Goodbye Year 2010

It's New Years Eve! It's the end of 2010! The end of an immensely life-changing and mind-altering year for me! I feel like I need to do a tribute to this amazing wonderful beautiful year.

I'm so excited for what 2011 has to bring, as well as each and every year ahead.

Gosh, I just can't believe how much I've grown, changed and learned this year. The amount is enormous. My birthday is also a little over a week away and I am being very present in trying to live my last days of this wonderful age. I cannot even put enough attention on how fast time is going by!

I know so much will continue to change in the forthcoming years. So much to be learned, so much to gain and so much to lose, so much to grow from, so many achievements and challenges ahead - so many achievements and challenges behind me.

Regardless of what life has to bring, it's all awesome.

Favourite Gift and the Sky

This is my favourite present I was given for Christmas. It's a bracelet with a crystal tree pendant and on the flip side it reads live the green life. The little tin it came in said "live in the present". Isn't that so clever? And I'm totally all about living in the moment ;)
My other favourite present is the calendar I got. Every Christmas I get a new calendar, and I love getting new ones. I just love putting them up and changing the page for each new month. This year I asked for a calendar with either mountains, nature, or something of the like with inspirational quotes if possible (I love inspirational quotes). The calendar I got is landscape photographs of Canada.

You know, this is the first Christmas where I really didn't want anything.  I just don't have that desire for things like I used to.

I'm excited for the new year. This year went by so fast. Time in general is going by so fast... it never seemed to. Christmas happened so out of nowhere that I barely noticed it. Usually each year I have some sort of miniature exciting countdown in my head but this year it was just like "Oh, now it's Boxing Day." Perhaps it's because I've been working so much...

Either way, the new year is approaching so very quickly and I know 2011 is going to be a good year. Every year to come will be a good one... because I am more aware now than ever of this deep never-ending journey I am on that just keeps teaching me all kinds of new lessons all the time.

One more thing I wanted to mention is about the sky. Lately I have noticed that I look up to the sky a lot. And when I look up to it, it grounds me. You know what I mean? I look to it and I think of its limitless boundaries and the space and stars and Universe that's up there. That we're in, rather. But when I think of this, it removes the seriousness of daily life from the moment and reminds me that we are only floating in space. And how can we take that seriously? It's laughable. There's nothing to worry about, nothing to fret over, there are no problems, life is life. It is what it is. No worries. Because we're floating around in space.

I always seem to talk about the Universe on this blog. I guess I think about it a lot.

Happy holidays

Radiance

I saw the moon yesterday morning and it was huge and bright and the patterns on it were so visible and beautiful. I saw it and envisioned how it is out in space, floating, as we are here on Earth.
I also had no idea there was a lunar eclipse the night before. I'm very sad I missed it. Also very sad that I wasn't able to capture a picture of the big bright moon in the morning.

And I'm fantastically wonderful. I watched a video today about meditation, cosmic energy and astral bodies/travels. Oh yes. Indeed I meditated as well today.

I feel so very good.
So joyous, so abundant. Life-full, beautiful. Peaceful, love, happiness radiating in every direction from my soul.

December is being very good to me. Bringing me lots of lovely feelings. I've been connecting even more so with nature by wearing my hair natural, which is curly. I have always straightened it out of the inability to accept, embrace and manage the naturalness. However I accept it more than ever now.

Peace love happiness fulfillment wonder beauty life! Embrace it all, every moment, every day!

Simplicity

Me in my dorm room in college, Dec. 4/2009

Journal entries from one year ago:

Simplicity – December 5/2009

I have come to the decision that I am going to simplify my life. I am going to rid myself as much as possible of chaos, complexity and unnecessary items.

I’m going to throw things out. Clean out my drawers; reduce the amount of clutter I own; the amount of clutter I carry around with me every day.

It starts now.

(11:14pm)

Dec. 5/09

I invision my (simple) life to be clearer, quieter and free. No clutter, only essentials and important things that make me happy. My (simple) life will be happy; and full of only things that I like, need, value and appreciate.

Dec. 6/09

I can't wait for simpleness. For perfect organization. For a mind of complete clarity, true happiness, true contentment.

Exactly one year ago today was when my life truly began to change. I had my very first full blown, life-altering epiphany. It's the foundation of what has shaped me into the girl I am today.

It was late in the evening and I was sitting on my floor in my dorm room. I looked around me. And I realized - something I've never realized before - that I didn't need, or want, any of the things that surrounded me. Everything I owned was suddenly completely useless. That little flat screen TV I just had to have for college, all those over-expensive clothes hanging in the closet, too many pairs of shoes sitting by my door, too much crap in my purse, too much, too much, too much! Nearly every single thing I owned no longer meant anything to me. I started clearing out my room. Throwing shit out. Getting rid of things. I remember specifically I had a wallet that my best friend got for me for my birthday which I really wanted, and I stopped using it right then and there. It was too fancy. Too unnecessary. I switched to a tiny little simple wallet that my Nana brought back from Ireland.

I wanted everything to be simple. All I wanted was simplicity. Frugality.

That same night I deleted tons of stupid pop music from my iPod and started downloading tons of ambient, meditation music. And that night I listened to it all. I absorbed every soothing sound and felt the rush of simplicity pour into my life. One of those songs that I still listen to today reminds me totally of those last few weeks in college after my simplicity transformation.

My room was so clean and tidy. I lit candles and enveloped myself in the soft music and clarity of my new mind and environment. 

When I got home after withdrawing and completing the semester, I remember I cleared out just about every single belonging I had in my bedroom. And literally, quite literally, my room had nothing but a few necessary things. I threw out almost all my clothes (I remember my best friend thinking I was crazy and what a waste of money) but it felt so good. All those stupid clothes were gone and replaced with basic attire. Since then I have filled my closet over time with beautiful pieces from different stores (my favourite places to shop are thrift stores) and have truly made my style my own, an expression of how I feel in the inside (and it certainly isn't basic). I love wearing and having things that are meaningful.


Today, simplicity is the foundation of who I am (since then I've experienced zillions of epiphanies that have further defined me). I always sink back into that mindset and remember how important it is to keep things simple. It keeps me clear. In retrospect I kind of think that that clearing-out phase I went through was a result of the break up I was going through. It was me subconsciously clearing my life and starting over on a fresh, clean slate.

This is a painting I made when I was fully submerged in simple living.
Ever since that night, I have not looked at life the same in terms of materialism. And it goes so much deeper than that. I hate it. I think it's so useless and I feel that too many people's lives revolve around things. Too much doing and having and not enough being. Too much noise and nonsense, chaos and busyness. Not enough quiet and thinking. Not enough appreciation. Too much wanting more, more, more. Things, things, things.

Things don't bring fulfillment. And this is something I discovered that night. This is where my journey truly began.

Newness and Reflection

Me, Oct. 2009

It's a new month. It's December.
And with each new month I like to reflect on what I learned in the previous month. I like to do this because I like to really think about my life as I live it, to not live mindlessly. I like to think about what I have learned or discovered in each month that goes by, because I am always learning and growing so much. A lot of us go through our days wondering not only where the time has gone, but sometimes all of a sudden we'll recall something that happened that seems like so long ago. And we forgot to absorb it when we had the chance. I love the word absorb. I'm always absorbing.

So, what did I learn or discover in November? Quite a lot. As I posted before, I realized that I should buy my own food (living at home)! And thus an entirely new lifestyle has taken flight. I'm passionate about nutrition and wellness so I naturally gravitate towards new ways of eating and trying new things, to find out what I like and dislike, and to find out what works for my body. I've shifted towards not only eating 1 billion times healthier, but almost entirely raw - and not only raw, but raw vegan (not raw meat, just fruits, veggies, herbs, nuts and seeds). I'm dipping my feet in the waters of raw veganism and I am liking it a lot. It's a very slow process... getting the hang of what to eat, trying out new fruits and veggies, slowly eliminating the processed stuff.... But I feel so much better. It's like being completely one with nature, as I've noted before. The other day I made a raw veggie wrap, with avocado, onion, garlic and tomatoe all mixed up. And then I spooned it onto a romaine lettuce leaf like a taco and ate about 5 of them. I can't even explain how instantly amazing and energetic I felt. I just had to dance and I had this astonishingly beautiful spiritual experience as I felt the life run through me. I laid down on my floor and laughed and smiled. And I continued about my day in the the best mood ever. The happy mood didn't go away. This is something I've discovered raw food does.

And I think it's the neatest thing ever that I've been experiencing detoxification symptoms (since I've gone from a rather standard western way of eating to an abundance of highly cleansing foods). I love noticing my body ridding itself of toxins! Like this cool runny nose I've had. I don't have a cold or anything, just a runny nose from time to time during the day. Totally cool!

I am fascinated by our bodies and our human existence. How we work and the capabilities we have. We are amazing living things, and it feels great to nurture ourselves with clean nutritious foods that enable us to work at an optimal level in all aspects.

Not only do I like to reflect on what I've learned, but I like to wonder, "What will this new month bring me?"

What did you learn or discover this November?