Living Life Your Way.... Interview with Katelyn from Peace, Love and Leener

I've been working hard the last few months at overcoming my fears and following my dreams. So I'm running a series of interview with inspiring people to see what part fear has played in their life and how they've overcome it to live life their way...


 This weeks interview is with Katelyn from Peace, Love and Leener

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Hey! Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Katelyn. I am a mom and wife. I moved across country from California to Louisiana 4 years ago when my husband changed jobs and honestly it was one of the best decisions we have ever made. We do not want to stay here forever but have done a tremendous amount of growing spiritually, emotionally and even physically with the birth of our daughter who turns three in less than 3 weeks. I find myself in a state of extreme growth as I explore doors in my mind and heart that have been closed off and I never dared to open. I am loving what I am finding as I start to open these doors even if it leaves me more emotionally raw than I have ever been in my life. I've had some pretty major struggles but who hasn't and even though I can’t fathom what has happened in some regards of my life, I would have to say there is nothing I would change...well only one thing I would change but of course it is impossible to do such a thing.

Is the life you lead now the life you've always dreamt of?

At this moment no, not fully. I am happy in the state I am in but know this is not where me and my family are meant to be forever. I am however very much in love with figuring out my true ideals and questioning my own beliefs instead of just believing what I was told to growing up. All of these small and large personal changes are leading to something incredible I feel.

When you have faced difficulties, what has been your inspiration to keep going?

In the past four years the major difficulties I have faced was finally dealing with the fact that I no longer have my father in my life on his choice. Growing up he was a great father so it made it very difficult that he just up and walked out when I was 17 years old. Another major struggle I have had was losing my grandfather who was like a father to me. It was him and my grandmother who took me in and helped me through everything with my father. He died suddenly and unexpectedly August 12th, 2009. I would have to say that my inspiration to keep me going in these times and to truly face my emotions and work through them would most definitely be Leena. I worked hard to try to mend the break between my father and I for her. She will see I did what I could to help her know her grandfather. Even if we don’t speak at all anymore I can still tell her the wonderful stories of memories I have of him. She will know the good in him. With my grandfather as well I had to work through the emotions even if all I wanted to do was crawl into a hole and not ever come out. I had to. I have to be fully available to Leena and if I were to not deal with his death I couldn't be a mom to her.





Fear affects us all at some point. What part has fear played in your 

life and how have you overcome it?

Fear of not fitting in was a huge one for me. I never fit in though, even when I tried. The move  away from all the friends I ever had and all my family was a huge push to face that fear and overcome my obsessiveness with not fitting in. I have learned to accept myself and was able to actually understand who I am and what I believe in. I don’t know exactly how I overcame it. I just took the move, after being upset about moving, as a chance to break out of my shell and be me for once. In all honesty, I just stopped caring about getting weird looks for how I dress or for people finding my opinions on life and the ways we live now a days to be odd opinions. If people can’t love you for being you than the simplest advice is the truest, they shouldn't be the people you surround yourself with. It’s easier said than done but I have learned this one and trying to make people understand you and forcing your old friends to like the “new you” is not worth it if they aren't receptive to you and your feelings. It’s a lot harder doing it that way than to simply move on.





What advice would you offer on following your heart and living your dreams?

Go for it! Be mindful of others and always try to leave a trail of love wherever you go. Baby steps is key. I get so crazed and try to do everything at once but definitely have learned that small, seemingly insignificant changes to your every day are the ones that add up and stick. They will have the greatest impact in the end. We will all falter but it’s how we get back up and keep going that matters. Also, know that your dream is not stupid or not important for this world. We were all given a gift to offer this world and would do best to stay true to ourselves.

What do you think are the three most important things you need to lead a happy and radiant life?

Humour, hands down as number one. Always find humour in anything you do or any situation you go through. For an example, at my grandfather’s funeral my family and I were cracking jokes. Tasteful jokes of course but grandpa would’ve wanted it that way. He loved to laugh.

Secondly, I strongly believe eating right is super duper important. When we don’t eat right our bodies become bogged down and everything is interconnected. Focusing on what I put into my body has resulted in me having a clear mind to deal with any unfavourable situations that have arose in the last few months. Eat living foods. Cut out as much processed food as possible.

Third, See beauty everywhere. A personal example from today. My husband and I were both on edge from our daughter not listening to us very well and got in a disagreement about something silly. I stepped outside and sat to relax under my magnolia tree where I talk to my grandpa sometimes. As I was sitting there a beautiful black butterfly was flittering around our azalea bushes since all the flowers are in bloom. I sat there and watched it for a bit. I stood up to get a better view of it and a wonderful breeze blew through our yard. I closed my eyes and just let the breeze envelop me. If we didn’t get in that silly argument I would have never gone outside to see that butterfly or to have the breeze calm me. It gave me a sense of peace which lead me to clean our messy messy bedroom and to have even more patience that was needed with Leena today.

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Thanks Katelyn!