Fly

The only way to get through it all is to keep moving.

Throw on some Janis Joplin, dance around your living room and throw yourself into your work - whatever that means to your present moment.

There is no way we are meant to be stagnant, lazy beings. We are born with a fire burning hot inside our soul and slowly it dims and dies as the perceived reality sets in that our lives should be filled with the prosaic instead of the exciting. It seems as though we are disciplined to the point of being passive robots when in reality we should be taught how to fly to any height we desire.

Shift this idea for yourself. Get up and move, make a difference. You have all the power in the world to make your wildest dreams a reality as long as you just put your head down, blinders on and ignore any and all negativity you are bound to encounter along the way. For I believe that anyone who gives you slack for trying to create the best version of yourself, is simply jealous they don't have the strength to pull away from our herded sheep society.

The world is yours if you want it and I believe in you. So just go for it.

👽

Be Love.

For we are all star struck lovers of the universe. We learn the power of love from the moment we enter the world, but sometimes this innate knowledge gets lost in the socially acceptable daily grind we’ve begun to call living. Living is not simply existing and accepting what’s normal. Living is taking risks and seizing every moment of every single day. When our lives become bills to pay and deadlines to meet, it's easy to forget that the only thing that matters when we are stripped down to nothing is: to be love and to spread love.

You don’t have to submit to what we now consider normal. Make your own normal. We should all make our own normal. Do not feel pressure to do anything that doesn't make your soul vibrate with excitement.

✨

Your Pain is Strength

To find strength in times of pain is one of the most courageous mini triumphs in life.

Do not ever forget that rising in the morning after a hard night is an amazing accomplishment. That crying even when you're told to hold it in, is incredibly brave. That you are worthy of every moment of weakness and that every feeling you have is valid.

To willingly allow yourself to be sad when you need to be will benefit you in the long-run. We hold emotional pain within our physical bodies and when we fail to release it, it festers and manifests into physical aches and blockages throughout our system. So yell and cry when you need to and smile when your face can't contain it.

Remember these words the next time you spend time with anyone in need of releasing emotions. Allow them that precious moment so that the next time you need it, you will be granted the same.

☮

Effort in Creativity

It will always be admirable and well received when you put effort into something. Our learned fear of being rejected and having our work put down inhibits our ability to create and, more importantly, to share them.

The creative mind is the heart and soul of every single one of us. It is what we tap into when we want to feel free from restraints in our happiness. To fabricate something raw and beautiful with your being is what makes humans alive in so many other ways than simply existing.

So the next time you hesitate as you're picking up your guitar, notebook, paintbrush, hula hoop, camera, computer or any other tool... push through your second thoughts and dismiss all outer and inner judgement.

You are a beautifully artistic person that deserves to share your spirited creations with the world.

♥

Spring.

When the need for flowers and Jimi Hendrix grows strong in my heart. With it brings garden veggies, sunshine, outdoor adventures and an overall healthy state of mind.

Spring is rejuvenation. It is waking up from groggy winter and starting every day with excited anticipation towards Mother Nature as she morphs into a green goddess. Rejoice in the sound of geese overhead and be thankful for the sun that's melting the ice so the river can flow once again.

Spring brings summer, and that is our time to shine and share our love for this beautiful world.

Together

It can be so hard to find faith in the world we are living in today.
From daily lives that can feel bleak and worthless, it might seem impossible to believe that you alone have the ability to make necessary changes that lead to greatness.
Your definitely of greatness is different than anyone else, and that's what makes each individual journey so beautiful and exciting. You are the only one in charge of your path, so carve it out with delicate care and persistence.

Fight everything that leads you in the wrong direction. You will know when it's wrong, you will feel it in every inch of your soul. The tight grip around your stomach and heart is your intuition, and you will only be able to resist it for so long before it bursts you wide open and leaves you there with your heart naked to the world and a helplessness that burns the open wound. I promise you will only let it get to that point once or twice in your life and rather you will listen to what your soul has to say.
Our intuitions lead us to our greatness. Regardless of how many detours you make along the way just follow your path. Guide your mind with your soul and give in to anything that just feels "right".
This is the journey to self acceptance and collective awakening. We overcomplicate every decision, situation and perceived problem, when all you need to do is listen and love. When we all learn to love without fear, we can spread that love as far as possible. When we all learn to listen intently, we experience a unique connection to all things on the earth. Listen and love. It sounds simple yet it implies something so deeply unexplainable to those who have been distracted by the normal life our society has decided is most acceptable.

This life has become overcomplicated by simple, mundane things. Material possessions matter more than experiences, and personal connections matter less now that we have technology for convenience. It's more important than ever to take a step back and check in with our true self to find out what truly matters to us as one giant family on earth. Your personal journey and path will intersect with many others and it is this way that we will be able to grow collectively to love and listen. Help everyone to achieve greatness, and you too will be lifted up energetically and spiritually. Whether or not you consider yourself a spiritual person, it is important to acknowledge that we do have a problem in our definition of values in human nature and that we are in need of drastic change. I believe this change will come in time with awareness and reflection of how we are going to survive this next period on earth, together.

So walk slowly and barefoot in the grass. Say thanks to mother nature and pay respect to all resources that help you survive. Be helpful and kind to everything around you. Smile inside always. Spread this peace and love to everyone around you and lead by example. Lead with actions and changes rather than with aggressiveness and volume.

Listen to your heart, follow your own path, while challenging others to do the same with gentle reminders. Your journey is going to be very different from most others and that will be chaotically beautiful. We are not meant to be sentient, average beings.
We are meant to symbiotically work together in creating a world where everyone and everything is respected, trusted and appreciated.

One love, one life.

☯

One Of Many Wishes

Lately I've been reflecting on what vibe my overall life will carry. I keep coming back to this idea that it's going to be incredibly peaceful no matter what. Now this might sound very "Generation Y"... but I really don't want my life to be hard.

Let me elaborate. 

It's not that I don't want to work hard in life, but I want life in general to be soft and kind. As I write this I'm staring out an airplane window at heaven-like clouds, and the most incredible sunrise you could imagine. I want my life to be like this view. Soft and beautiful. Simple yet stunning.
I think we have this idea in North America that life has to be hardcore, fast, and unusually stressful. Here, it's admirable to work ourselves to the point of exhaustion and to constantly feel stressed. In my opinion, this kind of influence leads to disease, unhappy relationships and just plain miserable people. It can also result in a vicious circle where we think the world is out to get us. But doesn't it make sense that if we hurry through our days, stressed and unhappy, that the world would return the favour? We have the incredible ability to do so many things for ourselves that lead to happiness. So why aren't we taking more advantage of this.

While there's no doubt that hard work pays off in the end, I don't believe we need to put our happiness in jeopardy. This is why I want my life to be soft and peaceful. Working hard, but spending every minute of it with a quiet heart. Living a life this way will lead me to spend every moment in the present time. If it isn't hard, we aren't always going to be searching for the next big thing to get us by. Rather, we will enjoy every soft moment life brings our way.
There's a saying that I try to I live my life by - that what we put out to the universe, we receive back. Send positive energy to the universe and the universe will return the gesture. Smile at a stranger, and they almost always smile back. Do something nice for someone, and hopefully they do something nice for someone else! If we live our lives softly, and stay present, the universe will gift us with soft reciprocation.

My 70L Backpack

It's 5:30am and I'm sitting on a park bench in Ho Chi Minh City, with my feet on my 70L Serratus MEC backpack, eating dried passion fruit that the owner of our last hostel gave us as a parting gift. Hundreds of locals are walking, running, stretching, and there's an outdoor aerobics class blasting techno. Our overnight bus arrived early, so the wait is 3 hours in this mysterious atmosphere. I seriously can't stop smiling. Travelling gives you this incredible ability to make the best of every situation, to pay attention to the smallest details, and to live minimally.

I've just brushed my teeth in the bush behind our bench, and "freshened up" with a shower that consisted of only deodorant. I've been wearing the same pants for 3 days and I've given up on underwear all together. Looking at my backpack I have the greatest feeling of freedom. I don't need any "thing" else at all. Material things aren't important to me while traveling. Everything I could ever need fits into this 70L backpack, and to me that's a beautiful thing.

We go through life accumulating so many possessions we don't really need. Gadgets, clothes, trinkets and household items, these things all add up to an overwhelming amount of goods that are "mine". This, combined with the advancement in technology, and the desire to always have the latest edition, we are faced with the decision of want vs. need. In turn, this leads to mass discarding of perfectly good electronics that will inevitably end up somewhere in a landfill fulfilling no purpose. And this doesn't just apply to electronics, our planet is littered with unwanted things that we got bored of. Sometimes we need to pull ourselves away from that lifestyle of buying and wanting, to make the realization that it is more important to have experiences and memories than it is to have material objects. 

Not only will we feel lighter in mind, body and spirit, but we will be saving the planet as well.

❀

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

All these changes, in life and in my head, bring a sense of anxious excitement. As our mentality shifts without our conscious approval, we are sometimes hit with a dramatic wave of growth and that can be at times unsettling. In turn, the small, incremental changes our mind, body and spirit make every day is incredible and inspiring in every way possible. We are always changing, ever evolving. No moment is ever the same on earth, it is ever evolving. Every experience we have changes us if only in the most minute, undetectable way. 

"In the waves of change we find our true direction." 

I've had to overcome a very hurtful period in my life, and it hasn't been easy to say the least. What I can take from it is growth and strength, but to find them it challenged my ability to forgive and, more importantly, forget. In my own experience, the words "it's okay" are easily said, but not as easy to feel. But often times the other person doesn't even need to be involved in your path to forgiveness. Our mind is a powerful tool. It has the ability to help you twist the situation into a lesson of growth, but more normally it has ability to turn on negative thoughts and actions. 

I find, when faced with any difficult situation, I need to consciously monitor my thoughts to make sure I stay peaceful and present. The mind turns on blinders to what lesson the universe is trying to teach us. So, especially in times where forgiveness is necessary, it is important to be in the now, to work out what's happening with maturity, and to remain in a constant state of productive reflection so we can move on from the negative as quickly as possible. Forgive not because the situation deserves forgiveness, but because your soul deserves to forgive. 

It's cliché, but I truly believe everything happens for a reason. We are given obstacles to overcome so that we can continue to grow into the best versions of ourselves. So forgive, love, and be helpful to others who haven't learnt their lesson yet. For there's nothing more important on this earth, than the love and acceptance we can offer to everyone around us. What we put out to the universe we will receive. Give love, receive love. Give hope, receive hope. Give a smile, receive a smile. Give up judgment, receive acceptance and non-judgment... The list goes on.  

                                                   ⤁

             

Necessary Quiet.

After a day spent by myself my shoulders start to relax, my breath slows to a rhythmic calm and my heart feels at peace. Although there's nothing I love more than an engaging, personal conversation,  there is something to be said about being alone. Being quiet. I'm finding more and more importance in giving my mind a rest, and silencing my thoughts.

Our minds are so busy, every day trying to make sense of what's going on around us. We are always "on", having to make conversation, evaluate our surroundings, dissect others emotions just to make sure the world around us is as content as we are. This is life, and it is chaotic and beautiful and also overwhelming. There's no shame in recognizing that once in awhile we need a break from this madness. Our minds need to chill, need to regroup, need to be silent for awhile too.

This summer I plan to spend a weekend at my cabin, alone, in silence. Just the birds, my books, copious amounts of tea and lakeside walks. Because there's nothing more appealing to my tired mind, than to spend two days in solitude. It will definitely be hard at first, just like any form of meditation is - for our heads have been conditioned to analyze everything so we never power down. By the end of the first day I think I will start to experience the shift to complete silence. And by the end of the second day you'll find me with a grin on my face and an aura of calm.

To grow we must remove ourselves from what society sees as normal. In this case, removing ourselves from the hustle and bustle that happens in the physical world, as well as our mental world, and going to a place that allows our mind, body and soul to relax. It's these "experiments" that allow us to live peacefully in an otherwise chaotic life. We can only smile through the noise for so long before we need to take a break. Learn to listen to your mind and recognize when you need to take time for yourself. Take time for silence, the necessary quiet.

❀

Don't Forget Inspiration.

Inspiration can pop up in the most unlikely places and in any situation. Whether it's a song in the background, graffiti on the bus or a dead flower on the sidewalk. Don't disregard these moments and thoughts as they happen every day. Too often we let ourselves forget great ideas or dismiss them as unworthy of our memory. Try to always take note of these moments. Carry a notebook with you at all times to jot down little "nothings" until you can turn them into something amazing. If a notebook doesn't work for you, start typing them into your phone, speak into a recorder or find a napkin to write on.

Do not let another creative possibility pass you so easily anymore.

Why does it seem to be so much easier to take in someone else's creativity, and harder to accept our own for what it is? In my own personal experience, I quickly shut down ideas as they come as I think no one will like it or it's "stupid". It's time we just start taking risks every day and learning from our creative mistakes. Never lose the appreciation of others work - you can always learn from it - but don't forget that you also have infinite potential to make something. Maybe instead of watching tv tonight, pick up your guitar, paintbrush, pencil, dance shoes etc etc etc. and just create.

We spend so much of our time consuming what others make, whether it be tv, books, music or art, why not try consuming your own?

 ★

My inspiration lately...