create & name your personal philosophy
Go on, I dare you.
In a sea of neutrals and icks, every moment recorded, we can feel afraid and hesitant to say yes to life & take action to back up what our hearts are calling us to do with our ‘one wild and precious life’, trying living out your personal philosophy can render you ‘mad, eccentric, odd, a herbal’ aka what we used to call a ‘character’.
I miss the odd ones, the eccentrics, the mad ones.
When I was little my parents and I lived next door to a couple who were ‘Orange people’, devotees of Osho. To tween me, they seemed fascinating, meditating at night under their diamond shaped tent, wearing only orange and red with wooden malas, so exotic. My parents were wary, I guess the unknown can make you feel that way. But they were living what they believed, they definately stood out in the leafy greens of Castlecrag.
But back to the recent Christmas holidays, we took a day and drove into the city. I had been gifted time (this is another story!) in my absolute heart heaven: Kinokunya Books. Honestly, besides our Mecca Cosmetic stores this is my next mecca. Its a place for book lovers, ladies with an imagination, anyone with a love of cookery, a hankering for poetry, a crush on true crime, stationery collectors, lovers of art, Sunny Angel fans.
It. Has. It. All.
I found the photography section and let me say, I wanted to jump for joy and sing (& scream) it loud that I had stumbled upon books I longed for but never knew existed. (the bill was 100% worth it).
These books have lifted my heart and given me so much courage, they have encouraged me and I’m on a roll of complete optimism, a bit starry eyed. I tote them around, moving from my dining table to my bedside table, I’m underlying and making notes and feel like I’ve found a genre that is totally me.
But while I was trying to narrow down my 10 large thousand kilo books down to a reasonable 5 (and lighter!), I met a new friend. She was sitting in the sunshine window seat talking to another lady about life, and courage and the job market after 50. And when that lady left I stumbled ready to take the vacant seat, nearly dropping my armful of heavenly books right next to her. It turns out we went ‘an inch wide and a mile deep*’ in the 15 mins I had to review all my books and make a sensible choice. But we swapped numbers and we are going for coffee in a couple of weeks!
You just never know where you’ll meet a new friend if your game.
So taking this small example of openness and courage, do you know what your personal philosophy is? What’s the mood of your energy for 2026? If I asked you tell me over a pot of tea your values could you? Would your personal philosophy let you strike up a conversation with a stranger? What lift does it give you?
Over dinner last year a dear friend of mine told me that she’s becoming a "Life Enthusiast”. This friend and her family have been through a lot, so its not taken lightly this new perspective she has. And I love it, how does it feel to become that? To consider the ways that these two words can buoy one's heart and mind?
Twyla Tharp wrote this and after many of my own experiments I believe it to be true:
The way to boost your mood for real, in a sustained way,
is to line up your actions and your values. Practice Optimism.
~ Keep It Moving, pg 64 ~
I’ll write next on tools for living your personal philosophy and how that can help you to dive in a bit deeper to what you love and what uplifts you.
Till then xx
*Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown.
