Showing posts with label lohas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lohas. Show all posts

Sunday, November 26, 2017

start a fire

stockholm, sweden, november 2017 -

Rounded off a great, inspiring and (as an intro/ambivert) exhausting week with a cinema visit. Something I rarely do anymore, partly because to be honest I think movies are best watched in the comfort of your own sofa. Where you can pause, drink as much tea as you want, have pee breaks and not having to deal with uncomfortable chairs and people. Partly because there are very few new movies I find interesting enough must watchs for a hefty movie ticket price.

That said, I really enjoyed this movie. Despite not being a fan of the musical genre one of my favourite movies are 'Singing in the Rain' and 'La La Land' is the modern version of it. Granted I was a bit distracted by my own thought processes in the beginning of the movie but was soon immersed in the magic of colours (oh the dresses!), music, humour, dreams, love, life and drama. Emma Stone was simply brilliant, a well deserving Oscar winner obviously. The 'I Ran' scene is one of my favourites, her facial expression says it all, sweet revenge.



The melancholy of the 'City of Stars' tune is beautiful. And when I heard 'Start a Fire' with John Legend it was difficult to not jump up and dance. Promptly new favourite to living room dance to (in void of starry summer skies). I dare you to sit still.



Despite the ending being of the very wistful kind I'm not sure it would have been an overall better movie had it had a happy overly sweet Hollywoood ending. That said though, I believe that people whose paths cross that much are meant to be together. Yes, I know it's only a movie, but these things happen in real life too. It actually happened to my parents. I love that story. And one might say I'm the living proof and fruit of serendipity - perhaps that's why it's my favourite English word?

The upcoming week promises to be even more hectic. I'm not complaining. I adore and am deeply grateful for how so many things seem to fall into place this year, especially this autumn. But now and then my brain would appreciate a bit of slowness to adjust and accept. Then again I know that some weeks are conciderably slower than others and then I'm impatient and a bit peeved.

I've also become one of those daft people who look forward to the weekend. Ever since I started my own business I've felt like pretty much every day is like a weekend because I own my days. But this past year I've come to relish my weekends, or specifically my caturdays. For brain rest and oxytocin galore. Because as a general rule, no calls or demands.

But my basic notion is that it's such a precious thing, owning your days. I decide when, where and with what I work. And mostly I don't have to be available on specific times, if we haven't agreed on that beforehand. If I decide to have a day off in the middle of the usual work week I can. Because I'm my own boss. Which is gold, with a capital G. And whatever did we do before the smartphones?

As much as most of us, from time to time, are guilty of routine surfing and obsessingly checking updates for the dreaded FOMO (fear of missing out), I also believe it has brought so much freedom when it comes to remote work, freelancing, running your own business. Even if we also have to be aware of our own behaviours when it comes to living authentically, being present, the smartphone and the internetz in all its glory can never ever outdo the magic that comes from real life meeting with people and fellow beings.

Remember I wrote about the struggle of grey hair I don't care? I actually don't think a lot about that greyness these day (hooray, on the path of progress, a year older and wiser). What I've come to be annoyed about though, is that I feel that despite my new routine of weekly hairpaks the end bits of my hair begun to look worn. So I decided to cut it myself. A clean cut of 5 centimetres. And now I feel like it's about 20 cm shorter, and I will have to start the growing process all over again. Ridiculous, but never the less true for me. Oh the importance of hair.

On another lighter note of luxuary problems, I briefly contemplated getting a pair of new shoes. And for those who know me, you do know of my deep fondness for a special kind of shoes (El Naturalista and ART all the way, baby). But these days shoe shopping isn't without complications. Because of I no longer want to be part of consumerism, LOHAS is the thing. Always. And hand on heart, do I need another pair of shoes right now? Plus, do my best this days to stay away from new leather shoes, if it isn't recycled or non animal derived. So I decided against it.

Then I thought about how the things I want most passionately now are things money can't buy. And also felt that money can be much better spent than on shoes one isn't in desperate need of. Which would not have been a thought I'd much entertained a few years ago. Then I'd simply gone and treated myself. All these seemingy little, insignificant things that show progress. Can I choose not to buy a pair of coveted shoes, I can do anything. And so can you.

tant brun, sigtuna, sweden, november 2017 -

Tuesday, November 07, 2017

even in a world with pink, vegan meringues life is still complicated

pink vegan meringue, november 2017

Sometimes I miss those early days blogging, when very few friends knew about the blog and I most definitely never mentioned it in work related situations. Even if I've always been very careful and neutral about whom I mention or write about - 

never ever any names and the rule is as always "If I don't want certain people to see or read this I don't publish it". Simple as that. -

I still have a distinct feeling I was more free in my blog writing a few years ago.

The vast majority of my blog readers come from the US - which I find curiously interesting, hello there! - and that's fine and lovely. Other countries, equally lovely. It's when it gets too close to home for comfort I get a bit taken aback. When it suddenly dawns that hey, those colleagues and friends of M - if any of you guys still reads, hello to you too -, those work related people and followers actually do pop in and read. Then I realise I'm not really comfortable to write quite as freely as I used to. Even if I've never been really private I've always been personal and sometimes that feels pretty awkward now too.

And admittedly it's basically my own fault, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned my blog quite as openly to people. And I probably shouldn't have added it to my LinkedIn profile. Or published some posts on Twitter. Used it as my text portfolio. Really, silly me.

On the one hand this ties my hands in writing, on the other hand (the none tied one) it forces me to develop my writing in a new direction. Which will never be completely new since I find that keeping it personal is always the best way to keep it. Still, I'm keeping a fair bit of my emotional life off blog these days. Since I would be really sad if what I would like to write about now in any aspect would affect my professional life in a negative way. It may be silly, it may be true, it may be instinct, it may be over-analyzing. All despite the fact that my gut feeling says yes. My heart says yes, but my head, my practical head says no.

And no matter how much I've come to trust the gut and no matter how much I've grown this last year, this is a hurdle I'm not willing to deal with. I don't even know how. And certainly not in blog.

See, even in a world where something as delightful as pink, vegan meringues exist life continues to be complicated. Or at least us humans complicate things. Especially where emotions are involved.

So to not complicate things further - I will talk this through with a trusted friend tomorrow instead - I will now write a bit about the fact that my poor leaky roof got an emergency fix last week. It was a huge crack straight across the roof, the roofer said he had never seen anything like it and I saw the picture proof. Things will hopefully keep over winter now, but the roof needs complete replacement come spring and the cost for that is a crazy one. Depending on how extensive work that needs doing, but still hello hefty price.

But I have dealt with so much issues this past 1,5 years so of course I will find a solution to this too. For now I'm just grateful I can't hear that sound of drip drip drip anymore.

So, how about some fabulously inspiring vegan dishes in next post? - yes, I thoroughly enjoy my new role as food inspirer/food ambassador. Haven't cooked so many meals in years, tea and sandwiches or porridge is usually fine for dinner en mi casa, now it's hello wonderful flavours and textures galore! 

Or some colourful outfits - haven't done that in a long long time, but as someone kindly asked for that, who am I to say no?

Both most certainly light hearted, non complicated topics. Life is made of that too. Much like sweet pink, vegan meringues.

pink vegan meringue, november 2017

Saturday, December 26, 2015

lohas christmas gifts all the way, baby


This Christmas I went all LOHAS with the few gifts I gave away - organic, sustainable, high quality, durable, vegan and animal rights-ish. It felt good to give away extra thought through, kind gifts for a better world and I do believe the gift recievers appreciated them lots too.


Fjällräven Kånken backpack - isn't the colour gorgeous?! - and a membership in the fantastic Swedish animal rights organization Djurens Rätt (of which I've been a member since pre-school ie forever).


Planting trees on Borneo via Save the Orangutang-organization and a cutting board from Djurens Rätt.


Organic cotton, fairtrade shopping bag with a cute animal print from Djurens Rätt.


Favourite socks from Braintree Clothing in bamboo and organic cotton. I think they are fantastic, so much airier, softer and comfier than any other socks I've ever had. Lots of sweet colours and patterns, onesize for men and onesize for women. Plus really affordable. Ie great gifts for anyone.

How was you LOHAS giving/receiving this Christmas?
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...