Day of Thanks for May 11

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.

Posted by Live Small Think Big

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

Day of Thanks for April 27

LEO Jul 23 | Aug 22 If you were a supporting character in a popular TV drama, the producers would be cooking up a spin-off show with you in a starring role. If you were in an indie rock band, you’d be ready to move from performing at 300-seat venues to clubs with an audience capacity of 2,000. If you have always been just an average egocentric romantic like the rest of us, you might be on the verge of becoming a legend in your own mind — in which case it would be time to start selling T-shirts, mugs, and calendars with your image on them. And even if you are none of the above, Leo, I suspect you’re ready to rise to the next level.

On vacation I stated to really appreciate and enjoy Instagram. I am a late comer to social media but am super happy to have finally arrived. I had no idea there where so many people out there living like me. It feels pretty awesome and I’m excited to join in the conversation.

I don’t know if I see any of that notoriety coming my way but I’ll take the positive vibes. Here’s to being one more hopeful voice out there!

Instagram @urbanprairie

Posted by Live Small Think Big

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

DAY OF THANKS BEFORE I GO

Leo Jul 23 | Aug 22 Do you ever feel reverence and awe, Leo? Are there times when you spontaneously yearn to engage in acts of worship? Is there anyone or anything that evokes your admiration, humility, and gratitude? The coming weeks will be a good time to seek out experiences like these. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will get tender jolts of transformational inspiration if you blend yourself with a sublime force that you trust and respect.

These horoscopes come out in Now Toronto on Thursday but I usually like to sit with them for a few days. Hard to interpret someone’s interpretation of the stars for you.

I am posting today because I am leaving for 14 days to go hang out with my BFF from Grade 4 in Panama and Costa Rica. Aside from my family, he is the first mentor the universe gave me so once again, I could not agree more.

Posted by Live Small Think Big

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

Day of Thanks for March 9

Leo Jul 23 | Aug 22 “As you get older, the heart sheds its leaves like a tree,” said French novelist Gustave Flaubert. “You cannot hold out against certain winds. Each day tears away a few more leaves; and then there are the storms that break off several branches at one go. And while nature’s greenery grows back again in the spring, that of the heart never grows back.” Do you agree with Flaubert, Leo? I don’t. I say that you can live with such resilient innocence that your heart’s leaves grow back after a big wind, and become ever-more lush and hardy as you age. You can send down such deep, strong roots and stretch your branches toward the sun with such vigour that your heart always has access to the replenishment it needs to flourish. The coming weeks will provide evidence that what I say is true.

Remembering you forgot to take it seriously.

I have had a really hard time getting over someone. Not because I believed her to be the one but because she lied to me.

In my 20s sure, I accept that. Not many of us knew who we were. We drank, we partied, we lied.

But to know the 38 year old me, I can’t understand how someone would lie to me. My only expectation is honestly and I am really open about that. I accept changes of heart, changes of mind but I abhor deception.

She touched a really deep nerve in me and right now, the world I live in keeps hitting it. As we get closer to our upcoming election I am getting more and more aware of how mad I am at Canada. When my thoughts go to this place I am going to envision a big, beautiful, Canadian tree and what it feels like to grow and change one more time.

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 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 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!