Year end

As we are coming to year end, I feel the need to reflect upon the past year....  I always do... It has been a wonderful amazing year...  full of surprises....  as always!

We started they ear my husband and I with the intention on buying nothing not absolutely necessarry for a whole year.. to try it out as an experiment... and yet another way to decrease out carbon footprint...  Some will say this resolution came in handy when my husband was annouced he was losing his job by the end of the year on February 1st. And as a mater of fact it did...  it allowed us to pay our debt and stuck up on essential household items that we always postponed buying because we did not have the money!  Well we now have a well equiped appartement!!!   

However, this resolution brought us to mid year and we decided we had enough... this mostly came from me but my husband too decided that we tried and we proved to ourselves we could do it but why not enjoy money while we had some...  him still having a job... Plus why depriving oursleves of of one of our pleasures in life? So in July we went on a shopping spree and we had a blast!  August 4th was his last day at his old job...  So we tried and hold back shopping for a few more months while we figured out what to do.... 

Real went back to school in october while working at a ''small'' job in the meantime in order to help me out with rent and stuff... Comes end of november he completed a series of courses over night and week ends and is now ready to be a security guard.  So he leaves his job and applies to different places in hope of having a couple of weeks off...  he stareted his new job on Dec 13th.... and he loves it!!! 

However, this new job implies for now odd working hours... and I am not use to that... so I can honestly say that I figured out that part of my shopping is a mean to cope with boredom and missing my husband...  Needless to say I have a whole new wardrobe by now!!!

The other thing time alone has entitled me to do is defined who I am...  the time alone and a therapist I consulted on a few occasion... along with meditation and discussions with friends...

So who am I???  This is such an easy question... but there are no easy answer... I am a complex... multidimensionnal person... I have discover many things about me this year... and I wish to share that with you now.

1. I am passionate about the human being.  Health more precisely...in all of it's aspect. This brings a need for meditation, yoga and a good diet..  Which brings me to:
2. My quest of learning...  I want to learn as much as I can about what food, yoga and meditation can do the the body... I truly believe that by mastering this I will achive long meaningfull life.
3.  Therefore, I need to put this in practice...  I have modified my yoga practive over the year because of my dominant dosha. I realized that I need a practice that is more grounding and relaxing.... I do not need to over exite myself...  I also meditate more then I use too....  I walk of use my bicycle as much as I can! and I am still in the process of changing my diet... I already am vegetarian for 4 years now...  but I need to work on other aspect of it and I wish to tend as much as I can toward a vegan diet... but I need a little more information about that first...I have cut out honey, milk, butter, yogourt and cold cheese.. I kept melted cheese and eggs as it is easier for me to get by at the present moment but I know eventually these will need to come off my diet to...   so I am still earning about that... 
4. I want to save the world... this came out rather VERY stongly with my therapist.   I wish to help out and do as much as I can...  in many aspect.... And I also have a strong need to communicate all I know and have experienced...  I will be working on that over the next few years as it implies many thing I need to look into.  To soon to announce it but it will bring more major changes to my life.   But isn't life ever changing?
5. I love fashion....  style and clothes.... And I came to peace with it....  it is not becasue I am a vegan yogini that I cannot be a fashionista at the same time... There is no need for me to look like a slobb to prove a point!!!  Beiung a yogini means being repectfull of life in all it's form, being at peace with myself... and knowing who I am...  no one is perfect...  and no need to be boring!  I love to dress well and have fun with my clothes... I can learn to do this in a more reponsible way... and still be in agreement with my beliefs and values.  So I will also be working on that in the upcoming year.
6. I discovered 2 new passions I have on top of cooking, yoga, meditation and fashion... these are writing and music!    So I will be working on that too...

To tell you the truth, I am not even sure anyone is still reading this.... but I need to keep on doing it!  I need to write... It feels like I can maybe help someone by doing it... and if I don't well I am at least helping myself! Satisfying my need to write! So it's a great start! 

So this is my year....  2011....  almost over...  I loved it!!  It brought a lot to my son, husband and I!!!

I wish 2012 will be all more exiting and rich of meaningfull events!!! 

I will keep you posted on any more changes over the next year!

I wish you all a happy holiday season...  peace, and love! 
nath
xxx

Birthday

I use to be so exited about upcoming birthdays...  I could never wait for it, I would tell the whole world it was my birthday... I would expect every one I know to call me...  So many expectations and yet so many deceptions...  even thus I had many wonderfull ones....

I do not know if it has to do with age...  or simply my own evolution but I am not so much exited about them anymore...  not in the sense I use too anyway.  I now like to keep them 'secret'...  I do not advertise wherever I go... I like to spend that day and the surrounding ones (yes birthdays for me last a few days...) with people that are very dear to me.  Without huge plans...  and I realise that I have much less deception...

For example, this year, my husband was away most of the day on a training, my son had trampoline and swimming lessons and thus I had to drive around the city most of the day to be the taxi cab...and my brother is away on business in Gaspésie.   I was dreading this day as being exausthing... and boring! But it was in fact a wonderful one...  full of mini surprises and exited time spend with my son, my husband and my parents... and my brother called.... so did a few close friends.. and that was just enough!!!

My son has always given me something on my birthday that he gets while going shopping with my mom...  he has always made the decision himself and his very decisive of what it will be... no one can change his mind... and I must say that he has very good taste and always get something I really like... and I am not just saying that...  he does not read my blog!!  This year he got me a boudha... here's a picture of it in my living room in it's new home:

I simply LOVE it!!!!!!

I also had a wonderful lasagna.... the best vegetarian tomatoe sauce home made lasagna in the world... the one my mom makes!!!

My husband will get me a keyboard... I decided that I will finaly learn music... always wanted to learn the piano...  but since my small place and budget does not allow me to get a piano, I will start with a keyboard!!!

And the best part was me having lunch in a small restaurant called ''Le coyote''  on the corner of Beaubien and Chateaubriand en tête-à-tête with my son...  he is growing up so fast....  we even had a wonderfull discussion and the food was amazing!!! Thanks to my son to have introduced me to that place...  he had gone before... so he knew I would love it!

So to many more wonderfully small and surprising birthdays!!!

peace, love,
nath
xxx

Shopped till I dropped

Last week end was a shooping week end....  big time shopping.... Like I had not done in a long time....
Now some of you might remember the new rules I gave myself end of summer...  I was to  buy stuff on sale or because I had a gift card....  nothing full price....

Well I bought 2 jackets (one black, one mustard yellow) and a tuque (purple - to go with both jacket).  One was on sale.... the other one, I used a gift card.....
Red velvet pants....  on sale...
Knitted acrylic sweater (beige - to go with jeans and red velvet pants)... on sale...
Skinny jeans.... on sale....
Flanel shirt (blue, green and yellow), cotton sweater (old pink), lace cami (beige), socks, infinity scarf (navy blue and white)....  I had a 20% discount....
Boots - flat, up to the knee brown boots...  no discount....  no gift card....  no guilt!  A REAL must have!!!!

I had fun... and I bought trendy items that can actually mix and match together and with what I already own...  I love fashion.....
I recently bought a book of fashion bloggers.... it gives me trick...  and it helps me refine my style...  I know fashion may seem superficial but I like it... It is my way to express myself and feel good and pretty!!!  There is nothing wrong with feeling good about yourself and looking your best....  I have learn that since I started this blog...  as long as you don't buy on credit.. with money you do not have...

So here it is.... partly fashion blog.. but still me....

Moving

I have told you in my last post that many changes were about to come in my life.  One fo them was selecting a high school for my son next year.  This has now been done. He found a place that perfectly suits him and he is really happy with.  That will be a great start for the next phase of his life. 

However, this school is quite far from where I live and where I work so we will be moving.  Most likely sometimes next april or may so he gets time to get aquainted to his new environment prior to starting at his new school.

I am quite glad about this.  I have been living in 3 different places in the last 9 years.  All in the West Island.  I will now be moving more towards the center.  I cannot precisely say where yet but it will be in a place where I will feel more like home.  I have already made a post about Montreal.  I am a true Montrealer.  Always lived on the island.  Never will move away from here.  (I know they say to never say never... but I can't see me move out of the isaland at this point of my life so for me it feels like never!)

I always had that desire to go live closer to dowtown, without actually being dowtown.  A great area for me would be near Villeray.  This would be great!  I always loved those houses that make Montreal so disctinctive.  It would also be close to Marché Jean-Talon and I would be near St-Denis and St-Laurent which have lots of store I love with locally made stuff, organic clothing, vegetarian restaurants and so much more!  I have been going there over the last few weeks and really loved it.  Even my husband says that I totally fit there!  People going around on their normal old bike with urban clothing!  Hey, people even dress like me over there!

Now I do not want to offend all my west island friends!  I have had a great time over the last 9 years here... and I do not regret it!  I just wanna go where it will feel like me!  Where I will be home!  Where I will fit! 

Also, this will be great for my son since he will be in an area with more people speaking French like him.  And he will also be closer to school so he may more easily see his friends over the week end.  He will be able to go to and back from school on his own.

My husband is in the midst of reorienting his career so he will simply find something closer to the area where we will live.

My son and husband have been commuting a lot over the last years.  It is now my time to do it!

So long West Island!
Bienvenue Villeray!

Change

Summer is over.. or almost...  we can feel it in the weather... and in the traffic.. and in the going back to school...

I had an amazing summer... the best in a long while...

It's amazing I would say that because so much has been going on...  and if it was me years before,I would have just lost it!!! My husband lost his job... that meant less money but also that he spent the summer home with my son... that meant no rushing to and from daty camp to pick up my son... no lunches to make but my own... So it turned out being a real break for me too! Money is not always what one need!  A good break is also welcome!!!

My son has found a new passion... BMX...  and is getting ready to get into high school next year... that brought up many discussions over the summer... what school would be best for him? We had 3 options...  one implicated that we move....  and the other 2 that we stay put...

So we had to look at all aspects our all our lives to see what would work out fine... and for weeks, I have been debating, making pro and con lists...finaly, the day Irene hit us, we are at TAZ (indoor skate park) where Cedric is hanging out with his new friends... and we realize that we really enjoy that area. I have ben living there before for a couple of years and these have been some of the best years of my adult life!  My son would be close to his new passion and friends,  he would be in a francophone environment which would mean easier for him to make friends... Real and I are also getting bored with the West Island...  we spend 9 years in the area and we feel like we need to move on...  We feel like we no longer belong here.. we want simpler, quieter lifes...  And we are getting fed up of the mall and Starbucks routine... but feel as thus there is nothing else for us to do here... unless we drive to other places... but wwe wish to avoid taking the car as much as we can! 

In this new place, we would be more in tune with our most inherent desire to find peace... of course some will say that you can find peace anywhere...  and we did find it here... but we need to move on into an environement that as thus is still in Montreal, is not as close to shopping center and coffe places. We tried stopping these 'bad' habits but being so close by makes us not stick to our resolution! It'S as if you were asking an ancoholic to hand out in a bar!  What would be his odds on not drinking? Sometimes, we need ot give ourselves tools to make our lifes better! So we opted for the school that would require us to move... we should definitely find out by early next week if it'S a go!  Living in that new area, we would be a bike ride away from the Mont-Royal, Lafontaine park (with a nice bicycle path near by) and close enough to St-Denis that we would not need to take the car to get there in a decent amount of time!

Does it worry me all those changes?  Of course it does...  my husband is going back to school, my so enters another part of his life, we might move into a new place...  this will all change our lives but change, worrying as can be, is always for the better!  You only need to give it time! I will keep on doing my mediation and yoga.... so I am guided through all of theses changes...  and all will go well in the end! I will keep you guys posted on where this is going as soon as I have more details...

peace,
nath

Talking with friends

I have been talking to friends recently about my shopping in July... and some observation came out that I wish to share with you. As you all already know if you have read the previous post, I have been shopping in July and I am enjoying it and I do not feel guilty about it!  I have bought a few pieces (I know 'few' is technically 3, but in this case, it is not!).  I started the year with a non shopping resolution...  unless I could prove the item to be essential!  I have come to several conclusion after 6 months of that...  here's what I can conclude about the situation and about myself:

1) Nothing really IS essential - except for food and shelter - and food in that case is only what is actually needed to sustain your life - not that fancy organic orange or that Starbucks chai late!

2) My shopping is not an addiction!  I have proven to myself that I can do without it for several weeks and even months without being unhappy!  This is a great relief for me.  I am not a shopaholic!!!

3) I really enjoy fashion and clothes!  It is a great passion of mine and I do not think passion should be brushed aside if they are not detrimental to yourself or others! Now wether or not buying clothes is detrimental to anyone on this planet is a whole different subject that I wish not to adress here.  I am talking about detrimental to myself or my loved ones.

4) I am quite creative!  I have had to remodel some pieces of clothing, or wear clothes in a different way or with different pieces  then what I usually wear them in order to still be original.

5) I have no wish for my sense of style and fashion to go away.  It is an essential part of my being.  Wether it is superficial or  not I think this can be an ongoing discussion... 

6) I really have not too many indulgences in my life...  I do not drink wine, go out to fine restaurants, go out to shows, party a lot, go on week end getaways on a regular basis....  I have a tiny appartment, regular furniture, small car...All I really enjoy  from the luxury of life in this part of the world are movies and lothing...  so why would I deprive myself of that life pleasure?

A friend made me realize then what I did was like following a very strict diet...  when you change the way you feed yourself, you have to do it as baby steps... so that you do not end up just giving up!  Same goes for shopping... for someone who used to do it a lot and enjoy clothes and fashion, just giving it all up may not have been the best idea... althus it made me realize stuff... I will resume shopping but not like I used to....

These are my new rules:

1) Only spend the money when I have it.  No more clothes on credit.

2) Only buy pieces I REALLY like and that REALLY reprensent me.

3) Buy pieces that coordinate well with at least 3 items I already own. 

4) No on the spot buying...  I have to wait at least 24 hours before I buy something I like.

5) Buy most items only when I get a discount of some sort...
6) Enjoy my shopping experience! 

This experiment has brought me a lot.. even thus I am cutting it short to what I had announced in January.  It has show me that one needs discipline in life...  I think we should take good care of our bodies...  with the best food we can afford and do yoga and meditation to also take care of you internal body, external appearance and mind... This is non-negociable.  As my husband claims, our body is our temple.. we should honour and take great care of it!  But isn't true that temple are well maintained and decorated?

Here come in clothes, haircut, make up, jewelry...  but there IS such a thing as too much...  There is no point in owning something you never wear... or do not really like...  or has no sentimental values to you... 

I decided I will keep on decorating my temple the way I like...  in a more reasonable, whenever I can afford it more sustainable, and more intelligent way!

peace,

nath

xxx 

I am only human

I have a confession to make....  I have been shopping over the last week end....  I do not feel guilty about it.... After 6 months of non shopping, it actually felt quite good!  I spent money for stuff I really like and that I will wear for years to come!  I could argue that it was essential and none of you would actually know as you do not know the content of my wardrobe and what I have been buying!  Truth is, it was not essential...  I have enough clothes!  But I REALLY wanted it... and it felt GREAT!!!  I have still manage to save 70% since everything I bought was on sale and had an extra discount on the last marked price!

Now, I could consider that I failed.... but I don't!  Yes I said I was not gona buy stuff... and I did manage to do it for 6 months!  For a former shopaholic, I consider this to be a considerable achievement!  Even my husband was impressed how long I manage to do this!  (I must also say that he still has not buy non essential stuff!  He is great!!!!)  This incident does not mean that I am going back to my old habit... I have no desire to do so.... and I will continue the year as I  started... 6 more months should be quite managable!  The amount of money I spend is what I would spend on average per pay check before this January!  So it is stil a considerable improvement!  I am only human... I am not perfet!  Perfection does not exist....  I had a moment of weakness... and it is over with!

However, admitting what people can perceive as a mistake or an error or even failure is not easy... And I long debated how to write about this in my own head... but I figured that just doing like I did in the other posts would be ok... I just said it!  No fuss or no trying to find reasons  or excuse myself... Here's what I did...  wether it was OK or not... who I am to judge...  it is just waht happen.... and I did not arm anyone... And it made me feel great!!!  It felt like Christmas!   Unlike when I was doing this every single pay check and not get satisfaction out of it...

Take care...
And do not hesitate to comment on what you think about that!!!
peace,
nath
xxx

Summer

School is finaly over...  for my son and many many more kids... this is a different period of the year...  no more studying and homework...  no more rushing in the morning... no more lunches...  I have a great opportunity this summer... my husband can use extra vacation time to spend with my son so he does not have to go to day camps!!!  he was really thrilled about this...  mom too considering less time plannning and making lunches and less time spent in traffic to drop off and pick up my son at day camp!  This is a real old fashionned summer like I use to have.... time to chill out and relax!  However, I did have a few worries..  I do not want him to spend all his days in front of the TV or playing with his XBox and or iPod... so I had to planned this out also... I took a summer membership at my near by city pool, a summer pass at La Ronde, I also have a membership at the Ecomuseum,  loaded his bus pass with tickets, inflated his bikes tires, got a couple of water gun and new fun books, also made a list of activities free or not that they can do over the week... like playing tennis, badminton, soccer, basketball, frisbee...  going to see a movie, to La Ronde, Ecomuseum or the pool... it is on the fridge... This should be real fun for all of us...  and an experiment for him who since he was 7 months old has always been rushed in the morning to go to daycare, then school and or day camp..  he did get a couple of weeks at Christmas but I think this will be very energizing for him... and he will finaly be able to completely relax for a couple of months like we used to be able to do... 

This is so exiting!!!

Mali

My son is in fifth grade.  A difficult year... with a curriculum already quite charged.... but his amazing teacher had them work on an humanitarian project for the last 5 months or so... The project was for Mali.  Karine 's aunt works in Mali, so for the last five year, she had been doing this project with her fift grade students to raise funds to help out mostly with school and medical care.  I think it is amazing that a 30 year old teacher and some of her co-worker/friends put so much time and energy outside of their obliged duty to show kids a valuable lesson.  Kids have learned that some kids on this planet are not as lucky as they are...  They are already quite privileged to live in Canada and even more so since their parents can afford to send them to private school!

They were taught about life in Mali.  We already know that they lack clean water and food...  education and medical care...  as most African country.  But did you know that not too long ago, kids were given out to the army in exchange for food?  That kids were kidnapped by the army to work there?  Mostly young girls... since they are not as valuable!  In the army, they would work in the kitchen, walk on mine field or even be in the first line of assault so they get killed first...  This is horrible... but Mali is at peace now, so no more of that!  Things CAN change...  and by working on this humanitarian project, this is what the 5th grader of Collège Jacques-Prévert are hoping to do!

The project consisted of small groups of kids, taking music from a song they like, writing lyrics about Mali for that music, singing, recording it and selling the CD (with lyrics included)... and ultimaltely, yesterday night was the fundraiser show where we got to see our kids, singing and dancing for Mali.  They had decorated the scene with drawings.  It is an amazing thing to see about 50 kids, all singing in harmony, no fighting or arguing, in order to help kids miles away... The CD sold for 10$ and all proceed is going to Mali since all expenses are paid for by generous people.  We have yet to find out the total amount of money collected...
Next year, kids will find out what their money was used for...

Yesterday night was very emotional and I can honestly say than more than once did a tear came to my eye... Especially when Karine and Emilie performed a song for that group of fifth grader they had got to know over the school year... It was a great gift from them to the kids who worked really hard on this!

It is very inspiring and I wanna say thank you to Karine, Emilie and anyone else who participated in this project! And mostly thank you to these kids for having done something very important and showing such a dedication to someone else then themselves!!!  They have a great future!!!

Change

I am always surprise at how not well we deal with change... at least most of us...
I was never good with change...  control freaks do not like change... especially that not imposed by themselves! It use to drive me crazy...  and make my body suffer...  I would not sleep at night, I would have eczema, zits, bite my nails...  it would make me a mess just anticipating it!

With time, I've gotten better at it... Still sometimes get not as good of a night sleep and/or some eczema but only in one specific spot instead of it covering all my body!  My yoga and meditation practice helps greatly in that sense...  When practicing yoga and meditation, it is surprising how little control you have over your body and mind... so you need to learn to let go! And you find out that in the end of your practice, everything turns out just fine... or even better!  Even more than if you try to control it!  Everything always works out in the end!

I have had many occasions in my life to learn that... I have had major health related issues, a car accident, a separation, job loss, business loss, bankruptcy, major depression of a beloved one, and I came so close to not being part of this world anymore that it is extremely surprising that I can write this blog... All that to say that I have been forced to deal with change and I came to realize that in the end, it always works out for the best!  Even when the worst possible thing happens, you grow from it and you become a better person! Of course, easier said then done.... I am not saying that I am perfect at this... I am in a stressfull part of my life now as my husband just loss his job...  but he as plans and he wants to try something else... something more in tune whit who is is then the job he was doing now...  it will ask yet more adjusment from us...  moneywise of course but also who knows what his work schedule will be, how the transit will go, the vacation time he will have... all these details can be nerve wracking... changes... he has been at the same job for so long that we had developped a routine...  and just assumed that nothing would change anymore.. but this is not how life goes! Never assume! Never take anything for granted!

Life brings you where you need to be... wether you want it or not!  And if you can figure out the message that it is trying to send you, you will be miserable.. however, when you try to listen carefully and understand, wonderfull adventures awaits you...

Now if you look more carefully at the big picture, life is a permanent change...  we grow older by the second... all our life!  we wake up in the morning and go back to bed at night... we do not stay permanently up or asleep... night follows day... monday follows sunday...  february follows january...  springs follows winter... sun follows rain...  warm follows cold... flower follows snow... and so on!  
So yes there are rough patches in life but there is always light at the end of the tunnel...

So for now, I try to meditate a lot to keep my calm... and see that in the end, my husband will be happier doing a lower paying job that he loves than a high paying one that he despises... ultimately, having a happy husband will be much better... than  a non happy one... for all of us!!!

What makes my world go round

A flower
A ray of sunshine in a rainy week
A spa vacation
A smile
My 10 years old son reaching for my hand when we walk
A kiss
A hug from my better half
Sitting in the grass
Flowers blooming in trees
Sunny breeze on my cheek when reading outside
Baby laughing in the swing
My mom giving me hand made yoga socks just because I like yoga
Holding the door for an elderly
Meeting my best friend at Starbucks
Attending a yoga class
Meditation early morning
A bird singing
Laughing
Hand made gifts from my son
A butterfly
A lady bug
A home made meal that my son and husband love!

Waking up to the sound of a quiet rain

Smelling the flowers through the breeze 

Starbucks

When I started this blog, I had put in one blog the rules (look at my blog from Jan 9th entitled "What is essential?") for that challenge we came up with.  One of the rule was that we would keep our monthly SPA Finlandais visit that we considered was important for our health and our daily chai latte at Starbucks that we considered being part of our meals...

Well, on those 2 subjects, there has been some changes...  Since the beginning of the year we went to the Finlandais only twice: on Jan 1st and sometimes in March...  so this rule seem to have change naturally!  We did not make an effort to change it, or cut down...it just happened! 
As for Starbucks (now, those really close to me will think that I have finaly completely lost it!), we slowly got saturated and are not so much into it anymore!  We even realized that the last few weeks, we have been going as an habit, even forcing ourselves to go!!  Not because we really wanted to, but because we were used to do it!Like brushing our teeth!!!  So as of now, I have not had a Starbucks since Sunday 5pm....  that is almost 48 hours which honestly is a record for me who passes by a Starbucks 3-4 times a day!!! And used to have at least 2 per days - sometimes 3!!! I am not saying that I will never go again!!! I still love a grande soy tazo chai!  But we decided that the best time for us to go would be in the morning on the week end!  This is the one we enjoy the most!  As we have time to sit down, chat, read...  We will also go upon invite! A few people we meet now and then are use to meet us there and they also enjoy it!  So this will stay.. I will not refuse an invite to Starbucks!

So I said I would keep you posted if we made changes to the "rules"... Well I just did...  even thus, at the time, beginning of January, I would have bet we would have made the rules more loose and not cut even more...  but this is just happening!  This is how my husband and I feel... we are not trying to make this harder but we feel like cutting even more is somehow getting easier... Voluntary simplicity here we come!  At first we forced ourselves into it!  But now, it is forcing itself into us!!!

How strange is that???  I have been told quite a few times in my life that I am different or weird...  and I assume it!  Or try to!  Even thus it is not always easy to swim upstreams!  but I realize now that if you can let go of what people say or think, it gets easier... and someohow, we are all different... even if some people stick out more, I think that they are just more easily assuming their differences!  It comes with time!

Transformation

I have gone thru many stages in my life... like most people!  We change slowly but surely... We all do!  All the time! The thing is, this change happens so slowly that  it almost goes unnoticed....  We can only realize it when we look at past years and see who we used to be versus who we are now... 

The thing that I feel happening in me now is completely different... and way more scary!  It's like I am undergoing a fast foward change... I see changes happening, I can feel them... and I have a clear vision of where this will bring me even thus I am not quite ready to be there...  In order to explain it, lets assume you watch the last 10 minutes of a movie, then you go back to the beginning and fast foward to the end...  does that make sense???

The only reason why I think this may be happening is because of my yoga teacher training...  It forces me to think, meditate, practice, read, think again and gather all the information I have accumulated over the last couples of years to make it One!  It links together my physical, mental and psychological bodies... it leads me to making decisions or changes to my life that will be forever permanent... There is no way I will do these things temporarely... I could not go back!  Now moving foward, often means leaving things behind... and this is why we usually change very slowly... so that this process is not conscious...  now by being concious, you are anxious to get where you are going but sad to let things go! Very oppsite and mixed emotions!

I am incorporating all the information I got about meditation, breathing, nutrition, physical activities, simple living organic, environment, social responsibilities...  and more... and somehow these are all linked! It's like if I had been working on a gigantic puzzle for years and I can finally see what it will look like...  only a few more pieces to put together and there it will be!  The result!!!

Not that I think that this is it... I will be set in stone for the rest of my life.... I know I will keep on changing but hopefully at a slower pace...  I do not think I will ever change so much in such a short time ever again!

I was talking to Renée one of my yoga teacher on Monday night and she was asking me how the training was going...  And my response was:  "Fine.... it is very exiting...  physically ok, theory ok... but it plays with my brain and I don't get how and why... It is exhausting! I tought I knew a lot about yoga" .  Her response was: (not a set quote)  I see what you are saying.. it's like you have a mirror right there a few inches form your face, and this mirror is always there - and allow you to see inside and out.  This is exactly what it is...  The image is not always pretty or not always what one wishes to see about themselves... But it is a reflection of who you are at the moment!  

On that note, I will try to go play with my son and laugh a little!  A way to stop my mind... like meditation!

Flap of a butterfly wings

Can the flap of a butterfly wings in Brazil cause a tornado in Texas?  This is a metaphysical question that has been looked at since the early 70s...  You can google "Butterfly effect" or "Effet papillon" if you wish to find out more... Now, why would I talk about this today?  Because lots of people are reading this blog... I get many comments which I appreciate, honestly!   Now, some people have been asking me why I was doing this?  Why am I vegetarian?  Why am I not drinking?  Why go organic?  Why not buy stuff? Why am I considering veganism?  Why do I not take everythinglife has to offer me?

To me the answers seems obvious as the process which brought me to this happened gradually...  It took me more than 3 years to get to this point...  However, I do realize that you guys are not inside my head... and most of you have not even know me for 3 years!

So maybe it is time that I try and explain myself...

I have always try to be environmentally friendly... with ups and downs I must admit...  I have had my share of
overconsumerims and saying "why bother"?  I cannot have such a big impact by myself... Now, when I was a teenager in the 80s I remember insisting that we start recycling at home...  I did not have a car before my son was born 10 years ago... And to be quite honest, the status of this planet has been worrying me for several years... at one point (in my early 20s) I even considered not bringing kids in this world because of that! Even thus I am really happy  changed my mind since it allowed my to have my wonderful son!!!

I was introduced to yoga in 2006 (why is a different story - I will tell you at another time)... Yoga is a physical discipline, a way to manage stress and a way of life...  Yoga has brought me to become vegetarian more than 3 years ago... and then slowly made me change other things in my life. Why?  Because It made me see that everything I do or think or do not do or do not think as an impact on someone or something somewhere...  We are all connected in some ways...

Hence the butterfly effect...   If I flap my wings, I can create a tornado somewhere or prevent one...  So I need to think about every gesture I make...  If I decide to eat or not eat something, buy or not buy...  I am well aware now of the impacts of eating meat, the impacts of overconsumerism, the impact of using non organic food or clothing... And I cannot pretend I am not aware!  That would not be honest! E
Even thus I am not quite there yet for the clothing...  I will however try...
 
I wanna live in a sustainable way...  for this planet... so that even after I am gone, there will be water and trees and food for my son and future generations... I may not have a big impact, or maybe I do.. but that is not the pooint... I will probably never know for sure anyway...

But I am doing this for myself strangly... so that when I die, when I look at my life, I will have not regrets or will not have to ask myself "what if?"

Now I know this is in french but for those of you who do undertand some french please read it carefully...

« À cause du clou, le fer fut perdu.
À cause du fer, le cheval fut perdu.
À cause du cheval, le cavalier fut perdu.
À cause du cavalier, le message fut perdu.
À cause du message, la bataille fut perdue.
À cause de la bataille, la guerre fut perdue.
À cause de la guerre, la liberté fut perdue.
Tout cela pour un simple clou. »
Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

Doing dishes

I wonder at what age we stop seeing doing the dishes as a fun water game?

Over the last few days, I have been with my son 24 h a day... except for this yoga class on Thursday night... He is 10 years old... At several times he hasked me to help with daily chores.. wether it be making bread,  laundry, paking the grocery, storing the grocery once we get home, doing the dishes...  I was surprised by that...  When he was younger, he would always do the dishes with my husband...  when it was time, he would bring a chair by the sink and just help... he started doing this when he was about 2 but stopped around 5 because he would then do his homework...  So when he offered me tonight I did not say no...

I was looking at him having fun doing this simple task...  that basically consist of playing in the water...  and this is really how he saw it...  he would make music with glasses, splash water...  and laugh... 

Samething for the laudry... he had a blast just pouring the detergent evenly all over the clothes....

Those are chores we, as adult, do every day... and are sometimes grumpy about... but to him, it was just another game...

When do we loose that???  When is it, that we start being grumpy about having to do things???  When do we no longer see them as a game???

Angels and demons

As some of you may know, I am in the process of doing my yoga teacher training...  This process takes roughly 18 months. One of the requirements is to developp a personnal home practice. I know that traditionnaly in Ashtanga one is to practice Sunday to Friday: asanas, pranaymas and meditation.  Ideally, from what I understood, this should be done upon waking up and it cannot be done for a couple of hours after a meal... for obvious reasons!  ;)

So in my life right now, I have a few windows upon waking up in the morning.  The other time period where I can easily practice is when I get back from work, before supper...  I cannot practice later at night as I find myself not being able to go to bed for a couple of hours after an Ashtanga practice.  Unless, I do more of a revitalizing practice.

It may seem easy just like that but it requires a lot of discipline. Now, I consider myself as having discipline. 
However, I also know that I can be quite lazy (this is not easy for me to admit here).  So what is happening right now it the battle between knowing that I must practice and the good feeling that results from it and the laziness of changing my clothes and rolling out my mat! The good feeling seems to win more and more often!!! YÉ!

In the morning I have gotten into the habit of doing my pranayama and meditation for 20 minutes...  Monday to Friday... This is a start....  even thus I must say that meditation is not so easy for me...  I am getting there...  A couple of mornings, I even did a half hour Ashtanga practice which is not the whole practice but I can slowly integrate the sequence of moves that need be done. Another goal I gave myself is to master the sanskrit name of all the poses in the primary series...  along with the sequence in which they must be done!

Secretly, I would like to master this before my two weeks or morning practice by the lake during the summer (I guess the secret is out!).  This is exercise for my brain! But honestly there is only 2 months left and
it might be difficult to achive but I will do my best and we'll see.

So basically, what I am trying to tell you guys is that I am training physically (asanas and pranayamas), mentally (meditation and memorizing) and this whole process is changing me quite a lot!  I can feel changes happening in me! Physical changes and also changes in my attitude and my behavior.  Now physical changes, for beeing an athlete previously in my life I have no problem with... I understand quite well how my body works!  The changes in my attitude and behavior however are giving me a hard time!  They are difficult to explain... It is as thus I am getting in a place of being well.... not wanting to fight anymore...  just letting go of things and knowing that no matter what happens I will be fine...
And this is scary.... Why? one might say...
Because for those who have known me for a while, I like to be in control...  I like for things to happen the way I want them to... and when I decide to...  now letting go and being trusty is all the opposite! And there is a battle inside of me!  I feel like in a cartoon when you see the tiny devil and tiny angel of a character fighting over what should be done! And the amazing thing is in the pass, I would have seen letting go and trusting life as the "devil" side of me!  As being nonchalant and a quitter and a looser! As now, I see those thing as the "angel" side... but I cannot explain why... aside from the fact that it just makes me feel better!

The truth is, I have no desire to fight anymore!  I still believe in sharing my opinion... and trying to help others... and I do not consider this fighting...  but trying so hard to make people like me, or driving agressively or being hangry at someone or something, is not a place I wanna be in anymore...  I wanna be in peace with myself... and with others.... and peace does not come with control... I have no control over what people do or think or wether they like me or not!  But I have full control over what I think and do and wether or not I like who I am becoming!
Shanti!
nath
xxx

Spring

Spring is my favorite season... always has been... probably always will be...

I love the smell, the light, the leafs coming out, the sound of the snow melting, the birds singing,the

occasionnal thundershower, the cleansing rain, the flowers blooming... the first bicycle ride, walk in the

park, feeling the ground under my feet, not the cold snow... 

Spring means new beginning, a new chance for life... this is why I have not written in a few days...  I am
overwhelmed by feelings and emotions and desire to do things...  I feel so alive and wanna do so many things... plan our summer, do yoga, bicycle, read, knit, cook, write this blog... and I wanna write about everything and nothing... So I can't actually pick a subject so this is why I am not really writing!!! Even thus millions of idea runs through my head! Neither can I pick an activity and just do it! Everything is just so tempting! I spend so many time just thinking about what I should do next that I often time end up not doing as much as I would like but actually having time to enjoy every second passing by!

Isn't that weird?
What are your toughts about spring?
Any subject you would like me to write on?

Socks

I never tought I would be exited about buying socks!!! 
But it did happen to me at lunch today...
In the climate we live in, they are quite essential....
And I must say that we can find pretty ones... of any color or design...

However, I always considered it a waste of money... and always postponed buying them when I really had
no choice....  Then of course, I end up having to buy several pairs wich adds up to quite a few dollars
and make me think that I could have put that amount of money towards a visit to the SPA or an expensive yoga course!!! 

I ususally buy socks every 2 years... not more.... and now, I had been almost 2 and half year since I had bought any... needless to say, my actual socks were in pretty bad shape!!! 

With this non buying resolution, I have been so long without shopping for something that finding the perfect
socks and choosing the right color and pattern was actually fun...  even thus I ended up spending some 40$ on 8 pairs... at least now I am ok for a few years!  ;)  And taking the time to look for pretty socks instread of
just taking black ones made it more fun!

This goes to show that when you get back to basics....  the smallest thing, the minor detail can actually be
enjoyable...  even buying socks can be fun!!!

My husband and I sometimes think about what will happen post 2011...  will we go back to our old buying habit?  I do not think so...  Every dollar I spend now, I think about it...  I am more concious of the value of money, the urge created to have us buy things...  the impact every single buy I make has on me, people I love and all living creature on this planet!  I came to realize that when you stay away form the mall and stores, you really do not need anything... but when I look at magazines or walk around the shopping center, I suddenly find myself with many needs... I do not have a floral dress that lenght.. or with that size of flower or that specific color, or the v-neck... but I do have a floral dress so why would that not be good enough???

I know I could do even better when I look at people I admire.... but one step at a time...  slowly but surely I
will get there because now I know why I am doing this.... 

I use to be blind! Now my eyes have been open and I have no intention of closing them again!

Montreal

The last few days have brought me to drive around Montreal a lot...  From the West Island all the way to Rosemont, passing thru St-Laurent,  not using the higway most of the time because of traffic...   It has allow me to revisit this beautiful city I have always lived in... Of course, it is early spring.. to the city is not at it's best esthetically...  but nonetheless, it is a very interesting place to live!

I was born and raised east of Montreal... and gradually my life path brought me all the way in the west of the island... I have loved every area I lived in.... each being very different... and this is what surprise me most with Montreal...

This city is so rich and so poor at the same time....  So francophone and anglophone... so old and new.... so modern and classic...  so many buildings and yet great parks...  surrounded by water... so many things to do like festivals, museum, shows, shopping, dining out, outdoor activities for every seasons... You can go from Greece, to Italy, to China, to Israel in a couple of minutes! And so much more... 
Downtown feels like a small Boston... and Old Port like Quebec city... West island like Ontario... 

You can go from places where you can see people's misery on their face to places that are so filthy rich it is ridiculous!  Places where people have to go through garbages and popular kitchen to eat to other's where only the finest cuisine is eaten!  You can have on the same street, restaurants where the bill will easily come up to a couple of hundreds of dollars to have a wiener for 60cents or a slice of pizza for 99! People walking around with all their belonging in a grocery cart or driving around in a Mercedes!

People from all around the globe live here...  with all their individual culture... without it being such a big problem...  of course there are some incidents here and there but all in all, it is quite a nice place to live...  peaceful, multicultural with a low criminal rate for such a big city!  It is actually safe to walk around or take public transportation for a woman at night in most areas!

All kinds of people, with all kinds of different backgounds living in harmony on a small island!  Minding their own business... but yet helping each other...  Makes you wonder, why is it not possible then to have all those same kind of people living all around the globe in the same harmony?  What makes this place so different?? 

I honestly wonder...    maybe I will never find out but to me, this is the best place to live.... 

Happiness

What is happiness???  As the trainer that I am, I would say that this is an open ended question....  with many possible answers.... or is there?
I use to think that buying stuff, doing activities, going on vacation, having a car, a house... would make me happy... However, this feeling of happiness would not last... and I tought that I needed something else... Perhaps this is how the "big money making machine" keeps moving foward...  Having us believe that we need all those things... And quite honestly, it is true that many things seems very appealing...  The color, the smell, the sounds... the urge to conform, to be like other people... to not miss anything... to not be left apart... I bet most of you know that publicities are studied to create an urge for us to buy...  and in the movie 99F, they even say that those guys are deciding today what we are going to buy in 5 years! Huge machine!!!!! but did you know that even stores do that... The way the store is layed out, the smell in it (they use perfumes creating an urge to buy and specific to a store so it creates a smell memory and makes you wanna go back - for the smell - and hopefully buy more! All this is subconsciously obvioulsy), the music (loud music creates a rush to buy, an exitement)!

Now at one point in my life I had a house, 2 new cars, a pool, lots and lots of everything and would go on vacation twice a year but I was quite unhappy!!! I was sick and not in a good place in my life...  but ever since I met this great psychologist who did not wanted to give me medication and pushed me towards meditation and yoga instead and I slowly started turning things around in my life...  and here I am... I have not buy unecessary things in almost 3 months... and don't miss it!! I am actually happier then ever!!! I can read, do yoga, knit, spend quality time with my son and husband instead of shopping!

Now, in the book that I am presently reading ("How to go further"), they state a statistic (quite interesting) according to which, in the USA, the number of people claiming to be happy peaked in 1957... (and went downhill since then)  consumption has double since... (people are spending more and more money to try and find happiness)

But are they looking in the right place?

What does that tell you??? 

16 hours later

Hi!  for the few of you who may not know that I have officially started the process of doing my 300h yoga teacher training, well now you know...
I have not blogged about this yet because I had mixed emotions and was not sure I really wanted to get into it anymore... It seemed like a lot... and I was afraid I did not have what it took to start this challenge...

This week end, we had our first 16h workshop...  Modern Ashtanga.  We went thru the first and half of the second series, did many hours of led practice and try so many poses and transitions that I had never even see before...  We also learned about the chant and the theory behind the 8 limbs... it was very interesting... even thus extremely challenging....  every morning I would wake up more sore than  the previous one... and after all the backbending we did today (which are one of my weaknesses), I cannot imagine in what state I will wake up on Monday!!!

We also did a spring solstice ritual that consisted on writing on a piece of paper an emotion or feeling or habit you wanna get rid of... then burning and flushing down this paper...  thus getting rid of that thing you no longer want in you...  It was refreshing.... and I really liked it!!!

So that will be it for now....  I have many infos to process.... and digest before I can get back to you...

One last thing, after doing this workshop, I am convinced that I can do this.... I will need to work hard, study and work on myself but it will be so worth it at the end...

Namaste,
peace,
nath

Lunch break

For years, I have spent my lunch time out...  I need the change of scenary for my mental health! Also I found
that if you stay inside, you have a tendency to work throughout lunch or at least talk about it! Over the years, my routine has changed... when I first started that, I would actually go out to eat in restaurants... which ended up not being good on my waistline nor my wallet!  Then I ended up spending my lunch time at the shopping mall...  because it was close to my job...  This was better on my waistline as I would bring my own lunch but not much better on the wallet! If not worst...

Now, since I started at my current job, I have decreased the number of time I go out because we sometimes
do yoga at lunch and we have a stitch and bitch club once a week... 

However, the remaining days, I would spend at the shopping mall up untill January 1st!!!  In order to
avoid temptation, I decided to change my routine and spend my free lunch break at Chapters (Starbucks)...
there I would have a chai and read a book...  minimize spending and avoid temptation...  but after 2 months
of that routine I am getting fed up and need a change... 

So today at lunch, I decided that on the days were there would be no yoga and no stitching, I would go for
a walk when it is nice outside of course (if weather is not cooperative, I would go for a chai!)!
But by now, the weather should be going towards better times...
A walk at lunch time would be good for the wallet (no more chai) and for the waistline!  ;)))
And if by any chance there is a park near by, I could even stop a few minutes to read whenever I feel like
it so it would be a winning situation for me - take some fesh air, soak up the sun and read!!!
When we hit really nice weather, I plan on using my bike to work at least twice a week so then I could bike to a park, read and get back to work all refreshed!

What do you guys think?
How do you spend your lunch time?  Nurturing yourself? Or just keeping busy with work related issues?

Fixing things

There seems to be an "art" that is disappearing... 

I remember when I was younger, my parents would get things fixed...  The TV, the bicycles, small appliances, clothes,shoes, etc... If there could be a way to fix something, there was no way they would get rid of it.... I remember my dad would fix anything (or just about) with crazy glue!  And he was not the only ones...

Over time, however, the trend shifted towards changing things instead of fixing them... I think that happened for several reasons... First of all, fixing things mean you will have to actually go without it for a while... wether it is a piece of clothe, a pair of shoes, furniture or appliances...  It means sometimes bringing it to the repair man, or waiting home for him to show up... and sometimes, it involved taking you own time to do it, as for clothes, toys, etc...  Now, unfortunately,  time is a luxury most people can't afford anymore... who would spend a week withour their TV so it gets repaired?  Who actually brings their clothes or shoes to be fixed?
Who can afford spending half a day home waiting for the guy to fix the freezor?

Isn't just easier to get new stuff?  This can be done in a couple of hours or even a few minutes over the internet (assuming the computer is not what broke down on you), and shipped to your house anytime you wish within 24-47 hours if need be... It seems like stuff is not done to last anymore... My mom had in her basement a fridge that was 30 years old... Which fridge build today will last 30 years? Same goes for TVs...  When I moved out in my first appartement, I found a TV that was some 30 years old if not more, you know those TV that were actually inside a wooden box?  Well it lasted me a few months... The TV I bought after that, in 1997, just died in 2009... just 12 years after... and not because it was overused... 

This is just my opinion, but the big consumerism machine would not do as well if everything
we buy would last forever!!!

Lastly, some people think that the cost of fixing things is just as high as buying new ones... that is not true! Even if it cost a few hundred dollars getting you washing machine repaired, a new one will cost much more! Plus look at the environmental cost...  Changing you stuff means sending something to the landfill most of the time...

Over the last year, I had several of my clothes fixed because I have been losing weight and stop wearing heels... Of course, shortening pants may cost 10$, making them smaller at the waste maybe 20$ depending on the cut... But that is well below the price of new pants... I even had a red velvet dress turned into a nice skirt for 35$ !

Now if you get a sewing machine for a little more than 100$ on sale and learn how to sew, those will come out even cheaper as the number of pieces of clothes you can fix with one machine is almost unlimited!  My next objective is to get a sewing machine! I already know how to sew, I just do not have the equipement!
I have just get two pair of boots repaired...  and they did a great job!  It cost me 30$!  Some might say that
this is a lot of money... but each of these pair of boots cost me aroung 70$... So that is 140$...  fixing them
for 30$ and allowing them to serve me for a few more seasons is way more cost efficient than buying 2 new pairs at the same price... Plus I saved the landfill from 2 pairs of boots still very wearable with a little help!

So I will ask you, the next time something brake down, please consider fixing it... if this is really not your approach at least send it to a place where they will do it and some people will at least be able to buy it for cheaper! Not everyone can afford a brand new fridge every 10 years!!!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!!!

never stop questionning yourself!

I am the kind of person always questionning herself.... Am I doing the right thing? Could I do more?  Does this make sense?  Is there a point?  Does it helps anyone? Does it makes me happy?

I have very few expectations from life aside from being happy... that also includes my son and husband being happy!
Happiness to me does not include a big house, fancy car and travelling... for those of you who may not have get that up untill now...  ;)

Saturday night, after putting my lovely son to bed, my husband and I had a nice discussion... I had been thinking all day... and so he knew I was up to something! What I had been thinking about was one sentence in a movie we all watched together Friday night.  The sentence was (not necessarely exact quote) "sometimes the good decision may not be the good thing to do"... what does this mean?  not quite sure yet...

What did this sentence trigger in me? Putting my year resolution in question!

If you guys remember, I had decided to do all this as a part of my personnal evolution and to be supportive of my husband... Also another motivation was to help environmentally....  I mean the earth is not going to heal itself without us changing our behavior, so I tought I try and help... And I hope to give my son a nice place to live eventually.... 

Now, what if I was doing all this for nothing?  What if it was already too late? Or too little?  What if I had no impact or anyone?  Might as well shop, spend money, use my car, eat anything etc...
I mean there are no sure answer to all those questions...  and my husband certainly did not have the answers either... But what he made me realize is that I have to do what makes ME happy NOW! After all it is my only expectation from life!  So I have to go for it... 

If what I am doing is enough or not?  Who cares really?  At least I am giving it a try!
If I am doing this for nothing?  No becasue this is what makes me happy!  Even if it does not have the impact I wish for... it is a beginning...
Is it too late?  Probably not... as long as there is life, there is hope!
Too little?  Probably.... but every small step count!
What if it has no impact?  I can see an impact on my son! So if only that... It was worth it! And I have a few people reading me so I am at least playing with their minds... lol!

And my husband vision on that is, when I am going to leave this world, I should not have regrets!
So I have to live in such a way not to have any!  And that includes giving it a try!
Trying a more sustainable way of living!

When you are looking for answers and are carefull for the signs, you get answers...

I got 2 of them...

We had a fire drill a 3h32 am Sunday morning.... so I had to pull my son out of bed, get all of
us dress and ready to go out quiclky... My son is terrified of fire... He used to tell me what if the appartement catches fires and he loses all his stuff?  And this one time, his stuff never came up! He was more worry about
the people not coming out and the cats that we left inside...We were pretty sure it was not a fire since there was no smoke or smell or panic amongst any of our neighbours! When we were allowed back in 30 minutes later, I put him back to bed and he gave me a huge hug, a big kiss and told me "Maman je t'aime vraiment beaucoup"
There I knew I was doing the right thing!

The other sign came at lunch today, I am reading "How to go further" by Woody Harrelson and friends and the section I was reading today was on sustainable life changes... He made a lot of life changes since he was 23...  and he claims he is not done yet.. there are still room for improvement. But he also truly believes that every little steps count!  So it was good to hear that from an outsider.... not someone trying to cheer me up!

So as a result, I decided to keep on going... hey, might as well give it a shot!!!
What do I have to lose???

Deck of cards

My son and I played cards tonight...

Along with the no shopping thing, we are trying to get to a simpler way of life...  So, on school night, there is no computer, no video games, no ipod...  and TV time is limited to 1h30min... 
So tonight, because there was not much studying to do due to a carnival tomorrow and friday, there was lots of free time!!!  So after practicing the guitar and before watching TV, there was time to play cards... we played for 45 minutes.... it was fun... quality time!!! And my son also got to looks at some books on his book shelves!

When I grew up, there was no computer or video games...  they were wildly  available in my mid teenager years.... We did not even have cable for most of my life...  I was figure skating most night....  4 out of 5....  but I sometimes wonder what kids were doing prior to TV and computer and ipod and all those things!!!  it now seems that our lives revolve around the TV schedule...  people do not go out, or make phone calls because there is such and such a show on TV... 

I am fascinated by the impact TV has on us...  I, for one, was doing this not too long ago... I have cancelled plans on occasion for a TVshow in the past.... and I got out of this habit when we did not have cable and were only able to get 2 channels for a couple of years....  I also noticed that whatever add is on, almost convince me that I need that stuff.... even thus I am not authorised to buy it for this year...  :)  I feel like the less TV I watched, the better I feel...  I already stopped watching the news about 10 years ago.. and my stresss level really decreased by doing so... Now, I have decrease my TV time and I honestly do not miss it....

I must admit that I now have cable, I tought it was unfair for my son not to be able to understand what his friends were talking about...  but I limit the exposure... or do the best I can to do so...  and whenever he no longer lives with me, a few years down the line, or when he is OK with it also, we will not own a TV anymore....

I do realize that all technology do have some advantages.... I love to text people..  or write this blog, or search the net for vegetarain recipes or yoga stuff or vacations...  but I guess it is like everything else... too much of a good thing can be too much!

What are your toughts on TV and technology?

100 things challenge

At chapters, I came across this book called "100 things challenge" by a guy name David. This guy was also trying to get a simpler life (obviously, I am not allowed buying the book, so I visited his site and blog).  A couple of years ago, he decided to spend a year with only 100 things that were his only.  He made a set of rules, excluding family stuff like kitchen table, appliances and all those things because it was his decision, not his wife or daughter one.  One rule was that he would select 100 things that he wished to keep and give everything else away.  During the year, if he got a gift or wanted to buy something new, he had to get rid on an object in order to keep this new one.  Another rule was that group of objects were considered one... like sock and underwear... there is not point in keeping only one of each and have to do laundry every day for a pair of socks and underwear...   Less is not always more!  In total, he was not allowed more than 100 personnal things.  That was a couple of years ago and he is still going by that rule even thus he is somewhat more flexible with the number.  As long as he remains close to a 100.    Currently, on his site, there is 95 items listed.  I tought that it was very interesting.

I find it amazing to see that many people are trying to change things around.... to give ourselves and our children a chance to a better life....  Obviously this guy made a book out of this... so it is being read and inspire other people, and if you look at his web page and blog, you can see other people also trying to get to a simpler way of life...

What I find cool is that it does not matter to what extent you do it... every small step count... step by step you can climb a mountain!!! 

Even Oprah is having a vegan week for herself and three hundred and something of her staff... 

Did you know that if everyone in America was to have one meatless day per week every week, we could actually change the quality of the environment significantly?  How many of you are up for it?  Just one day a week...    That is only 14% of the time...  if you exclude breakfast which rarely includes meat, it is only about 8% of the time!

Here is the link to David site and blog... take a look if you are interested!
http://www.100thingchallenge.com/

Truly amazing people!

The last week has been a roller coaster of emotions... 
A person I care deeply about is going thru a divorce... 
My husband was told that by best case scenario, he would be out of a job before 2012!!!
I have finaly said good bye and put behind me a friendship of 15 years because it was no longer satisfying!
All this keeping my regular schedule or almost... being my "smiling" self... I think :)
Obviously, the most disturbing new, is my husband loosing his job...
This comes in the life's 10 more stressfull factor (that's what they say!)...  and it his hitting us AGAIN...
I lost my job 5 years ago, in similar conditions, and quite frankly, we did not handle it so well...
But we have greatly learned from all the mistakes we made... and this time we are prepare and have a "Plan".
A real Plan!  And we will stick to it!  No matter what!
This Plan was tought of before the news came out (we were kind of expecting it!), so it does not involve any
of the typical emotions related to such a news such as anger, fear, sadness, etc..
And quite frankly, after all we both went thru over the last years, we tought we were out of the woods... 
But who is out of the woods ever???  I do not think this is possible... The woods is part of life...
Everything depends on how you handle it... we are prepared...  we are scared of course... even
prepared, the unkonwn remains the unknown...  we are sad because this is a 24 years experience coming to an end... but exited about all the opportunities that he is given...
So will get thru this.... together...  rowing a boat in troubled water is much easier when you are 2!!!
On the other hand, I have been surrounded by amazing people cheering me up! 
Offering to get in touch with contacts who could help him find something else!
One dear friend of mine, who litteraly does not have a minute to herslef, spent half an hour on the phone with
me Sunday afternnon trying to help me put things in perspective!  And, I must admit, she was so right!!!
Annoyingly right!!! :)
My cousin, who reads this blog on a regular basis, but is not a follower send me a great email...
and it was so touching to read!
When I got to work on Monday, another friend of mine, inspired by the stitch and bitch club I co-founded had crochet me a really nice tuque!!!  I was so happy about this!!!
So I went to this roller coaster of emotions thinking that normally, I would have handled this by going shopping and spending roughly 300$, that I would have make everything better (so I tought!!!)
but because of this "stupid" resolution we made I could not do it!!!  I must admit that I almost did...
I was so close....  but I made soup instead... which I will have tonight!!!
Homemade soup from scratch vs spending 300$ of stuff I ended up not wanting : pretty sure I made the best choice!
So thanks to all of you truly amazing people (and all the others I did not specifically mentionned!)!!!!
You are helping us going thru this rough patch...  and making this so much easier...
Love,
nath
xxx

One down, eleven to go!!!

So here we go...  January is over...  31 days not buying anything...  and not has difficult as I would have expected!  I did change the way I see things during this last month...  honestly, to start off, maybe the first 10 days, I was somewhat not happy about that decision... and did not know if I would make it... and I was trying to find ways to get out of it with my husband!  I even suggested the idea of gaining 10 pounds so I would have no choice but to buy clothes!!!  For those of you who know how strict I am with my weight, this may come as a shock!!! Then, after I passed the 21 days mark, it became easier... I found myself with more free time...  more ideas.. more creative tought!  I even finished a collage and a scarf and started knitting a sweater! I also draw a mandala!  I have more energy for my yoga and my meditation and do not feel the urge to get stuff to satisfy me!!!

I still even have that gift card for Les centres a la mode and cannot find a use for it... at least for now!

 I am actually surprise at how much the TV,  magazines, radio, newspaper and all we see and listen is oriented toward making you believe that you need to buy stuff to be happy!  It is absolutely not true!

In one of the book I read, they were mentionning that you do not possess you material stuff, but rather it possess you... making you a slave to it...  and since my newly found freedom, I must admit, that this is true...  at least for us!

Now you guys can think about the relationship you have to your stuff.... it all you house/appartment was to catch fire tomorrow, what would you save?  Dominique Loreau says that all you wish to save should fit in a luggage that you can carry by yourself...  it is really the case?

Application

I am so exited... I just filled out my application with D-Trois-Pierres in order to get a basket per week for 20 weeks of locally, organically grown vegetables!!!  Yummy!!!!  It will be many different kinds of vegetables.... some I never even try...  or had no idea what they could be used for! But now that I have become a "chef" and really like to try out new stuff, it will be a great challenge...  on the web site, you can also find recipes if there is something you have no idea what to do with...

My husband asked me to promise him to not throw out any vegetables that I would receive...  so this will imply sometimes asking you guys what to do with something....  or looking it up... or perhaps giving out some... either raw or already prepared... my husband and I do not eat much as most of you know and in my small flat, there is not much room to store food.... cooked or not!!!

Obviously, 1kg of vegetable is not that much for a whole week if it is well diversify... since we have a plant base diet! But send me 1kg of zucchini and I will have ot become very creative!

So you guys can do the same... look it up in your region and see what it available... I am getting my stuff from Cap St-Jacques... they deliver close to my house but also on Ile-Bizard, and in Rosemont for eg....  so look it up and it might be someting you guys would lilke to do!

Here's the link:

http://www.d3pierres.com/content.asp?node=46

The mall

This Sunday, I had to go to the Apple store.. I had been postponing this moment but my son got an iPod for X-mas and he needed a charger so that I did not have to keep my computer open all the time...  and bring it everywhere...  I am not that attached to my computer...

So 23 days not buying anything... for a shopaholic of my type, this is huge!!! And I was going to the mall... I was afraid I would give in...  but I reassure you, I did not...

To start of, we went to Renaud-Bray, then Apple store and then we decided to shop around and we ended up entering ALL our favorite stores...  and not buying anything... even thus I had a gift certificate on hands...
When I left I was pretty much exausted... and I felt deprive of the right to buy something... but when I got home 15 minutes later, I actually felt pretty good and realized that there was nothing that I really wanted....  or could not do without...

So only 24 days down the line but I already feel like this experiment is going to change me forever....  Plus all this time not shopping, trust me, it is actually more per week then some people do in a season, has opened my horizon... I am knitting, reading, cooking, coming up with sewing ideas, and I even finished a collage that I have been wanting to finish for months.... I even framed it and place it in my leaving room... I am also spending more time on my yoga... 

This is very stimulating and my creativity, which I always had but was asleep for years, is all coming back to me.... and I feel alive and full of project!!! And I see thing differently...        

"Je lève mon verre"

This is my new favourite song... it's by William Deslauriers.  It basically is "let's drink to that" and it talks about how we are abusing this planet we live on...  how we are pushing the limits and heading toward a place which may not be so much fun if we do not change...  but it is a huge message of hope...  the song says that he is trying to change things...  that there is hope that we will find a solution... and he "lève son verre" to those people who are trying to make a difference... trying to get back to a nicest place to live... where our kids can find trees, water, less corruption, world peace...  there should be no "borders"... after all we are all humans...   and we should all help each other... 

If I was able to sing (and this is the one thing I cannot do!), this is probably the song I would have like to be written for me...  it sums up what I am trying to do... leave hope, try to change this place.... and all you guys who are regularly reading this blog and asking questions and showing interest in what we are doing are great!!!  It shows you care!!!

here's the link to a video of the song... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23iU7kJnpRg

enjoy!
"je lève mon verre" to all of you my friends!!!
  

'greed is a bottomless pit that tires a person trying to satisfy a need without ever reaching satisfaction'

This quotation is from Erin Fromm.  I came cross it in my "Green is the new black" book which I just finish reading... 

There are so many informations in this book... and I still haven't process every little bit of it...  but this quotation with which the book starts or almost is amazing...  It pin point exactly why I use to shop so much...  (notice the use of the past tense?  because for 18 days I have not done it... getting close to the 21 days required to create a new behavior or get rid of an old one!)  I would shop to satisfy needs I tought I had... only to realize that I ended up wanting more... and still not be happy about what I had...

Now where to start and where to end is not an easy question...

I guess the first step anyone should do is declutter... that is, reserve a few hours over the next week end... look at all the clothes, shoes, accessories you have in every closet... or suitcase...  for every season...  including bathing suit, socks and underwear...

Go on and make a few pîles:

1) still wear
2) need fixing
3) to give out because I no longer will wear it... it no longer fits or it was an impulse buy for example...
4) to throw out because fixing or giving are not even appropriate - which is an extremely rare case... I mean you need to have major damage in either one of those cases.... even a 15 year old blouse in good condition that you think no one will want will make a person really happy somewhere!!!
5) to keep to refashion into something else

Now, what ever needs fixing needs to be fix ASAP...  or it goes in one of the other piles...

What ever you wish to give out, hold on for now as I am planning on doing a swapping something later on this year... probably in May! If this interest you.. if not please give them away to those who need them....

Now you should be left with clothes you like...  and wear...  did you know that 80% of the time we wear only 20% of what we own???  that is defenitley not much...  so what should remain after this grand clean up should be about the 20% you really wear plus a few items you rarely wear but really like and are useful!

I did this exercise last time I move in August... and it was worth while...   

Green is the new black - how to change the world with style

I bought this book at Chapters at lunch time...  In my previous post, I said that books were to be discussed...  but this one is essential...  if I am going to spend a year without getting new clothes or almost none...  which compare to the last 10 years of my life is a huge difference...  I still wanna do it in a stylish way.. my style obviously!   I wanna show people that this can be fun and creative...  not a punishment...  or else no one will wanna get even remotely close to trying it...  so it would defeat the purpose!!! If I wanna change this world, I need to show people that is can be fun, intersting, challenging and enjoyable...  so I will go throught this book and let you know what this is about... 
Subject to be find in the books include thrift stores, knitting, 5$ jeans, organic cotton, purses and bags,ethical jewelry...
but it also made me think about modifying my clothes, modifying other people clothes that they no longer want, sewing, swapping...  etc and I will probably come up with more ideas...

So I will start this book and figure out what my next year will be like clothes wise...   The main idea is to save raw materials from being manufacture... hence save this wonderful planet we live on!  So by using what I already own or what other people use to own, I do not demand any more raw materials...  and secondly, I will save money!!! (for a future project...)