naomi loves: inspiration

inspiration

On quitting Facebook: a status update

Just over a month ago I announced my intention to quit Facebook. It probably shouldn’t have been a big deal but it turned out to be kind of a big deal and, from the comments and emails I received, I realised the idea was kind of a big deal for other people, too. So here…

Hello! Happy Friday! Is it just me or is this weekend taking a re–a–lly long time to roll around? We are off to the Frankie Garage Sale tomorrow, assuming I succeed in getting the kids out of the house before it finishes. Other than that, I have a big pile of Halloween craft to complete, in order to…

I watched this wonderful interview with writer, poet and holocaust survivor Francine Christophe yesterday, and it moved me to tears. What a beautiful, touching story about the power of kindness. It’s part of a new film called “Human” by Yann Arthus-Bertrand that looks to be extraordinary. You can watch the trailer and find out more here. Image…

Sometimes the ideas flow easily, and creativity is pure joy. Other times, finding your creative path is like wading through syrup (only not sweet, either). Don’t give up! Here are 20 ways I use to cut through, depending on what I’m going through and what I need. Maybe one or two of them will work…

I’ve been reading about messages in bottles. It’s research for my book, and it has been a lot of fun. Fascinating, creative, poignant, sometimes heartwarming, messages, cast adrift* in the hope that someone, somewhere, will find them. Here are seven of my favourites. (There are loads more, but you’ll have to read about them in the…

Hold onto your hats because I think I have found the best child’s toy ever invented. It’s fun, it’s educational, it builds relationships, it uses technology to create real connections, and it’s super cute! Meet Turtle Mail, a wooden letterbox that can deliver real-time printed messages to your children. It contains an embedded thermal printer…

Did you know that regularly writing down your gratitude can make you a happier and healthier person, and make you more likely to exercise more, sleep better, and exercise kindness towards others? Woah! I mean few of us would argue that gratitude is a more beneficial emotion than the lack of gratitude, but this takes things to a…

I know, I know, but I really love Halloween. On my street, it is such a community event. Crowds of small children, dressed to the nines in the most adorable costumes, carry their little jack ‘o lantern buckets along the footpath. The braver, older ones traipse up to front doors and knock with hope in their…

South African artist Lorraine Loots is my Instagram crush. She paints highly-detailed, hyperrealistic watercolour works on a daily basis, most of which would fit inside a five-cent coin. Very appropriately, she calls her work “paintings for ants.” “The images vary from eight to 30 millimetres in diameter,” Lorraine explains. “When I started doing miniatures, people…

Happy Friday! Here’s something really great to take with you into the weekend. It’s a two-minute “how to meditate” video that was doing the rounds of my Facebook feed about a month ago. I’ve never been able to meditate. Until now. I’m one of those people who always said, “I can’t meditate. I can’t switch my…

“Do you remember, all those years ago, we had the perfect chai?” ~ Shaw Hendry, Vitamin Ep.13 Do you have something in your life that you do purely for the love of it? It takes your time, it saps your energy, it probably costs you money. But you do it because you love it and…