self love

Wanna Change Your Life? The Small Shit Is the Spell


Copyright Rambling Hippie Creative - July 2020

The Small Shit Is the Spell

Before you try to change your whole life, start with the habits, spaces, and choices you keep overlooking.

Look.. what you’re about to read may not land softly. But I’m delivering it to you exactly how it came through to me. Things are about to get real real around here. Honest. Direct. Sprinkled with adult emphasis words. If you need everything soft, polished, palatable, and wrapped in perfect little people-pleasing language, this may not be your corner of the innanet anymore. And yeah, I said innanet.

But.. if you’re here for truth, embodiment, accountability, healing, humor, and the kind of clarity that might lovingly snatch you up a lil bit — welcome babes.

Stop trying to figure out why shit went left.

At some point, the autopsy gets tired don’t it? At some point, digging through the ashes looking for the exact moment the fire started becomes its own kind of self-abandonment. Yes, reflect. Yes, tell the truth. Yes, take accountability. But baby boooo, do not build a whole personality around investigating the wreckage. And if you already have (hello! guilty), it’s time to let it unravel and get back to who you really are.

Decide why shit is going to go right.

That is a different frequency and posture altogether. Knowing yourself as the creator of your reality and doing something with it is a different relationship with your own life. A lot of people say they want radical transformation, but what they really want is for the entire universe to rearrange itself while they keep doing the same chaotic, careless, half-present shit every day.

And I say that with so much love.

People try to fix their whole life at once. They want the new body, the new income, the new relationship, the new house, the new nervous system, the new identity, the new glow, the new reality, the whole divine upgrade package overnight. And listen, I love that. I love a big vision. I love a delusional bitch with a journal, an altar, and prayers. But transformation is not just about what you call in. It is about what you can actually hold, babe.

So before you start talking about changing your entire life, start with making your bed.

Smooth the wrinkles out of the bedspread. Don’t just throw the comforter over the chaos and call it done. Be present. Be intentional. Move like the version of you who respects their own space. It might seem small, but small is where the evidence starts. Small is where your body begins to believe you.

Brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand. Not because it does anything different for your oral hygiene, but because your brain does. Break the autopilot. Wake up the parts of you that have been asleep at the wheel. Remind yourself that you are capable of choosing differently, even in the tiniest, most ordinary moments.

Use a planner. Use a journal. Use a sticky note, a notes app, the back of a damn receipt if you have to. Just stop letting your whole life float around in your head like a junk drawer with Wi-Fi. Write the day down. Write the insights and ideas down. You cannot organize a life you refuse to look at.

And sit the fuck up.

Fix your posture in the car, at the dinner table, in your office chair, at the restaurant, wherever. Walking? Chin up. Chest out. Look ahead. Not down. Not all around. Ahead. Move through the world like you’re no longer apologizing for taking up space. Your body is always casting a vote, one way or another. Your shoulders, your spine, your eyes, your breath. They’re all either saying, “I trust myself,” or “I forgot who the fuck I am.”

Wash your car. Inside and out. Take your time. Be meticulous. Don’t just run it through the wash and leave old cups, receipts, crumbs, and energetic residue in the seats. Clean the console. Shake the mats. Wipe the dust. Make the place that carries you feel like something worthy of carrying you.

Then do that shit at home too.

I’m talking baseboards. Under the bed. The closet. The drawers. Behind appliances. The places nobody sees. The places you have been avoiding because they tell the truth. That is where the work is. Not just in the aesthetic corner you post online, but in the hidden places where old energy gets to sit because nobody checks it. Familiar with Marie Kondo? If not, get to know her method and practice it religiously.

Now go take a shower like you are coming back to yourself.

Wash behind your ears. Clean your belly button. Scrub your feet. Run your fingers through your hair with that conditioner like you are handling the rarest diamonds in the world. Moisturize.. with shea butter, coconut oil, rose oil…something natural. Touch your own body like you are grateful it has carried you through every version of survival you have ever had to live through. When you look at yourself in the mirror, you should be thinking only the highest thoughts about you.

And when you eat, s-l-o-w down.

Pay attention to every bite of food and every sip of drink. Notice what you are thinking about. Notice how it tastes. Notice what your body does with it. Does it energize you? Does it dull you? Does it soothe you? Does it send you spiraling? Stop consuming everything like you are running from yourself. Food, drinks, content, conversations, people, habits. All of it is data reflecting your state.

This work isn’t about becoming perfect. Perfection is a trap, and honestly, it’s boring as hell. This is about becoming present. It’s about proving to yourself that you can be trusted with the life you keep asking for. This is foundation work.

Do all of this for a minimum of 21 days.

Make the bed. Brush your teeth differently. Write things down. Sit up. Walk like you mean it. Clean your car. Clean your home. Clean your body. Pay attention when you eat and drink. Watch your thoughts. Watch your patterns. Watch what starts shifting when you stop treating your daily life like it’s beneath your spiritual growth.

Then come talk to me about changing your entire life. And if that sounds like a lot, then maybe… ya ass isn’t ready for radical transformation yet.

Because the next version of you isn’t built in one dramatic breakthrough, awakening, or download. It’s built in the quiet space, the repeated decisions nobody claps for. It’s built in the mundane..in your discipline. Transformation can built in the way you fold the clothes, rinse the sink, hold your spine, choose your thoughts, and return to yourself over and over again.

You don’t need to fix your whole life today. But you do need to stop acting like the small shit doesn’t matter. It’s literally the spell that opens the door for what you’re calling in.

I know the work can feel urgent, or even heavy at times. That’s par for the course though baby. We need a lil discomfort to light a fire under our own seats sometimes.

We’ve arrived at embodiment. No more consistently thinking one thing, feeling and doing different. This level is about coherence.. alignment.. walking the walk.

Love, Light, & Shadow,
Ladye Marie <3

Nurturing the Soul In Colder Months: Grounding and Creativity

As the chill settles in and the days get shorter, there’s a kind of quiet magic in the air—a call to go inward, rest, and create. Winter might be a season for slowing down, but it’s also a sacred time to nurture our inner divine creativity. Whether you’re cozied up in a home base or on the move like myself, here are some grounding activities, crafts, and homemaking rituals that invite warmth and wonder into your world during these colder months.

Embrace a Slow Morning Ritual Just for You

In the quiet of this season, starting our mornings slow can set the tone for a grounded day. If you’re lucky enough to have a little nook by a window, take a few moments to soak in the morning light while sipping a warm tea. It doesn’t have to be a big production—you can read a few chapters in an interesting book, grab a cozy blanket, maybe light a candle, and just let yourself *be*. Adding a few drops of an essential oil like cedarwood or an herbal medicine tincture can create a grounding atmosphere. As you sip your tea, take in deep nose breaths and express gratitude for whatever comes to mind. The emphasis should be on the breath and the feeling of gratitude, no matter what its tied to. These small rituals are like planting seeds for a positive, creative day ahead.

Create a Seasonal Altar or Sacred Space

Whether you’re parked in a van or tucked away in a home, setting up a small altar or sacred space can be a beautiful way to connect with the energy of fall/winter. Gather natural elements like pinecones, acorns, dried herbs, or crystals. You can use this space for grounding meditation or even as a place to journal or pull oracle cards. Make it reflect the energy you want to invite in—peace, creativity, balance. Even if it’s just a small corner, creating a little sanctuary can be a powerful anchor in the colder months. I do this even as I’m traveling, whether in a bnb, family’s home, tent etc. and it helps tremendously in keeping me grounded in myself.

Nature Walks & Winter Foraging

Just because it’s chilly doesn’t mean nature s off limits. Bundle up and get outside for a mindful walk. Collect interesting twigs, rocks, or fallen leaves for crafts or decorating. Winter has its own textures and colors if we slow down to notice them. Bringing natural finds back with you can lead to inspiration for creative projects or become grounding items on your altar.

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

DIY Natural Candle Making

Candles are a must for winter coziness. Try your hand at making your own natural beeswax candles infused with natural scents like pine, cinnamon, or clove. You don’t need a fancy setup. Get a simple candle-making kit, and add essential oils and natural decorations like dried herbs or tiny pinecones. Not only is this a great grounding craft, but it also feels amazing to light something you’ve created with intention.

Crochet, Knitting, or Weaving

If there’s ever a time to get cozy with yarn, it’s this time of year. Crochet, knitting, sewing, and weaving are all wonderful ways to unwind, stay present, and tap into that meditative flow of creativity. Don’t worry if you’re new to it; there are tons of beginner tutorials online. Start with something simple. Fiber crafts are perfect for creating something useful and warm, and they’re travel-friendly if you’re on the road.

Creative Journaling or Art

Set up a little creative corner with some of your favorite art supplies, a journal, or a sketchbook. Let this space be free of expectation—just a place to play and let your imagination wander. You can doodle, paint, or write poetry, whatever feels right. Keeping a journal by your side allows you to process, dream, and keep track of creative ideas and divine insights.

Practice Intentional Movement

When it’s cold, we might feel like staying wrapped in blankets, but even gentle movement can help us connect with our body and ground us. Try some gentle yoga flows, intuitive stretching, or even just putting on some music and swaying to it. Slow movements help us stay connected to ourselves, and if you’re somewhere with limited space, these can be easily done in a small area.

Bake Something Simple & Nourishing

Even if you’re in an RV with a tiny oven, baking can be a meditative act. Try a simple loaf of bread, muffins, or a small batch of cookies. It’s not about making something fancy—just the act of creating and enjoying something warm can be grounding and heartwarming. If you’re in a kitchen with limited supplies, you’d be surprised at the grounding energy that even a small skillet cornbread or a few spiced apples can bring.

Seasonal Decor & Simple Homemaking Touches

Adding touches of nature to your space brings warmth and a bit of magic to even the simplest setup. Use foraged branches, dried herbs, or winter flowers. They can be placed in a vase or even tied with twine and hung over a rear view mirror. If you’re nomadic, this can bring a sense of “home” wherever you are. These seasonal touches remind us that even as we wander, we can create spaces that feel sacred and aligned with our spirit.

Soulful Sounds

Whether you consider yourself musically inclined or not, you can bring soulful sounds into your space - aligning our emotional body with the external. I travel with a guitar I can barely play (as of now anyway), but you may prefer a singing bowl or steel tongue drum, or perhaps a harmonica. Even a small wind chime hanging on the porch or a soothing drum beat can help us stay in tune with our internal rhythm. Don’t be afraid of it not being good, just play. Make the sounds intuitively and see how you feel.

Embrace Reflection & Dreaming

Winter is also a powerful time for dreaming and reflection. Use this quiet period to journal on your intentions, dreams, inspired thoughts, and creative ideas. Let your imagination run wild with what you want to create, do, or explore. It’s a season for planting the seeds of what’s to come, so honor it by dreaming big.

There’s something deeply fulfilling about intentionally creating warmth and beauty, especially during the quiet of colder months. These grounding activities are a way to honor the season, our creative spark, and the beauty in slowing down. Take what resonates, let yourself be inspired, and trust that every small act of creativity is a step toward deeper connection with yourself.

Stay cozy, stay grounded, and let’s welcome the magic of this season together.

Wishing you love, light, wisdom and safe passage through the shadow season.

Growth Group Workshop Packet PDF

**Updated in 2024 Growth Group Workshop packet with assessments, habit tracker, and other tools for self-exploration and alignment. This is a digital product I sell own my shop for $27, provided at no cost to Growth group MEMBERS ONLY. Print and work through the worksheets at your leisure, or make it a whole self-care sesh and put on this Rambling Hippie Podcast episode to walk you through it!

Empowerment Playlist - Motivation & Inspiration to Be the Best You

One of my private YouTube playlists filled with motivation and empowering videos that make me want to be a better me. I go back and re-listen to them often. We all need to be reminded sometimes of our greatness, and this contains plenty of self-empowerment GOLD. If you're new to a healing/self-improvement path, or even if you've been working on yourself for a while and need some great reminders, I encourage you to dive in and find some inspo that makes you want to dig in deep and keep going. YOU ARE CAPABLE OF LIVING THE LIFE OF YOUR DREAMS.

Rambling Hippie Empowerment Playlist

If you enjoy this playlist, let me know which are some of your favorite videos! I’ll add to this playlist periodically as I come across more aligned inspiration.

Complete Samadhi Series - Pt 1, II, and III

Samadhi, (Sanskrit: “total self-collectedness”) in Indian philosophy and religion, and particularly in Hinduism and Buddhism, the highest state of mental concentration or awareness that people can achieve while still bound to the body and which unites them with the highest reality.

Below is a link to the three part Samadhi series. If you are on a path of ascension, curious about consciousness or simply remembering the truth of oneness and who you are, these hold something beautiful for you.

Samadhi 3 Part Series on YouTube

Samadhi 1 – “Maya, the Illusion of the Self”

Samadhi Part 2 – "It's Not What You Think"

Samadhi Part 3 – “The Pathless Path”

This series can be found on Gaia and YouTube, and I recommend it to those just beginning a spiritual path or experiencing an awakening, and anyone who wants to learn more about spirituality and the nature of our reality. It will either blow the lid off of your preconceived notions about this life, or it will confirm all the things your inner being has already shown you.

If you enjoy this series, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments here!

Comprehensive Audible List: My Personal Self-Empowerment Library

In 2015 shortly after having my second child, I was at a cross-roads in my life. A lot of things seemed to be not working and I was ready to transcend my unfulfilling reality. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, unhappy in my work and relationships, and feeling like I was being called to be a completely different version of myself as a woman, mother, and divine being.

As a pastor's kid and grandkid, this part of my journey led me back to church and deeper into biblical texts and Christian-based books. The more I read and listened to books about Jesus and spiritual freedom, the more I could see that something else was happening.. for the first time in my life I allowed myself to question my beliefs without shame or guilt. I was losing my religion, finding my truest self, and embracing deeper, bigger truths about my personal reality and everything/everyone around me.

This path led me to knowledge about fasting (which I will talk about in another post), meditating, giving up old ways of thinking, doing, and being. I embraced my unbecomin, my deprogramming, and the possibility that all I had learned in church/scripture growing up was merely part of a much bigger truth.

I don't remember exactly how I found Audible. Aside from indulging in several WWII books as a child, I was never really a big reader. Few topics were able to keep my attention, as I found myself getting bored or rereading the same lines over and over trying to process and remember. Audiobooks unlocked a whole new world for me. I started listening to them at work and in the car, and found myself more focused on tasks, less bored with my work, and growing into a more empowered version of myself all simultaneously.

Very early in my Audible journey, a good friend of mine and someone I respect greatly suggested the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo. If you've read The Alchemist, you know that although it is fiction, it contains a message of truth that calls for your spirit to realize itself. That is exactly what started to happen for me. After digesting this title, it was like I jumped into a rabbit hole of learning, healing, journeying through my spirit, finding love in the places that previously hurt, getting my sh*t together and embracing the notion that my life was about to radically change.

This was the beginning of a painful season of falling apart so I could ultimately become something greater. I want to share with you many of the titles I've listened to from 2016 to now, as they have impacted me in ways I may never have words to accurately describe. These books (in addition to those I physically read) carried me through myself, through my dark nights of the soul, through my triumphs over sadness and despair, and lifted my soul as no one or no thing ever had.

My personal Audible list contains a range of genres, not just self-help or books on spirituality. Some are novels, some financial how-to's, history, political memoirs, religious texts, regenerative agriculture, psychology, psychedelics etc. I've left out several business and niche-specific titles, though I may put together a separate list for those later. Together, they form a library of thought that comes together beautifully to assist in my unlearning and relearning. It's a fairly long list (90 titles currently), so I hope you find some wisdom here. As with anything I share, please take what resonates and leave what doesn't.

If you have already read or listened to any of these books, or if you do so after reading this, and were/are as deeply impacted as I, I'd love to hear from you in the comments. I'll update it semi-frequently to keep the list current.

Love, light, and truth to you all <3, Ladye


RAMBLING HIPPIE AUDIBLE LIST

Titles listed in the chronological order in which I consumed them.