Why stomach flu turned out to be awesome!

Aug 31, 2015 | Sparkly Love, Uncategorized

Tempel Pura Ulun Danu, Bratan See, Bali, Indonesien

I’ve had a lot of trouble sitting down to write lately. I know it’s been summer and there are a ton of distractions, but it it’s more than that. There’s been a lot of stuff going on in my life lately, and despite being one of the best summers I’ve even had, it’s also been one of the hardest. I will disclose the details when the timing is right.

Normally I love to write and find a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment from sitting down at my kitchen table and pulling up my iA Writer program (it’s awesome if you are a writer who is easily distracted by shiny things on your screen!) But, because I have had all of this outside stress it feels like my creative energy has been completely zapped. Even the thought of writing makes me feel uncomfortable and a bit nauseous. I think it’s so easy to underestimate stress and the impact it has on our body, mind and soul. For most of us stress is just a side effect of life and something all of our pals are dealing with as well. If you complain about being stressed no one really feels that sorry for you. Sorry.

This is especially true if you have a life that looks awesome on the outside. And let’s be honest, it pretty much appears that everyone has an awesome life these days thanks to social media. For the most part, I think there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. Social media can even be inspiring because it shows other humans having fun and enjoying themselves. I think the only harm is when you are hard on yourself for not having a life that looks as good as someone else’s. Who knows, maybe they think the same thing about you.

As I mentioned earlier, my summer has been really great and I’ve gone on some really fun trips with friends, made time to go on adventures and spend lots of time outside. It’s definitely been on of my best yet. Last week I attended Diner en Blanc in Vancouver for the first time. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically a super fancy picnic where everyone dresses in white and takes lots of pictures! I was a bit sceptical at first because there’s a lot of effort involved, but it turned out to be pretty darn magical (for pretty party photos click here).

As soon as the event was over, my friend and I brought the table and chairs (I told you, lots of effort) back to my place and I immediately felt sick to my stomach. I ran to the bathroom to puke and basically stayed by the toilet the entire night. Ugh. It was the worst! Ugh. At first I thought I drank too much wine or ate something off, but for the next few days I stayed in bed and hardly ate anything.

By day 3 I finally felt a little bit better and started to get bored. I decided that I should read something inspirational to get my mid off being sick. Mostly I read books from my Kindle because I travel a lot and love that it can fit in my purse. Also that way no one can judge me for reading nerdy/weird books! But this time I felt like I was craving something on paper, so I picked up Chris Guillebeau’s The Happiness of Pursuit next to my night table. I had received a free copy at the World Domination Summit in July and the title resonated with me.

A couple pages in I was hooked and read almost the entire book that day. It’s basically about people who pursue quests based on ideas that inspire and overwhelm them. Examples are walking across America, visiting every stadium or cooking a meals form every country in the world. One thing I’ve always been passionate about is travel, and over the years have done quite a bit. In the past I have usually gone on trips with friends, family or boyfriends. This year I decided I should try travelling on my own for the first time and I went to Costa Rica and Chicago. At first, the thought of travelling on my own scared the shit out of me, but as my last two experiences proved it’s really an incredible experience.

After reading The Happiness of Pursuit, I was craving an adventure. My creative spirit has felt sad and depressed lately, and the thought of a trip to somewhere beautiful made me feel so good inside. I thought about where I could go and Bali kept coming up in my mind. It’s one of those places that everyone lights up when they talk about it. I have yet to hear of one person not tell me that they absolutely fell in love with (or in!) Bali.

When I’m sick, I get really spontaneous. Probably cause I’m very bad at sitting still and have a very active imagination. Instead of thinking of booking a trip to Bali in 6 months or so, I decided to be brave (and a bit crazy) and book a flight 6 days later! Clicking the final confirm button made me feel like I might puke again, but was also so liberating and thrilling. I feel so blessed that I have a lifestyle where I can work from anywhere and this type of last min travel is possible. It’s pretty rad.

So I leave for Bali in a couple day all by myself with hardly anything booked or planned. I’m equally scared and excited. I know I was meant to find something there, although I’m not totally sure what it is. If anything I’m craving having the space to plan out some big ideas and a new direction for my life. I also can’t wait to do a ton of yoga, meet new people and get a whole lot of massages!

Writing this post felt really good and I highly recommend just sitting down to do the things you know you want to do. It’s ok if you scared, just do it anyways. For a few months, I haven’t felt creative at all. It’s like my brain stopped producing cool new ideas and the thought of writing anything for you to read was completely overwhelming. If you ever feel this way, you are certainly not alone. Being a creative person is not always as fun as it looks! Personally I think I got sick for a bigger reason…but I’ll save that theory for another time 😉

Now that I’m going to be in Bali for the next 3 weeks I’ll have a lot of time to write you sweet, heartfelt posts. I have so many ideas stored up and it will be amazing to get them out to share with you. I’m sure the beauty and magic of the country will be a huge inspiration as well.

Thanks so much for reading, and if you have any Bali tips or what you do when you are in a creative rut I would love for you to share below.

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Meet Jenna

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