LEO Jul 23 | Aug 22 The hill where I take my late afternoon hikes is teeming with the six-petaled purple wildflower known as the elegant cluster-lily. Every one of them – and there are hundreds – leans hard in the direction of the sun in the west. Should I deride them as conformists that follow the law of the pack? Should I ridicule them for their blind devotion? Or should I more sensibly regard them as having a healthy instinct to gravitate toward the life-giving light? I’ll go with the latter theory. In that spirit, Leo, I urge you to ignore the opinions of others as you turn strongly toward the sources that provide you with essential nourishment.

As July 1st gets closer and closer I realize why people take 3 years to plan a move like this. Holy shit there are a lot of things coming at me from all directions and a ton of emotions come with each new thing. I keep oscillating back and forth between, I am brave, and, I am completely unprepared and insane.

As much as taking another year to do this sounds like an option it is not.

This month marks the 18th year that I have lived with Tinnitus (chronic ringing in the ears). In the last year in Toronto I have had to leave coffee shops, restaurants, clothing stores and  bars all because of the volume at which they play music. A lot of the time it is overwhelming  and frustrating for me to be out and about in my city. Lately due to the state of my health I feel like I am fleeing and not moving from Toronto so no matter how unprepared I am or how many issues present themselves that I did not see coming, I am rolling the dice and hoping like hell that being out on my land will help to bring some much needed quiet back into my life.