'The World has slowed down so you can rediscover yourself.'

'Don't feel lonely, the entire Universe is inside you!' - Rumi

Hello friends! It's the first day of November! 🤯 I apologize sincerely for not posting last Sunday. I was dealing with something heavy and I just didn't feel like writing honestly. But I know we have to keep moving no matter what. Can't stay stuck in the mud. So let's kick off on a positive note today! I've got some exciting pictures for you! Yayyy! 🎉 One of my closest friends, who has always been supportive of everything I do, all my creative ideas and most importantly, of my writing, is Renata. She is not only a great friend and listener, she is a talented artist on top of that! She doesn't like to be photographed too much, and she suffers everytime I vlog around her (I'm sorryyy!), but yesterday - when visiting her in her cute little studio, she agreed on taking some photos and even doing an apartment tour on video for my upcoming vlog! So here we come! When I met Renata, I didn't know how talented, handy and creative she was. I learned that little by little when slowly getting to know her, and because I pay attention to these things as I, myself, love art and surrounding myself with like-minded people. I wanted to write about her since the very beginning of my blog revival. Why? Because creative minds inspire others! You don't often see someone so dedicated, patient and with such a unique wonderful taste. Her style is very specific and different. I'd say it's quite soft and feminine, yet there are some surprising facts about her - for example, she wears Martens style shoes! 😀 She's the one you want to come for advice to, when it comes to fashion, interior design and much more. She also gives great life advice too! I love this girl to pieces! 😊 I know that she will present her beautiful paintings in a gallery one day. And I wanted to make sure I'm the first one to ever write about her. Remember her well, this is Renata Dalecka (RD). 

It was such a lovely day yesterday. We are very much alike in many things. We both enjoy similar books, tarot readings, and even like the same fashion and items in general. We can chat about relationship struggles and such for hours, or we can sit quietly and crack walnuts. Cherish these connections and never let them fade out! This post is meant to be about Renata's art and home decoration taste. I also wanted to bring you some pictures of how her sweet little apartment looks like. It is incredibly cute! She lives in a similar space (size-wise) to mine, one room and a little kitchen + bathroom. She definitely knew how to make it feel like 'home' with all the items that just added coziness and warmth to her place. I felt like home when visiting. She took such a good care of me. She made a home made pie, banana muffins, she made me my favorite black tea a few times, sliced a pear and served huge blueberries. Then for lunch, she served a red beets & mozarella salad. I brought some walnuts from my parent's garden and we were cracking them while having the candles lit (Halloween vibes) and while watching the Bridget Jones's Diary. What a nice way to spend our Saturday! Enjoy the pictures, there are many as you might know by now. I can't come with 10 pics, that's just not me. 😊  

'Creativity is contagious - Pass it on!'

I asked Renata a few questions to find out why she chose art. Or did the art choose her? 

Hello, my friends. How are you coping with all the craziness that's going on? I hope you're all staying sane, despite of the constant unpleasing news coming in our direction (I just decided not to even read it honestly). I've talked with many many people recently, some of them are my closest friends and we had some truly interesting conversations about psychology and stuff. I realized that people indeed feel much worse mentally during the pandemic, it's not just said on the news. It's like we all have this CD player in our head and the unpopular album called 'The top 50 mistakes I've ever made' is on at all times. Right? We have so much time to dig in our past and blame ourselves for the things that we should've let go of a LONG TIME AGO! I always like to chat about real human problems, I say no to any such topic. I, myself, have been through this many times. I did things that I'm obviously not proud of, I still have many things to make peace with within myslef, but I also happened to overcome most of them by looking at life differently. I do not want to let my past affect my present and future. I learned to let go no matter how hard of a task it seems sometimes. You can do it too. And I will write more about guilt and feeling responsible for what others think in my post today. Please, feel free to e-mail me if you're sad or just want someone to talk to (My e-mail is written in the side bar on the left). ✨

Throughout life, someone probably hurt you at some point, or you hurt someone. Both is painful, you feel sorry, you feel guilt. It seems much worse if you were the one who seemingly caused pain to the others. You can't take back time and fix it, and maybe you don't even want to because you know from your heart, that it was the right decision to make, back then. But you can't get rid of that awful feeling when it comes to your mind and you start thinking about the discomfort you might've caused. You feel weak because there's nothing you can do about it, and you feel like you're a bad person. Well, none of this is actually true! These things do not define whether you're a good or bad person. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. Guilt often comes from the fear of what is this or that person going to think about my decisions and choices. You can't help but think about the people you affected. But let me tell you - These people are NOT living your life and never will. Even if your decision affects their life, it's time to start thinking about what YOU want in YOUR life. What we want to do with the time that has been given to us, is our own business. We take resposibility for our actions. If you let other people direct your life, it's still YOU who takes all the responsibility though, not them - so you better decide well for yourself.

If you often feel under the pressure of your own emotions due to guilt, it's time to release it. It's not healthy, in fact, it's very bad for your health to live in a constant stress. How do you release it? Forgive yourself. Forgive yourself for something that you knew you had to do the way you did. Forgive yourself for doing what was right for YOU. To move past this recurring negative feeling, you need to LET IT GO. You need to allow yourself to get out of the jail made out of your past! You want to feel free again, right? You want to live in the present and focus on the future, rather than be stuck in the past, is that right? Unless you forgive yourself, you're going to be a prisoner of your own past.

'Make peace with yourself and your life choices. They are yours!'

I've learnt that one good way to get rid of guilt, is becoming more assertive. I personally am able to kill most of my negative emotions that come to my mind (including guilt) simply by expressing confidently my wishes. YES/NO - it really is as simple as that. I'm able to show people what my personal requirements are, and even if they seem unjustified to others, I don't care. It's ok! We are not here in this world to please everyone - that, in fact, would be an impossible task to do so. The idea behind being healthily assertive is to ACCEPT yourself exactly the way you are and present your true self to others without caring too much what they'll think. In other words, assertivity is a part of being yourself, expressing your needs and choices and not feeling guilty or bad about it. PS: No amount of guilt can ever change or solve the past. It's a 'history' for a reason.

'But what if they think I'm a piece of shit?' Well, that can happen to the best of us. 😊 And it is actually highly likely. Do you know why? Because people are not used to facing the confidence, did you notice? They like to judge it. And why? Because they, themselves, are not brave enough to do what they want in their lives. They're just going with the flow. That's why you can't even rely on anybody's opinion when it comes to your important life decisions. Always choose what YOU think is best for you. Let your friends and family deal with your decision in their own way. They might not like it but well, they will be just fine and will have to accept it, if they are true friends and care about your happiness. Look at it like this - Even for them, this is a great way to grow. They have to step out of their usual box in order to understand you. They will have to also expand their thinking. You helped them learn some kind of a lesson. If you still feel guilty of letting someone go and the person wasn't making you happy anymore, you did the right thing ending this. Only you can change what's surrounding you. You create the world around you! All these people you think you hurt will eventually make peace with your decision, even though you think otherwise now. They will have to deal with THEIR unfulfilled expectations and dreams and they WILL overcome it in the end. No, this is not selfish. You're in fact doing them a favor if you don't want to be with them anymore. Don't waste your time, don't waste their time. So many people stay in these 'situationships' to make other people happy while their time is running up irreversibly. ⏳ By leaving someone you don't love anymore you're doing them a favor, trust me. You're giving them the chance to start over with someone more suitable for them. Period.

'You have enemies? Good. That means you're able to stand up for something important in your life.'

Always try to look at the bright side of your decisions. You were brave enough to make them. You wanted to make them. Are you double thinking them because of THEIR doubts? Stop it NOW. You don't need to explain yourself. You have the right to have your own thoughts and emotions. You don't have to apologize for being yourself. People will have to accept who you are or they are out of the game! There is NO other authority above you. You live your own life, nobody else is going to live it for you. And you will never achieve happiness if you're going to follow other people's wishes. Quite frankly, it's selfish from anyone to expect so! If you're feeling guilty of not achieving somebody else's request, there might be a whole different problem on their side and that is called a manipulation. I would like to write more about that topic next time. But there are people who are purposely trying to make you feel bad about yourself, to get what they want. Have that in mind. Not everybody has good intentions with you, I'm sorry. You are not responsible for anyone else's life or well being. If they are adults, they are well enough suited to take responsibility for their own life and actions. Stop thinking you can do it for them! We are free, we can make the stupidest decisions if it makes us happy, do you get it? You can make completely illogical decisions if your heart wants it. Do it! You choose your path, it's that simple. I like to say this even though some of my friends think it's crazy, but - You want something? Act now and deal with the consequences later. 🤷 I've done it a few times and I definitely do not regret it.

We are just human beings. People change, people grow. We are allowed to change our mind. We can change our directions as many times we want, we can all of a sudden have different needs and wishes. It's completely normal. You should never feel guilty for following your heart. It's your life! Don't let anyone make you feel guilty for living your life the way YOU want! Only people with very limited thinking (and who don't know what growth is) will judge you for this. And their opinion won't even matter anyways. You can't make everyone happy, so always put making yourself happy first! 

'Guilt is the worst demon to bear. Let go and breathe free again.'

Why did I write this post?

I just want you to feel good about making the right decisions. We learn lessons and it's okay to feel certain way, you don't grow if you're not hurting once in a while. I'll give you a little homework, ok? Take a blank paper and draw a line in the middle. That's the line, that's the borderline. Above it is all the bullshit that's trying to get you, in the middle is an imaginary STOP sign and under that is the life you've created in your dreams, that you want to live. The stop sign is here to remind you to say NO to everything that's against your will and happiness. Take a freaking responsibility for your actions and trust yourself! Don't sacrifice yourself for trying to prove something to others. It's a waste of the most precious thing we have - time.

________ 🛑 ________

'You will never get to the end of the journey if you stop to shy a stone at every dog that barks.' - Winston Churchill

It's raining out as I'm writing this post. The weather was simply gorgeous last weekend and I'm thankful that I got to spend it in the open air. What a perfect stretch of warm days, so called 'Indian Summer'. ☀️ The pictures I'm about to share, will hopefully get you excited for the Fall season (if you aren't already). They were all taken at a secret place. I decided not to show where exactly this area is as I consider it a little secret. My haven. I think we all should have some place outdoors, where we can always run to when we're tired of people and crowds. It's a very quiet and peaceful walk. I used to go there a lot in the Summer, but I feel like it's even more beautiful  now, in the Fall. This place also proves that you really don't have to travel too far from the city centre to find yourself a quiet forest. This is about 40 minutes away from Prague by a train. If you're expecting to spend some quality time in the nature, surrounded by nothing but sounds of the falling leaves, it's the perfect month to do so! Don't forget to pack some snacks and a good tea with you. There's nothing better than watching all the shades of red and yellow while sipping on your favorite warm drink. Please enjoy these Autumn pics that I took while feeling extremely happy. It's beginning to smell a lot like Fall and I love it! Make sure you manage to take a long walk in the nature this season - don't miss out on the colors and smells that this time of the year has to offer. 🍂

'Autumn, the season that teaches us that change can be beautiful.'

I don't usually post on Fridays but I'm having a chilled weekend at home (it's raining out 🌧️) and I don't know what else to do but work on the things I love. So I decided to write down everything that has been on my mind recently. Maybe I will write a few extra posts to be published next week. I haven't been sleeping well the past few days (the Full moon and the New moon this month, oh yeah 🌕🌚) I'm constantly (over)thinking when I should be sleeping. Sometimes it's hard for me to turn my brain off, especially once I'm already awake around 3 AM. I started doing some meditations before bed recently. But to be completely honest, this week, I've been changing the soil to my plants or measuring my TV to buy a new TV stand - all that at around 4 AM in the morning, haha! Not good, indeed. But I might as well do some useful stuff while I'm fully awake, right? 😄 I remember I read about a lady once, who only sleeps 4 hours a day and is super effective and successful in her business. Well, I don't think I could do this and I'm honestly not sure how healthy this might be. I need my 8 hours at least. How about you? Enough complaining now (I just wanted to share the 'not so popular' things too, so you know that nobody's life is always rainbows and butterflies). But on the other hand, this extra time is great for reflecting and learning. Thinking and figuring shit out is also a part of our spiritual growth! I will make up for my sleep deficit this weekend I'm sure. How have YOU been, my loves? I'm so glad you're here, reading my post. It means the World to me, just know that.✨ I went for a wonderful Autumn walk last weekend and I'm now editing the photos I took, so expect a new post with many Fall vibe pictures on Sunday! 🍂 But for today's post, I wrote some motivation things down this week, that I thought you might like:

🌟 You are strong enough to face it all, even if it doesn't feel like it right now. Whatever decision you need to make and you think it's difficult, I guarantee you that only the first few minutes of you speaking it up are the most difficult. After that, it's off your chest! Do you feel that relief? Remember, once you say what's needed to be said, you will only feel better and better moving forward, never worse! Once things are said, they shall be done soon as well. There is a bright future waiting for you after you make the right move.

🌟 Growth is painful. Change is painful. This is 100% true and I can sign under this statement. Don't expect that it will be easy to change the whole 'hardware' you're carrying your whole life, and re-program it to act differently. I can tell you it's not easy to change the way of thinking or doing things certain way when you're 30. But the most important thing is to acknowledge what you need to work on, possibly ask your close friends or a partner to remind you every day. It's the little steps you take daily that make the difference in the end!

🌟 Stop holding tension in your body. Pay a good attention to your body. Focus on your face right now - Are your cheeks or eye muscles in tension right now? Relax all your tight muscles and release the tension. You're only getting more wrinkles from this. 😉 Check on yourself throughout the day and try to relax your whole body as much as you can. Your stomach, your back, neck, hands, every part of your body. You will feel much better once you get rid of this unnecessary subconscious tension.

🌟 Stop waiting for Friday. For Summer. For when the covid is gone, stop waiting for life! It's going to pass you by if you don't realize that it's right here, right now! Today! Live in the present as much as you can and make the most of it - because you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow, do you? Stop waiting for something that might never happen. You need to live now!

🌟 Let go of what you can't control. Seriously, you are not them, you can't change anybody's mind by just thinking about something and worrying constantly. Imagine that every single person you are dealing with is seeing things from a different perspective, from a different angle. You are not them, they are not you. Let them figure things out themselves. Focus on yourself, because that is actually the only thing you CAN control!

🌟 Love. Don't be afraid of showing your feelings. Do you care about someone? Do you feel like you want to hug them? Freaking do it! Why not? Never regret any love given, even to the wrong person in the past. I feel like love is never wasted if it's true. I've given love to many people throughout my life and I haven't regretted it once. That's how I felt at that time, it was coming genuinely out of my heart space. I forgave, I forgot the bad, I can only remember the good. Keep the good, let go of the rest. It's such a relief!

Your life is as good as your mindset!

Photos by @hosta 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I'll see you on Sunday! XO Zuzana

... and so, she decided to start living the life she'd imagined.

It's inevitable. 🔮 Hello, my friends - Let's get a bit spiritual today. Have you ever wondered whether this saying works in real life? Have you ever asked yourself: 'Is there really some kind of 'Universe' that controls everything and guides you exactly where you need to be at that time?' Like a higher power that makes sure you're meeting certain people at the right time ,for a higher purpose? I believe many people are quite sceptical about this. They say that there is no such thing, that ONLY YOU are in charge of your life and decide about your path, based on your feelings and current impulses. But, that doesn't contradict each other, does it? You can still make these unique decisions yourself, but be somehow guided and supported by some higher power? Let's talk about this topic some more ... 

I'd say we all believe there is  s o m e t h i n g  out there. We have different Gods, we have the Universe, we have many, many things we believe in. I personally believe that there is the 'something in between' that helps us understand life and its struggles. Something you can always turn to when you're feeling hopeless. I believe in the Universe! For every person, this 'safe place' means something else. But we all need an assurance that we are on the right path, don't we? It doesn't have to be a religion. Life can be tough and us, spiritual people, we feel even deeper. We question so many things, we want answers to the questions never even asked. We simply believe that there must be more to life. Can you only imagine for how many people - simply 'believing' - was life saving? When everything else fails, hope dies last, right? Believing gives us a much needed (and in many cases missing) motivation, the strength to fight for what we want, it gives us the feeling that what's happening makes perfect sense! I can't imagine otherwise. Once you're spiritually awaken, you start feeling all the energies around you. Not just yours, but other people's energies too. You start seeing the World differently. You see higher meaning in every situations. You learn to cope better. You understand better. You're not thinking just logically, but you use your sixth sense. ✨🌠🔭

'The Universe doesn't make mistakes. The timing in which things enter or leave your life is important.' 

I just KNOW there is something between our infinite soul and ever changing nature, that creates divine timing for us, or even puts us through hardships on purpose, to make us stronger! How else we would learn to be stronger and better for th next, much better chapter? When I look back at my life, oh man, so many strange situations and things happening to me. One would think it must have been all planned somehow, and when I look at it later, I say: HOLY SHITTAKE! I can tell you that every single one of these things has led me to where I am now, obviously. And even thought these were often difficult things to overcome, they absolutely and definitely meant personal growth. So I'm thankful for them. These bad situations bring you wrinkles and grey hair, but if you're able to overcome them, you win! Without them, we wouldn't be the people we are. I used to ask myself: 'Why did I refuse this and that job offer?' Now I know. I got a much better one later that led me to my dream job. 'Why this person dumped me?', I wanted to know, heart broken. Oh, I see, because life with him would have been a disaster (but I wasn't seeing it back then. I didn't have the experience so I thought he was the one.). I needed to fall on my face to realize that. I came to the fact that every rejection is a redirection because I was on the wrong path! 'Why did I travel there, and moved there?' Again, so I could gain the much needed experience and slowly create the human being I am. It's not easy for us empaths to explain our exact feelings, because we feel too much, we are very sensitive to what we feel and most people can't relate. For example, I can very often read people's minds without them even speaking. It's all in the eyes, in their energy towards you. If you open your mind and soul, if you let yourself awake spiritually, you'll be able to see things that were never seen before. Thoughts that were never thought before. You will allow yourself to be pure, to be who you are if you're listening to what your higher self seeks. And, of course, many people will always think that this is all bullshit. That all these guided events are just accidents or have logical explanations. And it's their truth, that's ok. 😊 Don't try to convince them. They just have a different way of thinking and unless they want to understand, they won't. For me, for many years, nothing happened by accident. I just knew what I needed to do, somehow. Everything that happens to us is here to guide us further. I used to think: 'Why would the Universe do this to me?' Now I know, I just didn't see it then, but it all makes sense now. Everything does and will in the end. Changing the way of thinking, replacing the 'WHY?' by 'What is it trying to tell me?' was huge for me.

'Soul mates will always end up together. No matter how much love was lost, and no matter how much distance there was. You lose each other to find each other again. That is what it is like when someone is meant for you; if they leave, they will return and stay forever.' 

'What's meant to be, it will be' works for everything. Jobs, any of your life choices, relationships ... Even what is happening right now in the World, with the pandemic, it was meant to happen, believe it or not. For us all to sort our lives and start fresh! 🌱 Or maybe once, you might have met someone amazing at the wrong time and you had to let that person go. But he or she returned back into your life somehow later, when the time was right. And they were different. They went through their enlightening process in the meantime so they can be even better partners. You both were not ready, I believe. Each of you had to go through something more in life, so you could then appreciate each other on a whole new level. That's why you should never force any relationship. You will never ever have to force what is meant for you, get it? Simply allow the flow and give people the free will to choose where they truly want to be. If they come back, great, if not, they were never meant to be yours in the first place. Just had to help you learn your lesson, whether it's about self love or something else. Remember, whoever is meant to be in your life, will always gravitate back towards you. Sometimes people need to learn their lessons with someone else before they can come back to you. Let them choose from their own heart space and work on yourself in the meantime. This is VERY IMPORTANT! WORK ON YOURSELF! And believe that if someone pulls aways from you, the Universe is doing you a favor. Most are not worth the stress, the games or the effort. Period. You are the star of your own movie anyways. ⭐ So focus on yourself and do what makes you happy, then the things that are meant for you will come to you!

Synchronicity: Have you ever had a string of events happen in a ways that seemed special or out of the ordinary? This is known as 'synchronicity'. These moments of meaningful coincidence happen when you are on the right soul path. Synchronicity can be for example seeing 11:11 or 22:22 often. It's an ever present reality for those who have eyes to see it.

How to let go of the outcome?

🕊️ Trust in the devine timing.

🕊️ Don't try to control what can't be controlled.

🕊️ Practice patience.

🕊️ Believe that everything happens on purpose.

🕊️ Find something constructive to do with your time!

🕊️ Learn to be okay with not knowing things.

🕊️ Just believe that everything you are going through is preparing you for what you asked for! 

When it's all finished, you will discover it was never random!

Open your mind to possibilities. We live in an infinite Universe where ANYTHING is possible!

 'Don't rush something you want to last forever.' - I read this quote on my Pinterest today when I refreshed my feed. I thought I would share it here, since we all are sometimes going through this unclear period of time, when we just don't know how it's gonna happen in the end, but we know it will! Nobody likes waiting but we all have to face it, once in a while. Don't we all need this friendly reminder, that everything will ALWAYS come together, that things will sort themselves out just in time, exactly when they are supposed to ... ? Just trust the process! 🔮

Hello, my friends, how have you been? Today, I'm about to share some photos and a few words about one of my latest Krkonoše trip. I will remember this one until the end of my life. It hit me too deep, mostly because I returned back there after, oh well, almost 20 years! Let's just start this story by saying that for many years, I've wanted to return to this area to refresh and revive my memories (sooo much snow, skiing and hiking...). I wished to come back there for this reason - As a child, my family used to drive to Vitkovice in Krkonoše (close to Benecko) for mine and my brother's Spring break. It's where I learned to ski as a 3 year old girl! So we would go to the ski slopes to ski, we had snowball fights, and me and my dad always went for our traditional walk from Vitkovice to Benecko and then we sledged back down the hill! 😃🛷 We always stayed in the same hotel, always, never elsewhere. And I kept thinking about this place throughout my life, wondering how it looks like nowadays. When I had a chance, not so long ago, to camp around this gorgeous area, I didn't hesitate to make a short trip down to Vitkovice again, to check it out. It was only a few kilometres from Benecko. No locals seemed to be outside at first, a quiet walk. Even though it was such a perfect sunny day. So we walked and I experienced these roads and paths the very first time in the summertime. It looked so different, almost like if I was somewhere else. Walked a bit, and there it was, the hotel! The hotel I wanted to see one more time in my life! The one I made so many memories in! Ahh... It looked close to ramshackle! Totally abandoned, grass nearly growing outta windows. It was clear that nobody was inside, no guests. No life. And my heart broke. I never wanted to see this! It was my bright and colorful childhood! How quickly can the loveliest memories be shattered in million pieces. I had this urge and need to come back for years! And as I was standing there with my mouth open, I realized things are just never the same. It's not the same river you're standing in. I shouldn't have come, I thought. Not to see this. I should have kept the good old days in my head and let the memories rest in peace in my mind like that. Oh well, now I know, don't I? Maybe I will be able to make new memories around that place, in another hotel, with my own family one day (👫🐶) but I honestly feel like I want to find another place like that, with a new aura and fresh vibe, and never see this ruin again. I want to devote this post to the memory of my childhood and make peace with it.

'Autumn approaches and the heart begins to dream.'