Just thought you should know.
Love,
Shan
Thursday, July 21, 2016
A Gentle Reminder
Today, I felt a pull to come here and tell you how great you are. Did you know that? That you're truly great? I felt the need to remind you that you're special and incredibly beautiful. And also to ask if you knew how very terrific you are. You're terrific. And if you think that you're not talented enough or not creative or smart enough, I want to gently remind you that you're way better than you think you are. You know that other person that you're constantly comparing yourself to? Oh go on, you know who I mean... That person isn't better than you. They're different from you that's all. But guess what? That difference is a game changer because YOU bring a whole 'nother skill set to the game and the world needs what you've got. There's nobody else like you.
Just thought you should know.
Love,
Shan
Just thought you should know.
Love,
Shan
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Looking for the Magic
The world is hurting right now, there is no doubt about that. You cannot turn on the news or click online without seeing, hearing, or reading about yet another tragic death or act of terror. It can feel overwhelming and like very dark times. We can get swallowed up by fear, judgement or hatred, we can get lost in our search for understanding. It might feel like there is no way out of this downward spiral and I am not here to tell you that I have the answers.
I don't.
I can't pretend to make sense of the chaos, the anger, the divisiveness as I too am grappling with all of it. I'm not a religious person so I can't stand here and say God has a plan. But I am spiritual. I know there is a power greater than me. I know that there are light workers in the world who help to illuminate this darkness, people that have access to tools that can bring peace and they are sharing what they know. It's up to us to seek them out.
At the moment I am extremely grateful to Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra for bringing us another one of their 21 day MEDITATION challenges. This one is on getting unstuck.
It's essentially a gentle reminder to allow each new day be just that, new. Being aware of your thought patterns and habits allows you to identify them, acknowledge the ones that are not serving you and making a conscious effort to not bring them into your now. Much harder than it sounds. Just to go off track here for a quick second, statistics say that 97% of women have an "I hate my body" moment at least once everyday. So it's safe to assume that we as women generally seem to have negative self talk going on and this conversation doesn't stop at our appearance, it carries into our skills as a parent, partner, boss, employee, we judge ourselves too harshly. Knowing that how can we turn around and say hey everyone, stop judging other people. I'm not saying none of us like ourselves and that if we are judging ourselves that we automatically judge others, I'm just saying that the solution to the world's current climate of fear and hatred might not be as simple as "love each other", for how can we love each other if we haven't truly learned to love ourselves in the deepest sense? By becoming aware of these negative thought patterns and finding more positive replacements.
Which brings me to another of the light workers I'm currently loving right now, Marianne Williamson. Marianne is an author who was brought to the attention of the world at large by, you guessed it, Oprah Winfrey. MW wrote a book called A Return To Love, Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles.
I've just started reading the book in conjunction with doing these meditations each day and it has had a profound impact on me. She is teaching me, along with these meditations, to let go and be in the moment; forget the past and don't worry about the future. Don't worry? How can we not worry? People are being blown up, shot to death and mowed down in our very streets!?! I understand that, but you have to ask yourself, is fretting about it going to undo it? No. But being aware of it allows you to change something within yourself. Hear me out.
As a writer I have to be very self motivated, self-directed and disciplined, but as a result I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed, do more, be better and consequently can be very hard on myself if I don't live up to my sometimes impossibly high standards. Like, "What do you mean you don't have an Oscar yet, how old are you?" or "You have a social responsibility to be a voice for the voiceless, to create role models for our children with the characters you write, how dare you want to write something just for fun!" It's endless.
One of the first aha moments from the book (spoiler alert) is that we are already perfect. I know, I know you've heard it from me a million times, we're all worthy and already good enough, but listen to what she writes:
Perfect isn't something you need to create, because the Creator already created it. (I use Creator as it's more comfortable for me than God for some reason) The perfect you is the love within you.
So... our ability to love is what makes us perfect? I can live with that. But what about the people I find hard to love? Or the people I find hard to forgive? Because if there are folks in my life that I love but cannot tolerate or have a hard time forgiving, what chance is there that the world is going to be able to heal through forgiveness for all these mass tragedies if we cannot forgive the people in our own lives?
Marianne has an answer to that. "Any situation that pushes our buttons is a situation where we don't yet have the capacity to be unconditionally loving." Those things are there to bust our comfort zone and move us beyond our stuck points into better versions of ourself. MW has a big chapter on forgiveness and how it is an act of self love because what we judge in others we are really judging in ourselves and if someone has made a mistake and we don't forgive them, we are essentially holding them in the past and not allowing anyone to move forward. (I've over simplified it obviously but well worth the read). This doesn't mean you're going to just say "oh well, what that driver in Nice did was a mistake and we forgive him," but what we can do it take a look within and perhaps begin with forgiving ourselves for wanting to hate him. As I said, I don't have the answers.
But the biggest aha moment for me as I am reading this book was this... Faith.
Everything works with a brilliance of design and efficiency that our human efforts have never begun to match. Planets revolve around the sun, seeds become plants, embryos become babies, the acorn becomes the oak, with no help from us. Their movement is built into a natural system. You and I are integral parts of that system too. We can let our lives be directed by the same force that makes flowers grow --- or we can do it ourselves. To trust in the force that moves the universe is faith. Faith isn't blind, it's visionary.
I really liked that. In fact, I breathed a giant sigh of relief upon reading that. You mean that I can relinquish control? Thank God (pun intended) because I was beginning to feel like I was about to steer myself right over the cliff into the abyss. I had always thought that surrendering was an act of weakness or somehow cowardly, but it isn't. I wouldn't step into the cockpit of an aircraft and expect that I could fly it any more than I would think it weak to hand over the controls to a certified pilot, so how is my life any different? I'm sure you can come up with some pretty snappy retorts but I am making a point here. There is a reason that alcoholics in recovery say "let go and let God" because they know they cannot do it alone. I cannot do it alone. We cannot fix our world alone.
I'm starting to believe that if I am able to truly let go, to surrender to some greater plan, that maybe, just maybe things might start to shift. I mean you know those people that seem to drift effortlessly through life almost as if they're somehow charmed? Everything seems to go their way, things always workout, they are always happy and at ease? Maybe this is the secret that they already know. Oprah sure seems to know it. I'm not saying her life has been easy, far from it, but it's been abundantly blessed and as a result she has helped to spread those blessings around. She's touching my life as I write this and I have never even met the woman.
I think it's high time that you and I noble reader step out of our own way (or maybe you're thinking finally Shan, it took you long enough to get here), we hand the controls over to the one who knows how to fly and we spend our time looking for the magic and expecting the miracles. Who knows, if we expect them, perhaps they'll appear.
Have a beautiful day and who knows where the road will lead. Someplace wondrous I hope and as long as there is hope, everything will be okay. That I know for sure.
I don't.
I can't pretend to make sense of the chaos, the anger, the divisiveness as I too am grappling with all of it. I'm not a religious person so I can't stand here and say God has a plan. But I am spiritual. I know there is a power greater than me. I know that there are light workers in the world who help to illuminate this darkness, people that have access to tools that can bring peace and they are sharing what they know. It's up to us to seek them out.
At the moment I am extremely grateful to Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra for bringing us another one of their 21 day MEDITATION challenges. This one is on getting unstuck.
It's essentially a gentle reminder to allow each new day be just that, new. Being aware of your thought patterns and habits allows you to identify them, acknowledge the ones that are not serving you and making a conscious effort to not bring them into your now. Much harder than it sounds. Just to go off track here for a quick second, statistics say that 97% of women have an "I hate my body" moment at least once everyday. So it's safe to assume that we as women generally seem to have negative self talk going on and this conversation doesn't stop at our appearance, it carries into our skills as a parent, partner, boss, employee, we judge ourselves too harshly. Knowing that how can we turn around and say hey everyone, stop judging other people. I'm not saying none of us like ourselves and that if we are judging ourselves that we automatically judge others, I'm just saying that the solution to the world's current climate of fear and hatred might not be as simple as "love each other", for how can we love each other if we haven't truly learned to love ourselves in the deepest sense? By becoming aware of these negative thought patterns and finding more positive replacements.
Which brings me to another of the light workers I'm currently loving right now, Marianne Williamson. Marianne is an author who was brought to the attention of the world at large by, you guessed it, Oprah Winfrey. MW wrote a book called A Return To Love, Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles.
I've just started reading the book in conjunction with doing these meditations each day and it has had a profound impact on me. She is teaching me, along with these meditations, to let go and be in the moment; forget the past and don't worry about the future. Don't worry? How can we not worry? People are being blown up, shot to death and mowed down in our very streets!?! I understand that, but you have to ask yourself, is fretting about it going to undo it? No. But being aware of it allows you to change something within yourself. Hear me out.
As a writer I have to be very self motivated, self-directed and disciplined, but as a result I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed, do more, be better and consequently can be very hard on myself if I don't live up to my sometimes impossibly high standards. Like, "What do you mean you don't have an Oscar yet, how old are you?" or "You have a social responsibility to be a voice for the voiceless, to create role models for our children with the characters you write, how dare you want to write something just for fun!" It's endless.
One of the first aha moments from the book (spoiler alert) is that we are already perfect. I know, I know you've heard it from me a million times, we're all worthy and already good enough, but listen to what she writes:
Perfect isn't something you need to create, because the Creator already created it. (I use Creator as it's more comfortable for me than God for some reason) The perfect you is the love within you.
So... our ability to love is what makes us perfect? I can live with that. But what about the people I find hard to love? Or the people I find hard to forgive? Because if there are folks in my life that I love but cannot tolerate or have a hard time forgiving, what chance is there that the world is going to be able to heal through forgiveness for all these mass tragedies if we cannot forgive the people in our own lives?
Marianne has an answer to that. "Any situation that pushes our buttons is a situation where we don't yet have the capacity to be unconditionally loving." Those things are there to bust our comfort zone and move us beyond our stuck points into better versions of ourself. MW has a big chapter on forgiveness and how it is an act of self love because what we judge in others we are really judging in ourselves and if someone has made a mistake and we don't forgive them, we are essentially holding them in the past and not allowing anyone to move forward. (I've over simplified it obviously but well worth the read). This doesn't mean you're going to just say "oh well, what that driver in Nice did was a mistake and we forgive him," but what we can do it take a look within and perhaps begin with forgiving ourselves for wanting to hate him. As I said, I don't have the answers.
But the biggest aha moment for me as I am reading this book was this... Faith.
Everything works with a brilliance of design and efficiency that our human efforts have never begun to match. Planets revolve around the sun, seeds become plants, embryos become babies, the acorn becomes the oak, with no help from us. Their movement is built into a natural system. You and I are integral parts of that system too. We can let our lives be directed by the same force that makes flowers grow --- or we can do it ourselves. To trust in the force that moves the universe is faith. Faith isn't blind, it's visionary.
I really liked that. In fact, I breathed a giant sigh of relief upon reading that. You mean that I can relinquish control? Thank God (pun intended) because I was beginning to feel like I was about to steer myself right over the cliff into the abyss. I had always thought that surrendering was an act of weakness or somehow cowardly, but it isn't. I wouldn't step into the cockpit of an aircraft and expect that I could fly it any more than I would think it weak to hand over the controls to a certified pilot, so how is my life any different? I'm sure you can come up with some pretty snappy retorts but I am making a point here. There is a reason that alcoholics in recovery say "let go and let God" because they know they cannot do it alone. I cannot do it alone. We cannot fix our world alone.
I'm starting to believe that if I am able to truly let go, to surrender to some greater plan, that maybe, just maybe things might start to shift. I mean you know those people that seem to drift effortlessly through life almost as if they're somehow charmed? Everything seems to go their way, things always workout, they are always happy and at ease? Maybe this is the secret that they already know. Oprah sure seems to know it. I'm not saying her life has been easy, far from it, but it's been abundantly blessed and as a result she has helped to spread those blessings around. She's touching my life as I write this and I have never even met the woman.
I think it's high time that you and I noble reader step out of our own way (or maybe you're thinking finally Shan, it took you long enough to get here), we hand the controls over to the one who knows how to fly and we spend our time looking for the magic and expecting the miracles. Who knows, if we expect them, perhaps they'll appear.
Have a beautiful day and who knows where the road will lead. Someplace wondrous I hope and as long as there is hope, everything will be okay. That I know for sure.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
My experiments with sugar.
Sugar, my nemesis. The sweetest addiction on the planet. Sugar is so common in every day life that if you refuse it, many people look at you like you're strange or that there's something wrong with you and if you try just this one (insert" cookie, chocolate, brownie, candy, cupcake, pie, etc) you will be brought back to your senses. What I'm saying is that if you're living a sugar free life, you might be considered an inconvenience at a dinner party, birthday party (even your own) or social gathering of any kind.
It's been a very difficult choice to go sugar free and a hard won victory over my addiction and here is what I know for sure. My name is Shannon, I am a sugar-holic. I have 105 days clean.
But when I set out on this journey I didn't necessarily think it was for life. I started off with three days and at the time even that felt insurmountable. I'm sure for many of you reading this right now you're saying: "yeah, I'd never want to do that, or I could never do that." I am not here to convince you otherwise. For me, sugar was calling the shots and my health was suffering as a result.
Two days in I decided to try for thirty, after that I jumped straight for ninety. I figured that after ninety days clean I would be free, clean and in control and then at that point I would be able to introduce natural sugar back into my diet. Perhaps something made with dates or honey, a bit of maple syrup, but what I most looked forward to was having a cube of sugar in my tea. Previously I'd been averaging three cubes per cup sometimes four and as many as three cups a day. You do the math. (No seriously, do the math, I suck at math but that's a lot of sugar just in my tea. Add to that the sweets and chocolate added on top and yikes.)
So just after the ninety day mark, I made my tea and dropped in a lump of sugar. What I expected was that I was going to experience pure bliss. Nope. It tasted fake, weird, not right somehow. I had to dump it and make a sugar free cup. Wow! Shocker. If I'd bet on it, I'd have lost the bet. So that led to my next experiment.
A treat. Nothing crazy or elaborate and absolutely nothing with refined sugar. I found a recipe for coconut truffles that I'd made the last time I was sugar free a few years back. Only five ingredients and from memory, these little balls of yum did not trigger a huge craving and I was able to have just the one. Not the case with a regular chocolate chip cookie, with those I always needed to polish off every last one, there was no stopping!
So, I got the ingredients together....
Coconut oil, unsweetened coconut, cocoa, dates and toasted pecans. These truffles are great because as well as being "refined sugar-free" they are also vegan and paleo approved.
I followed the directions, tossing everything into the food processor (apart from the coconut which gets added later)...
And I was also smart enough to only make half of what the recipe called for in case it turned out that I could not be trusted. I was pretty confident I'd be fine though.
Once finished, it made six.
But a funny thing happened... Once they were made and tucked into the fridge, they were all I could think about! I began to obsess over them and I thought, that can't be a good sign, can it? So I waited. Two whole days until my calendar told me it had been 100 days without sugar. It was time. I had to know. Was I giving sugar too much power? Or was I in fact in control...
I made a cup of tea, parcelled out a single serving on a tiny tea saucer and sat down to try it. I savoured the chocolatey coconut aroma and enjoyed the idea of this small indulgence before finally taking a bite.
It was delicious. I liked it. It wasn't too sweet and didn't taste fake the way my tea had done a few days prior. Once I'd eaten it, I knew that was it for the day and I was absolutely fine! I'd passed the test. Sugar was not the boss of me, I was the boss of me.
Whoa, whoa, not so fast. Hold the applause. The very next morning on my way to work, all I could think about was getting home and having another one. Having my "one a day" allowance. My mind began to swirl and debate and argue and contemplate this idea of introducing this thing back into my life. My brain argued saying it's fine, it's small and just once a day, you can handle it, but my gut knew better. This was not okay. This was my addiction talking. But I didn't have the heart to throw them away. Pecans and dates are expensive yo! Still I knew that if I let this continue for five more days until I'd eaten them all I'd be in very bad trouble.
So I did what I had to do. No I did not eat them all in one sitting! I fed them to He Who Shall Not Be Named and he ate them all... in pretty much one sitting yes.
Turns out sugar is still the boss unless I treat it like any other addict would their addiction and continue to say no one day at a time.
So there you have it folks, my name is Shan and I'm a sugar-holic and yesterday was my first ever sugar-free birthday. The first of many more to come I hope.
Thanks for tuning in.
xoxo
Shan
It's been a very difficult choice to go sugar free and a hard won victory over my addiction and here is what I know for sure. My name is Shannon, I am a sugar-holic. I have 105 days clean.
But when I set out on this journey I didn't necessarily think it was for life. I started off with three days and at the time even that felt insurmountable. I'm sure for many of you reading this right now you're saying: "yeah, I'd never want to do that, or I could never do that." I am not here to convince you otherwise. For me, sugar was calling the shots and my health was suffering as a result.
Two days in I decided to try for thirty, after that I jumped straight for ninety. I figured that after ninety days clean I would be free, clean and in control and then at that point I would be able to introduce natural sugar back into my diet. Perhaps something made with dates or honey, a bit of maple syrup, but what I most looked forward to was having a cube of sugar in my tea. Previously I'd been averaging three cubes per cup sometimes four and as many as three cups a day. You do the math. (No seriously, do the math, I suck at math but that's a lot of sugar just in my tea. Add to that the sweets and chocolate added on top and yikes.)
So just after the ninety day mark, I made my tea and dropped in a lump of sugar. What I expected was that I was going to experience pure bliss. Nope. It tasted fake, weird, not right somehow. I had to dump it and make a sugar free cup. Wow! Shocker. If I'd bet on it, I'd have lost the bet. So that led to my next experiment.
A treat. Nothing crazy or elaborate and absolutely nothing with refined sugar. I found a recipe for coconut truffles that I'd made the last time I was sugar free a few years back. Only five ingredients and from memory, these little balls of yum did not trigger a huge craving and I was able to have just the one. Not the case with a regular chocolate chip cookie, with those I always needed to polish off every last one, there was no stopping!
So, I got the ingredients together....
Coconut oil, unsweetened coconut, cocoa, dates and toasted pecans. These truffles are great because as well as being "refined sugar-free" they are also vegan and paleo approved.
I followed the directions, tossing everything into the food processor (apart from the coconut which gets added later)...
And I was also smart enough to only make half of what the recipe called for in case it turned out that I could not be trusted. I was pretty confident I'd be fine though.
Once finished, it made six.
But a funny thing happened... Once they were made and tucked into the fridge, they were all I could think about! I began to obsess over them and I thought, that can't be a good sign, can it? So I waited. Two whole days until my calendar told me it had been 100 days without sugar. It was time. I had to know. Was I giving sugar too much power? Or was I in fact in control...
I made a cup of tea, parcelled out a single serving on a tiny tea saucer and sat down to try it. I savoured the chocolatey coconut aroma and enjoyed the idea of this small indulgence before finally taking a bite.
It was delicious. I liked it. It wasn't too sweet and didn't taste fake the way my tea had done a few days prior. Once I'd eaten it, I knew that was it for the day and I was absolutely fine! I'd passed the test. Sugar was not the boss of me, I was the boss of me.
Whoa, whoa, not so fast. Hold the applause. The very next morning on my way to work, all I could think about was getting home and having another one. Having my "one a day" allowance. My mind began to swirl and debate and argue and contemplate this idea of introducing this thing back into my life. My brain argued saying it's fine, it's small and just once a day, you can handle it, but my gut knew better. This was not okay. This was my addiction talking. But I didn't have the heart to throw them away. Pecans and dates are expensive yo! Still I knew that if I let this continue for five more days until I'd eaten them all I'd be in very bad trouble.
So I did what I had to do. No I did not eat them all in one sitting! I fed them to He Who Shall Not Be Named and he ate them all... in pretty much one sitting yes.
Turns out sugar is still the boss unless I treat it like any other addict would their addiction and continue to say no one day at a time.
So there you have it folks, my name is Shan and I'm a sugar-holic and yesterday was my first ever sugar-free birthday. The first of many more to come I hope.
Thanks for tuning in.
xoxo
Shan
Friday, July 8, 2016
What is DANCEBODY?
Good morning my lovelies,
How's your summer going? Are you enjoying the warm weather? Getting any time off? Have you been moving your bodies and feeling good in your own skin? It's really important at every age that you feel good about yourself, that you love and appreciate your body for all the great things it does for you every day. It doesn't forget to breathe, it continues to circulate blood and filter out toxins, in spite of the crap you might consume or the number of hours you sit hunched over a desk. It's magnificent and it loves you, it lives to serve and protect you, so like Miss Jackson sings: what have you done for it lately?
Lemme share with you what I've been doing for my body... y'all ready for this? Teaching it to dance. Yeah, you heard me. The girl who's infamous for hating dance cardio, for kicking and screaming and protesting and refusing to do dance cardio is learning to dance. Don't misunderstand me, it's a work in progress.
So why the sudden change of heart? I saw this woman dance and she was so cool, so hip, so badass, I thought to myself, I want to move like her! My very next thought was yeah, no way, never gonna happen. I don't have the rhythm, I lack coordination, I confuse my left for my right, and while I have managed over the course of about seven years to painstakingly teach myself a few really fun dances from my collection of workout DVD's, my frustration at not being able to master the steps has always vetoed my desire. ALWAYS. I'm telling you.
But one day this woman posted a video on Instagram (seven weeks ago actually, seriously I'm not stalking you Katia. Okay maybe I am a little bit)... wait let me see if I can find it and hook you up with a link so you can see for yourself... Eeeeeeeeeeeeee THIS is it. Check it out. I saw this and saw how much fun they were having and I wanted to be able to do that and have that much fun too. Now I'm not proud of what happened next, but you know I love my humiliating public confessions so I'll share. I pulled IG up on my computer and let that tiny clip play on a loop as I tried to mimic the moves. Egads! It was horrifying and hilarious at the same time, I could not scrub the smile off my face. Oh but there were tears too because I could not get my ribs to move the way they were supposed to, but that's another story.
Anyhoo, I had become familiar with Katia and Dancebody through my friend Emily and had been trying some of the free Dancebody Periscope classes. Still, trying to dance like them was a continued source of frustration and I was dangerously close to falling back into the 'I hate cardio' routine when Katia came out with streaming and as part of that package, she created breakdowns!!! Breakdowns that come in a four count. Breakdowns that do the same thing on the left as they do on the right. Breakdowns that repeat and make sense to my pea-brain! Omigod! Game changer! She launched the streaming on Monday June 27th and since then I have really focused on just repeating the same breakdown over and over and I can finally almost do it! This is unheard of. In less than two weeks (oh shut up all you naturally gifted dancers out there! seven years compared to two weeks? that's fucking progress in my books okay?! lol) The point is that while I have an enormously long way to go, for the first time in my life, I have hope that I too may learn to dance.
So enough about me, who the heck is Katia Pryce and what in the world is Dancebody? The short answer? Katia is a dancer and Dancebody is a "New York City-based workout created by dancers." Check these beauties out.
Can't you just see these chicks taking over a club and dominating!? I can. Not that I go to clubs. But I'd like to know that IF I did go to clubs I too could dominate. But again, enough about me. Let's talk about Katia and what sets her apart from other dance-based workouts.
First of all, if Katia was a religion (in my opinion) she would be Hinduism. Why? Because unlike other 'single God' based religions who claim that their way is the only way and if you don't believe in their God you are going to hell or doomed to an eternity of suffering etc, Hinduism has this philosophy that's all-inclusive. The Gods are many but the truth is one, sort of idea. They know that our little piddly human brains can't even begin to comprehend the greatness of the Creator or the Source, so they create "aspects of God" that we can cling to in order to find our way back to all that is. Does that make sense? What I'm trying to say is that Katia doesn't shun every other workout, she understands that each thing has its respective place in the whole of our wellbeing, but that if you want to look like a dancer, you need to move like a dancer.
She is quoted in an interview as saying: I think every workout has it place. If someone came to me and needed to lose 30 to 40 pounds, I tell them to go spin for a month and then come back to me because if you dance with too much weight on your knees, you’re going to blow out your knee.
When asked about running she said: Running is great, but I think it’s more of a mental thing for a lot of people.
You can read the entire article here.
My girl Tara, who is a marathon runner who's been out of commission for a bit recently said that running is part of who she is, it's her heart and it completes her. I agree, I think running is as much a spiritual practice as it is physical and one should never be made to feel guilty for pursuing that passion.
So what's a Dancebody class like? Is it all just dancing? No it is not. Some classes are more dance based, others focus on sculpting your body, but every class incorporates both of these components always.
Do you remember Jane Fonda's workouts? If not, here's a little taste.
Katia's sculpting is built upon the principles that Jane delivered to us all those years ago. It's a classic, old school type of aerobics that targets every angle so that you're not just overworking your quads or hamstrings or biceps. She uses weights and resistance bands too so you're always challenging your strength while getting your heart rate up with cardio in every class. And can we all just take a moment here to say how terrific Jane Fonda looks and still looks today?
I mean seriously! When I grow up, I want to be just like Jane.
But what really sets these classes apart for me is the fact that Katia takes the time to explain to you why she wants you to move in a certain way, and if you're doing it wrong, she'll tell you.
When I'm at home doing it on my own, I might think I'm doing it right, but then she'll stop and say make sure your heel is leading the move or that your knee is facing this way or that, going on to explain and show you the difference making you doing it with her so you can feel that difference. If you were doing it the slightly wrong way, your hamstring will take over, or your quads will be engaged when she is actually targeting the inner thigh. I need those pointers because I am not a dancer, I don't know what angle or direction does what. It's these extra tips and bits of information that Katia shares during every class that just make the world of difference.
Here's a perfect case in point. I have very tight traps.
They are over-developed, making my neck appear shorter. I had always just assumed that this was because I have a hyper-mobile neck and a consequent age-old neck injury, so I just thought that they built up for protection. But I realize now that that might not be the case. Did you know that when you're using dumbbells in various different rotations that if you clench your fingers around the weight you'll activate those trapezius muscles? Yes, turns out it's true. But if you extend your fingers through the movements those muscles no longer engage. This is very fucking helpful information, people! We need to know this. Think of me as a total dum dum when it comes to moving my body... because I AM a total dum dum. I don't know what I don't know and I need to be told.
She also reminds you to relax your shoulders or tighten up and use that core. It's the stuff you're going to forget when the burn gets bad after a million reps of something you know? The other thing that I really love is the rep countdown. I cannot tell you how many times I've done other workouts where I'm dying on a move and I'll stop, only to discover that if I'd just hung on for a few more moments I'd have done them all. Just when you think you can't go on, if someone says there's only four more or eight more, you go for it, you push yourself further and you accomplish even more! Did I mention that I love that? I love that!
Now being a New York City-based company is all good and well but what about those of us who don't live in NYC? Hello streaming! Streaming gives us access to all of the classes that the New Yorkers might take for granted. But I have to tell you, when it launched and gave us all this content, I'm talking like a ton of classes, I for one was overwhelmed. Where do I start? How do I approach all of this? Well Noble Reader, we asked that question and the Dancebody team answered. The Customer Service team of this company is outstanding, I have never seen anything like it. They are so accessible and care so much about the clients it's fantastic. My best buddy Natalia hurt her neck a little bit during an ab sequence, so she went to them to ask what to do. Within hours several instructors had gotten back to her (including Katia) with remedies and tips not only for healing but for prevention! Unreal.
But I digress. What to do with all of this great content. The team came up with two groups. Someone like me who is uncoordinated and clumsy falls into the category of Junior Varsity, whereas girls like my beauty Myla would be Varsity because she knows how to move, has stamina and strength for days and can go all out.
Each group has their own plan and... AND... a workout calendar for the month!
This lists how many days a week you want to get your workout in and what workout to do on what day! It's a plan. It's all spelled out. I need stuff to be spelled out, it's why I was so successful on the Metamorphosis plan. I had a workout schedule, a nutritional plan, and a place to track it all.
I definitely give Dancebody and the entire team a three thumbs up, sorry but two is just not enough. I think the thing that really sealed the deal for me was this specific quote from Katia: If you combine dance cardio with classical conditioning, you can't go wrong. It gives you this super lean, tight bod, with the cherry on top that you can dance like a motherfucker.
She speaks my language!!!
If you know me at all, you know that I will (as always) continue with the workout plan that I have devoted the last seven years of my life to along with the the fantastic new addition of Dancebody and it is my intention to be "dancing like a motherfucker" by the end of the summer! Watch this space, bitches.
Thanks for tuning in and if you're curios for more information or want to check out Dancebody at home, go HERE! If you can't get the answers you want, reach out to EMILY she will definitely be able to help you.
Onwards and upwards toward your best most beautiful self, midlife and beyond babies.
xo
Shan
How's your summer going? Are you enjoying the warm weather? Getting any time off? Have you been moving your bodies and feeling good in your own skin? It's really important at every age that you feel good about yourself, that you love and appreciate your body for all the great things it does for you every day. It doesn't forget to breathe, it continues to circulate blood and filter out toxins, in spite of the crap you might consume or the number of hours you sit hunched over a desk. It's magnificent and it loves you, it lives to serve and protect you, so like Miss Jackson sings: what have you done for it lately?
Lemme share with you what I've been doing for my body... y'all ready for this? Teaching it to dance. Yeah, you heard me. The girl who's infamous for hating dance cardio, for kicking and screaming and protesting and refusing to do dance cardio is learning to dance. Don't misunderstand me, it's a work in progress.
So why the sudden change of heart? I saw this woman dance and she was so cool, so hip, so badass, I thought to myself, I want to move like her! My very next thought was yeah, no way, never gonna happen. I don't have the rhythm, I lack coordination, I confuse my left for my right, and while I have managed over the course of about seven years to painstakingly teach myself a few really fun dances from my collection of workout DVD's, my frustration at not being able to master the steps has always vetoed my desire. ALWAYS. I'm telling you.
But one day this woman posted a video on Instagram (seven weeks ago actually, seriously I'm not stalking you Katia. Okay maybe I am a little bit)... wait let me see if I can find it and hook you up with a link so you can see for yourself... Eeeeeeeeeeeeee THIS is it. Check it out. I saw this and saw how much fun they were having and I wanted to be able to do that and have that much fun too. Now I'm not proud of what happened next, but you know I love my humiliating public confessions so I'll share. I pulled IG up on my computer and let that tiny clip play on a loop as I tried to mimic the moves. Egads! It was horrifying and hilarious at the same time, I could not scrub the smile off my face. Oh but there were tears too because I could not get my ribs to move the way they were supposed to, but that's another story.
Anyhoo, I had become familiar with Katia and Dancebody through my friend Emily and had been trying some of the free Dancebody Periscope classes. Still, trying to dance like them was a continued source of frustration and I was dangerously close to falling back into the 'I hate cardio' routine when Katia came out with streaming and as part of that package, she created breakdowns!!! Breakdowns that come in a four count. Breakdowns that do the same thing on the left as they do on the right. Breakdowns that repeat and make sense to my pea-brain! Omigod! Game changer! She launched the streaming on Monday June 27th and since then I have really focused on just repeating the same breakdown over and over and I can finally almost do it! This is unheard of. In less than two weeks (oh shut up all you naturally gifted dancers out there! seven years compared to two weeks? that's fucking progress in my books okay?! lol) The point is that while I have an enormously long way to go, for the first time in my life, I have hope that I too may learn to dance.
So enough about me, who the heck is Katia Pryce and what in the world is Dancebody? The short answer? Katia is a dancer and Dancebody is a "New York City-based workout created by dancers." Check these beauties out.
Can't you just see these chicks taking over a club and dominating!? I can. Not that I go to clubs. But I'd like to know that IF I did go to clubs I too could dominate. But again, enough about me. Let's talk about Katia and what sets her apart from other dance-based workouts.
First of all, if Katia was a religion (in my opinion) she would be Hinduism. Why? Because unlike other 'single God' based religions who claim that their way is the only way and if you don't believe in their God you are going to hell or doomed to an eternity of suffering etc, Hinduism has this philosophy that's all-inclusive. The Gods are many but the truth is one, sort of idea. They know that our little piddly human brains can't even begin to comprehend the greatness of the Creator or the Source, so they create "aspects of God" that we can cling to in order to find our way back to all that is. Does that make sense? What I'm trying to say is that Katia doesn't shun every other workout, she understands that each thing has its respective place in the whole of our wellbeing, but that if you want to look like a dancer, you need to move like a dancer.
She is quoted in an interview as saying: I think every workout has it place. If someone came to me and needed to lose 30 to 40 pounds, I tell them to go spin for a month and then come back to me because if you dance with too much weight on your knees, you’re going to blow out your knee.
When asked about running she said: Running is great, but I think it’s more of a mental thing for a lot of people.
You can read the entire article here.
My girl Tara, who is a marathon runner who's been out of commission for a bit recently said that running is part of who she is, it's her heart and it completes her. I agree, I think running is as much a spiritual practice as it is physical and one should never be made to feel guilty for pursuing that passion.
So what's a Dancebody class like? Is it all just dancing? No it is not. Some classes are more dance based, others focus on sculpting your body, but every class incorporates both of these components always.
Do you remember Jane Fonda's workouts? If not, here's a little taste.
Katia's sculpting is built upon the principles that Jane delivered to us all those years ago. It's a classic, old school type of aerobics that targets every angle so that you're not just overworking your quads or hamstrings or biceps. She uses weights and resistance bands too so you're always challenging your strength while getting your heart rate up with cardio in every class. And can we all just take a moment here to say how terrific Jane Fonda looks and still looks today?
I mean seriously! When I grow up, I want to be just like Jane.
But what really sets these classes apart for me is the fact that Katia takes the time to explain to you why she wants you to move in a certain way, and if you're doing it wrong, she'll tell you.
When I'm at home doing it on my own, I might think I'm doing it right, but then she'll stop and say make sure your heel is leading the move or that your knee is facing this way or that, going on to explain and show you the difference making you doing it with her so you can feel that difference. If you were doing it the slightly wrong way, your hamstring will take over, or your quads will be engaged when she is actually targeting the inner thigh. I need those pointers because I am not a dancer, I don't know what angle or direction does what. It's these extra tips and bits of information that Katia shares during every class that just make the world of difference.
Here's a perfect case in point. I have very tight traps.
They are over-developed, making my neck appear shorter. I had always just assumed that this was because I have a hyper-mobile neck and a consequent age-old neck injury, so I just thought that they built up for protection. But I realize now that that might not be the case. Did you know that when you're using dumbbells in various different rotations that if you clench your fingers around the weight you'll activate those trapezius muscles? Yes, turns out it's true. But if you extend your fingers through the movements those muscles no longer engage. This is very fucking helpful information, people! We need to know this. Think of me as a total dum dum when it comes to moving my body... because I AM a total dum dum. I don't know what I don't know and I need to be told.
She also reminds you to relax your shoulders or tighten up and use that core. It's the stuff you're going to forget when the burn gets bad after a million reps of something you know? The other thing that I really love is the rep countdown. I cannot tell you how many times I've done other workouts where I'm dying on a move and I'll stop, only to discover that if I'd just hung on for a few more moments I'd have done them all. Just when you think you can't go on, if someone says there's only four more or eight more, you go for it, you push yourself further and you accomplish even more! Did I mention that I love that? I love that!
Now being a New York City-based company is all good and well but what about those of us who don't live in NYC? Hello streaming! Streaming gives us access to all of the classes that the New Yorkers might take for granted. But I have to tell you, when it launched and gave us all this content, I'm talking like a ton of classes, I for one was overwhelmed. Where do I start? How do I approach all of this? Well Noble Reader, we asked that question and the Dancebody team answered. The Customer Service team of this company is outstanding, I have never seen anything like it. They are so accessible and care so much about the clients it's fantastic. My best buddy Natalia hurt her neck a little bit during an ab sequence, so she went to them to ask what to do. Within hours several instructors had gotten back to her (including Katia) with remedies and tips not only for healing but for prevention! Unreal.
But I digress. What to do with all of this great content. The team came up with two groups. Someone like me who is uncoordinated and clumsy falls into the category of Junior Varsity, whereas girls like my beauty Myla would be Varsity because she knows how to move, has stamina and strength for days and can go all out.
Each group has their own plan and... AND... a workout calendar for the month!
This lists how many days a week you want to get your workout in and what workout to do on what day! It's a plan. It's all spelled out. I need stuff to be spelled out, it's why I was so successful on the Metamorphosis plan. I had a workout schedule, a nutritional plan, and a place to track it all.
I definitely give Dancebody and the entire team a three thumbs up, sorry but two is just not enough. I think the thing that really sealed the deal for me was this specific quote from Katia: If you combine dance cardio with classical conditioning, you can't go wrong. It gives you this super lean, tight bod, with the cherry on top that you can dance like a motherfucker.
She speaks my language!!!
If you know me at all, you know that I will (as always) continue with the workout plan that I have devoted the last seven years of my life to along with the the fantastic new addition of Dancebody and it is my intention to be "dancing like a motherfucker" by the end of the summer! Watch this space, bitches.
Thanks for tuning in and if you're curios for more information or want to check out Dancebody at home, go HERE! If you can't get the answers you want, reach out to EMILY she will definitely be able to help you.
Onwards and upwards toward your best most beautiful self, midlife and beyond babies.
xo
Shan
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
George Bernard Shaw
"Life is no brief candle to me.
It is a sort of splendid torch which I am permitted to hold for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
Playwright George Bernard Shaw said that.
Doesn't that fill you with a kind of hope? The desire to do more? To be better? To create positive change in the world? Not so that others will remember you, but so that others can live in a better tomorrow?
I don't know about you but I'm into astrology and horoscopes and stuff. I don't know if they are true but I find them fascinating. I was recently introduced to the work of Numerologist Kari Samuels and I'm digging her vibe. She doesn't do typical astrology or specific star sign forecasts. She's more in tune with the planets and universal numbers and she does a reading for the month that sort of applies to everyone. I can't really claim to know exactly what she does or how but I enjoy her always positive outlook.
I thought I would share the takeaways from her July reading.
She said July is all about Trust. Truth. and Transformation. Allow me to digress before going further with her thoughts, if you will.
We are exactly half way through the year and I don't know about you guys, but I sure have been feeling like I've been put through the ringer. It's like I have been sucked through some kind of vortex or wormhole wherein everything I thought I knew was some how topsy turvy and I found myself in an upside down version of my life. It's like things or people you thought you knew or could count on let you down or faded away. New people that you thought you hardly knew suddenly become your closest bud. Stuff you thought would be there forever got lost. Dreams you had no longer enticed you. Or things you thought you could never do started to become second nature, like giving up sugar.
(Side note: I gave myself a goal of being completely sugar-free for three months or 90 days to be exact. Hello my name is Shan and I'm a sugar-holic, I have 97 days. Yesterday I decided to test myself. I added 1 single solitary cube of raw cane sugar to my tea, because that was the thing I'd been moaning about for the past three months, how crappy my sugarless tea tastes. I took a few sips and you won't even believe it... I dumped it out and made a fresh cup with no sugar. It tasted so fake and weird! This has literally NEVER happened to me before. See? Wormhole. Upside down world. Topsy turvy everything is now different place. And this is just one tiny example.)
Plus it was like the last couple of months, everything seemed to grind to a halt. Oh sure I was still writing and working and making a tiny bit of progress here and there, but for the most part is was like trying to run a marathon while being waist deep in wet cement. You are bound to make some progress if you don't give up and let the cement harden around you, but you sure aren't winning any prizes for speed. Do you know what I mean? Or has it just been me?
In any case, it's only really been the last two or three days that I feel I've emerged on the other side. A slightly newer, slicker, or somehow better version of myself. Shan Masters two point oh. (2.0) I see my imperfections and love them anyway. I choose to focus on the things that bring me joy rather than resting in that irritated space where I look at all the stuff in my life that still hasn't worked out yet or may be lacking. He who shall not be named says I have Ostrich syndrome. He thinks I'd rather bury my head in the sand rather than have all the information. I prefer to think of it as selective focusing. I am playing the "glad game", better known as the cup is half full.
And now that I am on the other side (there hasn't been anything definitive or distinct that's taken place, I just some how 'feel' different) I feel better, more hopeful and positive. It's like knowing that my life is really really good and I am so lucky to have it. Or as Shaw would say it, my torch is burning brightly.
So in the July spirit of trust, truth and transformation, let me give you the three things that Kari Samuels suggests we focus on this month to squeeze the absolute most out of this vibrant summer month. (I'll paraphrase)
1) Living in truth is all about being your authentic self. Even if that means that not everyone is going to "get you". Just be you. It's enough. Your tribe will find you. (right Sophie?) So Kari says to really tune in and listen to your body. It's a vessel of intuition. I love that. Forget your mind, it will deceive you every time. I know my mind is constantly saying eat a bagel, have a brownie, skip your workout, take the day off from writing. My mind is no bueno! Feel into the depths of your body for truth. Is there some activity that you really want to like, but the truth is every time you have to go off and do it you get a knot in your stomach? Or a person you feel you should love (perhaps a family member) but each time you're on your way to see them or speak with them you're filled with angst or dread? That's your body speaking its truth to you. It's your job to tune in and listen!
2) Two follows one so brilliantly. Kari says this month, try to be brutally honest. Face the shit (I said I was paraphrasing here didn't I) in your life that you're not okay with. You deserve more. Change can be scary but don't be afraid of it. Is there a relationship or partnership that deep down inside you know isn't working? Be honest and brave and face that. Pay attention to what you really want. Be honest with yourself AND be honest with OTHERS! That's a tough one isn't it? But the truth really will set you free. Are you working a job you abhor? Why not ask yourself what you'd rather be doing and find a way to incorporate more of that into your life? Now is the time, we only have the now.
3) Retreat into nature. Get near water if you can. Find some solitude so you have the space you need to go within. Nature has very yin energy, it's restorative and healing. Take this time to process everything you've gone through in the last six months, so you're able to heal old wounds, clear up old karma and stagnant engery and move on.
And that's it. If you want to hear everything Kari has to say about July, check out her video HERE.
Honestly, I had just read the GBS quote on my morning calendar and loved it so much that I was simply going to pop in and share that and nothing more. But you know me, once I get going... Thanks for tuning in.
It is my fondest wish that the second half of the year is going to bear beautiful fruits for us all! Happy Tuesday noble reader, have a lovely day.
xo
Shan
It is a sort of splendid torch which I am permitted to hold for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
Playwright George Bernard Shaw said that.
Doesn't that fill you with a kind of hope? The desire to do more? To be better? To create positive change in the world? Not so that others will remember you, but so that others can live in a better tomorrow?
I don't know about you but I'm into astrology and horoscopes and stuff. I don't know if they are true but I find them fascinating. I was recently introduced to the work of Numerologist Kari Samuels and I'm digging her vibe. She doesn't do typical astrology or specific star sign forecasts. She's more in tune with the planets and universal numbers and she does a reading for the month that sort of applies to everyone. I can't really claim to know exactly what she does or how but I enjoy her always positive outlook.
I thought I would share the takeaways from her July reading.
She said July is all about Trust. Truth. and Transformation. Allow me to digress before going further with her thoughts, if you will.
We are exactly half way through the year and I don't know about you guys, but I sure have been feeling like I've been put through the ringer. It's like I have been sucked through some kind of vortex or wormhole wherein everything I thought I knew was some how topsy turvy and I found myself in an upside down version of my life. It's like things or people you thought you knew or could count on let you down or faded away. New people that you thought you hardly knew suddenly become your closest bud. Stuff you thought would be there forever got lost. Dreams you had no longer enticed you. Or things you thought you could never do started to become second nature, like giving up sugar.
(Side note: I gave myself a goal of being completely sugar-free for three months or 90 days to be exact. Hello my name is Shan and I'm a sugar-holic, I have 97 days. Yesterday I decided to test myself. I added 1 single solitary cube of raw cane sugar to my tea, because that was the thing I'd been moaning about for the past three months, how crappy my sugarless tea tastes. I took a few sips and you won't even believe it... I dumped it out and made a fresh cup with no sugar. It tasted so fake and weird! This has literally NEVER happened to me before. See? Wormhole. Upside down world. Topsy turvy everything is now different place. And this is just one tiny example.)
Plus it was like the last couple of months, everything seemed to grind to a halt. Oh sure I was still writing and working and making a tiny bit of progress here and there, but for the most part is was like trying to run a marathon while being waist deep in wet cement. You are bound to make some progress if you don't give up and let the cement harden around you, but you sure aren't winning any prizes for speed. Do you know what I mean? Or has it just been me?
In any case, it's only really been the last two or three days that I feel I've emerged on the other side. A slightly newer, slicker, or somehow better version of myself. Shan Masters two point oh. (2.0) I see my imperfections and love them anyway. I choose to focus on the things that bring me joy rather than resting in that irritated space where I look at all the stuff in my life that still hasn't worked out yet or may be lacking. He who shall not be named says I have Ostrich syndrome. He thinks I'd rather bury my head in the sand rather than have all the information. I prefer to think of it as selective focusing. I am playing the "glad game", better known as the cup is half full.
And now that I am on the other side (there hasn't been anything definitive or distinct that's taken place, I just some how 'feel' different) I feel better, more hopeful and positive. It's like knowing that my life is really really good and I am so lucky to have it. Or as Shaw would say it, my torch is burning brightly.
So in the July spirit of trust, truth and transformation, let me give you the three things that Kari Samuels suggests we focus on this month to squeeze the absolute most out of this vibrant summer month. (I'll paraphrase)
1) Living in truth is all about being your authentic self. Even if that means that not everyone is going to "get you". Just be you. It's enough. Your tribe will find you. (right Sophie?) So Kari says to really tune in and listen to your body. It's a vessel of intuition. I love that. Forget your mind, it will deceive you every time. I know my mind is constantly saying eat a bagel, have a brownie, skip your workout, take the day off from writing. My mind is no bueno! Feel into the depths of your body for truth. Is there some activity that you really want to like, but the truth is every time you have to go off and do it you get a knot in your stomach? Or a person you feel you should love (perhaps a family member) but each time you're on your way to see them or speak with them you're filled with angst or dread? That's your body speaking its truth to you. It's your job to tune in and listen!
2) Two follows one so brilliantly. Kari says this month, try to be brutally honest. Face the shit (I said I was paraphrasing here didn't I) in your life that you're not okay with. You deserve more. Change can be scary but don't be afraid of it. Is there a relationship or partnership that deep down inside you know isn't working? Be honest and brave and face that. Pay attention to what you really want. Be honest with yourself AND be honest with OTHERS! That's a tough one isn't it? But the truth really will set you free. Are you working a job you abhor? Why not ask yourself what you'd rather be doing and find a way to incorporate more of that into your life? Now is the time, we only have the now.
3) Retreat into nature. Get near water if you can. Find some solitude so you have the space you need to go within. Nature has very yin energy, it's restorative and healing. Take this time to process everything you've gone through in the last six months, so you're able to heal old wounds, clear up old karma and stagnant engery and move on.
And that's it. If you want to hear everything Kari has to say about July, check out her video HERE.
Honestly, I had just read the GBS quote on my morning calendar and loved it so much that I was simply going to pop in and share that and nothing more. But you know me, once I get going... Thanks for tuning in.
It is my fondest wish that the second half of the year is going to bear beautiful fruits for us all! Happy Tuesday noble reader, have a lovely day.
xo
Shan
Friday, July 1, 2016
Happy Half-Way New Year!
All day long all day long all day long, I could watch fireworks. Seriously, all day long. Did I mention I could watch 'em all day long?
Unfortunately for me, my dog hates them. So have not had many opportunities to watch the dazzling displays in recent years. But today feels like kind of a big deal. Not only because it's Canada Day and we will be having fireworks across the country, and not only because it's my Great Aunt's birthday today, Happy Birthday Auntie Anne - love you - but also because today is a magical exact halfway point in the year.
How or why is this any different than any other year? Leap year my pretties. We have 183 days behind us and 183 days before us and I feel like leaving all of the work, the heaviness, the effort, the drama, the meanies, and any residual negative feelings about all the shit that's currently going on in our world behind me -- from slavery in Nigeria, to Canada's injustice towards Indigenous people, to the shooting in Orlando, the bombings (plural - f*ck) in Istanbul and Brussels, Brexit, Trump, and the Tracy and Katia workout stuff and more. I'm a no drama mamma. Thank you and good night.
I want to walk through a portal or magical doorway into a peaceful, accepting, loving, non-judgemental, unconditional, authentic space where I'm free to be me and you're free to be you and we can love whomever we choose gay or straight, red, white, yellow, or black, Jesus, Buddha, Allah, or Krisha, cats or dogs, whatever.
A place where dreams come true, no one is left out, and good health is abundant and no one feels lack of any kind. Is that too much for a girl to wish for on this new day of this new month? Me thinks not. Who's with me?
Okay, lets go.... ready?
Isn't it perfect? Don't you just love it? This doorway sparks my imagination and makes it go all fairy and magic and miracles and shit. So what shall we expect in the new half year? Well what do you want? Have you taken a moment to ask yourself that lately? What do you really want? Why not start with how you'd like to feel?
I'd like to feel happy, I know that much. I'd like to feel at ease. I'd like to do nothing but fun stuff. I like fun. And I'd also like to feel free, untethered like a hot air balloon rising up up up into my limitless potential.
I want to know that I'm good at what I do and believe with all my heart that I am worthy. That I don't have to earn that worth by doing things that make me feel uncomfortable. I want to be surrounded by people who get me and accept me flaws and all, people who want to see the world be a beautiful positive all-inclusive place. Oooooh and I want to be surrounded by flowers and nature. I want everyone around me to have fresh air and clean water and access to medicine and safe working environments. I'd also like to see ethical treatment of people and animals across the board. Yep, in my world horses and pigs, dogs, cows and little chickens run free, are well fed and happy. No person owns another person. Women can move about safely and go to school or work without fear of retribution from their families or anyone else. Damn I got a lot of wishes for my new world on the other side of that door.
But guess what? I am a writer so I can create multiple worlds populated with all kinds of interesting people and things.
In any case, I needed to exercise some demons today, wipe the slate clean and start the New Half-Year right! So that's what this is all about. Really, I'm not a fanatical idealist with my head buried in the sand. Although, He Who Shall Not Be Named might argue otherwise he he he.
I just want a better tomorrow. What I know for sure is that greater people than me believed we could be better.
With those wise words, I leave you with the virtue for July. LOVE. Obviously. Now walk with me, through the door of today and into our beautiful tomorrow!
Happy second half of 2016!
xo
Shan
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