By Toni O’Keeffe
What does real human beauty look like?
Is it in the eyes? the lips? the curves on a body?
Is it something we can touch? something that gives pleasure or an emotion we can feel?
Maybe beauty is not what we are, perhaps it’s something we become?
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Kindness, positivity, a gentle heart
and the way you shine your light ~
Let these things be the most
beautiful and defining qualities in you.
Toni O’K~🌹❤️
By Toni O’Keeffe
One day I hope you wake up with a sense of “knowing”. A knowing that allows you to realize that each step along your path was a lesson leading you to exactly where you’re supposed to be, which is here living this life, with this tribe.
And in this moment of “knowing”, every heartache, loss, mis-adventure, the chaos, the confusion, the pain, the highs and the lows, are all understood.
And because of this realization, you’re able to release the burden of any, anger, judgment, jealousy, hate or regret, because you now understand these things have never served you, they merely blocked your path.
Yup, one day, I hope we all arrive at this place, a little wiser, kinder, more playful and peaceful, “knowing” we’re all teachers and students, here for each other. And then, we’ll party 🤗🎉
“Let it go, Let it be.
Let you be you, and me be me.”
Toni O’K ~ 🌹❤️
By Toni O’Keeffe
I wake up “almost” every morning excited about the unexpected adventures, learning, inspiration, sights, and sounds the day might bring.
Will I meet someone new? Will I discover a wee hovel or an amazing vista somewhere?
Perhaps the road I choose today will lead to a spark of creative inspiration that motivates me to paint, write or grow something amazing.
It’s this hope, excitement, anticipation and the day-dreaming that lifts me up, tickles my soul and sets the tone for my day AND my life.
No matter what’s causing you pain, or what’s bringing you down, you can still choose to be optimistic, hopeful and excited about what’s to come.
It’s this hope, optimism and our whimsy little dreams that shape our futures and colour our lives.
It’s easy to let fear, pain, pessimism and a lack of dreams cast dark clouds over your future. It’s much easier to allow hope to guide you and brighten your day.
Despite the darkness, we can choose to gaze towards the light and be the happy, hopefully, kind little humans we’re meant to be.
You can do this by;
No matter what’s going on for you today, I hope you choose to be enthusiastic about life and hopeful about everything you still want to do, see, learn, discover and explore.
DON’T let what ails you today, be the building block for your tomorrow.
Let those good vibes roll baby❤️
Love Toni
By Toni O’KEEFFE
You’re allowed to step away from everything and everyone demanding anything from you.
You don’t have to explain why, you may not even know why.
You’re allowed to stop and go to your sanctuary.
Perhaps it’s amongst the trees or under the stars. You might find it’s next to the lull of moving water, or in an open field of wild flowers or along a trail that leads you to beautiful vistas. A place that’s tranquil, uncluttered and asks nothing of you other than to enjoy her beauty. A place where you can exhale and surrender to the sound of your soul whispering all she wants you to know. A place you can close your eyes and both listen and HEAR.
We all need quiet spaces away from the noise of the world. Spaces we can show up as the confused, messy, tired little beings we all sometimes become. Spaces away from judgement and expectations. Spaces where we can sort ourselves out, put ourselves back together and heal.
You’re allowed to put down the weight and the burdens you carry; to rest, reflect, and catch your breath.
So do that. Give yourself permission to take a break from all of it “IT” and drown yourself in peace.
Toni O’K~ 🌹❤️☮️
By Toni O’Keeffe
Maybe LESS really is MORE ?
Most of our lives we’re told to be MORE, to want MORE to consume MORE.
Perhaps, we all need to be a little LESS right now?
~ Less doubtful and more optimistic
~ Less offended and more understanding
~ Less worried and more calm
~ Less impatient and more tolerant
~ Less critical of yourself and more self nurturing
~ Less violent and more peaceful
~ Less angry and more loving and kind
~ Less prejudice and more accepting
~ Less greedy and more giving
~ Less negative and more positive
~ Less indifferent and more compassionate
~ Less wasteful and more environmentally conscious
~ Less entitled and more grateful
~ Less busy and more chill baby😊
~ Less blinded by truth, and more acknowledging of where humanity has faltered and failed, so we can ALL finally heal.
Imagine if we were all a little bit LESS; how much MORE we could ALL be together.
Toni O’K~🌹❤️
By Toni O’Keeffe
Our entire lives we’re on a quest to feel whole and happy. As we wait for happiness to arrive, some of us fill the empty spaces in our lives with distractions, temporary highs, busyness, unfulfilling relationships, toxic substances, material possessions and the debt that often comes with them, but still, the emptiness remains.
As children we knew how to laugh, how to play and what made us happy. It was being close to the ones we loved, exercising our curiosity, exploring our environment, creating adventures, making art, splashing in puddles, running barefoot in the rain, playing in a forest or a pond, taking risks and trusting we’d be okay, even if we fell; these are the things that filled us up.
Then, as we grew, life became cluttered with distractions, busyness, possessions, stress, too much information, self doubt and responsibility. Many of us parked our creativity, abandoned our curious nature, spent less time with those we loved and we stopped doing those wonderful things that made us happy when we we’re children.
It’s time to invite the child who lives in each of us to come out and play, to remember the happiness we felt when we set ourselves free from the clutter and distractions that bog us down.
Even amidst the frenzied noise and turmoil in the world, we can still CHOOSE to be happy.
Today is a good day;
~ To look up and see the world through the curious eyes of the child in you and reclaim your sense of wonder.
~ To seek out a new adventure and bask in the beauty around you.
~ To flip over a few rocks along the shoreline and see what scurries out.
~ To pull out a colouring book, make a kite, play in the sand, go to a park and get on a swing, hang off a monkey bar, make a mud pie or do some happy finger painting on your guest room wall.
~ To giggle, to play and melt back into your authentic happy little self.
Today’s a good day to be happy.
To let go and jump, skip, slide, soar, surf, run, ride, sail, paddle or swim, right past anything blocking your path to happiness.
You came into this world knowing where happiness resides, it’s still there waiting for you to unleash its power over your life.
Love Toni 🌹❤️
We’ve grown into a species of 7 billion people living on one small planet, bumping into each other (literally), sharing the air we breathe, sharing public spaces, leaving our DNA, germs and garbage everywhere.
We are the messiest, most destructive species on earth. We dump our garbage and effluent into the land and oceans providing our food, pump tons of toxins into the air, and then, we wonder why we’re all getting sick and how we got into this pandemic situation.
Our desire to travel globally, consume and purchase goods and services from around the world, and our desires to expand our business, recreational and investment interests into the global marketplace, have changed the way people, products, AND disease travel.
Blaming other countries, other races, even other animals, for this current pandemic is misplaced. With a few exceptions, we all own this mess.
I know I’m part of the problem. I’m part of a generation that consumes too much. I travel and I want to travel again. So, I will have to make decisions that keep myself and those I come into contact with, safe. I don’t see this as an infringement of my rights, I see this as a responsibility that comes with my right to live my life a certain way.
Unless we’re all prepared to stay in our boxes, stop traveling, start growing our own food, start buying local etc., another pandemic is in our future. Not because any one person is going to do one thing wrong, but because 7 billion people move around one little blue planet spreading germs, garbage and disease. 7 billion people who as a species, have not learned how to coexist with other life on earth.
Oh what a mess we’ve made.
If we spent as much time owning our responsibilities to care for the planet and each other, as we do declaring “our rights” hmm, we might stand a chance.
Until we learn how to treat the planet and each other in ways that are gentle, respectful, loving and kind, we will continue down our garbage laden road, leaving a wake of destruction that ends with our extinction.
Toni O’K~🌹❤️
Life became easier when I surrendered my own tenacity and began to live with an open heart and an open mind.
There are things I’ve discovered and learned along the way, which I might never have unearthed if I had remained locked in my own stubbornness.
Our struggles often result from our inability to see the possibilities beyond our own thinking and the doctrines imposed on us.
Living with an open heart and mind means considering alternatives, actively listening to opinions different from our own, being kind before jumping to judgment and being aware of signs along the way pointing you in new directions.
Open minds and open hearts, have created more music, magic, poetry, peace, love and light in the world, then closed minds and cold hearts.
Toni O’Keeffe~🌹❤️
Toni O’Keeffe
January, 2021
If you seek less
rather than more,
and, your big dreams
are of simple pleasures
and simple times,
then you my friend,
have an amazing grasp
on this thing called life.
Toni O’K~❤️🌹
Toni O’Keeffe
My whimsey heart and childlike spirit are oh so playful, inquisitive, excited about life, full of energy, hope and believe anything is possible.
But the lady that looks back at me from the mirror tells another story. She possesses the calm and wisdom of her age, a sense of gratitude for making it this far, a few regrets and a curiosity for what might come next. She knows time is passing, so she embraces the gifts that arrive with each day.
The gray in her hair, folds in her skin and lines on her face are the well-worn roadmap pointing to the places she’s been. Her scars are the badges that honour her life and the lives she has brought into the world.
There is still much she wants to do, to see, to create and love.
As she continues on her path, she will allow her inner child to remain playful, believing she can still be more than she is. Her heart will continue to love and believe in the goodness that resides in everyone. She will remain curious and her gypsy soul will continue to dance. And, her body, well, I will love her as she is.
I hope you live your days, being fully present, grateful and in a state of awe for the adventure that is your life.
TO’K ~ 🌹❤️
The Whimsey Angel 