Falling in love with a musician is almost as painful and chaotic as falling in love with a real-life human.It's like it's so good it hurts, ya know? You just want more. Ben Howard and Paper Kites are quickly leaving their mark on my heart. It's also amazing to see artists like these two make such beuaitful, Inpsiring videos. The video for 'gracious' below is fan made, and it too is perfect. I might just have to make a music video this weekend... we'll see. For your listening pleasure for that long Road Trip to the lake...
This weekend is what many of us City Dwellers live for. An opportunity to fly out of the steamy concrete towards the cool lake waters and lazy days on the dock.
How AMAZING is THIS?!?!?!
Wishing you all a relaxing, laughter filled weekend away. MWAH xo
I missed music Monday yesterday... again... two weeks in a row. Monday is my busiest day of the week. (not an excuse, just saying) I'm at OCAD all day ~ yoga all night, and on most Mondays I'm reeling from the after effects of the weekend. This past weekend, two of my most favourite people got married in the backyard under a perfect white tent enchantingly lit by beautiful glowing lanterns surrounded by all the people they love and who simply adore them. It was an incredible celebration, an inspiring evening and a reminder of how beautiful life is and can be, especially when it is filled with love.
Last night, inspired by my lovely friend David Good and his most recent article in elephant journal (Shake Your Foundation by Giving Love Away), I weaved his musings into my classes and watched my students send breathe into their rib cages freeing up space for their hearts to open up in order to more freely GIVE love and more freely RECEIVE love. In the words of Mr. Good:
"Our heart is like a lonely animal locked in a cage,
ready to jump out and spread its wings.
It just wants to share love and be loved."
For today, pictures and music to fill your heart and let your spirit soar, when life feels heavy let yourself go on a mini escape from reality... enjoy lovelies
This week was the first week since savageOM's inception that I missed a Music Monday. It served as a reminder that my life is too busy and I need to carve out the time for the things that bring me joy; Primarily, blogging, yoga, painting, friends, yoga, swimming, biking, yoga, writing and more yoga. So I'm now officially in the process of a purge. A life purge. Another excuse to make a list of what is no longer serving me in order to create space for that which lifts and inspires me to be my best self and live my best life.
Top new album of the (my) week:
Baltimore Duo Beach House's "Bloom" ... delicious.
I spent the most amazing night on the beach last night... I actually felt like I had been on a mini vacation. It was the perfect way to spend the heat wave and reconnect with the waves and the stars, which seemed to magically appear the longer we stared up at the sky.
I love to make lists. To do lists, bucket lists, adventure lists, camping lists, pro's & con's lists, grocery lists etc... every year I attempt to fulfill a summer bucket list that somehow either gets lost in the shuffle or barely touched. There are things we dream of doing, put off doing, would do if we weren't so busy... well, let's just change the tape: Summer is NO time for excuses, live a little.
2012SummerBucket List:
Take in a Music Festival (or two), get muddy & rock out
Reread your favourite novel
Take a Road Trip
Skinny dip more often than not
Get caught in the rain, and dance in it
Go on a bike trip
Sky Dive
Ride a roller coaster (been on my list for YEARS, still incomplete)
Turn off your phone, computer, tv, ipad etc for an entire weekend up north and listen
Make s'mores by the campfire
Spend more time barefoot
Be the first one at the farmer's market to get the best heirloom tomatoes
Plant an herb garden (if you have more space, plant a vegetable garden)
Camp on the beach
Take a canoe trip in algonqin
Smell like salt water ALL DAY
Float in the lake
Go to an outdoor movie
Stargaze
Do yoga at sunset & at sunrise
Play hooky from work and lie in the park
Eat all the peaches, cherries and watermelon you can
Hike a mountain or the west coast trail
Do a home made tri-atholon
Paint a huge canvas
...........
...........
(To be continued)
In the wise words of Jim Morrison;
Let's swim to the moon.
Let's climb through the tide.
Penetrate the evening that the city sleeps to hide.
Happy fathers day to the most amazing friend, dad and partner in crime.
My weekend has left me with an emotional hangover that no amount of coffee or music could possibly remedy. We celebrated the passing of my great grandmother in Montreal surrounded by family ~ I realized, or was reminded of, how truly blessed I am, with all my crazy, artsy, quirky, brilliant and beautiful cousins, I seem to have a bed to sleep in in every amazing city in the world. It is moments like these, where we gather from all corners of the world, some of us having not seen each other in over 10 years, that the most beautiful memories are made. I cried and laughed until I could no longer sit up. Montreal is home #two and holds so many of my most favourite people. Every time I visit, the city casts its haunting spell on me begging for more time in its nurturing embrace. I miss all of you today. Monday's reminder: you are never alone.
Second reminder: NXNE is FULL ON this week in Toronto. I'll be on the sidelines. Saving all my energy for Radiohead, over 10 years of anticipation and finally, downsview park welcomes Tom Yorke back to the city. Most likely the only thing that will get me to the other end of this week. That and the divine company of my friends... the musicians that sing me to sleep...
New Find Below... enjoy lovelies, I really, really am.
The strawberry full moon got it's name from old Algonquin Tribes who took it as a sign that it was time to gather the ripening fruit... it seemed only fitting to start today off with a bowl of fresh strawberries and a little strawberry swing. I hope the energy of todays moon pulls you into balance and pushes you to try something new... I hope this week is full of unexpected sweetness. K x
I don't know what it is about sundays. They offer up an invitation to completely surrender into quiet reflection. I often find myself in this exact spot on these lazy days, sitting in front of my computer on a coffee shop patio thinking about life. The unpredictability of circumstance and the temporary nature of each passing feeling. One minute I feel grateful, the next empty ~ waiting patiently for the next wave of emotion to crest. I rarely write about Yoga these days, perhaps because my practice hasn't been what it used to be. My initial move into the 9-5 world left me with a conundrum as too where my daily practise would manifest itself. At first it was from 6-7am, quiet mornings before the inevitable hum of the streets and computer screens. Needless to say, this didn't last very long. The scales tipped off balance and my practise suffered along with my hips, eyes and spirit. This isn't meant to be a piece about why no one should sit in an office all day, but more of a realization of the importance of building your practise into your daily life no matter what your circumstance is at the moment ~ whether it's a 9-5 office job or a 9-3am bar job or a completely sporadic teaching schedule. However we make the money we need to live in this city (or any city for that matter) is a result of connecting with someone that encouraged you to try something out. In our generation of mid-20 to 30-somethings we find ourselves in a myriad of jobs as a means to make ends meet, constantly asking ourselves is this what I'm meant to be doing with my life? We are the generation of freedom seekers ~ kids at heart who prefer to live poor in order to do what we love but willing to try just about anything. The inner turmoil can sometimes reach a boiling point that lends itself to adrenal burnout and a weekend spent in bed sleeping in attempts to quiet down, re-set, and get your head out of the clouds and feet back on the ground. Lets face it, we only live once. So what the hell are we crying about? Love more. Live more. I miss the booming presence of Yoga in my life. I miss every little thing about being entrenched in my community. The other night I met a fabulous, beautiful new friend. She passed along three very powerful words that reached down deep inside of me as a reminder of what was missing: Just Add Yoga. Simple. And even though I teach every week, adding yoga means more than that. It means shutting off. Sitting still and listening to the subtle pulsations and pulls of the heart. Returning to your(s)elf.
I looked through an old photo album this weekend of the time I spent living in Costa Rica. Since looking at those images of moments so care free, a time where time itself seemed to slow down made me realize how useless the anxieties we take on are. The anxieties that are falsities driven by other peoples judgements and societal pressures. So what to do? How about you just do what you want? If reading this is making you want to throw your hands up and say F%^K it, slow down.
Don't quit your day job... yet.
Do something creative. Build back some balance and than reassess. If things still don't feel right, change something. Sometimes changing one thing can shift the tectonic plates catapulting you into something magical, something unknown.
Just thoughts on a lazy day ~ a beautiful grey day.
Between the urge to write and doze in and out of sleep, I dream of places that look like this, and of course, I dream of swimming. I always dream about swimming. Have a beautiful dreamy day, K x
