The Lululemon mantra includes this line: “Successful people replace the words ‘wish’, ‘should’ and ‘try’, with ‘I will’.”
There is no “should”
Thoughts
Desired imports from my travels
Here are some things I appreciated in Southeast Asia and Japan that I wish we had in Canada.
Umbrellas as sun protection
Why you shouldn’t finish every book you start
If you read one book a month, you probably have less than 800 books left to read in your life.
(I’m 26, so assuming I live to 90, that is 64 remaining years x 12 months = 768 books.)
An update on my values
In my first post on this topic, I said how my highest values are benevolence (for the world), reflection (for myself), and sincerity.[1] However, that has changed.
Does fear of attention stop you from looking your best?
Sometimes you can’t win. When you’re overweight, the only message you get from the world is that you’re ugly and should lose weight.
Once you have lost weight and become more attractive, though, you’re accused of trying too hard. “Relax,” other people start saying, “it’s the holidays. Have a piece of cake. After all, you wouldn’t want to get too thin.”
I’m moving
Hello! So I missed my deadline last time (going more than three weeks without a post), and now I’m missing it AGAIN. Ahh.
I have a good reason, though: I *had to* get out of my previous living situation, so over the past six weeks I have been very scattered and unable to concentrate on anything other than finding somewhere to live.
And now I’ve found somewhere! Yay! I moved into my own apartment three days ago. It presently contains almost zero furniture. (I’m sleeping on a yoga mat on the floor—which isn’t that bad, really. I may never buy a mattress again.)
I hope to be properly settled and able to return to semi-regular blogging in a few weeks. Until then, please enjoy these Pinterest design inspiration photos.
This is my dream decor: some sort of Japanese-Balinese-Thai-inspired, zen-French fusion, wabi-sabi (Japanese shabby-chic), industrial/modern twist on minimalist classics. Not sure what to call that, but let me know if you have any suggestions 😛
A fun journaling activity: Stuff of the Month
I started keeping these Stuff of the Month lists around age 12. (Credit to my sister Gemma for coming up with the idea, which I copied.)
You know how there’s an Employee of the Month? The Stuff of the Month list is a form of bullet-journaling where you name the Food of the Month (as in your favorite food you ate recently or a food that featured prominently in your month), Movie of the Month, etc.
11 year-old Kate’s plans for life
I was going through my old journals and found this page. Not only did it make me laugh, it made me proud that I’ve actually accomplished some of the things on it!
My plans for life (in no particular order)
Written by Kate as an 11 year old 2006
- Graduate from University of Toronto School.
- Go to McGill University and get degrees in creative writing and literature.
- Do the writing thing Mrs. Hutchinson (grade 6 teacher) was talking about.
- Do courses in fashion design.
- Make some huge sculptures.
- Learn to shape metal.
- Make my own glass beads.
- Sell cards, jewelry, and other stuff.
- Get married at age 25.
- Have three wonderful kids at ages 28, 30, and 31.
- Live in the beaches district of Toronto in my dream house next door to Gemma.
- Become mediumly rich.
- Learn to draw hands better.
- Become an excellent seamstress.
- Die at a good time, when I’m sleeping.
- Go on shopping sprees in New York, London, Paris, Madrid, and Tokyo.
- Go to Venice with my husband.
- Make a room entirely out of candy with a floor made out of jelly and marshmallow and then have a candy party.
- Publish at least one book.
- Become a book editor/author/fashion designer/artist/jewelry maker/seller of stuff.
My high school—done.
I did go to McGill! But I switched out of English literature after second year and studied politics and economics instead.
I think this was some sort of publishing program, and I was inspired because my teacher said her friend did it and “walked right into a job in book editing.” However, I no longer feel the need to do this one.
I used to want to be a fashion designer (among other things). My dad discouraged this, and when I asked why, he said because all fashion designers are weird. (Something like they have skewed priorities and don’t know how to relate to normal people.) I have come to agree with him.
I was really into art as a kid. I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to this one.
Or this.
Or this. I still like making jewelry, but not as much as I used to—and that’s okay.
I’ve sold a few pieces of jewelry and miscellaneous hand-sewn items, so I’m going to count this one as done.
Well, that ship has sailed. Lol. #foreveralone
Still possible, and I still want kids… but now I think it’s unlikely to happen exactly as planned 😛
My aunt had a house in the beaches at the time and my sister Gemma and I thought it was the coolest place ever. For now, though, I’d rather keep traveling.
Still working on it.
I’m not as into drawing anymore, but I did learn to draw hands better, so I’m going to consider this one done. Drawing the Head and Hands by Andrew Loomis was really helpful.
Not done; my sewing is merely adequate. But again, I’ve decided I’d rather pay someone else to do this than put in the time to do it myself.
Curious that I thought to place this in the middle of the list, and not the end, but then I did say “in no particular order.”
Aside from Madrid, I have actually bought clothing items in every one of these places! But I’m not sure why this was so important to me. Maybe because I was obsessed with Trinny and Susannah at the time, and they were always talking about their glamorous shopping spree locations? Anyway, I’m pleased to say that I’ve recovered from my burgeoning shopaholism and now actively avoid “sprees.”
My parents took my siblings and me to Venice when I was a teenager, and now I don’t feel much need to go back. I’ll call that close enough.
Still a priority, obviously—see 3 things I wish existed—but I fear I may never achieve this one.
Working on it.
Somewhat done (I have edited a few books), somewhat no longer concerned (fashion and jewelry design, owning a boutique), mostly still working on it (editing, writing and art). Overall, I’d say pretty close!
Bonus
Another page from this journal: an early version of ugly clothes with funny captions.
I cut this out of a magazine (I’m pretty sure it was Town and Country) because I was so offended that anyone would consider $128 a “bargain.” I believe I thought an appropriate price for a watch was $15.
Plus, I thought this looked exactly like a bracelet I had made in my elementary school’s after-4 arts-and-crafts program by stringing beads onto safety pins, as in the tutorial below.
Can’t tidy up? Try changing your life first
I’ve recently taken up the KonMari tidying method. This is my third attempt at following Marie Kondo’s system, and this time I’m finally getting it!
A question about randomness
Weather is caused by a bunch of molecules. Since we don’t know exactly how the molecules will behave, weather forecasters make lots of models and then look at the average. That’s why they say things like “There’s a 70% chance of rain”—perhaps they’ve made 100 models, and it rained in 70 of them. (As described by Nate Silver in The Signal and the Noise.)
If we knew exactly what each molecule was, though, we could predict the weather with perfect accuracy.
Now, consider the extent to which the course of your life is determined by prior causes.