FAR Photography - Inspired Living SA

Cape Town Lifestyle, FAR Photography, Instagram, Lifestyle

My Week on Instagram

Hi everyone it is Monday again and time for me to share My Week on Instagram! I am afraid I have been a bit slack on the blogging front but things have been a bit chaotic around here! From organising my daughters 13th Birthday party this Saturday, to my poor pooch having to go in for an operation this week, there has not been much time for anything else!

The one thing I am trying to maintain in the midst of all the chaos is healthy living and healthy eating! We are trying, as a family, to eat a well-balanced diet, which means cutting out all the processed foods and including lots of fresh fruit and veg. The other side of staying healthy – for me anyway, is maintaining my fitness level, my goal is to exercise at least 6 out of 7 days of the week. This is not easy to do with a busy schedule but I am determined to keep it up!

As well as eating and living a healthy life, it is vital to take some time out to enjoy life and what would life be without coffee!!?? As you know I am vaguely obsessed with coffee and really wish I had more time on my hands to explore more of the fab coffee spots in Cape Town! I recently discovered a little hidden gem at Buitenverwachting wine farm, called the Coffee Bloc. They not only serve the most awesome coffee, served on a heart-shaped wooden board but they have the most amazing tapas!

Last week I received Bukeela Nespresso capsules, to try out! Bukeela is a new pure origin Lungo coffee, from Ethiopia. I really enjoyed the flavour but it is not quite as intense in flavour, as the other Nespresso coffees I drink!{I like my coffee quite strong!} I would classify it as a well rounded, flavourful, easy drinking coffee 🙂

I absolutely love makeup and looking good, it is amazing how quickly a bright lippie can lift your mood! There is also nothing better than a pretty mani and pedi and although I don’t always have time to pop in to a salon, I try to keep my nails looking good! This summer I have really been enjoying all the gorgeous bright makeup colours – especially coral and fuchsia shades. One of my favourite lipsticks for summer, has to be Vegas Vault, by MAC Cosmetics.

If you would like to see more of my pics, then pop over to my Instagram feed, or follow me @inspiredlivingsa. Please leave your Instagram user name or link in the comment section below so that I can follow back.

FAR Photography, Instagram

My Week on Instagram

What a busy week, with the CPTBloggermeet and a 13th birthday party last weekend, to the general mayhem of a school week! Rounded off with the #absolutblackbox event last night. A chilled day is definite must today, spent in the garden and the lazing in the pool. [Read more…]

Africa, Lifestyle, Travel, Travel

The Easiest Way to Support Conservation in Africa

We’ve all done it. We go on a road trip, take loads of great photos and then never post them anywhere. They’re simply memories lying in a random folder on your PC collecting digital dust.

I was recently inspired after reading an African safari blog interview with Heinrich van den Berg, to never let this happen again. Heinrich is an award-winning photographer who fell in love with Africa and photography, and realised that through his photography he was able to get others to appreciate the places he’d photographed. A brilliant contribution to conservation efforts! This got me thinking… if Heinrich can do it, so can everyone else.

When we’re able to trigger appreciation within someone, that person automatically shows a new-found respect to the subject of appreciation. See where I’m going with this? If we can get others to fall in love with the places we go and things we see, then their new-found respect for these things could create massive change in the status of conservation of everything from natural areas to cultural groups.

The great thing about this is that you don’t even have to be a professional photographer nowadays to take a stunning photo – often the things we see, do all the hard work.

Above: Divundu – Namibia. That’s not Photoshop – that’s all Africa.

In the interview with Van den Berg he said, “I want to show the beauty that is out there. Then if people are aware of this beauty, they may think twice before destroying it.” The message? Be part of the solution. Share your photographs and experiences wherever you can – you never know who you may be inspiring to appreciate something new.

FAR Photography, Life

Do your dreams change?

This is a post I wrote last year and something that has been on my mind constantly for the past few weeks! My hubby put it very aptly the other day – it is as if you are following your dreams and headed in the right direction, when something distracts you! You see what someone else is doing and you think ooh why can’t I do that as well! Something I always say to my girls, when they are studying is – “focus girls focus”! Well it seems I need to take some of my own advice. I am not saying that you cannot diversify or change direction but you need to be careful, that what you are doing is not merely a distraction from your real plan and purpose!

This is a question I have been pondering the past few days. I think this thought process was instigated after my daughter hauled out a few of my art pieces from high school the other day and then insisted on taking them to school to show her art teacher! After I got over the feelings of complete and utter insecurity, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride. These were after all my creations and my daughter saw fit that they were good enough to share with her teacher. I am completely aware of the fact that I am “no Picasso” but I felt proud none the less!

It did, however, make me reflect back to my, somewhat naïve, yet hopeful outlook at the tender age of 15 or 16 years, when the world was my oyster. My aspirations of becoming a world-renowned fashion designer, with my own thriving chain of boutiques! At that point in my life doing anything that was creative, was my ultimate goal in life. This really got me thinking – well are my dreams still the same or have they changed and morphed into something completely different? Or are they buried beneath all the stuff life throws at you? I think that maybe I have changed, as my circumstances have changed but I think my dreams are still alive and well! If anything I think we add to these dreams as we grow and mature.

So what now? When does living your dream become impossible, well never, as far as I am concerned – if you want something badly enough you will make it happen? Luckily for me I have daughters that both enjoy fashion and have a creative flare, a husband who is extremely supportive – which I feel makes living my dream even more plausible. It may not be the exact same dream that I had all those years ago but I believe it will be better than ever because I now have special people in my life to share it with!

Be Inspired, Life

Learning to Say NO and Being Happy With It

This is one of those life lessons that you could spend your entire life learning and admittedly it has taken me until this major milestone in my life, to really grasp the concept!

If you like me are a bit of a people-pleaser you will understand how hard it is to say no to people, especially if you are someone, who always puts the needs of others before your own. The one fundamental flaw with this approach to life is a difficultly to say no to people, both in your personal and professional capacity.

So what is the big deal you may ask? Well the biggest problem with not being able to say no, is that you often compromise yourself in the hopes that others will like and accept you. Yikes! Surely nobody wants that for themselves!

Well in a word NO.

This is where it becomes a bit trickier because in your personal life, saying no is somewhat simpler, it can however mean having to disappointment those you love, like saying no to the kids when they want to buy something from the store or have a friend over or turning down a dinner invitation because you are exhausted. Most times people do understand where you are coming from and you realize the world will not come to an end if you say no to them.

The more difficult area in which too put your foot down, and say no, is in your professional life. I see it every day when people compromise who they are just to get ahead and please no judgment, we are probably all guilty of this at some point in our life. If you are happy with this and you can sleep at night, be my guest! However for me, this is no longer acceptable, especially when it starts affecting the plan and purpose for your life.

It is great to feel validated and wanted by always pleasing others but not at the cost of your integrity! You have to realize that saying no is ok and if people like you less because of it, well then too bad, those who are meant to be in your life will stick around no matter what!