Be More with Less

simplicity is love

How to Get Your Groovy On

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How to Get Your Groovy On

Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy.

Take 1 minutes and 54 seconds out of your busy day, play the video and close your eyes.

When was the last time you felt that good? That relaxed? That groovy?

Life is serious. We are people, or know people who are sick, tired, broke, stressed, overworked and overextended. Those are just people in our neighborhood. If we aren’t worried about them, we are worried about the people in the world that are starving, suffering, and hopeless.

You can’t possibly watch the news or read the entire newspaper without feeling a bit of hopelessness and helplessness.

And then there are all of the little annoying things …

  • traffic
  • taxes
  • chores
  • bills
  • cell yell

And then there is the joy. The goodness. The feeling groovy. Life is a mixture of the good, the bad and the groovy. Slowly, intentionally, we can begin to create more groovyness in our own lives.

Hello lamp-post,
What cha knowin’?
I’ve come to watch your flowers growin’.
Ain’t cha got no rhymes for me?

How to get your groovy on

Read groovy things
Happiness Is … a free ebook with groovy illustrations by Matt Madeiro
Live well … a joyful post by Leo Babauta

Go outside
When was the last time you turned your phone off, shut your computer down and went outside? It’s nice out there. You’ll see groovy stuff

News Fast
Stay informed, but not over informed. You can’t change the world by watching the news.

Don’t wait
The time to feel groovy is now. Not when you are debt free. Not after you lose the weight. Not after anything. The right time is right now.

Tell stories
Share your groovy life. See my life in pictures, share your view of the world and learn to write about your life with my groovy friend Ali.

Plan to be surprised
Make time to let life happen a little bit. That moment in the middle of all the other things you have to do and worry about is where the magic happens.

Multiply
If you want to double or triple the groovy in your life, surround yourself with people who enjoy life and make life for other people better.

Stargaze
Stay up late and watch cool things like the Supermoon and Meteor showers. Save the date for stargazing.

Gold Stars
It is so groovy to let someone know that you love their work, that they make you smile, that you are proud of them. Tell them. Give them a gold star.

Love it or leave it
If you don’t have time to get groovy in a hammock, find a way to enjoy the hell out of whatever you are doing right now. If you can’t love it, make a plan to leave it.

Disco baby
What’s groovier than a disco party?

Pucker up
If life gives you lemons, make lemon tarts. Don’t forget to invite your groovy friends over for a taste. (waiting patiently for my invite Heidi)

There is worry and pain and stress in life but don’t let that overshadow the good and groovy. Once in a while, a moment passes where there is nothing in our field of vision but pure joy. Slow down and marvel in that moment. When you can really be in that moment, you can capture the feeling and recreate the groovy.

I’ve got no deeds to do,
No promises to keep.
I’m dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.
Life, I love you,
All is groovy.

How will you get your groovy on?

Comments

  1. Great post Courtney! I love your ideas for getting groovy. As you say, there are always things in the world that will get us down if we let them. It’s all about choosing to focus on the good (or the groovy) and enjoying the heck out of life regardless 🙂

  3. Hi Courtney,

    I was already having a pretty groovy day before coming across this post. But after shutting my eyes, listening to the song, and reading the rest of the post I’m feeling REALLY groovy. I love how you break down options leading to the same path for your community.

    You always seem to be able to communicate the various ways that someone can achieve a state of mind or action. As you know, what works for one person is different than the next so I appreciate these well laid out posts!

    • Joel, I had some technical difficulty embedding the youtube video so I listened to it several times over the past two days. What could have been a frustrating process became enjoyable because of the music. You can’t be stressed while listening to that!

  4. Thank you so much for this, Courtney. It was just what I needed today. Also, I love me some Simon and G-Funk!

  7. Yesterday I was listening to Joe Cocker, The Simple Things, and thinking along the exact same lines. Kudos the Rick Neigher, Philip Roy and John Shanks who said that:

    We’re Always Wanting More Than What We Have
    What I’ve Learned, Is What I Really Need Are..

    The Simple Things
    That Come Without A Price
    The Simple Things
    Like Happiness Joy And Love In My Life
    I’ve Seen It All From So Many Sides
    And I Hope You Would Agree
    That The Best Things In Life
    Are The Simple Things

  8. YOU’RE pretty groovy! How’s that for a gold star? Thanks for making me smile…and relax…again. 🙂

  9. hi, this is so timely! i’m a 61-year old boomer, corporate drop out, psychologist and last weekend graduated from a 200-hour yoga teacher training. the final exam was to create and lead a themed class. i chose “groovyoga” with lots of twists and peace-finger holds. the playlist includes the beatles, eric clapton, youngbloods, the dead, tracy chapman, etc. the exercise of creating that class led me to exclaim (yes i actually exclaimed it :), “i want to bring groovy back!” i meant into the world, but quickly realized that i want to bring back the groovy in me. i live by “less is more” and get a seratonin spike after a good purge (of years and years of photographs last night for example). Thanks again. peace, groove and happiness, Mara

  10. Thank you for that song. My Dad used to have Simon & Garfunkel playing when I got home from school in the afternoons. I just had a journey back in time. Sounds of Silence, Homeward Bound, Hazy Shade of Winter & El Condor Pasa! I’m definitely feeling groovy now. 🙂

  11. Love it! I already know that song nearly by heart. People think I’m crazy for not reading newspapers or watching the news, but I figure if something is REALLY important (ie will impact my immediate life and existence) I’ll find out about it some other way. I already seem to be doing a lot of these things but I’m also living a pretty groovy life as it is 🙂

  12. Courtney, I love this post & have bookmarked it for frequent reference. I’m a happy seeker — love the Happiness Project & The Dao of Doing & a bunch of other blogs that encourage the capturing of joy. I love that you said in a comment to another reader, “Happy is a Choice” — that is my #1 mantra, & first on my list of Personal Commandments! Thank you for this *groovy* list.

    *and there was much throwing of glitter*

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