OFF TO THE FAIR

Despite my fear of clowns, rickety metal structures and all things adrenaline inducing I love the feeling of a fair, especially at night. During the day it is loud and sweaty and busy but at night the lights are magical and the crowds are not packed so tight so taking a little walk through the attractions was an evening must. I have lived here in Germany for two months now but this was the first time I had stepped out of our apartment building after dark, having a baby's bedtime at seven p.m. makes for lots of lazy, stay-at-home evenings so this was a nice reprieve from the usual routine.

THE SIMPLE LIFE: INTENTION

I am hardly a yogi by any standard, and actually until recently I was never super inclined to participate in the thought process behind yoga especially the idea of setting ones intentions. For me yoga was something physical, I wanted to be flexible and I wanted to lose weight but when I did not see the results I wanted I gave up. I still want to be flexible, I still want to lose weight but I have realized that if I want to achieve that with yoga, I need to participate in all aspects of the practice, it is only as that whole that it will be effective. I feel as though I am going through this, almost, spiritual awakening at this time in my life, where I am realizing and understanding why I am here in this moment, what got me to this point and what I have to do to get my life back on track and one of the biggest aspects of realigning my life is setting my intention. Now setting my intention can be my goal in life, my aspirations but it can also be what I hope to achieve in a single day, for me setting my intention is not just one intention but it is being intentional in every single thing I do. I realize this is super long introduction and that I still haven't gotten to the point of this spiel but alas the wait is over and here is the tie in... When I made the decision to work towards simplifying my life, it was easy to throw out my clothes, to empty my makeup drawer, to leave behind my worldly possessions but if I wanted to maintain it, to keep my life (and closet) clear and simple I was going to have to really figure out why I was doing this, and what it is that I am hoping to achieve.

My intention with simplifying my life is to relieve myself of burdens, financial burdens that come with purchasing disposable commodities, emotional burdens that come with the guilt of purchasing things that harm people, places and animals and the physical burden on carrying around so much stuff all the time. I am person who has too much going on in my head on a daily basis (something I'm sure many other people can understand) so if I cannot temper the chaos inside of me, then I can work on clearing the things outside of me so that at least some aspect of my existence is peaceful.

With my intention set I am just that much closer to achieving my goal of a simpler life. I do still battle with my materialistic desires on a day to day basis, some days my intention wins, some days my desires but overall  I feel as though I am headed on the right path. And plus with clear intentions it removes an grey area when it comes to decisions and therefore makes it much harder for me to justify that superfluous purchase.

SEPTEMBER GOALS + AUGUST RECAP

Oh August, the month before my favourite month of the year. The problem with August is that it is a month of anticipation for me. anticipation for the end of summer, for the return to school and then of course my birthday. I feel like August is just the means by which I get to September but I am okay with that. Now this year I am not returning to school nor did I partake in many "summer" activities, but nonetheless this month I anxiously awaited for September so maybe the fact that it is my birthday month had a greater pull than I had originally thought. But first, lets see how I did.

one. Read at least one book. Yes
Yes, but I kind of feel like I cheated. I was originally planning on picking up where I left off in the Song of Fire and Ice series, but that felt a little too daunting, so I re-read Go Ask Alice (which I finished in one night). I also read a book I ordered on aromatherapy, but that was mostly skimming.

two. Make a purchase at the farmers market on my own. Yes (yay me!)
I went to the farmers market twice this month on my own, and I got spinach, butternut squash, and parsnips. I didn't really use my German however, I mostly pointed and held up fingers but it was a start.

three. Try (and enjoy) one new food. Mmhm
This one wasn't too hard because I was already working on changing my mindset around food. Basically I was introduced to the idea that ones likes and dislikes in regards to food are more due to habit and expectations rather that the actually make up of the food, and habits and expectations can be changed which has opened up a whole new world to me food-wise. I have now integrated red peppers and zucchini into my daily life.

four. Keep my plants alive. Not even close...
My mother gardens, my father gardens, my eighty-two year old grandmother gardens, and yet I am blessed with the blackest of black thumbs...that and I can never remember to water my poor basil plant.

September Goals:

one. Try another new food
two. Exercise every day
three. Tame my hair
four. Read to gain knowledge