WE Day 2015

On Tuesday, I attended my very first We Day. If you don't know what We Day is, paint a mental photograph of students in the thousands cheering and chanting for global change alongside speakers and songs. It's a lot like poetry if poetry was a spectator sport turned on the highest dial. Each turn of your head is another student singing along and beaming with the pride of a thousand actions to make the world a more beautiful place.

The speakers told their own stories of uphill crawling after being bullied or not believed in, they told stories of how they overcame it all to be somebody, and some even spoke of inventions and ways of thinking which can help others around the world. I felt as if I hadn't done enough with my own time, as if I've been existing but not living, loving but not helping. I left the day feeling like a light bulb had been sparked to the top of my brow and everyday here after would be spent trying to have a kinder heart. I want to fall asleep with the moon knowing I gave my time to those who need me.

If you want to join We Day in a call for change, Telus is asking us all to sing along and share Francesco Yates 'Call for Change' music video. For each share, Telus will donate 10 buckaroos to Free the Children. In this age of technology and sharing giggly memes — a simple way to connect and do our part is to follow initiatives like this and share, share, share. Let us build bridges and boats to help others get across their own stormy oceans. Let us hang the sun on the windows of those who grow up in darkness.

Have you ever attended 'We Day'? Tell me about your experience. 
How can we make the world a place worthy of waking up in?

 outfit details: Value Village boots & sweater & skirt & blouse, Happy Socks socks

a visit to the garden center

Whenever the heart is in need of rest or the eyes are in need of a reminder, I visit the garden center and watch blooms circle around me like a wandering poem. Daisies, roses, cacti and mums all dance together like a country born out of sunlight and differences. I put my hand against the soft petals and I think for every time I cursed this hand for being crooked, it never once stopped me from visiting flowers.
 
I was invited by UncommonGoods to pick an item for review. Uncommon goods is an online store full of unique, mysterious, and sweet gifts made by artisans and small manufacturers. If it's handmade jewelry you're after, they've got it here. If it's gifts for women, they have that too. If you read here often, you'll know how I seldom review products of any kind. I only say yes when it aligns with my heart as I don't see the point of bringing more stuff into my home unless I can find a use for it. Lately, I've been trading poetry books for gardening how-to's so I decided on the garden flower box.

The box itself is handcrafted and colored in a rustic milk paint, its use is for carrying flowers but it works as an indoor display too. I carried it with me to the garden center and found three blossoms which fit perfectly in the belly of the box. The rake on top is more durable than I expected. It slides right out of the box if you want to use it for raking soil or prepping a planter. At a closer glance, you can see tiny grains of wood and imperfections which I find to be beautiful.

My only complaint is the way a garden box tempts me to dream of gardens I won't see until spring of next year. I sit here and I try to remember how sweet the smell of a marigold was on a June day. If only I could bottle the feelings of flowers and let myself build a home out of them all winter long.
outfit details: Nanton Thrift Store boots, Oasap dress, Free People knee high socks, UncommonGoods gardening box.

pre-loved clothing & value village

When it comes to where most clothes from my closet are found, Value Village is the answer. If not for these stores filled to the brim with second hand garments, I would never know the true poetry which lives in the fabric and touch of a pre-loved dress or blouse. I would never know the joy of scouring through the racks only to find something that calls to me like paint on an old barn. Many hours I have stood in their dressing rooms, unaware of size or advertisements, only there to pick clothes which encourage the telling of my story. 

Visits to the thrift store have further cemented my love for self-expression and the pursuit of strangeness and beauty in what could be a rather ordinary life. I go there like some go to easels or others go to whiskey. I go there because it's easy to be yourself in places like this. Following the herd was made for meerkats and buffaloes, not for wild eyed me.
If you're living in Calgary and looking to part from a few or many articles of clothing, consider bringing them to a Value Village donation drop spot. These donation drop spots give gently used goods a second life while also supporting Calgary's local Canadian Diabetes Association, Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta, and The Kidney Foundation of Canada. Value Village pays them for every donation made by everyday people like you or I!

Here is a list of Donation Drop Spots & their respective non profit partners:
Brentwood Village 3630 Brentwood Road NW Calgary, AB T2L-1K8
·         10 am to 7 pm
·         Supports Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta
 Glenmore Landing 1600 90th Avenue SW Calgary, AB T2V-5A8
·         M-F 10 to 6 pm, S-S 9 to 5 pm
·         Supports Inclusion Alberta
 Northgate Village Shopping 495 36th Street NE Calgary, AB T2A-6K3
·         9 to 7 pm
·         Supports Canadian Diabetes Association
 Beacon Hill Shopping Center 11420 Sarcee Trail Northwest Calgary, AB T3R-OA1
·         10 to 7 pm
·         Supports Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta
 Rio-Can Shawnessy 225 Shawville Blvd SE Calgary, AB T2Y-3H9
·         9 to 7 pm
·         Supports Canadian Diabetes Association
 Rio Can Signal Hill Richmond Road & Sarcee Trail Calgary, AB T3E-3XB
·         10 to 7 pm
·         Supports Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta
 So. Trail Crossings 4307 130 Avenue SE Calgary, AB T2X-3V8
·         10 to 7 pm
·         Supports Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta
Southland Crossing 9737 MaCleod Trail SW Calgary AB T2J-0P6
·         M-F 9:30 to 6 pm, S-S 10 to 6 pm
·         Supports The Kidney Foundation of Canada
Southbank Centre 105 Southbank Blvd Okotoks, AB T1S-0G1·
·          10 to 7 pm
·          Supports Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta
Lowes Sunridge Centre 2929 Sunridge Way Calgary, AB T1Y-7K7
·         M-F 9 to 8 pm, S-s 10 to 6 pm
·         Supports The Kidney Foundation of Canada

If you'd like to know more about Value Village's sustainability practices, you can find the information here.
Happy thrifting!
outfit details: everything is thrifted from Value Village.

leaves of October

When you walk outside in the month of October, you can see the silhouette of trees dancing as the wind bends the branches until they give up their leaves. I shriek in the night when I hear how loud it howls against the windowpane. I never did like the wind, it always comes uninvited like a party guest who yells over the music and shatters the glass which once held too much sugar. I forgive it only when I am warm from sleep or singing but once morning returns, I wish it away.

It soon will be time to take the sage and bees balm into the house. We've had a healthy autumn so far — sunlight, Chinook air, warm tea can wait for winter, the earth sending out invitations, no sweater necessary, the flowers still in bloom, that kind of autumn. Every salty tear I wept at summers end has been dried by the bounty of orange oak trees, golden light and the birds eating leftover berries. I only wish to be summer bound when the wind comes. At night, I pull a pillow over my head and tug at C's arm to hold me closer as if we're fireflies in a tiny jar.

The leaves of October twine and twist underneath a silvery moon while sleeping with the one I love quiets the wind and turns its howling into music. I don't ever want to return to the autumn's where I slept alone. 
 
outfit details: Value Village vintage dress, Blowfish Shoes heels, Crown & Glory floral headband, Teja Jamilla on etsy fawn and mushroom tights