So the girl who's apartment I'm subletting left a few books here, and I've been slowly reading a bunch of them. I've finished all the novels that look interesting (and are in English), so yesterday I picked up
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (no laughing). I'm pretty sure my mom bought me this book when I was 12 - although it was called
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers or something. Anyway, it was strange reading the first few chapters, because it almost felt like I wrote that book. It's mirroring all of my own recent personal revelations about choice and about choosing how life events affect you, being happy in the now not
if and
when certain things happen, and being proactive. Anyway, this is all sounding very cheesy, but I was just surprised by the similarity.
One of the things that particularly struck me yesterday while reading this book, was a small paragraph on love and how people say they "fall out of love" with their spouse. Love, for a lot of people, is a feeling. But it's really an action, and that feeling of love we get is a direct result of love the action. Love is a value that is actualized through loving actions - sacrifices, giving of self, touch, listening, quality time, etc. Therefore, love, the feeling, can be recaptured, all it requires is effort and action. Just like everything in life, really.
ANYWAY. Interesting. Maybe this is my mind telling me I need to go back to school and study some more Psychology. Masters, anyone?? Or, marriage counselor??? Hah.
And onto some more normal blog post stuff: this week was St Jean-Baptiste day, which I didn't exactly celebrate. It was a super hot day so I ended up trekking to the West Island (which took 2.5 hours with metro + 2 busses) and spending the entire afternoon by Nick's pool. I also saw Transformers 2 (lame), ate Lebanese food for the first time (yum), went to the casino and bet on the horsies (lost), learned French, went to some bars, and oh yeah, worked a little. Hehe. In one week Laurel comes to visit me!!! And tomorrow I start Photography classes.
And now it's time to make some dinner.
Labels: montreal, summer, thoughts
All I have to say is wow. Wow. It is smoking hot outside, and therefore also in my apartment. My thermostat is reading 31 degrees inside, and the weather network is saying outside feels like 37. I have not been in heat like this probably since New York City two summers ago. I'm trying to keep cool by blasting my fan, drinking lots of ice cold water, and opening up all my doors and windows (although I don't know if that's actually counter-productive).
It's been a while! Lots has been going on, which is why I haven't had time to update. Most notably was that my cousin was here to visit for the past week-ish and we spent every day out and about, seeing the sights and being tourists! I felt like I hadn't actually done a lot of the tourist things in this city; it's weird how when you actually live somewhere, you just don't do those things because you're too busy with the daily grind!!
There is no daily grind for me though, living in Montreal. I'm setting my own hours that I work and enjoying every single minute of every day! Yesterday was a holiday - St Jean-Baptiste - and I spent it lounging by a pool. Life doesn't get much better than that!
I have almost been living here for 2 months, and all I have to say is the time is flying! Soon it will be July, and I'll have Laurel and my mom as visitors. My photography classes are starting next week, and that will soon occupy me for Monday and Wednesday nights.
To finish with a photo. This is my cousin and I in the Jardin Botanique.
Labels: summer
This is me right now. It's 23 degrees and I'm sitting on my balcony, using my wireless internet and writing a blog post. Oh, and drinking a Starbucks misto. Correction,
Cafe Starbucks. Life is feeling pretty good right now. I'm having a lazy Saturday, and I think *knock on wood* that this is finally the real beginning of summer. Random thoughts that are cruising through my noggin:
- a guy just walked by wearing
hot pink skinny jeans. Yes, he was definitely a guy. And they were definitely bright
fuschia. Wow. (He just walked by again! I tried to take a pic with my camera, which is conveniently sitting right beside me, but I was too slow! Damn!!)
- there is a freakin lot of puff-ball things floating through this French air lately.
- I had my first MTL Blizzard last night! Yes, this is document-worthy, because it had been over a month and a half since I'd had one - AND the DQ is a 10 step walk from my apt.
- to continue with ice cream for a second, last night while in McDonalds at retarded-o'clock, I noticed that they sell Coffee Crisp McFlurries. Coffee Crisps are my favourite choc bar, and I've been hoping DQ would get their act together and make one, but... now I know where my next ice cream fix is coming from.
- tonight I'm going to check out
Nuit Blanche and then to see the first night of the fireworks competition. Apparently the city closes down the Jacques Cartier Bridge and people hang out there to watch them. And I'm going with some girls I don't yet know... it's all weirdly like a pseudo-blind date. But not. Haha.
Labels: i should just make a tag for ice cream, photos, random
Chop chop
So I thought what better way to start fresh than to cut off my hair? (I've never had my hair this short before, and I gotta say it's pretty fun so far.)
Labels: random
I had another photo shoot yesterday, this time it was with Nick's boss, and we had such a fun time!! (And I also got paid to do it!) These are a couple of my favourite images. And look! No black and white to be found (at least, not here)! Have I mentioned that I reeeeally want a new lens?? :P
Labels: photography
I don't want to sugar-coat my time so far in Montreal. Because certainly every day hasn't been sunshine and roses. In fact, most of May was a bit of a roller coaster ride of emotions for me. I try to stay positive most of the time, but during the last few weeks I felt very lonely, depressed, debilitated. Being alone felt isolating, when usually I'm okay to be by myself. I craved something familiar, some company. I was happy when hanging out with people I knew, but other times I withdrew into myself and felt like nothing was working out. Of course I didn't really tell anyone about what I was going through, I mean, I knew leaving my comfort circle was going to be hard. But last week when I was Skyping with my parents and a good friend, I felt as if I could cry.
It's amazing how much thinking you can do when you're in a new city and have a lot of time to yourself. Thinking and writing. And after much thinking and writing, I realised a lot of things. I realised that I was searching for happiness and acceptance outside myself, from other people. I realised I was clinging to the familiarity of the past and it was preventing me from moving forward. From attaining real happiness. I saw how I kept repeating the same cycles. Over and over again for the past eight years.
And then I realised how I could stop the cycle and make a change. It was all so clear, clearer then ever before, when maybe I wasn't ready or the change wasn't truly initiated by me. I saw that all I had to do was make a choice to let it go. Make the choice to be happy. I realised that life is all about choices (seems so simple, I know). I choose a million things every day, such as to eat healthy over eating Blizzards every day, even though I want to. I choose to go the the gym, how to wear my hair, what time to get up in the morning. I can also choose who I am and how I want to live my life. And I choose to be happy and loving and live in the now, here in this new and vibrant city. I choose to let go and to break old cycles.
Since my revelation, I have never felt more at ease with myself. So calm and genuinely contented with my place in life. I now feel calm and confident being alone. I've let go of the panic. I know that I'm in control of my life and I know that it will be fan-fucking-tastic.
And it's amazing how your own happiness attracts good things and opportunities into your life. I can't believe how much has changed, even in the last week. I'm persuing my love of photography through various photoshoots, I have a sort-of job, I'm meeting new people, I'm taking French classes, I'm regularly going to the gym.
Maybe I should also write a self-help book. I think this entry was pretty close to one. Haha.
Labels: life, thoughts
Just a few photos from a photoshoot I did with Nick last week. Last one is my fav. Did you know that I totally adore black and white? Well, now you do.
Things are slowly starting to fall into place... even the weather, which is now sunny and warm. Feeling good. :)
Labels: photography
Tonight I met the old Greek lady who lives on the floor below me. I was coming home after my French class and her apartment door was open. She intercepted me and asked if I would go downstairs and get her mail for her because her knee was sore and she couldn't make it down the stairs. I dropped my bags off, brought my laundry down to the basement and got her mail. When I brought it back to her door, she presented me with a banana as thanks. "Don't worry!" she said seriously, gesturing to the banana, "Don't make you fat!" I laughed, and she told me about her grandchildren and how she's been living in the building for 25 years. She was very chatty and very sweet and now I have an extra banana in my fruit bowl.
That is the second time that a random person has offered me fruit in this city. First it was an apple from a guy in the park, now it's a banana from a Greek lady.
Things are happening. I'm making some changes. And I'm feeling calm and refreshed.
Labels: apartment
