Gratitude in 140 Characters or Less: Challenges

Here I am on day 36 of my 365 days of gratitude. It started off really well. I was actually finding it difficult to pick ONE moment from the day to express my gratitude for. It was lovely and it made me realize that I am a very lucky girl. But with ups come downs and in the past little bit there has been some struggle to find my gratitude statements. Take yesterday for example:

"#gratitude day 36: not going to lie, today was a rough one, but at least I made it through! #tomorrowisanewday #ifigotobednowitsover"

I am learning my ebbs and flows, I am learning how the moon affects them, I am learning that I am terribly vulnerable and I am learning to appreciate the little victories like making it through a shitty day/week/month.

Today is coming to a close, and I'm not going to lie, it still wasn't a good day. But tomorrow I will pick myself up and start all over again.

Gratitude in 140 Characters or Less.

I am giving myself a 365 Twitter challenge. I am tweeting one 'gratitude' statement per day. Why? No, not because Oprah told me to, not because I want to be so 'spiritual, man', not because I want to project myself as better than anyone or more connected. The real reason was seeing all the lovely Facebook and Twitter updates of thankfulness over the Canadian Thanksgiving Day weekend. It was tremendous, my heart was full, and I could see that people truly felt lucky and thankful for what they have in their lives (albeit very different for person to person.) It made me realize how my mood changes when I see positivity and messages with kindness behind them. And then I thought about it a little further, these messages were so abundant around this weekend, they are abundant around the Holiday season, they are abundant around births, deaths, and anniversaries. And that is so lovely and so beautiful. The type of soulfulness that surrounds these special days has absolutely no reason not to be a part of everyday. So I decided to start small. Gratitude in 140 characters or less once a day for one year.

perfection via

I know that I have it good. I know my 'problems' are completely inconceivable to someone living in a developing nation, or someone living below the poverty level here in the 'developed' world. But I have those days where I want to go to bed and stay curled up for at least a month, where I think my life can't get any worse, where I throw myself a badass party full of pity. I wouldn't be human if I didn't have these days. In general I do think I am good at expressing gratitude, but I am by no means great at it, and there is no reason I should be any less than exceptional at showing how thankful I am. And imagine I can turn that into a habit! How different certain situations will become! So here goes. Tuesday, October 9, 2012 to Tuesday, October 8, 2013 my goal is to tweet gratitude once a day. Let's see where this takes me!

EDIT: I forgot to include my Twitter name in case you want to check it out! You can find me at @SelbyAllison on the Twitter!

Hope is a funny thing.

I would describe myself as a hopeful individual. I live by such quotes as:

"If others think I am nuts, naive, gullible, and not living in the real world, that's all right too...I'll gladly stay in what some have called my fictitious world, my happy and peaceful world, a world full of signs of hope." - Ward Foley
I believe that people are good. I believe that we can all do what it takes to change our world. Change someone's life. Change our own outcome.

I believe in love. I believe in good. I believe in happiness. I believe in people.

I support the underdog. I give people the benefit of the doubt. I believe people are telling me the truth.

I believe that some people are handed a shitty hand. I believe that circumstance can make people act in certain ways. I believe that we, as a society, ostracize people who do not fit into our norm.

I believe that life is not fair to many. I believe that we take so much for granted. I believe that many cannot recover from the hardships they've been dealt.

I am hopeful that all of this might work out in the end. I am hopeful that good will prevail. I am hopeful that simple act or thought can change a life.

I hope that people learn to love. Unconditionally. With all their heart. Fiercely.

Call me nuts, naive, gullible. Call me hopeful and I will know I am doing right.

Photo by Lauren Treece

My hips don't lie

Some recent conversations with some friends have had me scouring feminist websites and blogs. There is something that I love about processes like this: I go in search of one thing and come out with a completely different, but equally as important discovery. I went in search about articles about whether or not men can be feminists and I ended up reading this: How to Tell a True Story. It was so very interesting and brought up an awful lot of thought and emotion on my part. But then it happened again. I was reading this and I found myself completely involved in the tiniest, smallest, seemingly fairly meaningless part of the work which was:

"While training to be a yoga teacher, I learned to be careful about hip opening poses. “People store memories in their hips,” my teacher said. “Especially women. Trauma. Be gentle, and don’t be surprised if some students start crying.”"

I continued reading the entire story, but I emailed myself that quote and found myself reading it over and over again and I'm not really sure why. But it's so true.

It's true for me in yoga class, it's true for me when I'm just stretching on my own, it was true for me in ballet, and it's true for me now with burlesque too. When I am in an uncomfortable situation I turn my toes in a little and this closes my hips. When I am feeling highly emotionally charged I bring my knees up and close my hips off to the world. When I am sick or really tired I curl up on my side leaving no access to my hips.

And then something made sense to me: I stopped ballet and modern while I was at a very intense and serious level due to hip injuries, stress fractures in both. And though having to relearn how to define myself was difficult enough, I now wonder how the fact that the injury was in an incredibly vulnerable part of my body affected that process.

And why wouldn't your hips (especially for women) be place of great emotion?! Hips-close to gut-close to pelvis-close to pubic bone-close to ovaries-close to uterus-close to vagina-close to vulva. We push memories down, we push trauma down, we push emotion down down down because it is BAD to be emotional. You are weak if you show vulnerability in any way. And as a woman, (and this is just me personally), I don't think of 'down' as my legs or toes. I think of 'down' as that place inside my tummy. the opposite of the base of my spine. And what surrounds that? My hips.

Pretty interesting thing to come out of looking around for feminist vs. pro-feminist men!

FUCK YEAH!

One year older....

I turned 28 last week. I wasn't at all excited about it. I'm usually really good with birthdays. In fact I love them. A day where you get to be the Prince or Princess and parade around like all eyes are on you! I love other people's birthdays, coming up with a special way to make them smile and feel ever so loved. It's the day where on facebook you look like a rockstar because all those people that you never talk to post something on your wall, albeit completely generic. But this year I just wanted it to come and go. I couldn't put in to words why I wanted my birthday to just pass by without notice, but I did. Everytime I said, "I just feel like I'm turning 28, and what do I have to show for it?!?" People would respond with such things as "you're a doula, you found a job at a not-for-profit that you love, you have friends surrounding you and loving you, you have a family that you adore and they adore you in return, your burlesque habbit has become more of a sexy addiction!! What don't you have to celebrate!"

And the truth is, they're all right. But I found all the negatives, "yeah, BUT I don't my own family (or even the slightest hint it may happen soon), I am not making enough money, burlesque isn't moving fast enough for me" and the list went on and on. Basically in my eyes I'm not successful. Then something happened.

This:

Birthday party dinner courtesy of Krissie

And This:

Spent the day at the zoo with my bff

 

and This and this:



From my sister

 

From my parents

 

 And This:



SPOILED!!



And THIS!:



A week before my birthday, my best friend from Lethbridge came into town and planned an entire celebration. We had hotdog pizza (my fave as a kid!) Wildrose Wraspberry beer, party hats, cake and laughter. The next day we went out for breaky and then she took me to the zoo and we made supper together. And she left and I felt loved.

I spent the week watching my cousins (which I'll write about in a different post because it deserves a whole post unto it's own) and each morning I was greated with 3 beautiful smiles and hugs and kisses. They went down to the German bakery and got me pasteries. They were sad when I left. They let me know they love me.



I got flowers at work from my sister and my parent's. A volunteer brought me flowers for me. My boss put princess balloons on my desk. There was a card signed by everyone from work. The girls at work got me moustache magnets!! Everyone was kind. I left work smiling. People celebrated me and I felt loved.



I came home Sunday and my parent's were here and they had a celebration planned for me. Steak for supper, pateries for desert. Presents, wine, amazing company and surrounded by my family. We played Kinect all night and laughed and laughed and laughed. We woke up and had coffee and did the crossword puzzle, went out for lunch and then they headed home. And before they left they both told me how happy they are I was born. 5 minutes after they left I got a text from my dad saying they miss both of us already. And I knew I am loved.



And so, what I learned for my 28th birthday is that maybe I'm not where I imagined I'd be at 28, but it isn't so bad. I have incredible amounts of love in my life. I am loved beyond measure. And today that is enough for me.

Thank you to my mama and papa, to my wonderful sister, to Krissie, Ashley, Jenny, Kimmy, Linds, and the kids for filling me up with love. To each person who took a moment out of their day to make me feel special.

So, 28 isn't so bad, I guess.





Me. On my 28th birthday, May 17th at around the time I was born.



This is a post about periods. And you ought to bloody read it.



From: http://www.ilovegenerator.com/



I am a genetically female woman who has reached sexual and reproductive maturity which in turn means my uterus prepares for the implantation of a fertilized ovum from one of my ovaries on a fairly regular basis (don't try to give me this 28 day cycle bullshit). Because of this, when a fertilized egg doesn't implant or has some serious issues, my body, ever so nicely sheds the lining of my uterus and gets ready just in case it happens next time! (It doesn't get discouraged, it just tries and tries again!) So let me be clear here: my uterus is shedding unneeded blood and tissue, my vagina is not bleeding. If my genitals were bleeding I would be slightly more concerned for my health and well being as anyone should be if there is significant blood loss from any of the body's organs! Not to mention, it's one hell of a pregnancy predictor! Dudes just have to assume they know of all their children in the world, we get to be pretty damn sure!

Anyway...just FYI, this is not a new occurrence. Uterus' have been shedding unwanted blood and tissue since the dawn of time. And it's not just female HUMANS! Seriously!!!! Reproductively mature, female animals shed linings. And so why all the animosity about periods?! Gents, (if you're still reading this than you just bumped yourself up a notch in my books) get over it. Women, sure it can be uncomfortable and a bit of a nuisance, but it is no surprise (well after the first one, anyway!). But mostly to the industry which caters to "feminine hygiene" please kindly go fist yourselves. It is NOT ok to use blue water to convey the message of red/brown blood and tissue. I do not think it is ok to shame us into wearing bleached, pesticide riddled, chemically processed cotton and other man made materials to 'contain' my body. Eff that noise! And Kotex, thank you for trying to bring light to this, but you're just as bad! Just because you put your products in bright, rainbow-y colours doesn't mean that you're not contributing to the problem, you're just controling it differently. No, we should not be ashamed of our badass bodies. You know why? Because if we didn't get periods we wouldn't be able to host a little wee baby in our wombs. But maybe that's just it! That is an awfully powerful process and it wouldn't be quite right for women to have this ability and be totally stoked on it! Aww helllllls no, so it is important for them to hate it and be ashamed, and for society to contain it in order to maintain the order. Oh not to mention fork out a cold hard cash from our own pockets to pay for that shit. Because THAT makes so much sense! Especially since for every dollar that a man makes a woman makes on average 77 cents. So smaller wages, more expenses. AWESOME!

The cool thing is that we can learn to reappropriate this shit. Eff you feminine hygiene, I will use me some sea sponges to soak up that iron-y goodness, rinse it out and reuse it. Novel idea of not contributing to the landfill. I will also be mother effing proud that my body is epic enough to build up an awesome layer of sufficient nutrients to sustain life and should that not happen rejuvenate itself in order to perhaps do it again next month (or in 2 weeks or 6 weeks, or 2 months whatever YOUR cycle looks like). Because your body bloody (haha) rocks!!! I have actually come to have a pretty rad relationship with my Moon Time and it pretty awesome.

Being Tender

Oh my it's been too long since I've sat down and written. An awful lot has happened, including welcoming another client's baby girl into the world. I must simply dash off and get ready for work to go feed some hungry people today, but before I go I must leave you with this little quote. I found it over at Little Reminders of Love (my favourite all time blog out there!) and I had to pass it along. It's as though she stole the words right from my head!! Happy Monday, loves. Promise to write soon!

My best friend and I a couple years ago. As tender a moment as they come.

"Being tender and open is beautiful. As a woman, I feel continually shhh’ed. Too sensitive. Too mushy. Too wishy washy. Blah blah. Don’t let someone steal your tenderness. Don’t allow the coldness and fear of others to tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart. Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to truly be affected by things. Whether it’s a song, a stranger, a mountain, a rain drop, a tea kettle, an article, a sentence, a footstep, feel it all – look around you. All of this is for you. Take it and have gratitude. Give it and feel love."  -Zooey Deschanel

The Day of the Woman

In my opinion, it should be every day.

I mean at least someone decided to give us a day where we could be proud of our brains, our bodies, our accomplishments, our talents, our vaginas, our menstrual blood. But why only one day? Just because March 8th has the official title doesn't mean we need to stop there.

But I am glad that we get a day.

But don't let it stop at midnight tonight. Continue to fight for girls all over the world. They need you. We need each other.

I hope that all the women out there are having an amazing day celebrating their gender and the inherent power that means she has. I love each of you and believe that you are powerful, strong, smart, capable, and the list could go on forever.

I love you and your womanhood.

Dumbing Down

I have something to say. Shocking, I know.

I caught myself at work today telling all the little girls that they were "cute" or "gorgeous" or "pretty". Sure, I don't know them, so that's a pretty safe observation when you're dealing with mostly strangers, especially in a vulnerable situation. It's easy, superficial, and it doesn't make the conversation too serious. Parents with children with them at the Food Bank most likely don't want to get into it with them. And so, calling a girl cute or pretty is safe.....but I don't do the same thing with little boys. I call them "buddy" or "dude" I tell them they are "cool" or "neat"; true it's also harmless and light and safe, but it's different. I am not creating a commentary on them based on their physical looks and assuming that their physical looks somehow interpret their innate worth. Yes, my comments are harmless enough as they are simply meant to diffuse a tense situation, but this is something that bigger than just me at work. Why do we consistently comment on little girls and their physical appearance as somehow equating to their worth as a human? I don't go around telling little boys that they are "handsome" or "dapper" or "cute" nearly as much as I do with girls. Oh I know that all my textbooks from University have explanations in them. I know that this is a social construct that has been created because we judge a female's worth on her physical attractiveness whereas we allow judgement on men to be based on their intellect and ability to provide in some form or another. We sexualize young girls far more than we do boys, we encourage young girls to be thin, and conform to our ideal beauty at a far younger age than we do boys. If you want quantitative stats on this just go online. I guess what I find so interesting about this is that I know the damage this does to girls; I studied it for 4 years in University and yet I catch myself doing it. I know better than that! Why don't I talk to those girls about school, or about books, or about who their favourite woman is? Sure, I don't do that with the little boys either, but I am also not reinforcing their importance or notability on their physical appearance. I believe in raising strong, smart, funny, independent little children. I see a lot of the same children over and over and it does get to a point where they understand what is going on and that their family is somehow "lacking" (not my belief, but a general feeling that many of these children will internalize) because they are accessing assistance from a community agency. If I can somehow empower a little girl to see herself as worthy and smart and important based on her brain and person rather than her looks and perceived beauty.

So now I am conscious of this. Tomorrow at work, each little girl that I meet I will ask them how school was, I will ask them what their favourite book is, I will tell them that they are pretty rad for helping their parent(s) with getting groceries. Changing the way I address little girls in and out of work may not change the world, it may not even change how these girls see themselves and compare themselves to social standards of beauty, I may not even reach one little girl is having her understand her importance as a brilliant addition to our world, but all I can do is try. I hope that if (hopefully WHEN) I have a little girl she grows up understanding there are no limits for her based on her physical appearance. Rather, because she has a brain and uses it she will be good - not because she is "beautiful" or "cute" or "gorgeous".

So today go ahead and tell the girls and women in your life that they are beautiful, but tell them that they are smart too and that's just as awesome, because it is. Brains are cool.

Found these rad buttons that speak the truth here.

Be soft

Good reminder. Every now and then I feel myself getting a little bit harder, I think because sometimes being soft can take a lot out of a person. I felt myself doing this over the last little bit, and I don't like it. So today, I will try to peel off some of those layers and just love. See the good in people. See the good in humanity. And all the beauty in my little space.

I hope you all have a positive start to your week. I hope that you can become a little softer as it goes on. I hope you all tell the people around you that you love them, and you are told how loved you are in return. I hope that this week brings happiness to each of you.

Now go and be beautiful!

XOXO
S

I love....

The bag my Valentine's book came in this year.

Valentine's day, oh we've had a tumultuous relationship!

As a kid, Valentine's Day was about love. My sister and I were always my dad's valentines. Rather than a stupid stuffed animal that we'd throw away, my dad would buy us each a book he thought we'd like and some expensive chocolate. It was one of his many ways of showing us how much he loved us. It also began a long tradition in our family of giving books. Books. Words. Stories. Knowledge. Valentine's wasn't about the commercial holiday, but actually about love. Love for and from my family. And love of reading and learning.

I have always hated the commercial part of Valentine's day, going out for an overpriced dinner, with overpriced wine, buying overpriced chocolate and overpriced jewelry. And so I did go through a brief time in my life where I hated Valentine's day. I suppose you could have classified me as on of the bitter singles! YIKES!!! That didn't last long though.

Now my sister and I continue the tradition my dad started with us and we give each other books and a card just reminding each other how much we love one another.

In University I became a supporter of Eve Ensler's organization V-Day which raised money and awareness to prevent violence against women.

This year I took part in the Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Women in Calgary. I walked and "held" Shirley, a 39 year old woman who is missing. I was in a room full of people who have lost someone, know someone who has, or, in my case, tired of these lives being ignored.

So I've come to realize, that I love Valentines day. I love being able to openly spread love. I love being able to tell people that I love them without consequence. I love that I get to love like I do every other day of my life, but somehow because this day has a whole greeting card section dedicated to it, it is accepted. I love that it brings communities together. I love that I will always be my dad's Valentine. I love that Valentine's day is now being used to give a voice to women who did not have it in the past.

So, I love you. Whoever you are, where ever you are, whatever your circumstances are. I love you, today, tomorrow, and always.

I am an emotional creature

Growing up I was a girl who let my emotions lead (what's changed? Those of you close to me are probably asking right now!) I remember crying myself to sleep some nights because I didn't understand how people allowed poverty to happen. I would cry for the kids in Africa who didn't have a chance,the kids on the Reserve next to me who didn't get to finish school. When I got upset, it wasn't just a rough day, it was the end of the world as I knew it. In turn, I loved harder than anyone, and when I was happy I thought anything was possible, I was sure. The way I explain it now that I have more words is that I felt every emotion as if it were touching a bare nerve, and really, I still do. As a child I thought everyone reacted the same way, I didn't know this was 'different'. But as an adolescent I was taught to feel ashamed for being emotional - it made me bad. When I got to university I found a discipline that empowered me with knowledge about society's perception of women's emotions and I read and learned about how this construct does not have to define me. I am an emotional creature. It is part of what makes me good at my jobs. It is part of what makes me a good friend. It is part of what makes me a good lover and partner. I feel things magnified. I do. Sad is devastating. Happy is elating. Looking back I hate that so-called "society" made me feel bad about being emotional, because what it was actually saying was that vulnerability is bad, weak, ugly. I don't think it is. If I didn't allow my vulnerability to dictate part of myself I would not be working in the not-for-profit sector helping those who are living in poverty. I would not be in the delivery room helping families welcome new members into their lives, I would not be up on stage peeling off layers and revealing myself. So to those of you who think that showing emotion is weak ask yourself why. When is the last time you felt so hard you couldn't contain it? When is the last time you told those around you how you wouldn't be without them? When is the last time you sat with your emotions and realized that you can make a difference. Being emotional is not bad. Being vulnerable is an art. This is what fuels empathy, compassion, and change.

I'm starting to learn that there are always going to be people telling me I am wrong for feeling, and that my emotional behaviour is a weakness. That's ok. I have also realized that all the tears I have cried are worth it. In turn I have smiled harder than I thought possible. I have felt love and loved bigger than so many people. The emotions that I have thought were a weakness for so so so long are slowly becoming something that I can embrace. Something that makes me a person whole believes she can change the world one person at the time. And I won't stop trying because I won't stop feeling.

Like the cool kids and rappers say these days, "hater's gonna hate!" Some people will never want to be a part of the way I feel. It may be that they don't understand how to feel, it may be that they have been hurt beyond belief, it may be they were taught to think a certain way, it may be that that emotion scares the hell out of them because it isn't controlled. Whatever it is, I will try my hardest not to judge them and make them feel poorly about that. It is just as much as what makes them them as emotions make me me.

It is really easy to write this and sound like I have it all figured out, and I just want to assure you, I don't. I have moments of clarity but I also have just as many moments where I feel like my emotions are still ugly and bad. It is a process for me. I'm quite certain it will be until the day I die. And in this tiny moment right now, I am going to put it out to the World Wide Web to be forever encrypted into the blogesphere that I am ok, even happy, with who I am becoming.

The video below is a bit long, but if you can spare 20 minutes check it out. In the very least watch the last 4 and a half minutes. I watch this every time I need a reminder that I am an emotional creature, and I am alright.

Overcoming.

I work for a not-for-profit. I deal with the clients we serve on a daily basis. Though I love it, it is emotionally trying sometimes. It can become easy to see suffering and focus on that. I have days when I go home and need to cry. Today I felt the opposite. Well perhaps not opposite, because I still saw the suffering happening in our city, but I met some amazing people working really hard to change their situation. I love these days, and this is why I do what I do. Today I believe in people. Today I am happy. 

I found this here.

Xo
S

Type of girl

"She's not the type of girl to wait by the phone, she won't cry, she knows it'll get her nowhere, she'll laugh a lot and often, and she will live her own life. She would like you be a part of it, but she will do just fine without you." -unknown.

I found this here

This is the girl that I am becoming every day.

Interestingly enough, I was going to leave this post just so and carry on my day, but I stopped by Little Reminders of Love before I was done and I had to keep writing. Anna is a lovely woman who is the inspiration to a lot of what I have become, she gives me the space to love hard, love free, be wild, and to be me. When I started reading her blog it was like I didn't feel like I was the only one who felt the way I do. It was an awakening. Stop by her blog and say hi. She is divine.

Pippi Longstockings

When, (and if) I'm a mother to a girl, I will read her Pippi every night. This girl is a true feminist.

My sister bought me this shirt yesterday because she knows how much I love Pippi

This passage sums it all up for me:

“the children came to a perfume shop. In the show window was a large jar of freckle salve, and beside the jar was a sign, which read: DO YOU SUFFER FROM FRECKLES?

What does the sign say?” ask [sic] Pippi. She couldn’t read very well because she didn’t want to go to school as other children did.
It says, ‘Do you suffer from freckles?’” said Annika.
Does it indeed?” said Pippi thoughtfully. “Well, a civil question deserves a civil answer. Let’s go in.”

She opened the door and entered the shop, closely followed by Tommy and Annika. An elderly lady stood back of the counter. Pippi went right up to her. “No!” she said decidedly.

What is it you want?” asked the lady.
No,” said Pippi once more.
I don’t understand what you mean,” said the lady.
No, I don’t suffer from freckles,” said Pippi.

Then the lady understood, but she took one look at Pippi and burst out, “But, my dear child, your whole face is covered with freckles!”

I know it,” said Pippi, “but I don’t suffer from them. I love them. Good morning.”

She turned to leave, but when she got to the door she looked back and cried, “But if you should happen to get in any salve that gives people more freckles, then you can send me seven or eight jars.” 

Astrid Lindgren was a woman after my own heart. She is one of those people that I would meet if I could. She is someone who teaches little girls that they are strong enough, smart enough, and unique enough.

Never forget to tell the young girls in your life how special they are. That it is not because they are cute or beautiful that they are wonderful but because they are smart and interesting. Teach these girls that they too can be as confident as Pippi and they too should be proud of their freckles.

I just got home from a most amazing weekend. It was full of family, love, good wine, amazing food, and the mountains!

My sister turned 30 years young last week and my dad also celebrated a birthday and so as a family we decided to go away. 30 can be a bit scary and we wanted to make it as easy as possible for a girl we love so much so we took off to Canmore for the weekend and rented a penthouse suite in one of the local condo complexes. It was exceptional. We arrived Friday evening, went out to a local pub for dinner and then back to the condo for wine and scrabble. Saturday consisted of an excellent sleep in, coffee and breaky looking out at the mountains and then an afternoon of window shopping and lunch. Back to the condo for a glass of wine and then out for a late dinner at 8:00pm. If you are local and have the chance to check out Crazy Weed, you must. We had a long, relaxed, drawn out dinner. Started with cocktails and ending with dessert. We didn’t get home until 11:00 or so and it was just simply wonderful. Between their martinis, short ribs and calamari we had an amazing time. After dinner we went back to the condo to enjoy some more wine and relax. Sunday we got ready to check out and head back to Calgary (and my parent’s to Wetaskiwin) but not before a great breakfast at Chez Francois’s and a little bit of a walk around Elbow Falls. It was so lovely out in the mountains it felt like every time I breathed in I was swallowing up space, and love, and  peace, and nature and it was amazing. Every time I looked out the window and saw a big big big mountain I felt humbled and happy. Being with my family I felt sure of everything, sure of myself. It was truly an amazingly relaxing and beautiful weekend. I am now sitting back in Calgary with my sister and my 2 cats and I feel ready for this week.

I am the luckiest girl in all the land. Such a perfect weekend.

XOXO

Selby

This is my Life

A few days ago I stumbled on this:

http://shop.holstee.com/collections/all-items/products/holstee-manifesto-poster

while journeying around the Internet. Everything about this makes sense to me. I swear someone stole my feelings and put them down on paper. It was lovely and I had a moment where breathing was easy and free and happy. A few days later, a friend of mine on facebook posted this:

And there it was staring me in the face again. Holstee is a beautiful company founded by 3 dudes in the middle of the recession and instead of writing a business plan, they wrote a manifesto....novel idea, isn't it? Answering your passion.

I'm not a believer in destiny or fate or "it was meant to happen" so I can't say things like "I was so meant to find this Manifesto at this moment in my life". Nope. What I do believe in is energy. I live a good portion of my life living this already, as long as I can remember my passion has driven me much harder than my brain (or maybe they're so intertwined I can't separate them!) So it is no wonder I stumbled across Holstee and in such a lovely time in my life, when I needed a teensy reminder that I am doing what I should be doing. This universe is certainly remarkable.

Below is the link to their website, go check it out and share their passion. It's quite exciting and intoxicating. A beautiful way to start the week. I love you all and hope you have the most magical Monday.

xo Selby

http://shop.holstee.com/

The inaugural blog post

Welcome....is that how you start a blog? Do I welcome you, even though there is no you yet? Well this is my blog so I guess I get to make up the rules, so yes that is how I start. Welcome!

So, Miss Q, why did you decide to start a blog? I'm sure you're all dying to know what wisdom I have that I will bestow onto the world. Here's the thing: I don't have any. Well no more than the average person eking their existence out on this big blue marble. What I do have is passion and love and fire and I wanted a place to stick it and share it. So, TA-DA!!!! Here it is.

Now for the disclaimer: You do not have to read my blog just because you're my friend. There is no expectation of that and I am not doing this to see how popular I can get. The opinions expressed on this blog are, at times, going to be very strong. This doesn't mean I'm right. It's just that, my opinion. If something confuses you, challenges you, upsets you, let me know - but please do so in a respectful manner. A lot of the content that I will post is not mine, but something I stumbled upon that I think should be spread further. When possible I will credit the source.

I'm not pretending to be a superamazingwonderfulintelligenttotallyepicprofessionalfamous blogger. This is very new to me (which I'm sure you can tell by my template!) I'm a work in progress and so is this blog so it will change and evolve as I do. And so, my friends, Welcome to my space. Much love to each of you. I believe in you.

xo Selby