A grain of sand in the ocean

This is a picture of Montreal as seen on the top of Mont-Royal. I took it last summer.

I love to go to that place and just look at this huge city, below me.  It is really quiet up there even thus there are lots of people, the business is not the same as down below.  There is no car/bus noise...  No emergency vehicle either. No city noise.

It makes me see life in a bigger perspective.  When I am busy down there, I walk, shop, bike... I am really concentrated on myself... my needs, my wants, etc...  but really from up there, I can imagine myself when I am down there, and I seem so little... insignificant... and so does everyone else!  Even the cars are tiny.  Mont-Royal is not that high, can you imagine even further up?

It gives me the same feeling when I fly (which is really rare).  I love looking at the window and seeing the distance growing from my down to hearth life and the space I am borrowing momentarily in the sky.  Everything seems so irrelevant...  cars, people, houses, pools, lands... they get so tiny that eventually you can't even distinguish any of it! You only see land and water.

This brings me to a long discussion I just had with my husband, on how we tend to think that life started with us and will end with us too.  In the busyness of daily activities, chores, works, we loose that perspective, we forget that in the bigger scheme of things, we are so tiny... almost irrelevant to some point... but at the same time so important. I love this duality of life.  Let me explain myself.

What is my importance on this whole planet???  If I was never born, this city, province and country in which I live would still be there... and people would be busy walking around doing their things... not knowing that someone was never born. What about the planet?  Same thing... no difference ultimately whether I am there or not: Life would go on.  Worse, if I was to die tomorrow,  there would be absolutely no impact on the bigger scheme of things. One less human... replaced by others that are born on that very same day. This is the truth, as sad as it may seem. 

However, in my every day life, I do have an impact on many people... just like you and anyone else does. Every decision I make, acts I do has an impact for my immediate surrounding at the very least and sometimes broader than that.  This once again, brings me back to my interconnectedness post. In summary, everyone of my actions has a positive or negative effect on my immediate surrounding and this cascades far beyond my knowledge. At the same time, all my actions are dictated by a cascade of events far beyond my knowledge too!

If everything is related, what would happen if you were to remove a link? What if one person at one time on the face of this planet had not made a specific decision or gesture???  And this is what my husband and I were talking about... what if you take any major history decision you know and change it? For example, what if Christophe Colomb had actually found India instead of North America? What if Julia Butterfly Hill had not chained herself to that tree? What if Hitler never existed? What if Gandhi had never study law and fought for peace? What if I never came across any of the people I knew/know in my life? What if John Lennon was never killed? What if M. Smith did not brush his teeth this morning? This could go on forever.

The answers are at the same time very complex and very simple...  Complex in the sense that if any of those events, or any other events or people never existed, life, to each one of us, would not be quite the same.  Whether you know who Julia Butterfly is or not... whether you live in America or not...  it doesn't matter because of that interconnectedness...  It is also very simple in the sense that for this planet, this Universe, it would be exactly the same... 

Life was there before us, and it will continue after... long after... in which form or shape?  I can't tell you...  but it will continue.  For better and for worse. 

Realising all this makes me reflect upon my own life.  How do I go about my every days life knowing that the impact I have can be so relevant (positive or negative) and at the same time so insignificant in the bigger picture? How do I make my decision, or how do I act to leave a positive mark around me and in the bigger chain of event without taking myself too seriously?  Where do I draw the line between important and futile?  Because everything is actually important and futile...

To the ocean each grain of sand is important... but remove one of them and there will still be an ocean. Remove many of them, it might be a different ocean, but still an ocean.

How do you feel about that duality?  Importance and futility of everything and everyone?

love&peace,
nath
xox
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Yoga challenge for me - 21 days

Ever since I started and then stopped running earlier this year, my body has been different.  I know now that I cannot run...  it won't let me... because of MS.
I also know that before that idea of running a marathon came to my mind, I had my mind, morale and weight under control... not ever since...
I am struggling a lot and it seems as if, in a few weeks of running, I have lost the balance3equilibrium I had created over the years despite MS.

I do not sleep as well, I am more hungry, my head is "more busy" and "less organized"...  I am more stiff...  I know where this is going and I will not let it.

I have already address  my eating over the last week or so...  even thus I did not regain complete control, I know I am going back to a good place.

I increased my meditation practice to calm my mind and regain focus of my thoughts.  It is improving.

I will also start this 20 minutes yoga practice for flexibility to aid in the stiffness.  I never really stopped my yoga practice but it seems as though I was not practicing the "right" way for my current state.  I need to take a step back... and this is what I am going.

I am now on day 3 of doing this practice and it feels good.  I can feel my body working, releasing the tension and opening up.  I can't wait to see what will happen during the next few weeks.  I will do the same practice day after day for 18 more days after today and see where it brings me.

Along with my diet and meditation practice, it should bring me to a state of openness and balance/equilibrium that I had before January...

So here's the link to the YouTube video I am using.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fztE4mK7C0&feature=youtu.be

who will try it to?? let me know...

thanks for reading and sharing...

love&peace,
nath
xox
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Extreme minimalist dressing - Week 4 - LAST ONE

Finally!!!  Made it!!!
Never thought this day would come!  This must have been the longest week EVER!

Already, early this week I was preparing my "April" wardrobe and I even made a blog post about it on Wednesday.  You can read it here. This time I selected 33 items!!!  All inclusive.

What I have learned is that the way you dress doesn't really matter in the sense that it is JUST covering up your body.  However, it does make a difference to your morale.  I am not saying that you need to spend thousands of dollars on clothes...  nor am I saying that you need hundreds of piece of clothing in your wardrobe...  BUT, you need clothes in which you feel great, clothes that reflect your personality AND your mood of the day.  In selecting my 15 items for March, I had clothes I felt great in (because quite frankly I no longer have clothes I do not feel great in) and that reflected my personality but somehow I forgot to include pieces for my different moods! I did think about versatility and matching since I didn't have many items... but forgot the numerous moods I can be in over a month! 

One more finding was that you really do not need to wash you clothes that much!  In the sense that if you wear something for a couple of hours, there really is no need to wash it unless you got it dirty or if you sweated profusely! Oh come on!!!  Don't give me that "look"... I am sure you do it to sometimes: smell something before you wear it!  Be honest...  Or at least you wish you could do it! I use to change a few times a day... and put all my clothes in the hamper every day, whether I wore it for 4 hours or 30 minutes...  it didn't make sense!  I was creating way too much laundry and spending way to much time and energy doing it! And I had to own way to many clothes because everything was in the laundry all the time! This month I have learned that if you put you clothes back in place after a few hours of wear, most of the time you can wear a second day!  Even more for pants!

A summary of this week outfits?   Pretty much repeats of the rest of the month...  I would like to share with you 2 pictures of what have turned out to be my 2 favorites outfits of the month:

I just love those pants.  I even selected them to be part of my April capsule wardrobe.  They actually were the basis of the other 21 items.

In selecting my wardrobe for April I have been more careful.  I selected 33 items including outer wear and footwear.  There are 22 items of clothing per say and I have been choosing basically one color (or shade) for bottoms - black, grey and jeans...  and many different colored tops that can mix & match with all my bottoms!  I already took one long skirt and found 6 different ways to wear it!  I'll post about that on Monday.

What about you?  How often do you do laundry?  Do you wash your clothes at every wear? 

love&peace,
nath
xox
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Minimalist dressing - April

Today's the Day where I announce what I will be wearing as of next Saturday...  March 29th...  Until the end of April.

But before I do so, I whish to mention that I have learned a lot with my extreme minimalist dressing during the month of March! Never before was I able to do Project 333 has it was intended by Courtney... First I thought it was crazy to dress with 33 items for 3 months and said to myself that "I would never be that much of a minimalist"...  then I started with way too many items almost 2 years ago (around 50 items excluding outerwear and footwear).  I slowly brought my number of items down but I never did include outerwear and footwear.

Last month, I decided to select 15 items for 31 days... OK I am cutting it short to 28 days because I am going crazy...  BUT...  I selected my wardrobe for April at beginning of this week...  and my husband mentioned "well you come up with your own rules anyway... what does it change?"  Well first of all, it has allow me to decrease significantly the number of items I own. Second of all, it has help me find my style. And last but not least, it boosted my creativity.  SMALL STEPS...

However, his comment still made his way... and I know it was exactly what he intended.  It rocked my boat and I said to myself:  "In April, you follow the rules.  33 items...  all inclusive... hats, scarves, outerwear, footwear...  No ifs and buts."  And guess what???  I did it!  I came up with exactly 33 items!!! And it is covering all the range of temperature we can have here in Montreal in April.

Here are the pictures:

In that picture you can see 22 items. (from left to right)
1) Rain coat
2) Fake leather jacket
3) hand knitted sweater
4) Hoodie
5) Jeans jacket
6) Mustard vest
7) Grey vest
8) White t-shirt with zebras
9) White t-shirt (from March)
10) Grey t-shirt (from March)
11) Burgundy Boudha t-shirt
12) Old pink OM t-shirt
13) Recycle green t-shirt (from March)
14) Bright yellow pattern t-shirt - gift from my son!
15) Striped 3/4 sleeve t-shirt
16) Jeans shirt
17) Grey long skirt
18) Black long skirt
19) Black harem pants
20) Grey corduroy pants (from March)
21) Wide leg jeans (from March)
22) Skinny ripped jeans

In the above picture are footwear...  5 pairs.  For cold... rain...  and better... ;-)

3 scarves...  for warmer weather....  that will fit mostly anything

And just in case... because yes we get cold and sometimes snow in April!

Total:  33 items!

And guess what???  I will try and keep it at that... month by month.  Therefore in May I will remove warmer items by not as warm ones and still try and keep the 33.  It's just more fun to be part of a community while doing that! Also, I want to try and push myself a little more. See where it takes me. The only thing, I like to change every month...  instead of every 3 months...  but I will keep track of what stays for more then on month and see what quickly goes.  Maybe these are the items that are next in line to exit my wardrobe for good!

What about you?  Are you following project 333 or any other way for minimalist dressing? What does your wardrobe look like?  What would you like it to look like?  Can I help going from that to there? Let me know...

love&peace,
nath
xox
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4R of my minimalism

Becoming a minimalist is one thing... staying a minimalist is another...

I often write about the starting process... How to declutter. Why you should declutter.  What do you have to gain.

But what if once you have a minimalist, decluttered tidy home you keep on with your old habits?  Old ways of doing things? Old patterns of consumption?  Well, it wont be long before you need to redo all that time, energy and emotion costly decluttering.  Trust me... I've been to a few of those cycles!

This is why  am now using a 4R rule.  This is my adaptation of the numerous 3R, 4R, 5R rules you can find here and there... This is what works for me.  You can come up with your own...  or use as is...  it doesn't really matter as long as you have a guideline to avoid being back to square one anytime soon.

Refuse : This may actually be the harder of the 4R...  It implies learning to say NO.  No to gifts... No to handover... No to gift exchanges... It implies sharing with your friends and family your process and letting them know that you will not enjoy any random gifts of handover anymore... Now if you come from a place where refusing a gift is just rude and you very well know people won't stop giving you gifts, you can direct them towards what you would like to have.  Stuff that will not clutter you home: for example gifts certificates - these come in all sorts nowadays it could be from your favorite coffee shop, favorite restaurant, a massage or spa day, hair salon, iTunes, Amazon... you name it... anything you will enjoy that will not generate new random not desired object in your home. It could also be a consumable item:  like a bag of your favorite tea, bottle of your preferred wine, fancy food basket, quality chocolate, a plant... Now if you're into not wanting to receive anything with money value, you could ask for baby sitting time, meal prep, dog sitting, house sitting...  Use your imagination and provide people around you with a list of what you would like to get as gifts now that you are a minimalist.

Reduce: Think twice before you bring something home.  Do you really need it?   Don't you have something else that could do the same "job"?  If it's for a one time use, can you borrow? Can you rent it? If you really do not want to clutter again, you need to stop the inflow of items into your sacred space.
How much clothes, dishes, decorative items, tools, pens.. etc... do you really need?  Do you really need that one new item that you just fell in love with at the store or on TV???
Don't you have something at home that could have a double purpose and avoid you bring in a new item?  Perfect example:  I use mason jars for food storage, to drink in , as flower vase and candle holders - 1 item 4 usages... it prevents me from having to buy 4 different items!
If you're going to buy dishes because you have more than usual people coming over can't you borrow dishes from a friend or family?
If you need to fix something on your home, rent the tools... no need to buy them to store them in the garage for years before you need it again.

Reuse: Find another use for an item before you give it away, put it in the trash or recycle it...  You can use glass containers that had relish in it to organise crafts material, buttons, nails, screws, as a piggy bank, to store more food (nuts and seeds for example)... You can turn old clothes/sheets into rags for cleaning if they are to damaged to give away...  Give what you own another change, another life.

Recycle:  When all else fails, please do not trash the items...  use the recycling option of your city.  Glass, plastic, paper, cardboard are most of the time recyclable.  It's still better then ending up in the landfills.

These are the questions I ask myself before something new enters my home or leave it.  Do I really need it? Can I use something else? Do I really need to buy it or could I get away with borrowing on renting? Will I be able to use it for a long time and in many ways? It is recyclable?

It is not 100% perfect as a system because you can manage to find "reasons" or "excuses"... and it will happen... and that's OK to!  But it help in most instances...

If all else fails, you can always use that one-in-one-out rule...  You really really really need that skirt? No other one you own will do...  And you can't borrow...  Well fine but one has to go... Someone else will enjoy your older one while you enjoy the new one.  No new clutter will have been created... and there will be 2 happy people!

And please, before you dispose of something, make sure it is not recyclable... or it is not possible to give away to charity or someone you know... To avoid filling out the landfills anymore then they already are.

Thanks for reading and sharing! :-)

love&peace,
nath
xox
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Karma, your life and how you can change all that with mindfulness

 In the book "wherever you go there you are" that I finished reading a few weeks ago, they talk about karma.  It is very interesting.  A concept, that I think is fairly misunderstood.

Karma is often link to past and present life..." I have a life that sucks now because I did something bad in a past life"... for example. I also often hear, "I have bad karma... it's my destiny".

Well this is not all there is to karma.  Let me try an explain it to you in a different way.  I f you've red my post on interconnectedness it will help.  If not I suggest you go and read it before going on.

"Karma means that this happens because that happened."  Does it ring a bell?  It's like the interconnectedness but within your own life.   The interconnectedness I was writing about applies to life in general because everything we do or do not do.... and everything everyone do or do not do impacts everything and everyone else.  However, every actions, thoughts, feelings and desires you have impact you own life. At any time.  All the time.  And at every moment we have thoughts, feelings, desires or do an action right?

Now did you ever stop and think where these come from?

What are you thinking right now? Why?
What are you feeling right now? Why?
What do you desire now? Why?

Actions are easy... you are reading this blog... but why?

Do you ever stop at any point during the day and ask "why"?

let me do it as an example.
What I am doing now: writing a blog post
Why? because writing makes me feel good.
Why? it allows me to understand a concept or an idea when I explain it in writing
Why? because it forces me to think about it and use simple ways/words and rephrasing to explain.
OK, now let's move up a notch...  Why does it make me feel good to write and explain something to others?  I could actually just write a journal...  Because I feel oblige to share. I have a need to help others.  Why?  because I whished someone could have explain all those things I write about to me way earlier in my life...

And this could go on and on...

Now that you know why you do what you do... why you think what you think...  etc... 

Try and always be mindful of that... because this is what creates you karma. Daily.

In mindfulness we are conscious of every action, thoughts, feeling and desire.  Therefore we no longer only react to old patterns. We can create new ones with news thoughts, feelings, desires and actions. At any moment... when we are present.

Why do we feel like always the same things happen in our life?  Because it is a reality. Because we always have the same feelings, thoughts, desires and we always do the same action. Hence the same results happen over and over again.  If we are stuck in a bad pattern, we feel like bad karma is our destiny.  But there is not such a thing and you can always change your karma: in mindfulness.

Now let's try to be more mindful about all your feelings...  thoughts...  desires....  and actions!

Because good ones attracts good ones... and bad ones attracts bad ones...

Jealousy attracts jealousy
Love attracts love

Be mindful
Change your thoughts
Change your karma
Change your life

You can do it right now... or whenever you have enough.  It is never too late.  There is no expiry date for creating the life you want... well OK, there is one but you do not know when it is...

love&peace,
nath
xox
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Extreme minimalist dressing - Week 3 summary

Week 3! Finally!  This is coming to an end...  Honestly right now, if I would not tie myself to this chair to type this post, I would go into my wardrobe and revamp it!  Can't wait for next Friday!  I already have planned in my schedule 1h to move my clothes around and do my next selection! I know I said I would have 15 items for 31 days.... hence all of March... but it will fit much better in my schedule to do that on Friday then on Monday... 

So far, I have learned about myself and my clothing that:

1) I LOVE clothes...  15 is not enough for one month!!!  I was really too extreme for myself...

2) I enjoy not having to think to much about what I will wear, HOWEVER, I do like thinking about it on days where I have time!

3) I love the idea of mix and match when I chose my items... it does allow for more flexibility and less repetition on a day to day basis.

4) I am not a dress/skirt person on cold weather!  These are the 2 items I did not wear much!

5) With 15 pieces of items, I came up with 17 different outfits so far... and I have at least 2 other ones in mind that I did not wear yet!  Will do on my next week

6) I do not mind wearing the same outfit 2 days in a row

7) I can wear outfits that do not match per say and not really care - I always thought it looked good on others... but fear doing it... well today I did and I felt amazing...  funny...  playful...  like a child again!

8) Came to realise that people really do not care about what you're wearing... al least people that are meaningful to me.

Here are the pictures of Day 15, Day 16 and Day 21.

Day 21, refer to 7)... this is the "match" I would have never done before....  but I felt good in it!
Quite frankly I always wore this skirt with a beige top... but I ruined mine last week (and I could not save it in the end)...  and I really wanted to wear the skirt....  so I chose I completely non matching top to try.... And I ended up loving it!  I will definitely do that more!

The other days were repeats....  and I did not feel like posting the same pictures again.... and actually Day 18 and Day 19 were the exact same outfit... and I did not even clean it in between... I had only wore it 3 hours on Day 18.... and again only about 4h on Day 19!  That sums up for a whole day of wearing... why fuss about it!

If you want to read more about the experiment you can do so here.
And summary of week 1 and week 2 are, of course, still available to you!

On a post this week I announce a challenge for myself...  Going to a thrift store... Well I did find a few ones...  recommended by friends of mine.  I will probably do that next week in order to have my item included in my April wardrobe since I need to wear it in 3 different ways AND show you guys pictures!

Thanks for reading and sharing!

love&peace,
nath
xox
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The Parreto principle and a challenge for me

I got a question today that actually got me going with this blog post... I love it when you guys take the time to ask me questions, comments... etc..  it helps me help you!  Megan, thank you...

In the book I am currently reading, the joy of less , Francine mentions the Pareto Principle which can be summed up by: "The Pareto principle (also known as the 80–20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes" as per Wikipedia. And using the link above, you can read in more details the Pareto principle. 

Now how do you use the Pareto principle in minimalism?  Well by realising that you use 20% of your stuff 80% if the time... You wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time... You see where this is going....  The other 80 of stuff is there for what exactly??? Just in case... because it was a gift... because it may be worth something... because it's a souvenir... you name it... but it is useless!!!  Let's be REALLY honest here!

Of course if you really are into Holidays and stuff, you may have a bunch of stuff you use once a year... like Christmas, Easter, Valentines day... and I am not saying that those, because they are used once a year should go... but maybe you need to keep only 20% of that to!  Or not! 

My point is, when decluttering or becoming minimalist, you have to look at our stuff with a different set of eyes...  Megan was asking me about dishes...  and it is a question I actually get a lot....  What do you do when you get people over?

Well let me start with 2 pictures of my cupboards:

This very little amount of dishes came from that exercise and is actually all I own!!! I have no fancy dishes hidden anywhere... no fancy china either... no Christmas plates... I took out all the dishes from all the cupboards and my son, husband and I chose what we each wanted to eat in...  This is the first picture...

We each chose a plate (salad size plate), a big bowl and a smaller bowl.... what you cannot see is that we also each chose a smaller bowl for snacks. It's inside the bigger bowl underneath the white one.  Then we chose what we wanted to drink in...  We each have something for hot and cold... as well as a small tea cup...  my son and I chose a few extras...

You can see our selection in that order for both shelves:
Right: Mine
Center: my husband
Left: my son

In the second pictures I selected a few more items...  mostly to be used when I have people visiting for tea/coffee and snacks...

I did that because I realised that I was not using all those dishes... and they were just taking space.. needed to be cleaned once or twice a year... and packed and unpacked every time I moved!

Now what would I do if I was to have people over for a more extensive event?
There is at least 3 options that come to mind right away!

1) Rent dishes - it is very easy to do...

2) Ask a relative or friend's dishes if you want a matching set

3) Ask every guest to bring their favorite cover - this actually is my favorite options... because it is a really nice ice breaker! Can you imagine people talking about the history of their favorite plate and bowls??

So I really just kept the 20%... 

And this is where I am at now...  I am getting to the point where I only keep what I really use... all the time!!!  I no longer keep "what if"? or "just in case"... because over the years I've come to realise that they really are just "what if" and "just in case".

The only exception I have is Christmas decoration... but this year I actually cut it down to 20% of what I previously owned... only my absolute favorites!

And the last issue is my clothes....  I am still not completely down to the 20%...  maybe I have a few more pieces to cut down... we'll see with time...  I would say that I currently wear 80% of my wardrobe 90% of the time!

As for the challenge I was announcing in the title of this post, it comes from yesterday's post... A lovely reader made a comment that made me reflect upon my behavior... As a minimalist, I SHOULD use thrift stores more... and yet, I haven't done so to this day!  I am unsure as to how to go about doing that... but she referred me to a blog... and I am committing to visit thrift stores, buy a piece of clothes from one of them, wear it in 3 different outfits and show pictures of the outfits on this blog my the end of April!  Now if you are from Montreal, and know thrift stores, please help me out!!!

Again, thanks for reading and CHALLENGING me!!!  I love a good challenge!!!

love&peace,
nath
xox
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How to be savvy and get what you want anyway!

This is a post about everything and nothing... being savvy doesn't mean your cheap... it means you pay what you chose to pay for what you want.... well kind of.. let me explain....
It also means that you save where you can to put that money where you want...  then again, let me explain...

In order to do all of the above, you need to play it smart...  you need to go to the same place again and again... fidelity does pay off in the long run!

You also need to know your priorities and get them straight!

Priorities to me are:

Having a decent roof over my head
Eating healthy vegan food and not waste any
Savings
Getting dress in a way that I feel reflects my personality and feels comfortable without ruining my budget.

These are where I spend most of my money... and in that order too... very little goes to clothes...  only 60$ per month...

Now one trick I use to not waste money on food, or not waste food, is when I cook pasta, I cook the whole bag.  I do that because if not I end up with many partial bags in my pantry and it's just clutter and drives me nuts because there never seem to be enough of any for a meal for 3!

Once we're done eating the pasta, the left over goes in the fridge and I use it to make Asian pasta later on in the week, or use with left over sauce or use short pasta for salads in lunches.
Last week we cooked some short pasta but they were  little to big to use in a salad...  so I used the left over with sauce twice in a meal by myself.... now there was a tiny amount of pasta left, no more sauce and it was really not enough to do anything else then add in a salad! But they were too big for a salad... so I ended up cutting them up... added some chick peas, sprouted brown lentils, cucumber, bell pepper, olives and Voila!  A nice lunch for my hubby for work!

What I also do for saving $ on food from restaurant is to pack my lunch when I know I'll be out during lunch time...  On the week end we like to go out and not care about the time... and I do not always feel like eating out...  and sometimes, timing our outings with meal time can be restrictive... therefore if I know I'll be out around lunch time, I pack something easy to eat... that you can eat while walking or sitting in a quiet area...  This is what I packed this Saturday. We woke up later than usual and our usual Saturday schedule was all messed up... I know I would not have time to be back for lunch and didn't want to wait after lunch to leave... I took some whole wheat tortillas, added hummus, alfalfa, cucumber and chopped pecans, rolled them up and wrapped them up! When we were hungry we only had to take them out and enjoy!

 

 

I also never go out without a reserve of nuts and dried fruits!  They are loaded with protein, fibers, good sugars, vitamins and minerals... they can extend time between meal easily without having to buy a too expensive/not nutritious enough snack from a random place!  Another good way to save dollars to put elsewhere!

 

Now what do I do with those saved $?  I use for clothes... smartly of course!  And savings! 

Another way for me to save $ is to check my favorite clothes stores when there is end of season sales and new season sales...  My favorite store was having a "30% discount on the total of your bill" week... this was up until today....  because I hate shopping and using cabins on the week end (and I no longer buy without trying - because let's face it, we never do return what doesn't fit perfectly once it's home!), I waited to today.... I took an advance on my 60$ for April... chose 2 pieces of items that I love, fit me well and that are very convenient (meaning I will wear often) and versatile (meaning they go well with almost everything I already own)... items I know I will wear over and over... for most likely 3 seasons! I went to my favorite location and the manager actually offered my 40% off... as a privilege customer...in exchange for my email (I know I'll end up getting tons of emails but I can always send them in the trash without opening to avoid temptation)! Therefore both items came out to 62$ with tax... I actually save the equivalent of one of them money wise... kind of like a buy-one-get-one-free deal! This is clothes shopping I love!!! But in order to get those kind of deal or for the employees to tell you "wait until next Tuesday it will be on sale".... or "I'll give you the discount anyway" (even if the promo ended yesterday)...  you need to shop in the same place over an over again! And get known... and be friendly!

These are the 2 items I chose.... by the way those are one in one out in the sense that l gave one pair of short and one summer skirt in my last clean up because they no longer fit me... Therefore they do not add to my quantity of clothes... but do add in versatility because the skirt I gave was fuchsia (too big and never knew what to wear it with) and the shorts were pale yellow (too big also - nice color but always dirty!)

These were a few of my secrets to extend my budget... How I can manage to be healthy, happy, feel good in my clothes and not jeopardize my small budget...

There really is no reason to waste food - wasted food is money down the drain!
There really is no reason to pay your clothes full price - it's only a rip off!!!

Before I let you go, here's one last picture.... of books I recently received from Amazon... they are for my next upcoming project... once the one I am working on will be over... within a few weeks... Any clue what that project will be?!?

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And to all of you my lovely readers, thanks for reading and sharing. Do not hesitate to give your feedback!

love&peace,
nath
xox
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Extreme minimalist dressing - week 2

First 2 weeks are over...  my impression so far? Maybe 15 items is not quite enough...  Or maybe a little more color for tops would help.... Not sure.... will have to see when I select my April wardrobe...

If you want to read about week 1, you can do it here.

Other than that, I had to switch 2 items...  in the below picture, item on the left was on my original list... I took it off and replaced it with item on the right.  Why?  Because my winter jacket actually is a 2 in 1 jacket... and I had forgotten that by March, I'd rather wear the inside layer which is shorter.... and on cooler days, I put a sweater to make it warmer... but changing the vest to the sweater, it allows me to so that...  you can understand what I am saying by looking at picture of Day 13.

Now here are the pictures for Day 8 to Day 14th...

I would like to specify that the top underneath the jacket on Day 13 is actually the same as Day 14.  In both instances, I wore it for a couple of hours only and then got back home in my PJs to write... I was not trying to cheat by using a picture with the jacket!  I was rather trying to show people reading my blog from countries where there is no snow what it looks like and how we have to dress!  :-)

Also, I want to tell you that that very same top got into the washing machine as soon as I got home and somehow, it got dye from another item so it is now slightly blue...  But not really...
Normally, I would have said "it's ruined", let's toss it!  But since I only have 15 items... and not doing the laundry properly is not an excuse... I will have to come up with a solution for that top!  Maybe I'll dye it burgundy....  I'll see...  I'll let you know more about this later on this week end or early next week!

So here we go... tons of picture of me in my clothes from this week:

Day 8

 Day 9

 Day 10

 Day 11

 Day 12

 Day 13

Day 14

 

On Day 12, I had to be creative for my picture because I was home alone when I got dress...

 

And the only other thing I would like to mention is that in 14 days, with 15 items, I still did not wear repeats... this is great!  And I think I have one or two more days with original outfits before I start repeating myself....

And if I do dye my top and it works out, there's a few more non official repeats there.... althus it will be the same top... the color and hence look will be different!

 

What do you think of my outfits so far?

Would you try something like that?

Would you feel lie you're always dress the same or really do not care?

 

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love&peace,
nath
xox
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A minimalist vegan outting at Costco

Remember about a month ago I took a membership at Costco....  as suggested by a few vegans I know, it is suppose to be worthwhile... so I snooped in and you can read about that here but I ended up taking a membership.

Today was visit #2 at Costco...  I got all the items in the above picture (plus 1.5kg of frozen raspberries) for 64$!!!

I was thrilled...
I had planned a 50$ budget...
Somehow, both times, I went over budget but it's only because I forget it's large quantities....  so prices to pay are higher! But so are quantities...

In order to help myself out, I have created an Excel file to keep track of prices... and how often I buy stuff...  I want to make sure it is worth it... 

For example, last time I also bought raspberries...  I was planning on having enough for a month but I ran out in 2 weeks!  Why you may say? Because I did not properly seal the bag and ended up throwing almost half of it on the floor!!!

It's a good thing I did that Excel file because it has allow me to see that the prices of frozen raspberries increased by 1$ for same quantity... same brand!

I know, years ago, I would have made fun of someone keeping their groceries on an Excel file... shame on me... I apologize for that...
But at this stage in my life, where we are trying to know exactly where money goes... to cut on spending and allow us more freedom... it's the only thing left to do...  And because I have an objective...  I am willing to take the extra 15 minutes, twice a month, after my Costco visit to fill the Excel file and make sure I am not wasting money!

Because food you buy and do not eat... is wasted money!

Here's a summary of my vegan and/or organic finds... and price per portion...

Frozen raspberries 0.66$ per 100g (was 0.60$ per 100g 2 weeks ago)
Organic cane sugar 0.26$ per 100g
Stuffed olives 0.24$ per 100ml
Whole wheat large tortillas 0.27$ each
Pecans 1.54$ per 100g
Chick peas dry 0.15$ per 100g
Hummus 0.65$ per 100g
Organic salsa 0.42$ per 100ml

What is amazing is that I actually have 4.54 kg of chick peas and organic cane sugar... that will last me a while!!! Got these need covered!

Doing this exercise is allowing me to see exactly where the money goes when grocery shopping...
And if I need or want to cut down, I know where...

The most expensive items are nuts... not a surprise....

And next ones are pre-made stuff... of course I could make my own salsa and hummus... I do sometimes... but it can be convenient to have already made salsa...  it's always ready to use and can be stored for a while (next fall I will attempt making a huge batch of salsa and put it in Mason jar for the winter)...  As for hummus, there really is NO reason to justify buying it... it is cheap and easy to make... but my blender died on me a few months ago and I am saving to buy a really really good one.... but it is expensive...  It will be worthwhile because I have gone thru 2 blenders since I started cooking more extensively 3 years ago...

Frozen fruits can be expensive too....

But there is no cutting down on my nuts and fruits... they are an essential staple in a vegan diet!

Did you see how ridiculously cheap chick peas are???  0.15$ per 100g!!! That is one portion...  Throw in some veggies, rice and you have a complete meal... a complete cheap meal!

Chick peas as per Wikipedia:" One hundred grams of mature boiled chickpeas contain 164 calories, 2.6 grams of fat (of which only 0.27 grams is saturated), 7.6 grams of dietary fiber and 8.9 grams of protein." They also have vitamins and minerals.... no surprises they are the ingredient of choice in Arabic and Indian cuisine...

So this was my experience at Costco so far.... I have to get better at planning my budget... but I am pretty good at not getting stuff I do not need!!!  I did not buy one single item that is not food! Even thus I stopped by the book section and I could have easily got one... but it was not on my list, not budgeted for!  I am improving my ways with $! Yay!

It seems like this might work out for me after all!

love&peace,
nath
xox
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Interconnectedness - otherwise known as the web of life

OK... I admit... this is a very childish drawing... but it is to explain something a child could understand... and that we tend to forget... as adults... stuck in our ego...

As human being, we have a tendency to use the "I" or "my" a lot... I am a writer, I am a yogi, I own a computer, I own a cat, my kids, my cat, my computer, my book, my kitchen...  you get it! We tend to see the world as if everything revolved around us...  will all the emotions this brings...  my feelings... right?

Well this surely doesn't help with gratitude does it? because if everything revolve around "me", why should I be grateful for stuff ?  shouldn't "they" be grateful for "me"?

See where I am going with this?

Now when I started practicing gratitude, it felt "forced" at first... I had to really look hard to be grateful for something... because I took stuff and people for granted... because they were there for "me"! But as you practice, and you can't always come up with grateful for the sun, my son, my husband (here we go again with the "my")... you have to dig deeper... and think about what has an impact on your life... what had an impact on your life... you have to phrase your gratitude without "my" or "I"... and it gets hard... at least it did to me! But I am getting there...

Now what this all brought me to realise is the web of life...  the interconnectedness of everything and everyone...  like the butterfly effect... Now let's go back to my childish drawing...

You need the sun to grow grass and trees.
You need to trees to provide oxygen
You need the trees to provide food - apples for ex
You need water to drink
You need the sun to evaporate the water
You need the cloud to bring back the water in the form or rain
You need the rain to grow the trees
You need the oxygen, the sun, the water, the apple to feed animals and humans
You need parents to have a kid
You need a kid to have parents
see... all these are interrelated... and one could not exist without the other...

You need what you like to make you happy... but you also need what you do not like to be alive and happy...  we just do not think of it! For example, if you do not like the rain so much but love flowers and apples, how can you get what you love (flowers and apples) without the rain?  It's just not possible...

Of course I am using simple images...  because if not this post could go on forever...
Think about your life...  you must enjoy certain aspect of it and maybe less others... but they are related...  and without the ones you do not love, you would not have the ones you do love!

A more mature example... if you ever were unemployed for a period of time.. you may not have liked the financial troubles... but you probably did enjoy the freedom.
If you ever suffer from a serious illness...  you may not have enjoyed the pain and treatments... but you probably enjoyed the time to yourself, the care and the attention you got.

Now this is bringing me even deeper...

Now in the drawing above, everything is related... but nothing is permanent!

It does not always rain
It does not always shine

So is your life... you have rain and shine... never one without the other... and one will never be permanent...  so if you feel like you're in a storm... the sun will come out eventually... and if you feel like you're in a bright sunny place, the storm will come back eventually! There is no other way!

You need to learn from the storm and enjoy the bright sunny days!

Same goes for people around you... they come and go.... with time... some bring the sun when they come and others when they leave... Enjoy both! (same for the storm)

Everything is related
Nothing is permanent

Be here and now... acknowledge and let go.

There's really nothing else you can do!

love&peace,
nath
xox
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Recommanded readings - a post for people who inspired me!

In today's post, I wanted to show gratitude... something I am trying to do more.  it is so easy to take everything and everyone for granted... I no longer want to do that... 

Therefore this blog is dedicated to all the authors who's reading inspired me...

I never really took the time to do this... and I am pretty sure that most of them do not even read this blog... but I am doing it for me... for my karma...   as a token of gratitude for those people on my life which I cannot hug and/or thank in person...

First of... books:

Total Yoga by Tara Fraser
Living the savvy life by Melissa Tossetti
How to go further by Woody Harrelson
Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr
Yogalosophy by Mandy Ingber
The new good life by John Robbins
Healthy at 100 by John Robbins
Wherever you go there you are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Skinny Bitch by Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman
Yoga for Real Life by Maya Fiennes
Savvy chic: The art of more for less by Anna Johnson

all of those books I still have with me... and go back to quite often... some of them you can access on the right of this blog thru Amazon if you wish to have a look or buy them...

Second...  blogs...

there is a few of them I have been reading for a while... and others just recently... they are also very inspirational to me so you might wanna have a look...

bemorewithless
becomingminimalist
frugalintasmania
kathyfreston
markandangelhacklife
juliabutterflyhill 
spoiledyogi
busywomanandthestripycat

OK last one is in Portuguese.... but I use the Google translate feature and I am slowly learning Portuguese...  at least reading it... with my knowledge in French and Spanish it is not to bad....

and there's a few more that I read on and off... I read a LOT... so I cannot mention everything I read.... but this is a good start...

These people have helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life... and they are the reason, or part of the reason, why Life Happens came out...

so wherever they are, I know somehow they will get this: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

your writing has inspired me...

and also, I want to thank each and everyone of you who's reading me... you are also a great source of inspiration!

love&peace,
nath
xox
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Minimalist dressing - One week done

This is today's outfit... Day 7!

And these are the outfits for Day 1 to Day 6... in that order...  you may have seen them, or not on Instagram...

 In short, from my list of 15 items, I have been using the following:

1)  skinny jeans
2)  wide leg jeans
3)  wide leg grey corduroy pants
4)  navy and beige skirt
5) flannel shirt
8) off-white long sleeve t-shirt
9) beige long sleeves t-shirt
10) green short sleeve t-shirt
12) white short sleeve t-shirt
14) grey vest
15) beige vest

That is 11 items of my 15 items list from last Friday that you can read here.

I can still create a few more outfits with those items and I still have 4 items I did not wear...
I did not wear the exact same thing twice!

I sometimes feel like I have an uniform... even thus I chose it... it feels weird... I am a grown up now!
But I must say that dressing up in the morning is SO EASY that I appreciate it...

I do not feel like I am wearing the same things over and over again any more then I use to the other weeks prior to that... because we tend to wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time anyway...  Now by the end of the week, I have been wearing 73% of my clothes... And that feels amazing!!!

I can't wait for the days to come where I get to wear the other 27%... I have a few more outfits idea...

I also find that I do not concentrate so much on how I look... but rather on how I feel!  I feel great I the clothes I selected for these 31 days.  I chose what I would look like for 31 days when I selected the items so I do not have to worry about it now....

It actually enhances my creativity....  not having to "create" outfits in the morning and not feeling like I have to express my creativity there I can do it elsewhere...  I started drawing again... and knitting (my own creation - not using a pattern)....  and I have many ideas for the book I am about to finish and release... 

It's amazing how much time and energy you can save by not worrying on your looks every morning!
By creating this "uniform", I have kind of "automatize" this action we do everyday...  like brushing our teeth and taking a shower...

I still like clothes... but I like the idea of thinking about it once a month instead of every single day!

love&peace,
nath
xox
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