5 Ways to Recover Your Soul

If you’re a dreamy free soul chances are you’ve felt trapped in the toxic confines of reality at some point or throughout most of your life. Sadly most of the world just doesn’t get us. We’re labeled weird, crazy, lazy or worse when we really just aren’t cut out for conformity.

DO NOT FEEL ALONE…

I know it’s easy to say that, but my god is it tough to believe.

For most of my life I’ve felt trapped or even this strange homesick type of feeling for a reality that doesn’t seem to exist. Luckily my parents are of the daydream believer nature also, but I still seem to get caught in the whirlwind of society’s expectations sometimes.

We live in a world where the fucking Kardashian/ Jenner family are the role models for our youth. Yet society deems the dreamers, lovers and TRUE free spirits to be weirdos? No wonder we get depressed! I’ll gladly vow as a weirdo than praise the uninspiring media puppets as my source of future identification.

So, how do you stay grounded in your beautiful uniqueness and wallow in the weirdness when society tries to shift your mind? Here are a few ways I remain in love with my true self in the midst of mental rubbish…

1. Surround yourself with like mind self loving good for your soul people. You don’t have to believe in the same things, or dress the same, or anything else the same. Just make sure you all have that one thing in common… You all love your true self (whoever or whatever that may be).  If you don’t know these people already, join a strong good vibe social media community.

2. Light up some incense, get your face out of a screen and sit in total silence. Take some time completely alone in total silence just to think… In my experience it’s the best way to remember who you are.

3. Turn off the screens and turn up the tunes. Since I’ve not had cable and limited my time on Facebook I’ve had less and less personality conflicts. MUSIC IS MEDICINE!

4. Go outside! Walk barefoot, lay in the grass, feel the wind, smell the flowers, or forget the umbrella. Get grounded and get happy.

5. Reflect on how lucky you are to be a nonconformist. You’re rare and it’s beautiful baby!

Above all, just bring yourself back to the center of realization that you’re a free spirit. You’re not owned by society like the majority.

For the record, a Jenner with a flower in her hair doesn’t mean she’s a free spirit. It’s not a fad or a style; it’s a way of life and form of mind.

Peace sign up,
Amanda Machell

Good Vibes To-Go

I’ve decided to take a break from the deep thoughts today and share a little self made hippie healing diy for the home, heart, and mind. I’m very ritualistic in our home. Not of the obsessive compulsive nature, but more so to conserve the beautiful loving energy conveyed in our life. Of course sage, Palo salto, and incense burnings are a must (almost daily) along with meditations and prayer. I’ll get into more of all that on a later post while discussing cleansing, but today it’s all about essential oil tonics.

BEFORE YOU QUESTION GOING ANY FURTHER PLEASE NOTE:
I do not sell essential oils and I am not trying to get you into a pyramid marketing business! Can you tell I’m so over those ‘you can change your life and have your own business spills’? Just let me go to Wholefoods to buy my oil where people won’t pester me and I don’t have to listen to your marketing pitch.

ANYWAYS…

Oil tonics are great because they are of the ‘to-go’ good vibes nature. My favorite right now is a Patchouli and Absolute Rose concoction. Here’s why:

Patchouli & Rose are both helpful in areas of depression, anxiety, and love. Rose also helps with self confidence. Patchouli also works as a deodorant and bug repellent.

Together these scents create an intoxicating tonic that I personally use as a mental pick me up, perfume, and a room spray throughout my home or car. It’s comforting, inviting, and a definite conversation starter. I’m asked almost daily what I’m wearing and complemented way more than when I wore $80 an ounce Tom Ford perfume.

Here’s the formula…

In a one once spray bottle, mix 15 to 20 drops each of both patchouli and absolute rose. Fill the rest of the bottle with distilled water. Shake before spraying each time. I get all my oils and spray bottles from WholeFoods. I’ve used oils for years and in my personal opinion the less expensive brands are just as effective considering I’m not using them as a form of homeopathic medicine.

Spray the good vibes my little beauties! You’ll be shocked at who you might touch to join the good vibe tribe with this simple aromatic remedy.

Peace sign up,
Amanda Machell

Gnats of Wall Street

Have you ever studied a gnat? So innocent & naive yet the disgust of it’s animal class. Recently we came home from out of town to an apartment filled with these little innocent aggravators. #HouseSitterProbs

A problem I’m now surprisingly thankful for, because like most events in my life I took something valuable from watching their tiny lives peak and crash. In an effort to catch as many as I could to gain our sanity back, I filled a wine glass with water and agave nectar. Before you read anymore I can promise you this isn’t some ‘catch more flies with honey’ spill that’s miss used and over preached. What I witnessed was disgusting naive greed that ultimately led to death in vein.

They spend their entire existence flying around in chaos searching for an abundance of the sweet life. It’ll feed their hunger, give them energy and get them higher. It can give them everything they’ve ever needed and longed for during their inconsiderate existence. With one taste of it’s power they’re hooked for life only wanting more and more of it’s sinfully good fulfilment. What’s so ironic is that it will ultimately kill them. These gnats are so greedily focused on getting all the wealth for themselves they are blinded to the slow death they are right in the middle of endearing. So drunk on the wealth, they drown in it’s abundance without recognition of the greed itself being the infection.

I hope I haven’t lost you yet, I tend to type uncontrollably when passion takes over my mind…

We walk among these gnats daily! They are our peers, the strangers we aimlessly pass on the street, and quite possibly our most loved ones in life. One taste of power and money has killed their soul, their spirit and blindingly killing their physical bodies. I’m not talking about the wealthy spirits amoung us who give back bits of their wealth, knowledge, and love to the world. It’s the ones who gain it all and only pray for more to help themselves. This holds true not only for money! If you have wisdom, if you have love, if you’ve found peace, if you’ve been enlightened and you keep it all to yourself this too is greed in my opinion. Your ego will tell you that people will make fun of you or think you’re strange if you decide to share this metaphysical wisdom with the world. I’m still in the process of shaking this fear myself. I can’t tell you the crazy looks I’ve been given when I talk about sage, crystals and feeling people’s energy or hearing/ feeling god. The cruel comments and dirty looks are totally worth hearing someone come back to you eventually saying ‘I get it, I don’t know what happened but it’s amazing!’. Don’t be greedy with your beautiful existence. What good is the peace, love, and wisdom that comes with enlightenment if you don’t share it’s  pure happiness with the world? What good is all the power and money if it sits in cemented walls when it can save lives?

These naive little gnats are so relevant to us, maybe to teach us. Look for the lesson in everything…

Peace Sign Up,
-Amanda Machell

Life After Eutopia

There’s something so life altering about music, the people who are completely addicted to it, and the true artists who devote every bit of their soul to it’s production. I think that’s what’s so mesmerizing about festivals. You’ve got all the these people living completely for the sake of music for days on end. The love is magnetic, the sounds electrifying, the energy pure ecstasy. After living in the closest thing to eutopia for days on end it’s painfully hard returning to reality. If you’ve ever immersed yourself in this atmosphere and felt it to the core then you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Since we’ve returned from the beach on our latest musical journey it’s been hard on my soul to recover. Like I’ve been dropped into freezing cold water and left to drown. But it’s not water at all… It’s just this cold and sick reality we’ve all grown immune to.

Watching people going about their day without living creates nausea. Their blinded daily cycle cripples my heart. I can’t count the times I’ve wept in solitude since returning to reality. Not just in sadness for their ignorance, but in awe of the absolute gift a fraction of us have been given of awakened enlightenment.

In less than two weeks now we’ll live out the eutopia again, this time at Bonnaroo. I’m almost scared to come back to reality after this one because of the lengthy time between the next. Until then I’ll just keep spreading the energy throughout my reality. If you feel the silenced internal eutopia I encourage you to send it out too. What’s the use in feeling the awakening if you don’t spread bits of it’s wealth around?

Peace Sign Up,
-Amanda Machell

A Refreshed Perspective

It’s been far too long since I’ve last posted. A lot has taken place not only in my life, but also within my soul. For starters I began the 27th year of my life last Friday. The celebration took place on day one of the Hangout music fest on the beach so I couldn’t possibly have asked for more.

I’ll back track to before I left though. My mind is quite notorious for drifting continuously & my spirit is not a stranger to metaphysically longing for more living. With no surprise, I was beginning that all too familiar season of internal unsettlement. A cycle of my mind that once threw me into a spiral of lost persona, now helps me gain identity a little more with each onset.

Before we even left for the Hangout I could feel some soul shaking changes and ideas beginning to weave into my veins. So, weaving number one on my refreshed enlightenment will be to share the many meditations of my life through this media outlet. Our world is hurt, our people are infected, and it’s time for some universal healing together. No, I’m not some master guru that has it all figured out. I’m just a dreamer raised by two amazing bohemian mindset parents who praise personal achievements of unconditional love and peace over scholar and wealth gains. I can’t stick to my yoga routines, nor am I a vegan. Idealistically I’m no hippie superhero, just your average barefoot weirdo with messy hair and a pack of incense. What I do have is a dream, a full heart, and a vision to share good vibes with the world…Don’t you just love a new spiritual journey? 

Peace sign up,

Amanda Machell

Meatless Mondays

I grew up in a family of minimalist carnivores. My sweet southern grandparents had a farm with plenty of veggies to spread among the whole family, and our family isn’t small by any means. We all had enough veggies frozen from the family garden to last all year. If we did by chance run out, a quick visit to the grand’s freezer for a restock was as simple as that. Flash forward twenty years and the farmland garden is no more, but the values they bestowed on us all seem to be everlasting.

I’m not vegetarian by any means but more of what I like to call, a minimalist carnivore. My sweet sweet live in boyfriend believes in meat for every meal. I always cook veggies for dinner but of course I partake in the WHOLE meal, meat included. It’s been strange coming from extremely common dinners that included only aged cheese, fresh strawberries drizzled with a vinaigrette dressing and a few glasses of wine. My mouth is absolutely watering as I type right now. So, a new ritual in our glorious little household will be meatless Mondays. Veggies only, in rainbow patterns will fill our simple white dinnerware.

Why we’re doing it:

More energy & a quick weekly detox for starters. I don’t have any scientific research to back it up, but I feel like it’s a damn good way to begin the week with a healthy kick-start. Speaking of kick-starts, I’m hoping it will encourage me to remain in an ultra clean eating minimal meat frame of mind the whole week.

On our first meatless dinner he said, and I quote, ‘How am I going to get full if we aren’t eating any meat?!’. This is sure to be a journey, stay tuned my loveys!

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-Amanda Machell

Social Media Purge: How & Why I Made the Cut.

I’m a millennial so of course I’m attached to social media quite often throughout my week. It’s often a huge part of our lives that we just can’t possibly explain to our baby boomin’ elders. In their eyes it’s more likely a waste of time. Now, while I don’t agree with them, I do believe when used improperly it is in fact a time sucking ignorance enthusing monster. This fallen angel has at some point for all of us turned into a beast.

Here’s what the boomers fail to understand….

Social media wears many hats.

It’s our inspirational speaker, our cheapest form of higher education, the window to millions of friends from all walks of life, a way to see every corner of the world for those who never could, the creative business opportunity for an underdog….

and most importantly, a medium to unify humanity. 

So, where have we gone wrong?

We’ve followed, re-tweeted & liked our way into a black hole of chaos and (too often) bold faced bullshit. All the junk and spam is filling our  feeds, wasting our time, and killing the genius of social media. I realized this in my own social world this week when I observed how little I actually got on twitter these days. I summed it up to the idea that I never spent time on my once loved outlet because my twitter feed annoyed more than it inspired, motivated, or educated me. So, now I begin the purge…

So far I’ve purged my twitter and half of my instagram. This media frenzy beast is not the easiest to tackle. It’s been extremely time consuming but absolutely worth every minute spent. Surprisingly I feel more organized and much more inspired to post!!

TIPS FOR TACKLING THE BEAST:

• First go through your entire list of followers and anyone’s profile that doesn’t inspire you or make you uber enthusiastic about social media, unfollow.  This should take a big chunk of junk out of your news-feed. You’ll be really shocked to remember how much someone clutters your feed just by glimpsing their profile pic.
• Every time you scroll the feed and find a spammer, troll or annoyance you unfollow them right away! Don’t put it off until later just because you want to keep scrolling. I’m telling you, it’s worth the ten seconds to take care of this!
• IF THEY DON’T INSPIRE, MOTIVATE, EDUCATE, OR MORE MAKE YOU LAUGH, YOU DO NOT NEED TO FOLLOW. IT’S JUST WASTING YOUR TIME. They may inspire others, but their media just isn’t right for your feed.

 

Peace Sign Up,

-Amanda Machell

Ocean Lover Detox Soak

You know that feeling you get when something seems to be missing in life but strangely you’ve got everything? I hit that odd sensation sporadically throughout the year but the sunshine peaking pre-summer season, we’ll call it spring, magnifies this bittersweet longing in my soul.

My spirit never feels more at home than anywhere else when I’m in the cool mist of salty waves crashing against the shore. The aromatherapy of fresh mineral scented air alone is enough to make me feel euphoria. Reflections of sunshine off the water creating sweet little dancing shadows along skin… Beams of sun rays off the white hot sand that are sometimes so blinding all you can do is shut your eyes and take in the magic… I miss it all.  I get this homesickness feeling of sorts that can’t be shaken off.

For a quick fix to feed my aching little spirit I’ve created a body cocktail of sorts that eases the longing until my feet hit the blistering sand once more. In a hot bath mix the following:

• 1/4 Cup Sea Salt: I use a sea salt from the Atlantic in Portugal I purchase at a local health food store. Read about the mental & physical benefits of sea salt here.
• 1 Tbs Powdered Coconut Milk: Besides the island scent that will take you on an escape, coconut milk is soothing & moisturizing for the skin.
• 1 Tsp Kukui Oil: I’ve fallen in love with this native Hawaiian oil in the last year. Besides being ultra moisturizing, it’s great for acne, scars & sunburns. My favorite is by Alba Botanica.
• Essential Oils (of choice)

It’s a soak that’s very soothing for your mind, body & soul. I try to take one of these at least once a week, but if you’re having a stress out moment it’s an amazing quick remedy for some ease. For an added beach vibe bonus I douse my body in extra virgin unrefined coconut oil after drying off.

Peace Sign Up,

-Amanda Machell

5 Minute Guacamole

Days are getting longer, sun’s a little brighter and if you live in the South the humidity’s starting to kick in a bit more every day. The summers in Mississippi are so suffocatingly hot I begin to crave food of the light & natural variety.

My obsession with avocados lately has hit a whole new level of crave, making my intake of guacamole on the rise (of skyscraper proportion). I travel every week for my job so on long days I’m all about quick and easy meals.

All you need is five minutes and these ingredients:

Fresh Avocado, Rotel Tomatoes, Lime Juice, Jalapeno’s, Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, Cayenne Pepper

• Mix 3 squirts of lime juice & 4 dashes of onion powder with avocado
• Add salt, pepper, & Cayenne to taste
• Chop 5 sliced jalapeno’s (add juice for extra spice *optional)
• Add 1/3 can of Rotel tomatoes

The measurements are in this recipe are based on a single avocado serving. Double, triple or quad the ingredients for multi person gatherings!

 

Peace sign up,

-Amanda Machell

In The Beginning There Will Be Confusion…

I never know how to start these things. In the last seven years I’ve started & quit at least four different blogs. So, I guess my real difficulty with this digital endeavor would be continuation instead of beginning. Now years later, while sipping on my second glass of French rose with two sleeping dogs (my only children) & Gossip Girl on Netflix drowning out the background of my thoughts, I write… again.

I suppose this times thoughts may actually have a lasting impression on myself long enough to keep up mediocre stamina. Half assing my personal creative life is strangely what I’ve been a professional at forever. Maybe with 26 years under my belt this time I’ll have some shit I’m excited to write about & you’re excited to read… & the world continues to turn.

A lot has changed in the last few years that I’ve decided not to attempt to gain a blog-worthy existence. Here’s a brief rundown, since my years of failed blogs have told me that we’re now reaching the point when your attention span weakens unless I make things visual.

Cue the fragmented bullets & visually appealing photos…

 

Peace sign up,

Amanda Machell