kindredSwell

I’ve always been a cup of tea in the afternoon sort of girl.  For many, many years I held strong to my Canadian roots and that afternoon tea was usually a Timmy’s.  There will always be a place in my heart for a Tim’s tea with a smile cookie, but, tea time has evolved.

My latest favourite is pu-erh tea.  I love it.  It is a fermented tea from China.  It has a variety of subtypes depending on the length of time it has been aged such that it can brew anywhere from being like a green to black tea.  I find it extremely earthy and grounding and I prefer to add nothing to it.  I get mine from SilkRoad Tea in Victoria.  My preferred is the white, pu-erh tea cake.  It comes in a solid cake of tea leaves which you pull tiny bits off of every time you are ready for tea.  I really love this tea but I do find it very activating which is amazing for creativity but can be less enjoyable when it comes time to sleep!  To prevent sleeplessness remember you only need a teaspoon of leaves per cup, rinse your leaves in cold water before brewing, and pour off the first 30secs of brewing.  (Of course, if you want to achieve rockstar flow and could care less about sleep then do none of the above and enjoy the magic!)  I also use the smaller and much more portable “tuochas” to take with me to the office etc.  You can do lots of reading on the proper way to pour and drink pu-erh.  Traditionally there is quite a ceremony to it and the leaves are used multiple times through a series of pours and brews.  The descriptions sound quite mystical and perhaps one day I’ll find myself somewhere where I can truly sip this tea how it is supposed to be sipped.  However, I’m not there yet, but I definitely do keep leaves and do a few brews over the course of an afternoon as the mood suits.

Enjoy

Today, well most days, but today in particular, I was inspired by my siblings.

It’s time to start what is the ultimate goal here – to effect change.

Today I donated to:

https://www.nrdc.org

Eventually I would love to find a way where we can all pool our donations and donate one lump sum but, I’m not savvy enough to figure that out …. yet!

I’m not sure who out there will see this, as we are still in blog infancy here.  But if you do see, and you are inspired, leave a comment about your donation.

Thank you my kin!

… got lost in the trails

Poured myself a cuppa Lion’s Mane/Chaga from Foursigmatic and added a tsp of Cordyceps from Moon Juice and made my way downtown.

Stopped by …

http://silkroadteastore.com

then wandered to …

http://escents.ca

and then was greeted by the warmest smile at …

https://www.tonicjewelry.ca

and the most happiness at …

https://sitka.ca

After leaving by the side door at Sitka, I landed at …

http://beloverestaurant.ca

where I ate with my beloved before one last stop at …

http://218run.com

where the most passionate human I know works.

 

What a privileged and beautiful day made amazing by local people doing what they love.

It’s a constant battle.  Is the internet good for you or bad for you?  Does it keep you from doing things or open new doors?  Does it suck you in or help set you free?  Does it give you community or keep you isolated?  Well, obviously, all of the above.  The choice is yours.  Steer your own ship.

What does that have to do with pants?  Good question.  In steering my own ship I’ve decided to use social media only in ways that, after being on them, make me feel that it was time well spent.  Did I learn something?  Did I come away feeling better?  Was the ten minutes of scrolling worth the opportunity cost of a bit more sleep, meditation, witty repartee with my husband or starting in on a new House of Cards?  If it wasn’t, then don’t repeat.  Sam Harris and Tristan Harris do a really excellent podcast on this:

https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/what-is-technology-doing-to-us

So I use Instagram to explore beautiful places and people who are doing beautiful things.  I come away feeling like I’ve just escaped to some blissful, happy universe AND sometimes I find great new things.  Like …. you guessed it … PANTS!

https://www.tillageclothing.com

These are outstanding.  Comfortable, stylish, sustainable, and full of beauty.  You will put them on and feel equal parts earthy free wild child and sexy goddess.  They arrive at your door with twine and a hand written note.  Love.  Thank you to whoever is out there dreaming these up and working hard to send them to us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkfkJCyqCBc

I consider myself an educated person.  I consider myself a reasonable person.  I consider myself a healthy person.  However, there are times when I remain completely confused about what the hell to eat these days!

There are seemingly incredibly smart and convincing people out there who all firmly believe completely opposite things.  Maddening!  If we can put people IN SPACE, why don’t we know what we are supposed to eat?  For every documentary or article that praises high fat, low carb there is another that praises vegan, no fat .  Maddening!

So how do we dare go to our fridge and not have a panic attack?  Well, I’m not sure.  And if I was sure, I can guarantee that the evidence would change next week and I would revert to panic.  But as far as  I can tell by watching all these debates take place, I think we can conclude the following:

1. It remains true that everybody is different.  If you are not active, have an increased body mass index, and your main goal is to decrease your body weight quickly, then high fat, low carb / ketogenic might be for you.  Maybe.  If you are very active and a healthy body weight, then you likely have greater flexibility in how you chose eat and may find any one of several approaches (e.g. paleo, vegan, whole foods) works for you.  Maybe.
2. In the long game, moderation always wins.  In considering #1, I think it is not helpful at all for proponents of these various diets to speak of them like they are the be all and end all.  That is simply unproven.  So it would be kinder to those people out there trying to navigate all the confusion if, when we spoke of different approaches, we could allow moderation.  You can eat absolutely eat mostly vegan and have butter on your asparagus!  You can absolutely eat mostly ketogenic and have some damn chickpeas!
3. Real food is good no matter what.  Pick food with one ingredient.  Pick food that you know where it comes from and how it was grown or raised or processed.  Make your own food.  Prioritize growing, shopping, eating, preparing and enjoying your food.  It is your fuel and the basis of your health.  It is one thing that you can have complete control over.
4. There is a lot to consider when you are choosing what food to eat.  Just be conscious.  Are you eating to simply find a number on the scale or to be healthy?  Are you eating to feel good now or to maximize your longevity, avoid cancer and other chronic disease?  Are you eating with your local environment in mind?  With animal welfare in mind?  With the global environment in mind?

There is also a lot of literature and propaganda out there around all of those topics.  But I think if you keep it simple and be conscious of your goals then you can avoid nervous breakdown.  Be realistic, practice moderation, and be kind to yourself.  Eat real food and make your own meals and ENJOY the process of it all!  Whether you choose to do your own thing or think of yourself as keto, or paleo, or vegan or whatever, increase your vegetables!  Avoid sugar, sweeteners, white flour and other nutritionally devoid foods like the plague … but for pete’s sake, have a cupcake with your kid on their birthday!  If you DO want to wade into the debates a bit, I have found these conversations the most enjoyable without causing utter despair:

https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/what-should-we-eat

https://deniseminger.com/

https://youtu.be/i8ORtH7IxFc

http://tim.blog/2017/05/04/smart-drugs-fasting-and-fat-loss/

 

And all that being said, don’t be scared, food is awesome!  It should be embraced and enjoyed and savoured with the people you love around you.  We are lucky we get the opportunity to choose!  There is so much out there to explore and learn about how to fuel ourselves!

What brings us the most joy and health in our house these days is usually the amazing Angela Liddon and her glorious cookbooks, Oh She Glows.  I have bought many a cookbook in my years but I have never used one so consistently as hers.  There is nothing in them that isn’t amazing.

http://ohsheglows.com

this page is also great:

https://www.thefullhelping.com

 

So off you go, and ENJOY!

 

 

In the ulcerating silence, perspective comes
The way it always does, for it’s ransom
So randomly, somebody calls
The phone rings and it brings Niagara Falls

At 3 o’clock in the morning
You’d better be dyin’, you were
So we talked about time and where it went
Unremarkable events and how
One day took two days and they got spent

How you’d continue
Carefully in degrees
Trying to do one true beautiful thing

And your beautiful thing
It’d be a beautiful thing
To see that beautiful thing continuing

I don’t live there, I just commute
Secretly cradling a joint, I might puke
Fumble with the keys, under duress
The point is, this is, practice duress

3 o’clock in the morning
You’d better be dying’ and you were
So we talked about things and where they went
Big remarkable events and how
Each day’s a new day and they get spent

How you’d continue, artfully, like the breeze
Trying to do one true beautiful thing
Your beautiful thing

It’d be a beautiful thing to see
That beautiful thing continuing
Your beautiful thing continuing

Your beautiful thing will be
A beautiful thing to me
A beautiful thing continuing
Your beautiful thing continuing

Tragically Hip – A Beautiful Thing Lyrics

“Nothing, to my way of thinking, is a better proof of a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company.”

As previously admitted, I love potions.

I come from a long line of potion lovers.  My mom’s bathroom counter has long been a source a fascination given the numerous little bottles you can dip your fingers into.

But the more one reads, the more one learns, the more one wants to spend money on travelling and not products, one starts to wonder what the hell is all this stuff we are putting on ourselves … and why are we doing it?  Never mind the ingredient lists that I can’t pronounce and that span the length of the bottle, but each of these potions come in plastic … from far far away.

So last year I started trying to find EASY, FOOLPROOF, and FUN alternatives.  I found:

https://saltandritual.com/

Last year, this was “just” a blog and a Facebook group and a lovely founder (Kate Bello) who created a 21 day challenge.  She emailed us recipes every week and we mixed and experimented in our bathrooms to our own delights.  She’s expanded big time now and seems to be selling her own line of products.  I haven’t tried any of them but I can attest that her homemade recipes she shared with us were great.

As usual, not every recipe is going to work for every skin type, but here’s what I’ve kept up for myself:

Face wash:  Just plain old honey.  Full stop.  I tried the suggestions of adding essential oils and I loved the scent of Frankincense and Geranium, but ultimately I wondered if they irritated my skin a bit.  I might try them again just in smaller amounts and smaller batches because the smell was truly divine.  But for now, plain old honey it is.  I love to use a local, creamed honey.  You just wet your face slightly, grab some honey out of a jar with your two slightly wet fingers, rub it all around, maybe lick your lips, and then rinse off as you please.

I was gifted a large pot of creamed, lemon honey from these wonderful people …. it is magic.

https://www.flickr.com/people/cardinalcreekhoney/?rb=1

Moisturizer:  I keep two 1oz glass bottles with droppers on my countertop.  One full of Aloe Vera (I ordered mine from Mountain Rose Herbs but you could likely find it at any health food store, Whole Foods, etc., or juice your own!) and one full of Jojoba oil.  For a moisturizer, i use about 3/4 dropper full of aloe vera and 2-3 drops of Jojoba oil.  I squirt aloe into my palm, then drop oil on top, mix with fingers from other hand and rub all over face.

Many recommend Argan oil for this instead of Jojoba, however I tried this and it caused breakouts.  They quickly went away when I changed, so don’t be afraid of some trial and error.  I’ve also read that Rosehip seed oil is a good one to try.

If you want face scrubs and masks, I recommend checking out Salt & Ritual!  The ones I still use that the lovely Kate Bello turned me onto are:

Scrub – combine about a 1-2 tsp of brown sugar, 1-2tsp of honey, 1tsp of coconut oil in a little jar, mix up and gently rub on face.  Cleanse with honey 1-2 times after and rinse.

Mask – 1tsp of activated charcoal, a dash of water, apply thin layer around face.   Let dry then use above scrub and then honey.  Watch out … if you are a ‘virgin’ charcoal user … this is messy and dicey.  Only use a thin layer!  Be prepared to feel like your sink/tub/shower/face will be black forever … it won’t!  It is fabulous entertainment for your kids.  Don’t do too often as charcoal can have skin lightening effects.  But it leaves your skin beautifully radiant in the end.

Now get out there and glow, naturally.