"Happiness is a mood not a destination"

In The Pines // 

http://www.kalynnicholson.com/2015/12/in-pines.html

There’s a lot that has been going on in my mind lately.  For starters, how we may be the creator of our own personal haven or hell.  In the recent weeks I had this constant attitude of “why me” or “why am I not getting what I want/finding what I need”.  I had been feeling uninspired and as if all of the amazing things in my life were somehow road blocks.  It’s so easy to get caught in a mind set of counting tallies to all the things we feel we don’t have in our life or that are going wrong rather than realizing the amazing things we have, or learning how to utilize your surroundings to create your own destiny gaining everything you dream of in the process.   I couldn’t help but feel like I wanted to get out and chase this beautiful landscape where I could snap beautiful photo’s all day and drink tea in a log cabin by night.  I had created this cozy, inspirational fairytale in my mind that became so crisp and clear, I wanted to see nothing but it.   I would go to bed angry and frustrated and wake up dreading finding a way to get things done.  I had literally become such a brat that I couldn’t even see it myself.  It took a good kick in my own ass, and a complete and total exhaustion breakdown to realize how wrong I had been going about everything.  I wasn’t working toward being the kind of person that I want to be.  I don’t want to have to chase some place I’ve seen on computer screens to find beauty, though I do really want to travel.   What I’m trying to say is that I’m trying my best to stop being so extreme, instead trying to practice the art of simplicity.  Locking my phone, putting it down and trying to find beautiful landscapes that already surround me where I am now.  I don’t need an extravagant life.  At one point I think I believed I did, but it was at a point I felt most out of touch with myself.   2015 has been a huge year of rediscovering myself, and I’ve come to realize I want a simple life. To write words that mean something to me.  To sit and process and collect my thoughts at the end of the day.  To gain inspiration from the things around me.  To start diving more into my passions and hobbies like photography, videography, writing.  To listen to amazing music and sip on tea.  To lay in bed with Ryan talking all night, Bentley snuggled in between us.  To wake up every morning and do what I love most.  To keep a level head and a positive mind as best as I can along the way. I’m lucky enough to say I’m pretty much able to do those things now.  So what more could I want?