3 Simple Ways to Create More Happiness in Your Everyday Life

Sometimes getting away is exactly what we need to see our lives a little differently.

I recently spent a few weeks in Europe visiting family, and while I was there, I unplugged, slowed down, and noticed a few lessons that stayed with me long after the trip.

One of my favorite things about traveling is that it drops us into the present moment.

All of a sudden, we’re out of our default mode network. We’re out of our barking dog. We’re out of our tunnel vision of life.

Think about it. Anytime you go to work, you probably get off at the same road. You make the same right turn to get home. We get really locked into these grooves and patterns that limit our awareness.

Those patterns can pull us away from the present moment. They can pull us away from our spirit, from other people, and from new experiences. And they can get us really stuck in stories about how we are, how the world is, and how the people in our lives are.

That same habit can actually become the lens through which we see everything.

For example, if we always think it’s going to be really hard to look into managing our accounting, it probably will be, because that’s the story our little default network keeps coming back to.

That’s what I love about travel.

It interrupts the pattern.

It brings you back into the present moment.

And when we’re present, we have the opportunity to see things differently.

Don’t Wait for Other People to Create the Experiences You Want

The very first lesson I wanted to share is one that I find incredibly important, not just for travel, but for life:

Don’t wait for other people to create the experiences you want to have.

I mean that so wholeheartedly.

I talked to a woman recently who really wanted to create her own community. She’s been studying tarot, mentoring her guides and angels, and exploring all of these different things that she loves so much.

And she said to me, “Sonia, I love it. But I have no one else to share this with. I am all by myself, and I am in a place in middle America. And I’m sure that this is going to get me burned at the stake in one way or another, ousted.”

And the funny thing is, if that is your perception, if that is what you’ve decided, then that is probably what is going to be reflected back to you.

So instead of paying attention to what you don’t want, let’s change the channel.

Create a shared experience around what you do love.

If you want community, create opportunities for connection. For example, if you love tarot, go look for a full moon gathering with women. That’s a wonderful place to share something you love.

And if there isn’t one?

Start one.

Start a new moon ritual or a full moon ritual in your backyard.

I find this a lot with myself when I travel and visit my family, too.

Sometimes I’ll end up sitting around waiting for everyone else to be done with whatever they’re doing so that we can go play. And what I find is that when my own barking dog ego gets involved, I can end up missing out on different experiences.

Instead of saying, “Okay, I guess I’ll wait,”

I can say: “This is something I want to experience. Let’s go do it.”

Whether you’re creating a new moon ritual, a full moon ritual, a tarot gathering, exploring a new city, or simply wanting to try something new, the invitation can start with you.

Flea Market Story

When I was in France, there is a flea market called Marché aux Puces. It’s literally called the flea market, and it’s world famous.

I have known about it for years and years and years.

But I always assumed my mom wouldn’t be that into it.

My Nana way back in the day—my mom was one of seven—and my grandfather worked at Montgomery Ward’s. They would always thrift shop. They would give my mom secondhand clothes and pretend that they weren’t secondhand.

So my mom has always been particular about what she likes when it comes to secondhand things.

And I had just assumed, in my little barking dog, that she would hate this experience.

That it would be no fun.

But this time, instead, I thought:

“This is an experience I want to have. Let’s create a shared moment of connection.”

So I made plans.

I said, “Let’s go on Sunday.”

I invited her, and she was totally game.

I said, “We’ll find a cute restaurant and have lunch, and then we’ll go check out the markets.”

Of course, we got there, and the place I had planned to go was completely closed.

Which brought me to another important tool:

Always ask for help.

That was a moment where I was like: “Angels, please help me. Please, please, please.”

Whenever you’re struggling, especially when your shared experience is going a little off the rails, ask for help.

Because the moment I did, we found this beautiful, sweet little restaurant with a beautiful natural wine bar, gorgeous dishes, the kindest waitstaff in the whole wide world.

We had a beautiful lunch and then had a wonderful time at the market, seeing so many gorgeous, interesting, incredible things.

And it was such a good reminder.

My ego and my intellect will often take a backseat and wait for other people to invite us.

We’ll say:

“Oh, I’m all by myself.”

“Oh, nobody does this.”

“Oh, nobody likes that.”

But there’s a good question to ask yourself from your spirit:

Have you created the invitation? Have you shown up?

And there’s another important piece here, too.

Are you okay going by yourself?

Because even with the flea market and my mom, if she hadn’t been into it, I would have been perfectly content going by myself.

So yes, create your experiences.

But also develop the independence and autonomy to go do what you love, to do what feeds your spirit.

That can actually create community without putting yourself on hold.

And I found that really, really important.

Use Humor (It’s a Spiritual Tool)

The second lesson, and one of the most important, is: Use humor.

Humor breaks up the ego frequency of taking things so seriously.

I find it invaluable in dealing with life. I find it invaluable as a spiritual tool that I can implement at any time to break up my own hardness, my own intensity, and my own need for control.

And I experienced this at the flea market, too.

I was walking around all of these different stalls, and I found this little hole-in-the-wall place with a very, very, very serious French guy.

His little stall was very serious.

He was taking things seriously.

And then I was taking things seriously.

I was looking at things, and he was taking them and putting them right back on the rack.

His control over the space and over my time really got me barking.

I was thinking:

“Oh my gosh, this guy’s got to give me space. I’m not enjoying this. I’m going to…”

And then he came over once to grab something out of my hand.

And it was interesting, because instead of getting all up in arms, I just laughed.

I said, “Merci,” and laughed.

And the moment I laughed, he started laughing.

We had this really funny exchange.

And all of a sudden, humor allowed this interesting ego dance that was happening to become a completely different experience.

By the end of it, he was pulling out all sorts of different things.

“Try this on. Try that.”

We were having this whole fashion show.

And it was such a good reminder that humor can instantly create a vibrational shift.

It creates more internal flexibility.

It creates flexibility with the world.

And it actually invites other people to connect with their spirit immediately.

So when in doubt, find the humor.

I would say the situation is critical, but never serious.

Be Open to Surprises, Wonder, and Magic

And last but not least, as always, this is my number one tool that I share with my clients when I’m mentoring them:

Be open to surprises.

Be open to wonder.

Be open to magic.

Be open to new experiences that guide you.

Because just like I was saying at the beginning, our little default mode network can really put the blinders on.

But when we have open hearts, open eyes, open ears, open noses, and we’re actually paying attention to what’s in front of us, and all of a sudden, magical things start to come in.

Be open to different surprises.

Seeing beautiful flowers in the park.

Having wonderful exchanges.

Being guided to exactly what I needed.

Like the stamp shop.

I helped my three-and-a-half-year-old niece write her first letter. So fun. So, so fun.

And in that same way, when we’re open to guidance, you’ll never stop being amazed by how much magic is right in front of you.

It might be the buildings outside.

It might be noticing a tree.

It might be another person.

It might be a completely unexpected experience.

The more that we practice being present, which is really a mental exercise for our brains in our day-to-day life, the more our intuition can guide us.

And the more our intuition can guide us, the more we create connection, fun, and flow that comes so naturally.

So be curious.

Be open.

Pay attention.

You never know what’s waiting for you.

The Biggest Lesson: Create, Laugh, and Stay Open

Those are just some of the things I learned from my travels in Europe. Travel has a beautiful way of shaking us out of our patterns and bringing us back into the present moment.

And when we’re present, we have more choices.

We can create the experiences we want instead of waiting for someone else to create them for us.

We can use humor to loosen our grip when our ego starts barking.

And we can stay open to the surprises, magic, and guidance that are already happening around us.

You don’t have to wait for the perfect circumstances.

You don’t have to wait for someone else to invite you.

You don’t have to have everything figured out.

Sometimes you just need to change the channel, ask for help, laugh a little, and see what happens next.

That’s where the magic can begin.

I hope you enjoyed some of the things I learned on this trip. And if you’re looking for a little support on your own soul journey, I’d love to connect. You can book a Soul Reading with me, where we can explore your burning questions and get some clarity around what’s next.

Or, if you feel like you’re looking for deeper, ongoing support, you can book a discovery call with me to see if mentoring might be the right fit for you.

Whatever your next chapter looks like, I’m cheering you on.

All my love,
Sonia

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