A Wonderous Commute

I've been a bit quieter than I would have liked so here I am doing any update about my commute. I live in Vancouver but go to school in Surrey, round trip time approximately 50 minutes from my door to the classroom. However, let's keep in mind I went to Queen's ISC for my first year where I lived in a bubble of 5 minutes from everywhere "on campus" and then lived a 5 minute walk across a park in Kingston from Campus. And well, driving in Hamilton was always fairly quick. So this commute, takes a lot out of me, but it also gives a lot back. I can get work done during the commute and when I can't. Well, when I can't, I still get to ride home watching the fog, the mountains, the ocean, and right now, the fall colours moving around me. And now some of the photos I've taken while enjoying the Skytrain.

"Commuting from New York to Hollywood to do this show gets more interesting every week. Before I used to think the country was just New York on one end and Los Angeles on the other, with sand and mountains in the middle." ~ Bill Cullen

Maslow's Hierarchy

Making a big move always takes a lot more out of you than at first anticipated. This move has tried me in every way possible and has had me doing some crazy introspective thinking. Since, ya know, I don't do enough of that on my own time without all the complications. Anyway, recently I'd been thinking about [note: stressing about life] and Maslow's hierarchy of needs popped into my head. I kept going "I am so far from self-actualization....I wonder where I fall." SO I used my trusty Google device and voila! I have the pyramid at my finger tips.

There's the link to Wikipedia for the entire theory. And after looking, well I can't quite figure out WHERE I fall...I don't think it's possible to "have it all" which means in some areas of my life I am moving towards self-actualization and in some areas I'm probably stuck down in "safety." I'm very glad I took the time to look it up though. It was one of those jolts you need every once and a while to show that you aren't as "bad off" as you think. If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life. Abraham Maslow

How Hard it is to Smile...

Being at SFU for the past week I've noticed these wonderful little signs.

Either way, turning this would have made you tilt your head.

I think the best part of these is that people have taken some. We don't know what they needed because they got there and took it. If only people could reach for what the needed and achieve it without their need being a written hope on a poster board. Kudos to the Students at SFU who took the initiative to show optimism and kindess to their fellow students. If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn't. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism. Oscar Wilde

It Controls Everyone

My mind has been very unfocused today. Actually, my mind has been too focused on a situation I find myself in that I was in once before. One that nearly killed my best friend, ruined friendships, changed lives and controlled everyone's life for a very long time. For some the control is still continuing. For me, it's always there and has made me hyper aware to my own body issues, as well as to how my friends, family, the media and the world look at "health" and the human body. My best friend when I was a teenager struggled and probably still struggles since Eating Disorders are diseases and don't go away. They are dealt with day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute with every sip and chew a person takes, with every step or push-up. The constant need to be thin and control that one thing in life to make things seem ago is ever present. Now being a 20-something my best friend is starting her battle it seems to me and she's an Ocean away. When I was a teenager dealing with this, it was new, I didn't know exactly what I was facing, I didn't realize the toll it would take on me, on my other best friend, on my relationships outside of the ED. It's not a simple solution and never knowing if your best friend is going to make it to her 16th, 17th, 18th birthday makes you go a bit crazy yourself. It puts so much strain on your relationship and making life or death decisions about who to tell and how to help makes you grow up in ways faster and stunts you in other ways. Anorexia, bulimia, exercise anorexia, and all the combination's in between scare me to no end. I worry when my own self-esteem drops and I worry about gaining weight. I worry when I try on clothes and they don't fit me like they did the week before. I worry that I will fall into the disease and watch my friends and family watch me die slowly because I can't see myself the way they do. I worry when I look in the mirror and see someone different from what the truth is.

I worry even though I will never let this happen to me. Silver lining in every life situation. The truth is in our world I don't think these diseases get the proper education and attention. Instead our attention is focused on the photo-shopped images of people who don't exist. Our attention is focused on "surgery" and "fitness programs' that don't take into account individualism and how each body functions uniquely and on various levels of caloric intake and exercise. As we progress as a species our vanity becomes harder and harder to hide from, our insecurities become more prevalent and when we can't control our lives we reach for something that is controllable-our bodies are our own. My life-long friend denies she has a problem. States she is just a "health nut" yet when I say her body is probably entering starvation mode and that's why she isn't losing weight on a "renowned" fitness trainer program she says "well eventually it'll eat the fat?" and that when she doesn't get results she eats less to get them while working out everyday from 90 to 120 minutes. I'm scared for her and I'm scared for our world when on the Facebook pages for these fitness kicks participants post pro-ana propaganda and their co-participants write "haha awesome" and "so true" underneath. I'm angry that the fitness trainer hasn't removed the images and addressed the issue.

This is the image that was posted. Why Women and Men feel the need to fit into a cookie-cutter image drives me batty. I fall into it as well on more than an occasion. I think we've conditioned ourselves too far to not to. I just know the affects that ripple out from the diseases that take hold if we fall too much in step with striving for perfection. Humanity deserves more. From itself and from each other.

Always remember this.

And this are true. If only scales could be programmed to tell everyone this. "There is no magic cure, no making it all go away forever. There are only small steps upward; an easier day, an unexpected laugh, a mirror that doesn't matter anymore. I am thawing.” ― Laurie Halse Anderson, Wintergirls

New Beginnings

Today I opened a new chapter in the higher education journey of Kathleen. It was my first day at Simon Fraser University for Public Relations. It was in short, overwhelming.

The Fundamentals covered today opened my eyes and what I thought Public Relations was wasn't quite correct. That's okay though I am excited to move forward and learn something new again.



I want to soak it all in and participate my little heart out.

We'll see were this road takes me.

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers."

Daniel J. Boorstin

Jackpot!

I hit the Fashion Karma Jackpot this last month.

One Saturday I got out of work and was taking the bus home when I stumbled upon the end of a street fair on Main. I enjoyed walking up the middle of the street and entered into the vintage store "Temple of a Modern Girl" and upon leaving I had achieved success in locating not one, but TWO, giant bulky tacky sweaters. For less than I imagined. $35 for the both. Jackpot!



Sweater Number 1. Lovely, a bit tacky, a bit wonderful.



Tacky GIANT cozy sweat Number 2. So much love. So much cozy.



Close-up view!

These weren't as hard to find as I thought and although not exactly what I pictured...I love them!

Now once again, Destiny intervened last Friday. I was exhausted, it had been a long week, but I had errands. I went to the bank that was closest to me-on Commercial Drive-after...I got enamored with the vintage shopping...and ended up spending all my time in one store "Mintage." Although the staff here were not helpful, or very friendly, since they were too busy trying on clothes to buy for themselves, the product was exquisite.

I landed my leather skirt for 18 Dollars!!!!! REAL LEATHER! Black! The thrill I have cannot be explained!



Now, the best part is I was able to purchase a wonderful sequin Butterfly Top.




I wasn't originally going to wear them together...but I actually think that they could work with the right shoes of course!



Trying them on in Mintage...


All that's left is checking off those knee high boots...keep your eyes peeled for me.

Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.
Coco Chanel