Thursday, January 29, 2009

DEFINE WHAT SUCCESS MEANS TO YOU!

I am happy, healthy and I am successful. I can confidently say that statment and it's an exciting feeling.

For me, success is following my heart regardless of what society says. Success is answering only to myself and knowing that as long as I'm alright with it, then it's definitely alright.

I feel so blessed. I am very blessed.

To get where I am it's taken being true to myself and leaving a life of supposed stability that was literally killing me. I've let go of that feeling of trying to justify my decisions to the world. It's a really grand place to be where I am.

In Dec. 2007 I made my Dream wall, in November 2008, I made my soul painting, and in January 2009, I created my vision board.

I was able to share my vision board with some friends last night. It was uplifting to share. My positive energy, strength & vision is a million times stronger than any doubt that anyone holds in their mind.

Being unconventional has always been me. I believe everyone gets to define their own world and that there is no collective way that we must all be. 2.5 kids and a white picket fence and a stressful 9-5 for life and retirement at 65. FUCK THAT.

What's MY dream? well - if you're lucky I'll show you my vision board:)

My life has been this amazing crescendo and I'm at an awesome part in my journey. I would say that the most significant moments are:
  • moving to NYC June '06
  • working with a fitness trainer October '06
  • pledging to a year of celibacy, teetotaller life & vegetarianism January '07
  • realizing I needed to do everything it took to see my family December '07
  • completing the NYC tri July '08
  • launching into a new country not knowing what it would be like, but knowing it's where I needed to be. August '08
  • Making the commitment to making myself the priority in my life January '09

It's so beautiful to find communities of people working on unconventional. It's not about rebellion at all. I think more and more it's apparent to me how society brainwashes us wherever we are. I hate colleges and institutions and formal education. I always have hated those things. I think it's that everything that has taught me to survive and make it is not in a book or taught to me, but rather learned through experience. I think of all the nonsense that many parents feed to their children. The effin lies. Maybe I talk about my own family here. It's taken forever to let go of the things I was taught early on in life and just claim my own beliefs.

What most inspired me to post was reading this article: CLICK HERE

To me reading such things and knowing that there are people I gel with and people around whom my way of thinking is the norm, is so beautiful. That's a community that helps me at all points of my journey. I need to be surrounded by envelope pushers and life outside boxes.

It's time. Step outside of corporations, pharmaceutical companies, convention, compliance, norms. Do something different today, just for you!

It's not a singular journey & I am grateful for the love, support & patience of others.
STEP INTO YOUR BEST SELF!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

The best time of day to see downtown Toronto...

7am on a weekend morning! I love to be up and about early and today I had the privelege of seeing Toronto before the dawn and reveling in the pre-rush beauty. There is just something so beautiful to me about that. I love early morning.

It reminded me of early morning New York City. Somehow everything seems pure. This sense of light & beauty being right around the corner. The smell of fresh baked goodies for the morning crowds...

Why I love big cities!!! The pre-dawn new life airs that give you a glimpse of a quieter version of the city and give you a chance to witness who works behind the scenes to make our cities thrive...On the extreme end, I love a night on the town. City lights with the promise of wild times and wonderful music...

I have yet to really experience Toronto at night. All in good time:)

Friday, January 16, 2009

What is excellence?

We definitely live in an amazing age. I have a copy of 4 hour workweek but I've only read one chapter. This morning I listened to an amazing audio interview that Leo of Zenhabits did with Timothy Ferris of 4 hour workweek.

I urge you to check it out here: Leo’s Interview with Tim Ferriss

Thursday, January 15, 2009

A secret world underground in Toronto!

This city gets more and more awesome by the day:)

I discovered that there are shopping malls underground in Toronto - a whole web of a world with restaurants, hotels & fancy offices all linked to Union Station & the financial district!

This underworld is so large in fact that I got lost for hours trying to find my destinations today - and I'm a New Yorker. That says a lot.

Toronto is a city indeed!

I hope Steve Jobs gets better soon. Send him lots of positive energy & good thoughts y'all. That man is truly an inspiration. Get better Steve!! Take all the time you need to rest and recover.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Gyms in Toronto versus Gyms in Manhattan...

Most Toronto gyms are worse than the absolute worst gym you could ever find in New York - except maybe for Bllys which is the worst gym in NYC.

I have worked out at tons of NYC gyms from the skankiest -Bllys to the chic of the chic Reebok Sports Club. I even had a short stint working for the largest chain of gyms in NYC...I do consider myself qualified to make large generalizations...

The beautiful thing about New York Gym is that there is a gym for every personality - Brooklyn has some pretty high quality customer service oriented gyms, especially in the Park Slope area. Mid Manhattan is filled with some classy workout spaces for corporate America including some chic private gyms with private Olympic pools and golf simulators. Lower Manhattan has this very sleek, sexy aerial gym, and there are numerous smaller independent studios for personal training. Also - you have lovely parks - Central & Prospect & whatever exists in The Bronx & other buroughs....

Now looking at TO...

Gyms here suck! Just like the ridiculously overpriced Toronto cell phone plans, gyms in Toronto have no tact and scam clients left right and center. Notorious for this are the huge places like Xtrem Fitness & Gdlife. The top version of a gym exists in racquet clubs around the city & in Yorkville. The issue though - Yorkville isn't all that accessible to the average jobless Joe like me! That said, I've been blessed to find some gorgeous decent facilities such as the Toronto NewsGirls Boxing Club which is a wonderful & positive safe space for women. Also quite cool is the Dynamic Conditioning Center which is an adult's playground where I go to smash tires and drag around the sled on the lovely indoor turf. The YMCA is amazingly clean & pretty classy compared to NYC YMCA gyms.

Overall verdict.

If you like your gym exercise then stay in New York!

If you have dreams of owning a studio gym, move to TO!

In the summer, ditch all gym memberships coz in TO you have the beach boardwalk and High Park, and Central Park is one of the best places to run & bike around when you're in Manhattan...

Happy sweating everyone!

In 2011 I will be my own boss because...

I refuse to suck on Uncle Sam's corporate waxed balls anymore.
To those of you who will forever be part of the rat race, good luck.
I am forging my own path each day & the journey is wonderful. The destination is classy & worthwhile!


(i apologize if that expression offends anyone, but this best expresses how i feel right now. and it's my favorite statement of the day)

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Neil Gaiman Quotes

these quotes are the shizzle. so effin funny:

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”

DA- I think you'll love that quote above. Remember how when we were firsties in college we declared a war against love...if only we had memorized this quote back then!

“I've been making a list of the things they don't teach you at school. They don't teach you how to love somebody. They don't teach you how to be famous. They don't teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don't teach you how to walk away from someone you don't love any longer. They don't teach you how to know what's going on in someone else's mind. They don't teach you what to say to someone who's dying. They don't teach you anything worth knowing.”

Yay the rebel in me loves this second quote. effin formal education. i hate it.

“Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly.”

That is prolly his best quote of all.

"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten. "

Credits to Neil Gaiman, ThinkExist.com & en.wikiquote.org for above words.

Hello Healthy Habits! What I do when I'm blue...

It dawned on me yesterday that the person I was a year ago and the person I am now are different. I have grown immensely. In particular I want to take time to be thankful for this new development in myself. It has been gradually happening over time, but now I can honestly say the following:
I have healthy ways for dealing with adversity!!!
In the past my strategies have been the following:
-Redbull
-Cotton Candy
-McDonalds
-Burger King
-Bagel with cream cheese
-Alcohol
-Associating with riff raff folks
Now, my strategies lately (for when I feel blue) that grow stronger with each day are:
-YogaZone exercise
-Cooking
-Taking a walk
-listening to music
-dancing in my room
-reflective solitude
-reading / listening to/ watching inspirational messages
-Positive visualizations
-writing to my best friend
This post is my way of giving thanks for some new lifetime habits that have taken a long time to cultivate but that will be with me forever.
Meanwhile - I started to think about this beautiful poem I wrote about the blues last spring. I am working on the version of my present wintery blues and one day I will perform and share it on stage...Thank you universe!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

I miss New York City...

listening to Stacey Kent's Manhattan doesn't help things!

I'm excited about my next visit there. 2010 here I come! New York will always be home. All the awesome things I did there. All my friends who I miss so much.

It is good to be away from New York City, because I can breathe and think away from the madness. I need this Toronto calm for my sanity. My dream world has several visits to New York every few months. Well 2010. Hold on world!

2010 Paris perhaps also.

Creative Jazz!

is the theme of my weekend.

Life as a Leo...

I'm used to everything being dramatic.

During the past few years I've been working on just being balanced & chill. I'm slowly getting there, but I do have my moments.

I want grand everything. Fancy meals, huge huge gestures, I like to give others & I don't even have to think twice about it.

My resolution this year is to put myself first. I'm working on it. Obviously I'm going to do it in a grand way.

In a month I will be working. Where I don't know. I'm still applying for jobs. Send me lots of positive energy.

Sometimes I'm really into my horoscope. Lately I'm this way. Most of the things they say about leos are very true for me. I like competition & like to be the center of attention. If I feel like I'm not getting those things I will withdraw or throw a tantrum or mildy pout. As I grow older, I don't throw tantrums any more. I just withdraw and find people who give me the attention I deserve. I do give others attention too so it's a balance.

However, I do want to get to a place where the ego is less important. Where I can focus on what needs to get done and just do it. Where I can just appreciate the world and give to those who need giving in spite of myself.

I love people. But I find that I like to stay away from competitive people and that when I'm sad I shut most people out. Like I just don't call or email or chat as often as I used to. Usually I take that time to figure me out. I find that I'm extremely successful at doing this in my own company given how disfunctional others can be. I think everyone is their own best life guru.

The balance is delicate. It's a journey. This is my reflection space.

Friday, January 9, 2009

My 43 things lists...

One of my fave social networks online is 43things.com

Today you're honored to learn more about my list.
As of today, there are 35 things on my list that I want to do, and 12 things I've done.

Among the things I want to do are (i need to update it more but this is from last year):

make a million, fight mediocrity, get a tattoo, write a book, buy a bicycle, run faster, open a Roth IRA, make money online, never settle for anything less than I deserve, keep in better contact with the friends I have and make new friends, never lose my sense of wonder, design my own clothes, be a better sister, engage my sense of wonder regulary, go camping, start writing poetry again, be able to do pull-ups, do 15 pushups, send something to post secret, volunteer on an organic farm, become a canadian permanent resident, become a CHEK practitioner, learn tai chi & qi gong, improve my french, own a successful business, get drivers license, become financially independent, try crossfit, write a living will, become a naturopathic doctor, take a train across Canada, learn Adobe Flash CS3, learn to use Adobe Illustrator, learn to rock climb, trust more

The 12 things I have done...

made bread pudding, built my own website, do something productive every day, become a Holistic Lifestyle Coach, only buy clothes that make me feel beautiful and classy, Learn Chi Running, have a totally different life by this time next year, finish a triathlon, date, watch smallville, learn to ride a bicycle, learn to swim.

Most of this was written in 2007 when I first joined 43things. Needs a lil tweaking. I love that site. It reminds me of all the coolness in the world.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Listening to Ella...

After a rocking bout of boxing, I'm home listening to jazz. Feels good:)

Now I'ma sautee some smoked mackarel with mushroom and eat that along with the rest of my swiss chard from the other day...

I have the best coach in the world.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Mentors

I'm proposing this awesome idea for a mentorship group and I'm excited to launch it in two months' time. I love and need to be around people that are doing the same kind of work I am and learn from and with them and share encouragement. Anyway. I'm launching a professional mentorship group or partnership situation and I'm excited about the possiblities:):):)

Every year for the past two years I've had the privelage to attend some world class wellness conventions - one in Brooklyn and the other in Toronto. Just being around all these people who care about fitness and health is amazing. I am so happy in that environment and I always leave thinking - there must be a way to recreate this at other points in the year.

Meanwhile there is so much support for me through blogs such as these: http://zenhabits.net/

I just spent over an hour watching The Last Lecture by Prof Randy. The other day I watched Steve Jobs commencement speech.

Do you ever wonder sometimes where these people are when you need to be reminded that it's ok to forge ahead on unchartered paths? Or when you crave the nudging that says everything's gonna be alright in hindsight...

Everything is alright.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Live 'n Shine in 2009!!!

My horoscope is amazingly right on target.  These are exactly the thoughts that were on my mind when I decided to check my 'scope.  (don't worry I'm not gonna turn into a fanatic about this stuff.)  Wow.  

2009 Leo Horoscope

"Living to Learn While Learning to Live"


Your usually bold outlook may be tempered at the start of the year by sad stories in the news or friends who have unfortunate personal problems. Your empathy may be charged up, and you may feel you want to become more involved with helping others. There may be a time when you're tempted to reach into your pocketbook and solve the problem with money. Although there may be a few situations where that's helpful, for the most part, it may not be as constructive as you'd like. Use your artistic talents and past experience to help guide others through hard times. In the broader spectrum of world affairs, you may have to hold back a little, contributing just enough without sacrificing the needs of you or your loved ones.