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Metanoia

Yvette # # # #

Hi Lovelies,

It happened again.  Like many times before, I’ve been wondering what to write about this week but I always trust that the universe will show me and I’ll know what it is when it happens.  And it did.  Again.

One of my favourite ways to pass the time when I’m having a day off is to scroll through inspirational posts and feed my soul.  I know it’s my responsibility to keep myself happy and healthy and this little activity is good for me because it reminds me of all of the wonder and joy in life, especially at times like the past week, when our news feeds, papers and broadcasts have been so full of the fear and negativity in the world.  It’s nice to see some positivity at times like this.

Now I know that what I’ve seen happening in the world is scary, there’s no question about that, but what I am also seeing is a banding together of humans that just won’t stand for it.  A message of love and acceptance is shining through as humanity refuses to let the hate win over the love.

make-love-boards

There has been a flood of kind, wise and open hearted humans choosing to educate and spread the message of unity rather than letting the fear mongers succeed in the separation of us as beings.  We are all connected after all.

Another reason that I love doing the ‘happiness scroll’ is because I often come across sayings and words that I have never seen or heard of before and words are what we all use to communicate.  We use them to say how we feel and we use them to fulfil our every need and desire in life.

So what did I come across this morning?  This little beauty:

metanoia

It is an ancient greek word that basically translates to an acceptance and understanding of one’s sense of self not being the best possible version and making the choice to become that.  It is the seeking of growth in spirit and self and profound transformation.  What a beautiful word.

It resonates so much with me because like many people, my journey has been one of vast change, particularly in the last five years.  It resonates with me because I believe more than anything in this world, that we are all here to help one another get through life and that to change the world, we must first change ourselves.

So much in my life has changed for the better but it had to start from me.  As Anais Nin said “We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are”.  Aint that the truth!

I see so many people afraid of change but in reality, the only guarantee in this life is change.  It must be embraced.  A major source of stress in life is the fight against change.  Relationships fail because of it.  People get sick because of it.  Things fall apart when it is ignored and adjustments are not made to flow with it.

I have learned that embracing, instigating and choosing change is the best thing that I ever did.  I not only accept it, I love it with every inch of my being and don’t ever want it to stop.  I believe that my change can help others bring it about in themselves in a positive and soul nourishing way, so I’m not afraid of bearing my soul to do that.  Being ourselves and not proclaiming to be anything else but who we truly are is the best thing we can do, not only for ourselves but for others.

The truth will set you free.  It may be a cliché but it’s the truth.

See what I did there?   

Love & Light Always,

Yvette xxx

 

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Stuff and stuff

Yvette # # #

Hi Lovelies,

If you’re anything like me you’ll find it hard not to get affected by it.  It’s pretty difficult not to.  You don’t even need to spend a lot of time with someone for it to have an affect.  A stranger acting strangely in a supermarket can set you off.  Social media posts can trigger a reaction too, if you let them.

What am I talking about?  Other people’s ‘stuff’.

It’s one thing to care about another and to sometimes think that you know better than they do when it comes to their stuff.  But do we really?  I don’t think so.

It comes back to that old saying ‘never judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes’.  Quite frankly we should never judge another anyway.  A mile is but a minuscule fragment of one’s journey and lets face it, people only show  you what they want to show you.  There is SO much more that goes on behind one’s eyes and that, my friends, is the beauty of it.  Our thoughts are mostly our own.  It’s only when we choose to share them that they’re no longer our little secret.

So why then do we get caught up in allowing our thoughts to drift off into what we think another should or should not be doing?  Why do we care if they do this or they do that?  Why do we let it affect us so much that we sometimes have conversations about it with others?  Is it that old thing about wanting to be right and making them wrong?  In reality, there is no universal right or wrong.  What is right for you will undoubtedly be completely wrong for another.  For their reasons and theirs alone.

Sure, my right may make perfect sense and be black and white to me but is anything really?  No.  It’s not.  It all comes down to perspective.

stuffyFullSizeRender

Each of us has so much other stuff’ bubbling under the surface that makes us do and say things and sometimes even we aren’t conscious of it.  So why do we expect others to be self aware 100% of the time and to make what we think are perfect choices in their lives when we aren’t even capable of that ourselves?  Nobody is.  But that’s how we learn.

And what are we supposed to do if someone keeps dumping their stuff on to us?  Are we supposed to sympathise and agree with them to make them feel better?  Is that the right thing to do?  Or are we supposed to tell them what they don’t want to hear in the nicest possible way in order to help them help themselves?  It’s a conundrum.

People need to come to their own conclusions about their own stuff.  You can’t do it for them.  If you try, you will only find yourself frustrated time and again as you watch them repeat the same behaviour and what’s the point of that?  It’s like listening to a broken record.  All we can do is watch our own stuff.   Anything else is actually none of our business.

And just because someone shares their stuff with you doesn’t give you the right to place any judgements on it. The best thing you can do is just listen and be there for them.  You can’t expect people to make the same choices that you would if you were in their shoes. You can’t possibly know what you’d do if you were.

You should ask yourself what their stuff can teach you instead.  There is a lesson in absolutely everything.  You only have to be conscious and ask yourself what it is and it will come to you.  If you listen.

It may just be patience, kindness and compassion.  We could all do with more of that at times.

Love & Light Always,

Yvette xxx

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Mirror Mirror

Yvette # #

Hi Lovelies,

Something, or should I say someone incredible happened this week.

So many people have been talking about her; loads have jumped on board and mimicked her page (but they’re all fakers because the real one is gone);   I’ve seen more blog posts about this young lady than I’ve seen about anyone in a long time; and it’s been shared more often than I could count.  This girl resonated with a LOT of people.  Including myself.

Who am I talking about?  Essena O’Neil.  The amazing 19 year old girl from Queensland who held a mirror up to us all and made us think.  I know she made me think.

black-mirror

In case you don’t know what or who I’m talking about  –  and yay for you if you don’t because that means you haven’t been on social media as much as I have!  –   Essena was a huge social media star.  She made a LOT of money by posting for product endorsements and had a ridiculous amount of fans.  Her life looked perfect.  What she wore looked perfect.  She looked perfect.

But then she called ‘Bullshit’ on it all.  She told it how it is.  You’ve probably seen the blogs or news stories, so I am not going to bore you with details that you already know and if you haven’t,  you can look it up for yourself if you want to know more.

Now I don’t mean to jump on the band wagon.  That’s not what this is about.   What I want to say is:  Thank you!!!  Thank you for your honesty.  Thank you for sharing your truth and Thank you for giving others permission to share theirs as a result.

Why I am I grateful?  Because Essena made me take a really good look at myself.  I am 100% guilty of doing what she pulled herself up on, time and time again.  I am guilty of spending way too much time on social media.  I am guilty of checking if I have ‘likes’ way too often.  I am guilty of posting photos that took way too many shots to get right in the subconscious (or semi conscious) hope of receiving validation from people holding on to their instruments of communication and addiction.  I am guilty.  And this made me think some more.

It made me realise how much we love the truth.  If we didn’t, then why has Essena caused such a ripple this week?  Why does she have even more fans than she ever did, now that she is telling it like it is?

It’s plain to see that we fall for the fake and the pretend.  But why?  Is it a visual thing?   Or are we subconsciously masochistic and looking for an excuse to feel bad about ourselves by comparing ourselves to others?  If that is the case, why are we punishing ourselves?  Because we don’t love ourselves enough?  I think so.

Why also are we posting so much stuff to gain the approval of others?  Why do we care what others think?  Why does it matter how many ‘likes’ we get or don’t get ?  Aren’t we enough as we are?

As I said before, I have been guilty of it myself.  I have wanted people to tell me that I looked great.  I have wanted people to think that my life is perfect.  But you know what?  I have worked really hard at letting this go.  I have seen myself disappear into the abyss of what doesn’t matter and I have fought my way back to the surface where I can breathe.  Now, what matters to me is how I can help people.  What matters to me is how my truth can give you permission to speak and feel yours.  What matters to me is that you really love yourself  because wherever you go, there you are.  That is your truth.

Be honest.  Be brave.  Be okay with working on how you feel about yourself as a human and being proud of who that person is.  You’ve come a long way and your individuality is your power.  You don’t need approval from others.  You need approval from your self.   And that is all.

 

Love & Light Always,

Yvette xxx

Categories: Me, Words that inspire2 Comments