Category: Things I Love

Finding My Centre

breath.by.breathLeave a comment
Photo by veeterzy on Pexels.com

Tomorrow my seven month sabbatical ends and I return to work. I am feeling a mixture of excitement and anxiety. I am excited to see my colleagues. I am incredibly fortunate to love my work and my team. It means a lot to me to contribute to something bigger than myself and to help make a positive difference in the world. There have been less opportunities for me to do so since being on leave and I am looking forward to getting back to it.

I am feeling anxious as I was quite overloaded and stressed before I left on this break. Between supporting aging parents, parenting a teenager, working full-time, and managing a household on my own, I was tapped out. There is only so much time and energy to go around and I was consistently running on empty.

Once I stepped away from work, I genuinely expected most of my stress to disappear; and, in practice, I was surprised to learn that this was not the case. As the famous quote goes by Jon Kabat-Zinn, “Wherever you go, there you are.” I definitely experienced less external pressure, once I left the office, but I managed to quickly fill this gap with internally driven pressure and worries.

The human brain is a funny thing. Once an issue is removed, it adeptly replaces it with another, if you are not careful. It does not naturally rest in a state of ease. According to Buddhist principles, this tendency is called the “monkey mind.” The term that refers to the natural human inclination to feel unsettled, restless, or confused. I came to realize that cultivating rest and ease is an active, daily practice. It starts with paying attention to the internally driven pressures, determining what is essential, and then letting the rest go. It requires allowing for some things to fall off of the table.

During my time away, I have learned the value of rest. For me, rest has always been a “nice to have”, or an act of indulgence while I am on holiday. I now understand that rest is something that must be scheduled in, and committed to, along with other priorities. I cannot function efficiently without it. It is the gas that fills up my tank. Although it is challenging to find time in a busy life, rest takes many forms, including something as simple as fifteen minutes of reading, or a short ten minute nap. It does not have to be a big thing. Little actions add up to having a big impact.

Despite my reservations about ending my sabbatical, the reality is the person who is showing up at the office tomorrow is not the same person who left. And when one element in a situation, or relationship changes, the whole dynamic shifts. I bring back with me a range of new experiences and perspectives that will help me to protect my heart and mind from returning to a state of overload. I just need to take it one moment at a time, find my centre, and remain gentle with myself during the transition.

Joy Journal

breath.by.breathLeave a comment

Joy Journal #21: April 22, 2022

Cold water or “wild” swimming is something that I began doing during the pandemic, along with countless people across the globe. It has a many reported health benefits, including alleviating anxiety and depression, improving circulation and reducing inflammation. I appreciate that it gives me a regular excuse to spend quality time with my friends and I feel great for hours after I finish my swim.

In addition to the health benefits, I like that it is an accessible activity (you can do it most places and it is free), and you can generally find a community wherever you go. When I was in Ireland this spring, I enjoyed swimming in lakes, rivers and the Atlantic Ocean. Through word of mouth, I met some lovely people who kindly welcomed me to join their regular swimming groups. It was a fun and memorable way to explore the local landscape. #JoyBlogging

Something to Inspire

breath.by.breathLeave a comment
Photo by Kilian M on Pexels.com

“Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue to exist, a wonderful living side by side can grow up, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole and against a wide sky.”

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Things I Love: New York Times Cooking

breath.by.breathLeave a comment

As a working mom, I am always looking for heathy, inexpensive and delicious recipes for my family. Thanks to a recommendation from a friend, I recently signed up for a one-year subscription to the New York Times cooking app and web site. It is a digital cookbook and guide with a massive library: at $50 (Canadian), it is good value. I have been really impressed with the quality and variety offered by this resource so far. Recipes are rated through a five-star system and users provide additional feedback and ideas through the comments. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Joy Journal

breath.by.breathLeave a comment

Joy Journal #20: September 29, 2022

One of my favourite things about living on the west coast of Canada is spending time in and on the Pacific Ocean. I love to swim with my friends, year round, and experience the amazing health benefits of the cold salt water; and I really enjoy padding in my little kayak with my pup on a sunny afternoon.

It has been a beautiful, slow transition into fall this year, with many bright, crisp days; and this has given me extra opportunities to get out in my boat. Today, I ventured out with Lucky and we explored along the coastline. I loved peering into the shallow waters and spotting the sea life below. We passed over top of starfish, minnows, oysters and bull kelp forests. A heron stood guard on a rocky outcrop, patiently waiting for its prey. Sandpipers gathered in large groups and seagulls floated over head. It was peaceful and serene. What an exceptional gift it is to be able to immerse myself in this beautiful landscape. #JoyBlogging

Joy Journal

breath.by.breathLeave a comment

Joy Journal #19: June 25, 2022

“Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from Les Lauves”

For Paul Cézanne, there would have been no great painting, perhaps no painting at all, without the landscape of Provence. Cézanne has come to represent many things in art history — harbinger of modernism, proto-cubist, terminator of classical styles and preoccupations; but he was first and foremost a painter of several hundred hectares of rugged, sun-drenched earth in and around Aix-en-Provence.

In the early 1890s, after years of moving back and forth between Provence and areas in and around Paris, Cézanne began spending more and more time in Aix and environs, rediscovering his most important and reliable sources of inspiration. Around the middle of that decade, he launched what his biographer Alex Danchev describes as “the greatest period of late painting since Rembrandt.” He spent much of that time painting in Le Tholonet.

A persistent object of his attention was the ancient quarry at Bibémus, located a kilometre or so northwest of the village centre. Quarrying began there in Roman times and continued until 1885, roughly ten years before Cézanne started painting at the site. The relative isolation and solitude of Bibémus were undoubtedly attractive to him, as were the stunning rock formations, products of ancient geological forces and more recent centuries of excavation and cutting. But it was especially the colours in the quarry — complicated shades of ochre in the rock and the greens of the quarry’s trees and shrubs — that captured his imagination.

One warm summer evening in June, I spent several hours exploring this exquisite area, retracing the steps of the painter with a small group of hikers. Starting at Le Tholonet, we entered the Parc Départemental de Roques–Hautes, and walked until we came upon the Bibémus plateau. With a panoramic view of the limestone ridge of Montagne Sainte-Victoire, the air was fragrant with thyme, rosemary, lavender, pine and mint; and we were surrounded by the chirping of cicadas.

As we eventually descended into the village, dusk fell upon the valley, and pink and purples hues filled the sky. Live music rose from the festival stage on the pétanque court below, beckoning us closer. Darkness fell upon the valley, and we joined the crowd gathered under the broad plane trees and bright stars, soaking up the beautiful evening together. #JoyBlogging

Things I Love: Together Rising

breath.by.breathLeave a comment

Glennon Doyle is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Untamed, which has sold over two million copies. An activist and “patron saint of female empowerment” (People), Glennon hosts the We Can Do Hard Things Podcast. She is the founder and president of Together Rising, an all-women-led nonprofit organization that has revolutionized grassroots philanthropy – raising over $45 million for women, families, and children in crisis.

Established in 2012, Together Rising helps by running time-limited fundraisers (called Love Flash Mobs) to meet urgent local and global community needs in a matter of hours. Whether it’s pulling children out of the sea outside the refugee camps in Greece, helping abandoned kids on the streets in Indianapolis, establishing the first opioid recovery home for pregnant teens in New Hampshire, building a maternal health wing in Port-au-Prince, providing a single mother access to breast cancer treatment, or keeping a foster family’s heat on in Texas—Together Rising identifies what is urgently required and delivers funding support to the people and organizations who are most effectively addressing that critical need.

Joy Journal

breath.by.breathLeave a comment

Joy Journal #18: October 14, 2022

I just spent ten days in Mexico visiting my step-dad, Bob. He lives in a small community in the countryside located outside of San Miguel de Allende: a city in Mexico’s central highlands, known for its baroque Spanish architecture, thriving arts scene and cultural festivals. In the city’s historic, cobblestoned centre lies a famous neo-Gothic church, Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, whose dramatic pink towers rise above the main plaza, El Jardín.

We enjoyed a lovely, quiet visit together, with a daily routine consisting of morning walks in the countryside with the dogs, afternoons of reading and writing, and evenings filled with good meals and movies. October is a particularly beautiful time to visit Mexico, as the rainy season is coming to an end, and the vegetation is lush and bright.

A highlight of our the experience was learning about the local cuisine together. During my visit, Bob and I enjoyed a number of cooking lessons, and I learned how to make authentic guacamole, quesadilla, enchiladas verdes and chile relleno. It was such a privilege to be taught many of these family recipes from Alicia, who grew up in the local area. Food is a beautiful way to meaningfully connect and experience a culture. #JoyBlogging

Something to Inspire

breath.by.breathLeave a comment
Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com

I am making a home inside myself.
A shelter of kindness where everything is forgiven, everything allowed— 
a quiet patch of sunlight to stretch out without hurry,
where all that has been banished and buried is welcomed, 
spoken, listened to—released.

A fiercely friendly place I can claim as my very own.
I am throwing my arms open
to the whole of myself—                                                                                                                                                                 especially the fearful, fault-finding, falling apart, unfinished parts,                                                                                                                                  knowing every seed and weed, every drop of rain, has made the soil richer.

I will light a candle, pour a hot cup of tea,                                                                                                                                       gather around the warmth of my own blazing fire.                                                                                                                                  I will howl if I want to, knowing this flame can burn through
any perceived problem, any prescribed perfectionism,
any lying limitation, every heavy thing.

I am making a home inside myself
where grace blooms in grand and glorious abundance, 
a shelter of kindness that grows
all the truest things.

~ Julia Fehrenbacher

Watch List: “Dark Waters”

breath.by.breathLeave a comment

I recently watched the 2019 film, “Dark Waters.” It dramatizes Robert Bilott‘s landmark case against the chemical manufacturing corporation DuPont after they contaminated a town with unregulated chemicals.

The film is based on the New York Times Magazine article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” by Nathaniel Rich. I love a movie that showcases the bravery of regular people and demonstrates how one tenacious person can make a huge difference. It is definitely worth watching.

Joy Journal

breath.by.breathLeave a comment

Joy Journal #17: June 30, 2022

One evening while living in Aix, I was walking in my neighbourhood, and I happened across a little gallery opening taking place on a tiny side street. It was hosted by two Aixois artists at their studio, Espace Mer. The opening was mostly attended by friends and family, but they welcomed me in, and eagerly showed me their work. I ended up purchasing some beautiful jewellery pieces from one of the artists, Raphaëlle D’Auxerre.

During our conversation, I learned that Raphaëlle taught yoga classes at a local studio, Atelier 8, and she invited me to join her later that week. It was the start of a lovely friendship. Throughout the month of June, I attended Raphaëlle’s evening classes in a cosy pottery studio, located in an eighteenth century building, with two other students. We practised a mixture of hatha, vinyassa and chanting. Through the intimacy of the space, and the intention of the practice, Raphaëlle created a powerful energetic experience for us all to share.

As the weather grew warmer, Raphaëlle moved our class out to a local park, Promenade de la Torse; and during our first evening together, she invited us gather for a small picnic in celebration of the start of summer. As I sat there on my mat, on that warm provençal evening, sharing conversation, laughter, and a meal with these lovely French women, I was reminded that no matter where I travel in the world, I can locate community and friendship through pursuing my passion for the arts and yoga. What an incredible gift. #JoyBlogging