1 Month Challenges:
A couple years ago, for reasons I might get into in another blog, I abandoned the New Year’s resolution idea in favour of something much more interesting and, as it turns out, better equipped to create lasting change. For Rae and I at least. Unlike a New Year’s resolution, where you decide you’re going to eat better, exercise, be nicer, taller, more organized, more productive, and do all things with unflinching zen tranquility, I decided I’d change only one thing, and for only a month. And the next month, I’d change something else. I called these little changes ‘1 month challenges’, or ‘experiments in lifestyle design’. Rae and I went gluten free for a month, just to see what happened. We went vegan for a month, and at the end of the month, we liked it so much we decided to adopt it as a permanent way of life. We did hot yoga everyday for (almost) a month, and decided that too much hot yoga wasn’t good for our constitution. We’re tinkering with the yoga still. Month after month, we’ve done lots of these challenges, many of which have translated into more-or-less permanent transformations. Most of the changes are ones I’ve wanted for a long time. I think we’ve found something that actually works for us. (YAY!).
Side-Effects:
The accumulation of good habits has been very pleasant and welcome. My belly is slimmer. My stride is longer. My student debt is less. My mood is better. My angst is 41% lower, most days. One unexpected side-effect though has been a real need for time-management. It’s hard to cook nutritious meals, meditate, do yoga, and journal every day, sleep properly every night, and work like a mad person to eradicate the student debt that’s been eating away at my sanity. It requires a certain dedication that can’t be fuelled by just coffee alone (which I quit drinking a couple months ago, as a result of the challenges). Time has become a precious resource. We’ve had to speed some things up. We can do grocery shopping for the week in 15 minutes now, for instance. We spend less time on Netflix. Less time drinking (like, none). Yet still, certain things are not getting done. I desperately need a haircut for instance. I’ve also not had a lot of time for blogging. So, here I am combining two engagement sessions in one blog to save time. (YAY).
Blogs:
Maybe you’re thinking that blogs shouldn’t take that much time to write. And maybe you’re right, but they take me hours. Most of the sentences I write get erased. Like 90%.
The first engagement session below, of A & A, really couldn’t have turned out much better. They’re both strikingly attractive and the weather cooperated by providing us with gorgeous, slow-moving snowflakes. Snow. Love. Doggy. Nova Scotia’s charm. Their wedding is in October and they’re being very deliberate about the planning. It’s going to be excellent!
The second session, of K & C, was equally as awesome–even without huge snowflakes. Before it even started, we discovered we had some Hal-Con/geeky mutual interests, and–come to think of it!–C leant me a Rorschach costume (from The Watchmen) that he made so that I could do some photography work with it. I haven’t had time to do that shoot yet (see “Side-Effects”, above), but I am excited to do that, and I will soon. Photos to follow. C & K are soulful. When talking to them, we get the very real impression that we’re talking to very real people. Grounding, soulful, and really kind. These two are getting married in June (right around the corner!). (YAY!)
We hope you some of the images from these two engagement sessions.
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