Love Token 44 - Laughter

My love token today is to laugh, giggle, and smile as much as possible today.

Hey it is a Friday - so really....why not?

xo

M

Love Token 43 - Express Yourself

I was in yoga class on Wednesday night and the theme was "Expression" and it was a beautiful class that really reflected on no matter how far you can go in a pose it is your own individual expression of it and that in itself is beautiful.

Life is just functional without creativity and expression. Without those elements you would just exist and therefore the meaning to your life your existential footprint would be the same as the peers around you.

Embrace yourself, your identity, your creative outlets and most of all, how you choose to express yourself in the life you lead, every single day. I know I am making an effort to do so.

I will end on a wonderful folk story my yoga instructor started the class with:

A monk was begging on the street for money when a wealthy merchant walked by him and gave him some money.

The next day the merchant happened to walk by the monk and noticed that in his left hand the monk was holding a loaf of bread and in the right a bouquet flowers.

Furious the merchant stated, “Why would you spend your money on such frivolous things?”

The monk replied, “I buy the loaf of bread to live, and the flowers to make life worth living”

xo

M

Inner Paradise

Trust me

It's Paradise

This is where the hungry come to feed

For mine is a generation that circles the globe

in search of something we haven't tried before

so never refuse an invitation

never resist the unfamiliar

never fail to be polite

and never outstay your welcome

just keep your mind open and

suck in the experience

and if it hurts

you know what... it's probably worth it

you hope, and you dream

but you never believe that

something is going to happen for you

not like it does in the movies

and when it actually does

you expect it to feel different

more visirale

more real

i was waiting for it to hit me

i still believe in paradise

but now at least i know it's not some place you can look for

cause it's not where you go

it's how you feel for a moment in your life

and if you find that moment it lasts forever

it lasts forever

lasts forever 

xo

M

Source: Beached "The Beach"

Love Token 42 - Saturday Night Dinner Parties

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to visit a good friend of mine who due to timing and distance I am unable to see as often as I would like. However, quality over quantity.

It was great seeing her and the life she has started with her husband. I am so happy for her and the stability, secureness and love that is surrounding her life.

She spoiled us with drinks, appetizers, dinner and more drinks. We really let loose and had a great time.

We found the inner early 20 somethings in us again and just laughed, loved and lived that night.

I am glad I got to experience this new chapter in her life and will always cherish the friendship she has given me throughout the years.

xo

M

Suddenly I See

"She got the power to be

The power to give

The power to see"

- KT Tunstell

Spreading the love to my fellow strong female sisterhood

xo

M

JUST DANCE

Happy Friday!

xo

M

Dannijo

How hot is this whole line of jewellery?

Loving it!

dannijo

Inspiration Rejuvination

Oneshymouse

xo

M

Be the Master of Your Dreams

xo

M

A Fallen Hero

For the last two yeas I have been volunteering at a probation office to work with youth who have been put through to an extra-judicial sanction (i.e. programs rather than custody).

So I was wrapping up a session last night with the youth I was working with and part of the homework I gave him the week before was to research 3 different news articles and discuss the type of impacts and victims that were involved...this is a Victim Impact Awareness Program....

Let me just say most of the kids I work with are good kids that made a bad choice... and this poor guy was in the wrong place, wrong time, wrong people type of situation.

Anyway, one of the newspaper clippings that he researched really had an impact on me.

An anti-violence/gun/gang activist named Kenneth Mark, age 29 was shot in the back of the head and killed on

December 29th 2009 about 5 minutes from where I live.

The emotions that came over me were too many to count.

This guy did amazing things for his commnuity and the fact that he was killed by gun violence via a 19 and 16 year old, is just disgusting.

Naturally my mind goes to wanting to know more about the accused - the back story, etc.

As much as I would like to think the world is capable of love and that hate stems from circumstances most of us would not even be able to understand or sympathize with - this to me was apalling and extremely cold-blooded.

It would be like killing Mother Teresa because she was "too caring" - unbelievable.

Please read this article.

National Post

I too am a non-violence, anti-gun supporter- and as the obstacles seem to get larger and more complex - to me it is a battle always worth fighting.

There is no need for these instances to happen AT ALL. We must look into our gun policies, we must educate through progarms and get to the core issues of people... we must CARE MORE, DO MORE.

Our government needs to put more focus on these issues - so the playground is not a catalyst for gang formation, for gang wars, for unneccesary territorial hate etc.

This is just one instances of many - I am so infuriated by this murder that words cannot do justice to my feelings.

Kenneth Mark - you are in my thoughts - you did great things - and your memory will live on past your too short-lived life.

I will keep that positivity torch lit for you always.

xo
M

Love Token 41 - FCUK, Hot Rollers, Martha Stewart and RENT

Now who would have thought the four above items would ever be combined together. But that is an excact description of my little love tokens and how it maps out my day.

1. FCUK

I am LOVING the latest jewellery by French Connection and loving even more that it is on sale right now. Just really great impact pieces - go check it out. Today I wore my fun new FCUK necklace with a plain black dress to work and I love it - it is my focal point... I have received great feedback on it as well - which is always warm to hear :)

The picture does not do it justice....

2. HOT ROLLERS

Seriously one of the best purchases I have made - like I mentioned earlier I am bored and ansy with the Winter blahs - so I hot rollered my hair for work today, because if you are bored you may as well be bored and look good....or so Matt says!

3. MARTHA STEWART

She is the only person that puts out a timeless wedding magazine and therefore I will succumb to her empire and consistently invest in her wedding magazines, because they are classy and creative.

4. RENT

Toronto is fortunate enough to get a small run of the broadway musical RENT. I loved the movie and I cannot wait tonight to see it live in it's glory with two original castmates

xo

M

Looking Forward

Books are the narrative to my life choices.
Photo's are the visual's.
Music is the soundtrack.

I usually keep my iPod on shuffle - as it spices up the playlist and gives me that little surprise of what is coming on next. Today, I was refreshed by the lyrical sweetness of Bernard Fanning and it reminded me of great memories from my time in Australia and how much I loved his album "Tea & Sympathy" as part of my soundtrack to that time in my life.

If you have never listened to it - def. check it out - a keeper for sure.

I love one of his tracks off this album called "Yesterday's Gone", it really hammers home the point that you cannot change your past - but can always influence your future decisions. It is a song about lost love - but I was taking it the scope of it on a grander scale.

So, I thought I would share the lyrics with you to possibly entice you to invest in this album

Enjoy!

It's your oldest trick and your cheapest one

Turn the world to blank and the game is done

I hope and I pray that the rainbow comes

You'll change your mind don't shoot the gun

You can sail on seven seas

Lend your heart out to who you please

Where ever you travel what ever you see

don't forget the love you got from me

Goodnight moon goodbye sun

What goes with you is all my love

I hope your best is yet to come

let's close the book what's done is done

'cos yesterday's gone

There you go now you're off your leash

Go rid your heart of its great disease

Where ever you travel what ever you see

don't forget the love you got from me

Goodnight moon goodbye sun

What goes with you is all my love

I hope your best is yet to come

Let's close the book what's done is done

'cos yesterday's gone

yesterday's Gone

yesterday's Gone

yesterday's Gone

yesterday's Gone

Love Token 40 - Hot Lips

During this time of year, I get ansy... I feel like my brain weakens, I get bored easily and I start to spice things up on a free.99 budget with what I already have.

Case in point:

I have decided to bring bright lipstick back onto (at least my) lips. I feel during the gray months - colour is good... yesterday I wore blue eyeshadow... just having fun with make-up on certain days gives you that punch of colour and therefore punch of uplifting during the winter blues.

So here is to celebrating my bright coral lips today - so far...nothing but compliments! :)

xo

M

Love Token 39 - Daydream Believer

Ever just let your mind let go?

Ever just like to pretend your what ifs and your fantasy future dreams will become your reality sooner than later?

Today I treated my mind with a token of daydreaming about my future plans and aspirations, it got me re-excited for my future goals, wants and desires out of life.

I did it without thinking about the constraints or obstacles I will/would face, but I let my mind just imagine everything falling into place and that was a great feeling.

Go on give it a try....

xo

M

Oh Starry Night

"We all lay under the same sky" - M.Clark

The concept of class, division, and the silo mentality of different cultures, countries and religions boggles my mind.

No... I am not suggesting a sense of sameness among all but an appreciation and acceptance of difference.

It is horrific what Haiti has been through in the past week, but it also saddens my heart even more that it took a natural disaster to bring the world's attention and care to Haiti that has been struggling like many other places in the world for years.

Just know this - help out where you can, do your part, research, pay attention to mother earth and all it's children.

xo

M

Food Mantra

Love Token 38 - Java

I love me some morning Americano's. My oh my - they are delicious and I look forward to my $2.26 purchase each and every day.

As well....

The best coffee I have tasted in the city - is brewed at Kalendar on College and Euclid.
If you haven't been - go! It is bottomless cups and they brew it with a pinch of cinnamon. It is heaven.

A little caffiene kick doesn't hurt anyone - it is all about moderation and the essence of living that way every day.

xo

M

Be Love

St. Lorie

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)

Take a moment out of your day to reaquaint yourself with a  great man who inspired change in the world he lived in.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Civil-Rights Leader, 1929 - 1968

Martin Luther

King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 at his family home in Atlanta, Georgia. King was an eloquent Baptist minister and leader of the civil-rights movement in America from the Mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. King promoted non-violent means to achieve civil-rights reform and was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
King's grandfather was a Baptist preacher. His father was pastor of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church. King earned his own Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozier Theological Seminary in 1951 and earned his Doctor of Philosophy from Boston University in 1955.

While at seminary King became acquainted with Mohandas Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolent social protest. On a trip to India in 1959 King met with followers of Gandhi. During these discussions he became more convinced than ever that nonviolent resistance was the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.

As a pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama, King lead a Black bus boycott. He and ninety others were arrested and indicted under the provisions of a law making it illegal to conspire to obstruct the operation of a business. King and several others were found guilty, but appealed their case. As the bus boycott dragged on, King was gaining a national reputation. The ultimate success of the Montgomery bus boycott made King a national hero.

Dr. King's 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail inspired a growing national civil rights movement. In Birmingham, the goal was to completely end the system of segregation in every aspect of public life (stores, no separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, etc.) and in job discrimination. Also in 1963, King led a massive march on Washington DC where he delivered his now famous, I Have A Dream speech. King's tactics of active nonviolence (sit-ins, protest marches) had put civil-rights squarely on the national agenda.

On April 4, 1968, King was shot by James Earl Ray while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was only 39 at the time of his death. Dr. King was turning his attention to a nationwide campaign to help the poor at the time of his assassination. He had never wavered in his insistence that nonviolence must remain the central tactic of the civil-rights movement, nor in his faith that everyone in America would some day attain equal justice.

xo

M

Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund

Help your fellow brothers and sisters of humanity

Donate Now

In response to the devastating earthquake that hit south of Port-au-Prince Haiti on January 12, the Government of Canada has created the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. For every eligible dollar donated by individual Canadians, the Government of Canada will contribute one dollar to the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund, up to a total of $50 million. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will allocate these funds to established Canadian and international humanitarian and development organizations for relief efforts that benefit the people in Haiti affected by the earthquake.

The Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund will provide effective, accountable and timely financial support to trusted Canadian and international humanitarian and development partner organizations working in the affected area.

xo

M

Love Token 37 - Spa Sunday

Today I decided to pamper myself a little for free (all about balance of dollars).

I gave myself a facial and a manicure.

And I just took it easy.

Nothing more than that.

A simple token, but always necessary once in a while

xo
M

Love Token 36 - Cheapy Cheapy

Oh the price tag, oh the orange price tag sticker on top of the original one....you and your tempting ways.

On Friday after work I was riding high on my TGIF mood and waiting to get in touch with Sarah to go out for some much deserved dinner and drinks....but alas Sarah was not getting back to me, and to save a trip all the way back downtown, I wandered along Yonge & Bloor....

I was sucked in to the oh so tempting "orange sale stickers" on already fairly reasonable priced items of clothing. So yes, I indulged... but no buyers remorese kicked in because it was such a good deal.
There is nothing better than feeling like you "damned the man" a little and beat the system slightly and they still had your size...

So I love tokened myself with a few bits and bobs of clothing and accessories and as I was wondering how I would kill time next...my phone finally rang.

Coincidence?

I guess it is all based on perception.

Either way it ended up being a great Friday.

xo
M

The essence of self-worth and empowerment

xo

M

Singing from the same song book

If you do not follow Jason Mraz's blog this is another must do for you.
We have like thoughts, beliefs and opinions on life - so for me not only is he an inspiring artist, but an inspiring being of the human condition.

For example take his New Year's blog entry that I just stumbled across -- incredible.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2010

I watched my clip from Sesame Street on YouTube after it aired on Christmas Eve and read a comment along the lines of “Why is this dude so happy?” I laughed knowing I’m not the happiest guy in the world but appear to be so. And then I pat myself on the back for the work I do to choose love and lightheartedness as a way of being.

While we live abundantly in these United States, there are lands beyond our seas that share the same air, resources, love and fears that all humans have the capacity to experience.

In January of 2009, I traveled to Peru with Artist/Activist Jon Marro, founder of BlendApparel.com. Part of our journey included a 4 day walk to Macchu Picchu. With us was, Adrean, our fearless Indiana Jones'esque Spiritual Guide who performed ceremonies for Protection and Peace to heighten our awareness of the energy that connects us all. This video is my playful version of James Cameron's Avatar. Listen closely to what Adrean tells us about being brothers living on the body of our mother earth who IS ALIVE. Pause the film on the Polaroid as it reveals quite possibly, the spirits known as "the Apus," the ancestors who abide by our prayers. The picture shows a golden light beaming from our hearts and hovering over our heads. To me, it is the obvious - Love is All Around and We Are All Connected.

We CAN all operate on the same far-out frequency by practicing gratitude - the art of saying thank you for Everything. You can also get there by acknowledging the people in your life. This is a form of sharing the beauty about someone even if the beauty or gift you share about that person isn’t yet evidence based. Your saluting someone for doing big things allows that person to feel themselves as being “up to big things” and spins that person’s life in a whole new direction.

Also, Take the time to acknowledge yourself. Get in touch with equal parts Mind, Body and Soul. By waking up one hour earlier you can date yourself even before your day begins. For example, you could spend 20 minutes calming the mind in meditation, 20 minutes stretching or running or twisting or jumping, and 20 minutes reading or writing – funneling your thoughts into soulful action.

 Being mindful of your own thoughts and actions, whether your being generous or gossipy, will dictate your state of grace, your ability to swiftly experience joy and abundance in your life or not.

Be a role model too. I grew up hearing racial slurs of all calibers from the mouths of young and old. Careless remarks like these get handed down to children confusing them into thinking they are separate from others. We can end centuries of being enemies with each other by realizing the true value of our existence and speaking nicely or not speaking at all.

I’d like to acknowledge my Step-Dad, Doodie, for saying, “Its one thing to be an idiot. It’s another thing to open your mouth and prove it.”

This year, I resolve to Be Love, to be Fulfilled in Every Now Moment, to strengthen the telling of my appreciation for others, and to make a kick ass new record in the process, inspiring others to be up to big things. This year, You Rule and I bow in your Gracious Presence, Child of Earth, Brother and Sister of Mine.

http://freshnessfactorfivethousand.blogspot.com/

xo

M

Clearing any misperceptions on the theme of this blog...via Jane Austen

I never thought I would quote her but here it goes:

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of  us" - Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen.

Take pride in who you are, love yourself completely - because without those abilities the gift of love could not be shared and enjoyed to it's ultimate level.

xo

M.

Love Token 35 - Post Holiday Revelations

Another holiday season has passed and another year's chapter has closed.

The time to reflect and get misty eyed, bashful, regretful, nostalgic and excited for the unknown tend to float through the minds of people at this time of year.

I hope everyone gave love and received love throughout the holidays and started the new year of 2010 feeling fulfilled from past decisions and experiences.

I had a good holiday break, I treated myself to great encounteres with loved ones, wonderful cuisine, much needed sleep and allowing my brain to just exist in a state of a contented plataeu.

New Years Eve is my favourite holiday.

It is a time to celebrate the old and embrace the new - and the great thing about it is that no matter who you are, what you do, where you are or how you are feeling, everyone is capable of doing this and has the right do so, no matter what sex, creed or religion you are.

So when the clock strikes midnight I do an internal happy dance that "yay I survived another year" healthy and happy - because life is a gift, and it just depends on how you choose to use that gift that determines your path.

When the clock strikes 12:01 am, I take my leap of faith into the new year and hope that it brings me and my loved ones nothing but love, happiness and health.

Throughout the years I have morphed resolutions into mantras. Let's just say instead of micro I go macro. How do I want my life to be led for the next years to come in terms of my state of mind?

For example the year of 2006 my mantra was

"In difficult times, there lies opportunity" Albert Einstien

So no matter, what "not so enjoyable" things happened during that year, I would plow through and look for the positives.

2009 was:

Peace Love and Happiness (simple yet quite a task in our cynical world)

But now I think I want to go even higher than mantra's and morph my new year's into "revalations"

To reflect on my previous years state of mind and how I can grow from them, what can "be revealed that was not previously known or realized"

Interesting concept....

This came to me on my first night back to Yoga on Monday evening. No one showed up for class, so I ended up getting a private from a brand new instructor who showed me a new form of Yoga, Anusara. She themed the session as "resolutions"...and as I was enduring the many painful arm balances she instructed me in... I had a revelation...through the pain of new yoga I saw the light...or maybe just stars from lack of blood flow..but still...

Anusara is about embracing yourself, mind and body to a high state of openess and adding more beauty, love and goodness to the world no matter what physical/mental contraints exist...(of course through hard work and much sweat, the mind is stubborn to the body sometimes)

Before I get to yogi la la ... let me put it simply my relevation was not answering my own life mysteries of the world or anything "new" per se, it was the mere fact of ensuring I spread positivity, beauty and goodness into "my" world which affects "your" world which ends up being "our" world.

So therefore throughout my life I want to ensure I am always making an effort to be useful and not useless (a phrase from my wonderful Aunt Nancy) - and  with that respect I am positively contributing to myself, my family and my community as much as possible.

Baby steps --- but I think this is a growing step into the love me do concept and therefore a revelation for the next chapter of 2010...

So here is to my mind, body and soul and as well to yours on our exciting path for new year, whether you opt for resolution, mantra or revelation

Hold on to your hats, becauase I am sure there will be some bumps along the way!

Namaste

M.