More Than Honey

Last week I watched a documentary called “More Than Honey” on Netflix. While I knew that the world’s bees are at risk, dying at a very rapid pace due to mainly human causes, and while I knew that we humans depend on bees far more than most of us realize, it was still very eye opening. It inspired me to do this illustration, now available in my Etsy shop.

I’ve also decided to create a line of artwork featuring species at risk and donate 50% of the proceeds from each sale to either the David Suzuki Foundation or the World Wildlife Fund. If you love animals and all the other creatures that we live with and depend on, check out my shop and see if there’s anything that strikes your fancy. You’ll get something pretty and the creatures will get some support. Win-win

For more about bees check out: David Suzuki Foundation - solving the mystery of dying bees

For more about More Than Honey: More Than Honey

What Would An Astronaut Do?

For the last week or so, I’ve been tucked into Chris Hadfield’s new book, An Astronaut’s Guide To Life and I’m really enjoying it. As an earthbound, scaredy-cat, wimpy sort, I’m in awe of what he’s done and is willing to do in the name of science and like many Canadians, I followed along with his eloquent tweets and breathtaking photography while he was Commander of the ISS in 2012.  Since reading his book, I like and admire him even more.

In the book, Commander Hadfield talks about watching the moon landing at the age of 9 and deciding on the spot that he would do everything in his power to become an astronaut, regardless of the fact that at the time, it was impossible for a Canadian to do so. No matter, from then on every decision in his life, big or small, was made based on whether it would take him where he wanted to go. He asked himself things like, would an astronaut stay up late and watch TV or go to bed early?  Remarkable foresight for a 9 year old, and 34-year-old me found it incredibly inspiring.

I often struggle with decisions after I’ve made them: why did I have a third glass of wine last night resulting in this morning’s headache? Why did I choose to veg at home instead of even taking a quick trip to the gym to get some exercise in? You get the idea, we all do it. However, in this season of renewal and commitment to change, I’ve decided to try and etch Commander Hadfield’s words in my brain and ask myself questions before making even small decisions. Since what I yearn for most days is a little bit of peace in my brain, I’m going to ask “what would a peaceful person do?” Would she stuff her face with treats that will make her feel bloated and gross just because she had a bad day at work? Would she yell at her kids or stare at her phone while they play in front of her, missing out on precious moments with her babies? Would she procrastinate over and over and over, knowing it just leads to more work and stress in the end? Would she relax instead of tidying up, knowing that a clean house makes for a calm mind? Would she put off writing and painting, knowing that she doesn’t feel whole unless she creates something regularly?

I’ll never be an astronaut but I am hoping for a bit more peace and simplicity this year, to show myself and others a bit more kindness, and to ensure my choices are made mindfully. I’ll leave you with the infographic I posted last year by zenpencils, which I think does a great job of capturing Commander Hadfield’s message:

Simplify 2014

 

We are on a road less travelled, a path less glitzy than those chosen by many of our peers. We’ve spent the last year and a half watching our values slowly shift and now? Now we’re ready to get down to the nitty gritty and really change how we live. Why not really examine our values, particularly at this time of year when our perspective has been skewed by glossy marketing campaigns and an insatiable need to buy, buy, buy. Why not choose to reject so much of what society has taught us is necessary, desirable, important. Why not hold ourselves accountable and quit making excuses for not achieving our goals, for not living the way we really want. Why not just choose less, just the most important things, and leave the rest.

These are the questions we’ve been pondering over the last year and a half, even more so in the last few weeks. I really think we can choose to live in a way that’s just different. Maybe less convenient and less “fancy” but perhaps more fulfilling. We have some financial goals we’d like to reach by this time next year and reaching those goals will require a fairly radical shift in our spending and saving patterns. I’m excited about it, actually. Its going to be challenging in many ways, but we’re up for it.

So the word for the coming year is SIMPLIFY. Strip it down to the essential and enjoy that.

My first order of business has been to evaluate my Etsy shop and this blog. I love painting, I love writing. I don’t love selling. I love sharing my work but I don’t love all the time and money that has to go into an Etsy shop in order for people to see it, never mind to generate actual sales. When I think about why I want to sell my art its so that I have the motivation to paint more, its to share it at an affordable price, to be a part of a culture of local, handmade and unique art. I like my work and I think others like it too, but I’m not willing to slave away at a computer for hours every day in the hopes that I’ll get a few sales here and there.

So, I’m going to strip it down to the essentials. Just this blog and my Facebook page. I’ll share my new work, the story behind it and the price and people can order directly from me. So much better.

Since I’ve already got quite a few items listed on Etsy, I’ve decided to offer a discount on all items in the shop until the listings expire or everything sells out. Just enter the coupon code SIMPLIFY2014 on checkout.

Here’s to a year of simplicity and loving what really matters.

That time my bra strap popped off in front of a famous yoga teacher

Before I jump right into something, I like to mull it over for awhile. So, when I first discovered Ashtanga yoga, a challenging and authentic style of yoga which has not made its way out here to the suburbs yet, I first started practicing at home. It was love at first Surya Namaskar. I wanted to find a teacher of my own, because lineage and the student-teacher relationship is so very important in Ashtanga. I combed the interwebz and found the perfect studio in the city, 45 minutes away, and decided that I’d go and check it out.

And then I waited a year. I was so intimidated by this place, by how famous the teacher is, by my own limitations, that I just couldn’t bring myself to go. Last week, I finally jumped in feet first.

It was amazing. I was starstruck in meeting the teacher, who is world-renown and yet super sweet and welcoming. He asked me to start the series while he watched and there, during my first forward bend, in the presence of a yoga rockstar, my sports bra strap popped off and flailed about wildly. And then the other one popped off.  The only possible way to fix it would have been to whip off my top and try and reattach both straps. Clearly, not an option. And so, I stuffed the straps into my cleavage and carried on, attempting to regain whatever shreds of my wounded dignity remained.

It must have been the atmosphere, the practice, the breathing. On another day I would have wished for the earth to swallow me whole after a scene like that. I took this in stride. I smiled, shrugged and just kept going and I had the best yoga practice of my life. I was pushed beyond what I thought I was capable of, surrounded by amazing individuals practicing at their own level of ability and inspiring me to keep learning.

Yoga has so much to teach me, and this lesson of rolling with the punches was a great start to a new practice with a new teacher. I can’t wait to go back.