Concepts We Build On - How To Jive with life!

Hey hey beautiful, welcome back!

Today we are going to put together all of the concepts we have talked about so far and then we get to start off sharing our first bit of encouraging advice to help you get started with this simple temple living the joy way thing we were talking about.

Let's get started!

Okay, so quick reminder the 4 pillars we built our site on are joy, integrity, vibrancy, and encouragement. We love acronyms and these 4 together create the acronym J.I.V.E

We mentioned in our introductory post that this is a nod to old fashioned family values, and all things vintage because we are all about that.

Again if you're not that's cool, you can stick around if you want to, as long as we can all be respectful here, or else maybe this blog just isn't for you, in which case thanks for trying us out, and we wish you the very best for the future.

Anyway, those of you still here,  let's get back to where we were.

So yes, old fashioned family values.

Here's the thing guys some people need to be focused on family values because without a basic standard, there is nothing to jump off from into whatever other lifestyle you so choose.

We have no problem with people with different views or lifestyles to our own, in fact, we encourage them to share their views with us because it takes all sorts to make a world, and you never know when you will learn something valuable if you stay teachable.

That said, we aim to be a safe place for people who have chosen to lead a life that lines up with what the basics of what Christian faith teaches is God's original plan for mankind.

That is that the man was created first and woman are created to be his help-mate. We are created differently, but still equally valuable. The home works best when families work together leaning into God's original plan, loving and learning together.

Women are answers not problems. 

Men are leaders not lounge-abouts. 

Children can reveal more of the heart of God, then us adults sometimes, due to their simple faith.

All life is precious, but beyond that, we don't comment on peoples' choices for themselves and their own families.

We don't do debates, it takes away from the joy-centered vibrant vibe we are aiming for but we are also not afraid to stand up for what we believe in, right here are the start of this new project. 

Anyway like I said J.I.V.E is multilayered in meaning. 

That's the old fashioned family values bit done, another meaning for the phase J.I.V.E is the art of learning to dance with life. 

Last post I hinted at  our mascot Lambi-lambs. 

This is her time to shine! 

Lambi-lambs, or Lambi for short, is lovely drawn by our house artist Alex Bax. (You can check out his Dievent Art profile here) She and her friends are not Alex's normal art style but that just goes to show he is not a one-trick pony. ( or should that be gentle-colt, where are my bronies at??)

Lambi waving at you because she thinks it's awesome you are here. 

Lambi is our blog mascot and she and her friends help us to give a little clarity and fun to our articles. Lambi loves cheering you on as you learn how to jive with life, and she is the perfect embodiment of what  Hayls, the writer, is all about. 

Life can hit hard sometimes, and so it's really important to learn how to manage changes, especially the ones we didn't see coming. We will be sharing our signature art of change management method in an up and coming post, but for now, it's enough to say that we are really good at handling a variety of changes life throws at us, and we will be sharing what we have learnt with you shortly. 

To give you a little taster of the kind of content you can expect moving forward here's a little piece of an article that will come out shortly. 

Look out for How To move from stuck to seasonal, coming out soon. 

You may be in a rut but you don’t have to stay there.

You may feel stuck, but that doesn’t mean you are. The fact is rubbish times happen to everyone, we all go through stages where we wish things would move a little bit faster like life is not being fair and the world seems to be against us, this is a normal part of the human experience. 

Granted, some of us go through harder things than others, and there are other elements to consider when looking at this whole topic (like tragedy, mental illness and emotional makeup)but generally, what it all boils down to is life sucks sometimes and when It does, it’s really easy to get stuck in a rut and feel like there is no way out but our feelings lie.

I hope you are ready for this because I am about to hand you a key that may just change your life.
The number one secret to getting out of a rut is to stop seeing yourself as stuck and start seeing yourself as just in a tough season. Seasons change, life moves and we all grow older...

There are more meanings to jive but I will leave it to your imagination for now. 

That's about it today guys.

See you next post

Concepts We Build On - J.I.V.E (Joy, Integrity, Vibrancy, Encouragement)

Hey awesome reader, thanks for coming back.

Today we would like to introduce the pillars we built our foundations on. If you have read are introductions post then you will know we love acronyms around here, and our blogs' pillars are based on this.

So to do this, we are now going to look at each word and what it means in the context we use it. Then we will look at a few other little things that tie up what we build our blog on.

The Pillar of Joy

Our first word is Joy, we did say that this could be an acronym of its own we will get to that in a moment.

Joy to us is about chasing fulfillment not happiness. We need it to be our strength when things are not going so well, it is not just a feeling it is a lifestyle.

We haven't made it a secret that Christian faith-based elements will be incorporated into this blog from time to time and the concept of joy for us is the faith-based pillar we build on. 

Building on the concept of simple temple living we talked about the last post, joy represents the spiritual element of our pillars. We put Jesus first, then the fun stuff can follow.

Joy as an acronym stands for

 Jesus

  Others

You

We put Jesus first, and so we take care of others, but in order to do this we need to take care of ourselves so we are able to handle taking care of others.

You have to take care of yourself or else you won't be effective at caring for others or building a relationship with/serving Jesus. 

Rest is super important and this element allows us to build our little blogger house in a state of calm.

The Piller of Integrity.

In an age when super polished youtube videos and crazy- profitable blogging is a thing, it can be easy for people to lie about pretty much anything for money.

That will never be us.

If you sell your integrity, how exactly are people suppose to trust you?

Even when we do bring out products, do collaborations or encourage you to follow an affiliate link, we will do our best to get you a super sweet deal from an individual or business we actually trust ourselves.

If they do something to lose our trust more than once, we will no longer support them because we want to take extra special care of our awesome readers and to be honest, anything less wouldn't feel right to us.

We believe in transparency and authenticity is a dying art, we don't want to contribute to making it extinct online.

This is the soul element and pillar of our little blogger house.

The Piller of Vibrancy

So as is probably obvious, this is the body element of our little blogger house.

If you think about it though, this doesn't just cover our physical body, but the environment we live in also.

Everything we do on this site is going to have a fun, vibrant vibe to it.

Why?

Well, we happen to think that fun can be injected into just about anything, and life throws us enough hardships without us adding to our own sorrows by not choosing to see the glass half full.

Going back again to simple temple living, this does also mean that we will be recommending fun self-care, products, and quirky fun items for your home and wardrobe. 

Expect to see cosplay, blind bags and lots of other happy vibe items recommended here for the young and young at heart. ( age is just a number to us remember)

Also on this note, this would be a really great place to let you know that Lambi-Lambs is our blog mascot. She and her friends will be hanging out here to help us explain our points in various posts and to be your personal cheerleader as you learn to dance with life, but more on this later.

Right now we need to move onto the 4th pillar. of little blog house.

The Pillar of Encouragement

So we have already covered body, soul and spirit in our simple temple living pillars, so what could possibly be left?

Tone.

As we hinted at just a moment ago, our goal is to be your personal cheers leaders as you learn to dance with life. I, (Hayls) am a born encourager.

Nothing comes more naturally to be then complimenting others and helping them to see how awesome they are.

 In the name of authenticity and because being kind can go along way in this world, everything we share with you will be done with a tone of encouragement because we believe that you are worth it.

We don't take for granted the fact that you are choosing to spend some time with us, so we make it our mission to make you feel really special for as long as you choose to follow our work. 

Encouragement is the pillar that holds the other 3 in place and together these 4 pillars lead to the final concept we need to talk about.

It's time to put it all together, it's time to J.I.V.E....next post. 

See you then guys! 

Why I'm taking a break from blogging.

This post is so rough it's written on my tablet. 

I'm going to keep it short. 

Blogging is not what it used to be. 

It used to be a very casual but mildly still professional space but alas post pandemic the world has changed. 

You need to run a blog as a business these days not like one. Even a hobby blog has to follow certain business etiquette to even get a chance at being read. 

Fortunately for my readers, I've no problem with upping my game so that my blog is opporating at the professional standards it should be. 

But that's not everyone. Not everyone has the time to learn all the skills to make their blog a success.

I really wish people would stop saying that anyone can do this because truthfully we don't live in a equal opportunity world. 

I have skills gaps to take my blog to the next level so I'm taking a break from blogging to solve this. 

I'm also really not happy with the direction of this blog. Need to rethink and portentionaly rebrand. 

Hope you understand , I realize I'm going to loose a lot of readers by taking a break but it can't be helped. 

A Quick Update

 I have got to level with you guys, if I write the post I originally had planned, I'm scared to death of loosing this blog over it.

You may have noticed a distinct lack of freedom of speech creeping in on certain platforms

Which really does leave me with a choice to make.

This isn't easy because I'm in the awkward teen years in blog years. I have been at this for fifteen years now. 

I have stayed intentionally smallish because I NEVER want to loose the personal touch.

Now though its time to pivot and grow. 

The thing is the content here has been designed to provoke thought.

If I'm honest, the world is going in a very different direction then the one we're headed here on Daisy Change so I have to do what is right for the this blog, even if it does mean loosing half my audience.

See, it's not as simple as just writing what I want, because again we are very much in an age where we really have to watch what we say online. 

So what to do?

You just saw me do it. 

I made my struggle the post. 

I have touched on why I'm changing direction with my content and yes that does mean a new look, we need to embrace the pastel more for the vibe I'm going for. 

I need my work to be true to my voice but also, I really want you guys to get something out of it. 

Thing is, the natural evolution of this blog is that we have landed very happily over on social media. 

We are there more then here.

There will still be content going forward here, but not nearly as much as I there will be over on my socials. 

I think that's it.

This was just an update.

Take care and as always,

Wrapping Up Sort It Out September.

 Hey guys, 

Writing today feels really heavy, because the poem I shared last post felt very vulnerable. 

I hate writing heavy.

Yet, ironically, when I push past that feeling, I often find some of my best work comes out.

I'm getting into the habit of bringing out content on this blog only when its ready. 

If you follow me on social media, you  will know I put out a lot of content over on the various platforms I am on.

This is just a quick one today.

Just to say that I'm moving on from Sort it out September.

The content here will be out when it is ready, but I'm not pushing myself to write when my soul is so in need of repair. 

Its not appropriate right now to go into details. 

I'm just leading by example, and taking some time to let my soul heal before the next series on this blog.

Anyway that's it.

Take care all.

Sort It Out September - Authentic Faith: Living With A Vexed Soul

Last post, I told you that I am a Christian Universalist. 

My definition of this is believing that any path can lead to Jesus but the only way to the Father is through the Son.

That said, I need to build from here. 

I have to be delicate this post, as I know that people around the world are in grief, and we as a world are in a time of great uncertainty. 

I'm choosing not to comment on the passing of Queen Elizabeth, other then to say I'm not commenting on it but I am trying to write with the greatest of delicacy and respect today. 

Let's just say I know who my audience are, and I don't believe my opinions or comments on recent events will bring anything enlightening. 

If you haven't got anything worth saying then just don't.

I live by that. 

At present, I'm treating my blog more like a ministry than a business, and I'm in one of those moments where what makes sense for ministry would not make sense for business. 

This is the moment we cross over, back to our roots, 

Daisy Change is a ministry blog. 

Glory To God. 

I have other other projects for profit, but given the nature of the people that read my work, the most respectful thing is to let this content be free, my gift to you. 

Can you see the theme of respect that I have been bringing back into my work lately?

I truly believe that being respectful the way one should, is a lost art, and so I'm going to do my best to share how to be respectful regardless of what is happening in the world or indeed your personal world. 

Okay, ground work laid, let's get on with the meat of the post.

Sometimes the best way to support someone going through a hard time is just to put words on what they may be feeling.

Poetry is great for this. 

I hope this poem helps, then directly after it I'll say a few things about the vexed soul to offer a little hope. 

 The Vexed Soul

Secrets are heavy on mind mind, 

I see clearly, but I feel so blind. 

Grief has captured my heart, I don't feel whole.

There's something so heavy within me, I have a vexed soul. 

Battling between light dark, and dark light,

Even breathing right now feels like  a fight! 

I wish tears would stream down my face,

But this isn't the time, nor the place. 

Breaking, but I thought I was already broken.

Aching, my soul bleeds open. 

I don't have the words to fully describe what I feel.

I only hope, in time, with God's help I will heal. 

- Hayley Esther September 13th 2022

Not having the words to speak is the worst feeling in the world.

When our pain surpasses are ability to articulate how we feel, the only thing we can do is be in  the moment. 

It may not be a moment we want to be in but every moment in life has lessons for us if we look and listen, and sometimes the lesson is to simply just be still.

Take it all in. 

Despite how you feel now, it won't be like this forever. 

Sort It Out September - Authentic Faith: Why I am a Christian Universalist.

 For lack of a better way of putting it, coming out as any denomination other than Christian progressive's, is met with ridicule on all sides these days. 

I attend a denominational Church, but I am in fact a Christian Universalist. I'm about to explain it. 

It used to be we could say what form of Christianity we follow and people were pretty respectful. 

Oh how the world has changed. 

Respect is long gone in so many different arenas across the world. 

Change is my specialty, but even I have to painfully sigh at some of the changes the world has gone through. 

Conventional wisdom would have me add images and links through out this post, but since when have I ever done anything the conventional way. 

Yet my life is on track to where I want it to go. Going against the grain can sometimes be the best  thing we can do, and I'm all for unique and authentic individuals expressing that, but at the core of my being, I still believe the message Jesus Christ gave, the gospel of the kingdom is about love and true light. 

I have to word it that way because I'm very aware of the nature of my audience, I know I have a lot of ex Satanists, witches, masons, secret society members reading this. 

To them I would say Christian universalism would be a fantastic fit for those of you looking to Christ, but not sure which group of people you belong with. 

I would be very cautious with progressive's Christians, if you wanna know where the wolves went, that would be their prime target. Progressive Christians are easy targets, they already align with so much of the worlds way of doing things but we are called to be different and to guard the truth carefully. 

In my honest opinion, progressive Christianity is dangerous, especially if you are hurting  or gullible, but pretty much any other group that aligns with the Christian faith can be a good fit for new believers.

I know, I know, not why you're here. 

I'll get to the point. 

Why I am a Christian Universalist

Ok to start, what Christian Universalism means to me is the idea that anyone from any walk of life can come to Jesus, there is no one path to the son, but there is only one path to the Father through the Son. 

I believe literally anyone can repent and choose to live a Christian life, and yes this includes cult members, Satanists, Witches, Masons and Secret Society members. 

Time is short now, really short. 

Jesus would include these people in the building of His church, and there are plenty of testimonies of people from all walks of life finding Christ. 

I believe that all tribes, tongues and nations should work together to build and protect the kingdom of God. 

We are all called to play a role in the body of Christ, and no one role is greater than another. It's all about building to prepare ourselves to meet our king, but also to protect and help the world we are entrusted to take care of while we live here.

We are warned not to get caught up in doctrinal disputes and disagreements in the faith, in the bible. I'm gonna be honest, I can quote scriptural and verse but I am trying to be sensitive here, if I want my work to be translated in certain nations I have no choice but to reword the word. 

I know for a fact that I have non- English speaking readers, so I try to take that into account when I am writing. 

There are plenty of blogs for English speaking people, but my blog is translatable on purpose because I have an international audience.

Every single reader is precious to me, and in a similar way every Christian, every person in the world is precious to God, that really is what it boils down to be a Christian universalist.

I may not agree with everyone's life choices but I am respectful and truly believe anyone can come to Christ.  

That it is our job to take care of one another the way that Christ instructed His Church.

If we can bring the respect back across the world, it would be a better place and I for one believe the church should be leading the way.

That's it for now.