Easy

I know it sounds funny, but I just can't stand the painGirl I'm leaving you tomorrowSeems to me girl, you know I've done all I canYou see I begged, stole and I borrowedThat's why I'm easy

 Sometimes easy is ok. Life can get really complicated and simplicity can make it more bearable. It's the perfect compliment to a hectic lifestyle.One of my favorite yoga instructors always teaches ease and effort. He always explains that when you are putting a lot of effort into a pose, find a way to balance it by adding ease. For example, holding dolphin pose takes a lot of strength and energy around your shoulders and arms, but focused breathing adds lightness to the pose and some how allows it to not hurt as much.Lately my life has felt a little overwhelming. I'm constantly dealing with many moving parts, and trying to balance it all has really been a challenge. I've been surrounding myself with people who I look up to in hopes that their success rubs off on me. Life lately has been focused on building my small little empire so I can make a mark in this world. Goals, right?Where the ease at doeee? The past couple of days I haven't been able to get that out of my mind. I can't help to think about how sometimes it's just easy to be around people who are simply your friends. I appreciate that I have people who I don't have to impress, because no matter how much I can fail in life, they'll still love me regardless. I love that I have people who I can just enjoy their company and we can keep it simple with delicious food, tasty drinks and laughter that makes you cry and your stomach hurt. I'm thankful for the people who support me, but don't feel the need to talk about Sticky's and it's current direction, good or bad. It's really nice to just be in the company of people who keep it easy like Sunday morning. 

I Found My Happy Place

Towards the end of 2015, I made my first vision board. I cut the pieces I was attracted to during my shift at Lululemon (an awesome company I look up to as I build my little empire). I didn't have a chance to put it together there, so I took everything home. In about an hour and a half, my words and pictures fit together like a beautiful puzzle. I was happy and my heart was content.Slowly but surely, the words and pictures magically manifested itself into my life. Not all of it, but everything was slowly coming to fruition. When I was cutting out pictures, I cut out a picture that had a lot of candles just clustered together. I don't know why I liked it, but I just did, so I found a way to make it work. About a week later, I bought 2 candle holders from a friend's art show and I started lighting them for no reason at all. I didn't realize what was happening until I saw the cluster of candles on my board. That was the first time I understood how real this vision board thing was.One of the words that I cut out says: "Going to your Happy Place." I really didn't know what that meant at that time, but I loved that idea. I liked the thought that when the going gets tough, you'll always have a "Happy Place" to go to. I thought a Happy Place was a space that you made in your home. I thought it was sitting in front of the television indulging in primetime entertainment. I thought it was the space under my down comforter that always kept me warm. I thought it was coming home to my parent's house to a warm home-cooked meal. I thought it was Huntington Beach, California... or simply just being in California. Misery followed me towards the end of 2017 and no matter where I went to, what I thought was my "Happy Place", I couldn't find happiness. It's kind of a scary thought. If you can't find happiness in those simple creature comforts of life... then WHERE THE HECK IS IT?!Then the universe had me digging through my old stuff at my Mom & Dad's house. I don't know why, but I had this gut feeling to just look for my college diploma. I honestly thought my parents threw it away during their house renovation because I never again saw the red-tubing I knew it was in. As I rummaged around in my old room, not only did I find it, but I found other things such as:

1. My time capsule I made in 2000 that instructed me to open on 1/24/2010... my 30th birthday.
2. My 2 albums filled with college memories pre-digital cameras.
3. A few basketball cards that might bring in a tiny fortune.
4. Photos and memorabilia from my old surfing / skating days.
5. Small, but thoughtful gifts from our beloved friends in California.
6. and sooooo much more STUFF.

The following few days, all I kept thinking about was surfing. I was reminded of the days when I would stress over school, boys, or the latest drama and I would turn to my best friend at the time (Robert August), and we would take out all my troubles into the sea. For some reason, the ocean always managed to wash away my troubles.Then it hit me like a 10 foot wave crashing on top of me because I couldn't paddle out of the way in time. SURFING WAS MY HAPPY PLACE! I MEAN JUST LOOK AT THIS VISION BOARD!!! Surfing is so close to those words!!As the years continued, I was always saddened a little bit because I had surfing pictures on my vision board, but nothing ever really came out of it. What I've learned from the past week is that when you tell the universe what you want, just be patient and it will come. Well it came to me a few days ago. Surfing was my Happy Place! That was the only place in the world where I felt like I had nothing to bring me down (except drowning of course). Even if I was just a noob and couldn't catch a wave that day, just being in the ocean and being able to paddle out and sit on top of the water seemed to be enough for me. There's something magical about being out there with nature and all its glory. It was always a dream for me to learn how to surf when I first saw it on television as a kid. So growing up when I finally had that opportunity, it literally felt like a dream come true.I don't go out enough, actually I don't go out at all anymore. I seemed to have thought that since I was "growing up", I don't have time to do those things and I'm probably too old to have that kind of fun anyway. When in reality, I need it more now then I ever did before. Anyone down for a surf trip?What about you? Can you remember back to a time when you felt so happy that no matter what was going on, it didn't seem to matter anymore? The next time you find yourself smiling and you for some reason can't stop.... ask yourself... could this be my "Happy Place"?SaveSaveSaveSave

Sensitive Sally

I’d like to think that I’m a good person. I take pride in who I am and the way I portray myself for the sake of my reputation. I’m one of those who believe that your reputation speaks before you. I also believe that it goes towards everything else in my life... who my family is, who my friends are and how I run my business. Essentially, those are merely an extension of me and who I am as a person, so I treat that with a lot of respect.With that being said, I try to always express myself in words that are true to me and what I believe are positive, ESPECIALLY when I know who my audience is. Unless you find me on twitter, then you won't always find nice things, but then again twitter isn't really a platform for political correctness. That's one thing I find so great about tweets, you can pretty much say anything you want and if responses aren't to your liking, troll them with a GIF... haha my absolute favorite!Anyway, I digress. My point is, I try not to post anything that I think would motivate controversy. I like to share things that I find funny or inspirational. No one really has the right to stifle your views on life and how you wish to express yourself, especially in America. Remember The First Amendment - freedom of religion, speech or the press? If people's ideas and thoughts are really bothering you, then maybe you should ask yourself why? Why do you find certain posts offensive? If other's thoughts annoy you, why? If you don't agree with their opinion, why? You must be taking something from it personal for a reason. When you read someone's thoughts and are suddenly upset, be curious and ask yourself why it bothers you. You might actually find your reasonings are silly or maybe it will lead you to deeper issues that you might not even be aware of. That's what stops me from posting unnecessary responses all the time.I typically welcome people's comments on all my social media because they're always entertaining (usually my lovely fans are just making fun of me), but after a post brings on unnecessary comments, and causes a little drama, it makes me want to just disable that feature. Maybe people shouldn't be allowed to comment, all it does anyway is allow others to bicker amongst one another. I don't know... to me social media, especially Facebook, shouldn't be taken so seriously. It's just <insert social media>!!!!!I try to keep my Facebook and Snapchat private to only family and friends I've met in real life, but whoever is reading this and finds me entertaining, you're more than welcome to follow me everywhere else. My screen name will always be "SimplyPatsy". So if you come across that, it's most likely me.Happy posting everyone! 🙂🙃