Day of Thanks for February 23

Leo Jul 23 | Aug 22 When faced with a big decision, you might say you want to “sleep on it.” In other words, you postpone your final determination until you gather more information and ripen your understanding of the pressing issues. And that could indeed involve getting a good night’s sleep. What happens in your dreams may reveal nuances you can’t pry loose with your waking consciousness alone. And even if you don’t recall your dreams, your sleeping mind is busy processing and reworking the possibilities. I recommend that you make liberal use of the “sleep on it” approach in the coming weeks, Leo. Revel in the wisdom that wells up in you as you’re lying down in the dark.

I never really remember my dreams. The last few mornings I have woken up with lucid memory of a few of my sleeping thoughts. I am going to keep a pad of paper by my bed and in the next two weeks make a point of seeing what it is my sleeping mind is working through.

Posted by Live Small Think Big

Folk artist. Lifelong cyclist. Plant based. Zero Waste. Environmentalist. Lover.

Day of Thanks for February 16

Leo Jul 23 | Aug 22 Is there any sense in which your closest alliance is a gift to the world? Does your relationship inspire anyone? Do the two of you serve as activators and energizers, igniting fires in the imaginations of those whose lives you touch? If not, find out why. And if you are tapping into those potentials, it’s time to raise your impact to the next level. Together the two of you now have extra power to synergize your collaboration in such a way that it sends out ripples of benevolence everywhere you go.

Toronto is my closest alliance. Toronto is where I have grown into me.

If you asked me what my great accomplishment in life has been so far, I would say without hesitation, “My relationships.” This city has provided me with the most amazing network of friends and I feel very confident to say that my life is inspiring, energizing and is helping to light fires in the imaginations of those around me. I am going to take the brains, hearts and hands of my Toronto friends and go build up North.

We are about to create a place that will be run by one really awesome benevolent owner.

Posted by Live Small Think Big

Folk artist. Lifelong cyclist. Plant based. Zero Waste. Environmentalist. Lover.

Day of Thanks for February 9

Leo Jul 23 | Aug 22 “What happens to a dream deferred?” asked Langston Hughes in his poem Harlem. “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore – And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over – like a syrupy sweet?” As your soul’s cheerleader and coach, Leo, I hope you won’t explore the answer to Hughes’ questions. If you have a dream, don’t defer it. If you have been deferring your dream, take at least one dramatic step to stop deferring it.

I am sure these horoscopes could be trying to give me insight into a number of avenues of my life but the truth be told the only thing that I am concentrating on right now is moving from Toronto to Carnarvon. I don’t really have any other dreams at the moment and I definitely have not been deferring anything in regards to this one. Personally, I think that each week Rob is reconfirming that everything I am doing and the direction I am moving in, is the right one for me!

Yesterday I went up North to remove more snow and dig out my tent. It was like being back in grade 5 in Brandon and I loved every minute.

Posted by Live Small Think Big

Folk artist. Lifelong cyclist. Plant based. Zero Waste. Environmentalist. Lover.

Day of Thanks for February 2

Leo Jul 23 | Aug 22 In 1768, Britain’s Royal Society commissioned navigator James Cook to lead a long naval voyage west to Tahiti, where he and his team were supposed to study the planet Venus as it made a rare transit across the face of the sun. But it turned out that task was a prelude. Once the transit was done, Cook opened the sealed orders he’ been given before leaving England. They revealed a second, bigger assignment, kept secret until then: to reconnoiter the rumoured continent that lay west of Tahiti. In the coming months, he became the first European to visit the east coast of Australia. I foresee a comparable progression for you, Leo. The task you’ve been working on lately has been a prelude. Soon you’ll receive your “sealed orders” for the next leg of your journey.

Half way in to 2015 I will leave Toronto and move up North. I am looking forward to opening my “sealed orders” in my tent on July 1st.

Posted by Live Small Think Big

Folk artist. Lifelong cyclist. Plant based. Zero Waste. Environmentalist. Lover.

Day of Thanks for January 26

Leo Jul 23 | Aug 22 In the early 1300s, the people of the Mexica tribe had no homeland. They had wandered for centuries through the northern parts of what we now call Mesoamerica. According to legend, that changed in 1323, when their priests received a vision of an eagle eating a snake while perched at the top of a prickly pear cactus. They declared that this was the location of the tribe’s future power spot. Two years later, the prophecy was fulfilled. On an island in the middle of a lake, scouts spied the eagle, snake and cactus. And that was where the tribe built the town of Tenochtitlan, which ultimately became the centre of an empire. Today that place is called Mexico City. Have you had an equivalent vision, Leo? If you haven’t yet, I bet you will soon. Go in search of it. Be alert.

I think I have already found where “an eagle eating a snake while perched…”

I don’t think it needs to get the size of Mexico City but I would like to think it could become the centre of something.

Posted by Live Small Think Big

Folk artist. Lifelong cyclist. Plant based. Zero Waste. Environmentalist. Lover.

Day of Thanks for January 19

Leo Jul 23 | Aug 22 In one of his poems, Rumi writes about being alone with a wise elder. “Please,” he says to the sage, “do not hold back from telling me any secrets about this universe.” In the coming weeks, Leo, I suggest you make a similar request of many people, and not just those you regard as wise. You’re in a phase when pretty much everyone is a potential teacher who has a valuable clue to offer you. Treat the whole world as your classroom.

Done and done. I just started the research side of building the Ginger Shack and have been reaching out to every where to see what others think, are doing and have learnt from their experiences.

Posted by Live Small Think Big

Folk artist. Lifelong cyclist. Plant based. Zero Waste. Environmentalist. Lover.

Day of Thanks for January 5th

Leo Jul 23 | Aug 22 Author Robert Moss has published 27 books. When he talks about the art of launching and completing big projects, I listen attentively. There’s one piece of advice he offers that would be particularly helpful for you to keep in mind throughout the first half of 2015. “If we wait until we are fully prepared in order to do something, we may never get it done,” he says. “It’s important to do things before we think we are ready.” Can you handle that, Leo? Are you willing to give up your fantasies about being perfectly qualified and perfectly trained and perfectly primed before you dive in?

I have 6 months to pack up a 15 year career and life in Toronto. At the end of that time I am going to go live in the woods after building my own 100 square foot home. I have never built anything in my life.

I saw these scissors today for the first time in my flower shop. He explained to me how Canadians just use their fingers when they cut but these scissors lets him use his whole hand. It makes such good sense and they are beautiful. Chinatown about 5 dollars.

Its still more arts ‘n crafts’ than ‘home building’ but I like this start to building up a better tool box.

Posted by Live Small Think Big

Folk artist. Lifelong cyclist. Plant based. Zero Waste. Environmentalist. Lover.

Day of Thanks for December 29

Leo Jul 23 Aug 22: In Don DeLillo’s novel Underworld, Cotter Martin is a young boy living in New York in the 1950s. The following description is about him. “In school they tell him sometimes to stop looking out the window. This teacher or that teacher. The answer is not out there, they tell him. And he always wants to say that’s exactly where the answer is.” I propose we regard this passage as one of your themes in 2015, Leo. In other words, be skeptical of any authority who tells you where you should or should not be searching for the answers. Follow your own natural inclination, even if at first it seems to be nothing more than looking out the window.

Some people go shopping on boxing day
Some people sit and breath
Others get drunk and ride a bull

What can I say… I am leaving a great paying job, selling a condo, moving out of Toronto to go live in a 100 square foot home with no running water, a wood burning stove, an outhouse and a tub outside. Some might say I have jumped through the window. I have 6 more months of the life I have known for almost 15 years. The only thing I can tell you is that I am more excited than I have been in a very long time. Something beautiful is going to be built in 2015 and I will conduct all of my teaching outdoors.

Posted by Live Small Think Big

Folk artist. Lifelong cyclist. Plant based. Zero Waste. Environmentalist. Lover.

Day of Thanks for December 22

Leo Jul 23 | Aug 22 “There are two kinds of light,” said author James Thurber, “the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.” Lately you have been an abundant source of that first kind of light, Leo. The fire in your heart and the gleam in your eyes have not only brightened the mood wherever you’ve gone. They have also clarified confusing situations, warmed chilly attitudes and healed dispirited allies. Thank you! In the coming weeks, I’d love to see you continue on your hot streak. To help ensure that you do, keep your ego under control. Don’t let it pretend that it owns the light you’re emitting. With a little introspection, you will continue to generate illumination, not glare.

Back in 1986 my Grandma knit myself and my sister an amazing Christmas sweater. My sister found them this year and mailed mine out to me. On December 14th I started the “12 days of Christmas” Tanya Style! Tonight is the 9th day of Christmas so I will be heading over to Chris and Justin’s home for dinner. Each night I have been subjecting my friends to photo shoots with me and the sweater. When we part ways I then post the photos on FaceBook with a blurb about why I am grateful to have them in my life.

Its funny that this horoscope came out 4 days after I started my Christmas countdown. I have definitely have been bringing the ‘light’ to the parties but am completely aware that the beauty of the moments are because of all the love, support and laughter we have been giving each other for many years.

May your holiday season shine brightly!