Often, when I find myself on Facebook, I’m there to complete a task. Sometimes, while I’m in the midst of doing the thing I’ve set out to do, from the corner of my eye I will spy something intriguing. To stay focused, and give myself the satisfaction of finding out what that thing is, I will save it, to watch or read at a later date.
This is a collection of the best things I have read, watched, seen and learned (in no particular order) over the past year, curated from my Facebook saves.
I hope they inspire, uplift and transform your view of the world, as much as they have mine.
Enjoy!
TRAVEL + FREEDOM
“We grow every year and I cannot wait to see what kind of people we become at the end of this year.” This is the very beginning of a journey: a couple sell all of their belongings, quit their jobs in Toronto, buy a used van, take their dog, a suitcase each, some filming gear and off they go. A new adventure. A new chapter. Watch it here.
“I think we need to feel the pain of not being loved sometimes, and also how badly we wish this were not so. Eventually, I really believe, not being loved becomes a side-effect of being really, terrifyingly, ourselves. At least it will feel that way, at first. And that’s okay; love is not so much adoration as it is appreciation and allowing. I would rather be free than liked.” Read it here.
You may not realise it at first, but this is what freedom is: “Put simply, it’s far too easy to waste our time, money and energy by not committing wholeheartedly to something important to us. But it’s our well-meaning 99 per cent effort that is exhausting. It consumes energy without producing results. It’s stressful. It makes us feel like a failure when we’re not – we just haven’t fully committed to something. Putting 99 per cent effort into things that matter in life means we are constantly falling short of our potential – and feeling bad about it. Read it here.
LIFE + SOUL
“You didn’t have good sex this year, and that’s because you and “Vanessa”, as you call her, haven’t been looking after each other. Your best orgasms “cum from” intimacy, and a tight pelvic floor. The gym is already helping with that second bit. As for the former? You’ll get there.” Sometimes the best New Year’s resolution is do not change. Read it here.
Alan Watts teaches us how to make life a magical process. “It’s the whole point of life.” Watch it here.
How witches could save the planet. But replace the word witch with woman. Essentially we are one and the same: mystical, powerful beyond measure, alluring, transforming, life-giving creatures. Read it here.
NASA Has Compiled a List of the Best Air-Cleaning Plants for Your Home. Read it here.
“Aspects of spiritual bypassing include exaggerated
detachment, emotional numbing and repression, overemphasis on the positive,
anger-phobia, blind or overly tolerant compassion, weak or too porous
boundaries, lopsided development (cognitive intelligence often being far ahead
of emotional and moral intelligence), debilitating judgment about one’s
negativity or shadow side, devaluation of the personal relative to the
spiritual, and delusions of having arrived at a higher level of being.” Read it here.
Because sometimes you just need to take your life back. Presenting the Newsfeed Eradicator for Facebook. Get it here.
50 things every woman should have by age 50. I love this list, and am happy to say and can place a big, fat, juicy tick besides most of these things. Read it here.
BIZ + MARKETING
“You have to give up a sale in the beginning but you get all the sales in the end.” My main man Gary Vaynerchuck giving all the good advice on running a successful business, and doing the right thing. Watch it here.
As things get busier, I have to get more organised. Cue: Planoly, the beautiful Instagram scheduling tool that lets you upload images directly from the computer. Phew! This is going to be such a time-saving tool this year! Get it here.
A great book: Don’t get a Job, Make a Job – how to succeed as a creative graduate. Read it here.
“Stop asking the world for permission and being today to give the world notice. Become non-negotiable.” — Lisa Nichols. Watch it here.
To run a business, you have to value what you do. I love this video by one of my business mentors Marie Forleo, where she reiterates why that’s so important. Watch it here.
The DIRTY 30 COMMANDMENTS of Working for Yourself: How to Slay Like an Unf*ckwithable Boss. The title says it all. I keep coming back to this article over and over again. Read it here.
A great article on how to grow your Instagram following quickly and organically. I’ve been doing all these things, and it’s working! Read it here.
Influence is the new currency and it’s time to focus on your organic social media reach for the next year. Here’s how and why.
LOVE
This short 11-minute video outlines what men want, but don’t ask for. It’s wonderful. Watch it here.
Leonard Cohen died, and left behind a legacy of love. Watch and read it here.
I love when people do love differently. When it’s real and unique and soulful. This beautiful wedding will make you want to run away and elope too. Watch it here.
Mark Manson nails it yet again with an article titled Maybe you don’t know what love is. Read it here.
Alain de Botton explores the complex landscape of a modern relationship, presenting a realistic case study for marriage and examining what it might mean to love, to be loved – and to stay in love. Watch it here.
The best relationship/friendship/people advice ever. (Plus it’s funny.) Watch it here.
When self-love gets real and lucid. Gala Darling talks about self-love is about taking action and taking responsibility for ourselves. I share her sentiments wholeheartedly. Watch it here.
MONEY
My favourite article on money, that I read this year. 7 shocking truths that went into me making $18,000 this month via the internet. Read it here.
Sacred economics: “And we can see as society has become more monetized, that community has disappeared.
People long for it, but you can’t just have community as an add-on to a monetized life. You have to actually need each other.” Watch it here.
This is the year of money for me. I want to know allll the secrets… and this could be the biggest. Watch it here.
Ever wondered what it would look like, to make $5 million dollars in one week? No? Me neither… My imagination can’t even begin to fathom it. But this very pragmatic article sums up exactly how it might look. and it’s fascinating. Read it here.
And on that note, a very helpful article on how to create a million-dollar business. I keep going back to it, as I wait for my million-dollar idea. Read it here.
PAY ATTENTION
I keep saying it: we live in exciting times! But you have to prepare yourself for the changes ahead. Most of us haven’t quite realized there is something extraordinary happening. And it makes me very, very happy. Read it here.
Timing is the one thing that we often forget to surrender to. This article is a gentle reminder that we are all exactly where we should be and that there’s no such thing as falling behind. Read it here.
The period poem. It’s really good. Watch it here.
“The new scarcity in the internet age is attention. Since there is a surplus of information, more information flowing through our society than any of us could ever hope to process or understand, the new bottleneck on our economy is attention. We now live in an attention-based economy.” Read it here.
A man records himself talking in his sleep, to hilarious and alarming results. Watch it here. (Very, very, very funny!)
From 12 Things About Being A Woman That Women Won’t Tell You: “Imagine accidentally getting pregnant at 16, then having to run past a barrage of anti-abortion protestors outside your local clinic, all holding up pictures of dead fetuses. We’re not dealing with this in a special, noble lady-way. We’re like, “THIS IS ALREADY A REALLY, REALLY SHIT DAY. I PRESUME YOUR CONCERN FOR THE WELFARE OF CHILDREN EXTENDS INTO A LIFE SPENT VOLUNTEERING IN CARE HOMES, FOSTERING AND DONATING YOUR WAGES TO THE NSPCC — AND DOESN’T SOLELY REST ON HARASSING AND ABUSING TEARFUL, POSSIBLY RAPED WOMEN WHO ARE TRYING TO GET A SAFE, LEGAL MEDICAL PROCEDURE SO THEY DON’T FUCK UP THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.” Here’s another thing we’re too embarrassed to say: we’d love it if a big bunch of pro-choice men turned up at these clinics, and helped escort the scared women in. That would be some top bro solidarity.” Read it here.
My boyfriend and I fast 1 day per week. I do it because I like to give my body a rest from the constant digesting it has to do all the time. He does it because it he finds it improves his gut health. And as it turns out, the benefits go beyond even that: it bolsters the brain, and improves body functions. Watch it here.
Who knew making delicious vegan cheese (perfect for my dairy intolerant boyfriend) could be so easy! Learn how and get the recipe here.
I’m really, really, really into medicinal mushrooms at the moment. “As a student of naturopathic medicine, I have been exposed to many different herbs, plants, foods, supplements, homeopathics, acupuncture points and other natural treatments that can help the body strengthen its natural ability to ward off external pathogens and maintain harmony in the body. Out of all these natural remedies, there is one branch of botanical medicine that I am drawn to above all others. I am obsessed with our fungi friends, the medicinal mushrooms.” Read it here.
This woman was a child sex slave from the age of 6, and is now telling her story. It’s fascinating, and horrifying. Watch it here.
Wow! I’ve just been educated. An article on lingam massage aka how to massage your man’s penis. Read it here.
A young woman poetically explains depression to her mother. It’s powerful and insightful. Watch it here.
Learn all about your lady-parts with this. Get it here.