Tag: happiness

Categories
Life

5 Self-Care Rituals to Get you Through the Holidays

The holidays can be a stressful time of year; there are parties to go to, nails and hair to get done, dresses to buy, presents to find, and still our regular day-to-day activities to do. That’s a lot in just a short month. Why do we do this to our self each and every year? If you haven’t yet learned how to say no to all those parties and get-togethers (it’s so much harder than you think!), then taking time for yourself will help you not lose your damn mind.

Meditate
Yes, this is on my list and everyone else’s self-care list and everything wonderful you can do by yourself because IT WORKS. I have high anxiety (have you noticed?) and severe migraines and just the simple act of breathing helps. But, sitting there and just breathing isn’t going to work.

Find a comfortable spot to sit so you’re either cross-legged (like on a yoga mat. If you have tight hips like I do, use a blanket, block, or bolster to get your hips off the ground and for a better feel) or sitting in a chair with your feet flat on the ground.

Put your palms face down on either of your knees.

Close your eyes and focus only on yourself.

Breathe in through your nostrils, letting your whole body fill with air. Breathe in deeply and slowly so that your stomach, chest and ribs expand to let in your breath.

Breathe out through your nostrils slowly, paying attention to how your chest will fall first, then your stomach.

Focus on your body filling with air, expanding and contracting as you let your breath out.

If you are having trouble focusing on your breath and need a little something extra to quiet your mind (believe me, it’s hard!), focus on a glowing orb in your body. As you breathe in, it travels up from your belly, up your spine and to your head. As you breathe out, it will travel down from your head to your chest, then your belly, again, completing a full circle.

Don’t worry if you can’t sit and focus only on your breathing. Some days are harder than others and it’s hard to focus inwards on your first try. Either set a timer to break you out of your meditation (go for a light alarm instead of the usual blasting one that gets you out of bed in the mornings) or breathe until you feel content, light, and relaxed.

Mask it Up
You’re stressed. So your skin is probably pissed at you and acting out in ways you thought were over when you were 16. This one works two-fold in self-care. You’re going to get the benefits of your face mask AND the benefits of sitting still and relaxing as you let that beautiful clay sink into your skin. Double up your relaxation by adding that mask to your face when you’re in a bath. I’ve been taking baths 2-3x a week, now, instead of showers and I’m feeling so good. It gives me 20 minutes by myself (before my daughter comes screaming in demanding her bath), I add Epsom salts for my muscles and migraines, and read.

Read
Before you go thinking this is a dumb way to self-care, hear me out! When was the last time you picked up a book and read it just for fun? Some of you are probably saying ‘duh, like every day’ while a lot of you are failing to make eye contact. Guaranteed you’re either working your butt off to shatter those glass ceilings, making sure your house doesn’t fall apart, watching Netflix, or scrolling through your phone. None of those things are at ALL relaxing. Hello, have we heard of this fucked up thing called blue-light? Listen, ever since I started my evening routine, I’ve started feeling way more relaxed and calm, letting me fall asleep earlier, faster and better. What’s a major part of that evening routine? Reading!

Grab a book and start reading. It’ll make you sit down and concentrate on only ONE THING, the book in front of you. If you’re finding that you’re re-reading sentences more than once and not understanding what’s going on (free pass if you’re reading Tolstoy…does anyone ever know what’s going on there?), head on back up to the first tip and grab a meditation session to clear your head.

Take 5 Minutes
Just five minutes! That’s barely any time at all! Take those five minutes, whenever you feel the most need for them. Whether it’s sitting and enjoying your coffee in the morning, instead of chugging it down, reading an article you normally wouldn’t indulge in, a really quick yoga practice, or simply just calling someone you love (although, this could end up being way more than 5 minutes). Take the 5 minutes to indulge in yourself.

Walk or Exercise
Yeah, I know it’s cold out and it’s not the time to go gallivanting in a forest (except it’s so beautiful!). But! Getting outside into that fresh air will make you feel so much better about everything around you. Simply going for a walk around the block, out into your yard, or for a full day’s hike in nature will set you back to that feeling of quiet content. Often, just standing on my deck and taking in a few big, deep, mindful breaths gets me feeling right again.

Categories
TV & Books

Why Hallmark Christmas Movies are the Best

Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com

There’s just something about a Hallmark Christmas movie that makes my heart melt. Yes, the writing is awkward. Yes, it’s incredibly cheesey. Yes, it’s completely hard to believe that people are lounging in their homes with the cutest outfits on and not in old pajama pants and a T-shirt that has seen better days. But, Hallmark Christmas movies are some of my absolute favourite movies.

When there are so many movies that are trying too hard, Hallmark is what it is. There is no trying to impress, no pretentious feeling plot, no stop and think moments. They’re there to get you into the Christmas spirit, to lift you up from a bad day, or a bad week, to bring you and your friends together for some wine and hot chocolate and snuggly nights spent on the couch watching movies that feel good. And, if you feel bad about watching them, give my article on why you shouldn’t a read.

Every Hallmark Christmas movie has a happy ending. While most movies have some sort of happy ending, Hallmark Christmas movies are always the happiest. They get what they always wanted, or never knew they wanted, and suddenly everything falls into place. Is this what happens in real life? No. That’s why it’s a movie. That’s why they’re so beloved and watched by so many. We need happy endings (pardon the double entendre) in our lives because life doesn’t have a magical happy ending.

Life isn’t fixed when you fall in love. It isn’t fixed when you move to a small, beautiful, wintery small town. It isn’t fixed when you quit your job to explore your passions. In a Hallmark Christmas movie, it is. It gives you hope for what can be, even though, deep down, you know it won’t work out that way. At least, not right away.

While some may look to Hallmark Christmas movies as bullshit that leads us further down the path away from feminism, I call bullshit on that excuse. They’re wholesome movies in a way that grown-ups, mostly grown women, can relate to. We all yearn to be happy and loved and feel safe. That may look different for everyone, but it’s safe to say that people want those three things. Hallmark Christmas movies give you those things. They make you feel happy, loved, and safe, even as you’re rolling your eyes at how the two characters just happen to fall into one another’s arms while baking cookies.

They’re the fairytale endings that we aren’t supposed to like and strive for because we are strong, independent women. But, doesn’t everyone strive for a fairytale ending? That ending may include a killer career and independence, but it may also include someone who loves and cares for you (hetero or otherwise), even if that includes friends who turn into family or family that turns into friends. It can also just mean falling in love and living happily ever after, because in a world that should be equal and feminist, it’s okay to want those things, too.

Fairytale endings aren’t real life, so why not escape for a couple of hours where everyone gets that fairytale ending, that perfect life, the white picket fence without the Stepford vibes. Get off your high horse and grab a peppermint hot chocolate and indulge your inner princess (or prince).

Categories
travel

My Kinda Paris

I talk about Paris A Lot. I think about Paris even more. 

There’s a lot that’s associated with the city and me. It was the first place I went to on a really big trip away from my parents, my friends, my country. It was where I met my high school boyfriend that led into University, and later, our separate ways. It’s where I always seem to be around when there’s some sort of protest going on. Although, it is Paris, so there is always some sort of protest going on. After visiting a handful of times, it’s a place where it feels like home. Where I know my favourite restaurants, streets, and shops. It’s the feeling I get as soon as I land in the airport, like all of the weight of my stresses melt away. 

A lot has changed in the city I first visited and a lot has changed with me. That first time, we stayed in the raunchiest part of Paris in a tiny hotel that looked like how mould would feel. The elevator was so small that we had to send our luggage up without anyone and meet it on the floor above. Don’t worry, this hasn’t changed. But, to a 16 year old who hadn’t left North America yet? It was crazy to think about. The stairs were so narrow that there was no way we could lug our giant suitcases down. But, we sure tried. It’s one of the things I remember most about our stay: trying our hardest to carry our suitcases down the tiny stairs while making sure we didn’t miss the bus.

The rooms were so tiny that, when I hit my friend’s foot in the middle of the night, she, not knowing how to tell time on a 24-hour clock, thought it was time to get up and get ready for the day, confusing us both in the process. Seeing a friend of yours brush their teeth and put on deodorant in the middle of the night doesn’t automatically make a 16 year old think that your friend is confused, it makes you wonder if you should be doing the same thing and if you’re gross for not doing it. Sometimes, the thoughts of a teenager are a little strange. Or, maybe it was just me as a teenager. 

I remember thinking how awful this place is and I couldn’t fathom loving it. It was just another city I could visit and tick off my list. I can still see the one homeless man in the street, rows of empty Heinekens beside him as they puke up one still going down. I can still see that guy bathing in the fountain, not a care in the world about who is watching. It was my first time witnessing something so bold, so disgusting being done in broad daylight without a thought about covering it up. It sticks with me even to this day when I’ve seen far worse.

But then I also saw the architecture, the beauty in the streets mixed with the putrid air of urine that has always been a problem in Paris, filling the cavernous tube of the Metro, and your nostrils. The dirty, dusty streets call to me with their charms, both hidden and boasting. Now, the raunchiest neighbourhood, the lower-class Red Light District where you can get a hooker for cheap, is my favourite. While I absolutely love and adore Saint Germain des Pres, it’s in the 2nd arrondisement, the textile district, that holds my heart. 

It’s filled with history, of greats once visited, of delicious restaurants, and is adjacent to the famous marketplace: Les Halles. The ladies? You get used to them, lined up in a row in front of the Sephora; the younger ones in yoga pants in doorways along the walk to the Metro, alone and working constantly, the groups taking precedent in front of the stairs leading down to the Metro, their legwear and boots always on point. And, the older ones, walking about in their furs and their gloves, whom I like to affectionately think of as the matriarchs of the 2nd. They’re there to remind you that Paris isn’t just Instagram shots of your latte or cappuccino. It’s the grimy, seedy history that is still strutting about.

I used to dream of Saint Germain, heading to Deux Magots every single day, ready to be like Hemingway, like the greats before us all. But, art and life isn’t like that. You have to find your Deux Magots, your own place to sit and contemplate and drink and laugh. Sure, I still visit the café and bar every trip, but I’ve my own kind of place. It may not be a place for whiskeys and late night chats, but late nights have never truly been my thing. Early mornings and contemplative afternoons, that’s where my money lies. 

So, I wake early, head out of my apartment or hotel and take the quick metro over to the Tuileries. It’s my home away from home, where I truly feel at peace. Those green metal chairs call to me as I sip on my café au lait not from one of the cafés dotting the park, but taken from home or from a Starbucks I had to go out of my way for. My favourite time is before any of the cafés open, before anyone has settled in for the day, before the tourists have arrived or have even started lining up at the Louvre or L’Orangerie.
My greatest treasure about being in Paris? I’ve already done it all; I’ve taken in the tourist attractions, waited in the lines, and now I can relax and take in the city’s true self.

Categories
Life

Before you Reach for Those Greener Pastures, Make Sure They’re Actually Greener

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There’s been a sudden shift in the way people are viewing housing and lifestyles. We seem to be either going completely urban, easy to walk to everything, no need for a car, tons of nightlife, or we go the complete opposite and leave for bigger skies. A mad exodus from clogged up cities for small town living and country skies. You know, living the simple life. Which Paris and Nicole taught us isn’t so simple.

For me, it has been that simple. I love it. I love that people are waking up sleepy towns and making them thrive again, but is it actually right for them? For you?

It’s always the small town that wins over the heroine or hero in romance novels or blessedly typical Hallmark Christmas movies. The city is portrayed as the villain, the busyness of life worse than death. The picturesque towns look inviting and like it would win you over thousands of followers on Instagram in seconds, but there is a reason why people leave them for the city.

Living outside of the city comes with way less of those conveniences city life will have you accustomed to. It means no delivery, no app ordering, limited internet (until Elon Musk changes it all), and quiet — very quiet — nights.

For some, this sounds like a blissful oasis that they get to call their home. I’m that some. But, it was a huge adjustment to go from just picking up a little something on the way home to realizing that there arne’t too many options close by and I have to — gasp! — actually eat what’s in my fridge.

Country living, or even suburban living, isn’t for everyone. It takes a while to get home, there’s a lot less to do right around the corner. The lots are bigger, which means yay the lots are bigger! But, also means boo that’s more work.

No, buses dont run through (but they really should).

No, you won’t have a great grocery store, or one to begin with. It also means you won’t have a fancy cheese shop, a bakery (but plenty of old ladies who will be willing to teach you how to bake!), or a nice wine store.

Yeah, there may only be one bar and only a couple of restaurants.

Yeah, it may take you 5 minutes to drive through main street of town — and that’s hitting all the lights.

If that sounds like a nightmare, why move? Small town living has been romanticized, but it’s still the same as it always was. Boring, quiet, gossip-filled. That’s not going to change, even if people leave the city in droves for an idyllic life set amongst rolling hills and grazing cattle.

If you love open spaces, tractor meet-ups and jams, and crave slow mornings without Costco parking lots, small town living may be for you.

If you don’t care about clubbing or fancy restaurants or much of entertainment than the old dive bar and maybe a movie theater, if your town is big enough, then small town living may be for you.

But, if you’re going to miss these things, miss them from your regular weekend nights (taking the pandemic out of the equation), then why move? Why leave the things that make you most happy?

Maybe, instead of moving and looking for that simpler life, why not strive to live a simpler life where you still enjoy things? You can go simple by making changes to your life inside the city. You can get back in touch with nature with a garden, even if it’s small and hanging off a balcony or a windowsill. You can learn how to bake and cook, and go ‘old school’ with your way of thinking. You can take the things you like about country living, which might be the slow living bit, and do that from where you are. Live a little simpler, live a little slower, enjoy the little things. Make your life what you want it; you can do this without uprooting your whole life. Because that may not be the best option for you.

The same goes for jobs. We keep changing and switching things up, looking for better places that fit our needs, and that’s great. We should be trying to find the right fit for ourselves, we should be paid what we deserve to be, but what if that greener grass is more of a browny green? What if it’s filled with weeds and is kind of thorny? What if it looks good on paper and seemed great when you first went in and now it’s starting to feel a bit…blah? Are you still looking for even greener grass? Are you looking for that perfect, over-use of chemical golf-course green?

We keep pushing for things to be perfect, looking for that perfect work-life balance that we aren’t thinking about how to make it happen in our own worlds. Maybe living a simpler life is best before moving you and your whole family outside of the city. Maybe staying at the same job can still work if you asked for a raise or broach the subject of working from home. Maybe it won’t. But, it’s better to try living the life you want, where you are right now, before you reach for something that you’ve romanticized into a fairytale.

Why are we always chasing better things? Are they actually better? To some, of course they are. Just like to me living outside the city is much better than living inside, for a lot of people who move outside of the city for that ‘country living’ hate it. Because it’s not like the movies, it’s not like you would expect it to be. Everything isn’t necessarily better, it’s just different, and that’s what makes it better for some and worse for others.

Better for a lot of people means more bike paths and walking paths. While others would rather have roads fixed so that their drive isn’t a bumpy mess. I guess it’s why we don’t get to decide, exactly, where our money goes when we pay taxes. I would want to pay for different things than my friends and neighbours would want to pay for and they would want to pay for different things than their friends and neighbours would want to pay for. We’d never get anything done because we would be arguing too much about it, allocating too small amounts of money to each issue.

Moving to another city may be the perfect change for you; you may have gotten a better job, you may like the vibe much more, you may have better access to community events. It could also mean it won’t be good. And, that’s okay. People’s lives look different from one another’s, people’s interests are different from one another’s. We don’t all have to be chasing greener pastures; we can just sit here and realize that we, probably, have it pretty damn good where we are.

Categories
Life

Giving up on Gardening Means Giving up on Myself

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The last few years out in the garden have been rough. We’ve been experiencing a drought and with that comes many, many grasshoppers. I’ve had small sink holes open up in my garden from too dry dirt. I’ve had harsh rains, coming in bursts and then not again for days or weeks, spattering seeds out of their little soil homes. I’ve had those damn grasshoppers eat anything that I was feeling proud of, anything that withstood the harsh realities that is now the world.

Right now, my attention has been torn from the screen to my yard as I watch hundreds of black birds swirl around to land on the ground and eat all of the bugs that have plagued this garden for years. I am thankful for them as they munch, having a little feast. Only days before I was ready to spray my yard with every known chemical and then light it on fire just to make sure the grasshoppers would be gone.

Of course, that wouldn’t truly work. At least, not in the long run. If it did, we wouldn’t have pesticide resistant bugs out there ruining the landscape. Also, I’d kill all of the good bugs and birds and animals that I want to hang out in my yard. The ones that make an entire ecosystem and keep everything running, even the annoying ones.

Every year I’ve thought about just scrapping the garden altogether, and not worrying about such a pain in my ass. And, every year it feels like I’m losing a part of myself.

Throughout the years of gardening, I’ve become more attuned to the natural world, feeling the temperature and weather changes as my soil, my plants, and the animals react. Pressure changes have always brought about migraines for me, but now I feel connected to the world around me. I want to add more to my yard, not take things away. I want to feel even more connected every time I walk outside.

So, I’ve begun making my yard a thing of an oasis. I’m focusing on practices that actually help, both my yard, and myself. A pond for waterfowl to come play and splash around. The sound of frogs and toads singing in the night lulls me to sleep, as does the knowledge that these guys love to eat grasshoppers and will be munching away. My stress eases as I know that nature is taking care of me.

Trees, planted, carefully watered, some causing tears when they don’t make it through the winter or the hot summer months, provide shade and a place to play for myself, animals, and my daughter. I feel their giving warmth, yet coolness, in protecting us.

A meadow, trying its best, some parts flourishing, through the harsh conditions that have been dealt, giving beauty when there isn’t much to be found elsewhere. Bright blooms pop out of the dry earth when nothing else will.

I remind myself that this already exists and that animals, and insects flock here. I have two ducks I eagerly await to splash land into my pond every spring, and worry along with them when they lay their eggs, hoping they won’t get eaten by any predators. Geese love to chat in the yard, in the pond, on the roof. Owls screech or hoot in the trees. Hawks take watch, perched on hydro poles or tree tops. It’s all here, but the extras, the veggies and flowers, may need a little tweaking to bring back to the yields and harvests I’m used to. That the world is used to.

Changing my planting habits, reminds me to pivot in life. That, when something doesn’t work out a time or two, maybe it’s time to try something new. And, that’s okay. Plants are more resilient than we give them credit. While they won’t all make it in their normal habitats or planted in the same old ways, they can adapt and change and sprout when you least expect them to.

Mushrooms, those beauties that have made my body feel better, connect the entire world together. We’re only just realizing the greatness that they hold. They’ve yet to enter my garden on a permanent basis, but I can’t wait to welcome them with open arms.

While I’ve been toying with the idea of relaxing in the summer instead of worrying, stressing, and working, it won’t happen. Even as I tell myself, every fall, that I don’t need to plant as much next year, I know come January when I order seeds, I won’t be listening to that voice. I can’t. I can’t let a part of me go so easily, a part of me that grows with nature and the world around us. A part of me that grows every year as my little seeds start to sprout and take form. Because, without a garden, I’ll lose a part of myself.

Categories
Life

How Complete and Utter Boredom Led me to Cut Down on Technology in Life

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I am bored. Bored with my hair. Bored with my decor. Bored with my writing. Bored with my friends and family and life and general happiness. I’m not sure why. But, I’ve begun to see a pattern as to when I start feeling this way, when the boredom and apathy starts taking over and it’s brought me to this new jumping off point. Which is a great place to start if you’re feeling bored because a jumping off point, no matter the height, is exciting.

This isn’t one of my usual posting days, but I’m starting a new experiment with myself, I wanted to post it when I started it (honestly, I should’ve posted it last night when I started rambling, but I figured some coherent sentences would be great). Lately, I’ve been feeling bored with everything around me and it’s been making me an angrier person than I already am. It took me a while to realize why, and I may still be wrong, but I’ve stopped caring about the world around me because I feel like I don’t need it.

Because, I don’t. Not in the way that I need trees and the eco-system to sustain itself so I can breathe and live, but in the way that I can alter my own eco-system and ignore the rest. If I have my phone, my social media connections and distractions, it doesn’t matter what’s going on around me, I’m carving out my own little world, my own little eco-system.

This, besides being a terrifying scene from a futuristic movie about robots taking over the world, is frightening in a whole new way. I’ve always tried my best to ignore all things internet and computer related, and nod along whenever people talk of Facebook making them feel less, making them feel sad, making them feel anxious. But, with the simplicity of acquiring new information and watching the best shows — right on my phone — I’ve forgotten my scorn for social media and the like, I’ve dove right in and lost myself in the process.

A few weeks ago, I was in Australia visiting my friend. There were 5 of us staying together, visiting and happy to see one another after months apart. Except, one night I noticed that we were all just sitting around on our phones. I noticed this because I hadn’t brought mine out yet, assuming we would be spending time together before we were apart. Now, we had been spending a lot of time together and some mindless scrolling is helpful when you’re constantly with people. I love to retire to my room to read even for 10 minutes during a busy cabin weekend. I even love to just sit in the bathroom for a minute or two if a party is particularly large and exciting/over stimulating. But, all I could see were people watching useless videos online instead of interacting with one another.

This happens all the time because we are constantly connected to our phones. Yes, I’m one of those people. I’ll stop to take some photos for instagram, sometimes posting that minute, but I physically try to keep my phone away so I can interact with the world around me.

At least, I used to.

I’ve slowly become so dependent on my phone, on being constantly entertained, on watching the next thing on Netflix that I’ve halted my ability to do anything but be told what to do from my phone. Reading is a chore. Going outside is exhausting. Yoga, meditation, general exercise is too much. This is all extreme, but it’s how I’ve been the last few weeks. I’ve been bored because I’ve been overstimulated with the screen in front of me. At least, that’s my assumption.

I’ve ignored reality and my surroundings, choosing to scroll through social media when bored rather than getting creative, exercising, or just giving into the boredom and seeing where it takes my mind. I talked about the stressors of living without the internet, but also about the absolute freedom and relief that comes from not being so attached here. I should know better, and yet, I keep getting pulled back in.

A startling discovery was when I didn’t want to watch anything on Netflix, but felt that I had to, that there wasn’t much else to do besides spend time on my phone. I was literally just wasting away hours until bed when I could’ve been doing so many more productive things, things that I love to do.

So, my new experiment is this: limited internet and phone usage. Earth-shattering goals, I know. While I cannot completely cut out my computer/tablet/phone from my life as it is part of my work, I can pump the brakes on it. I have my own routine to calm and destress me, one that I adhere to every night, but I’m taking it a step further. Maybe it’s not the only thing I need, but I’ve become so dissociated with life that I can’t ignore it any longer.

It’s time to use my phone/tablet/compute more wisely. It’s time to read more insightful articles both online and off. It’s time to waste an entire afternoon curled up on the couch with a good book and hot beverage instead of wondering if anyone posted on Instagram. It’s time to take my life back and integrate myself back into reality. And, if I get bored, the good kind of bored that lets your mind wander and day-dream, so be it.

Categories
Nature

Finding Happiness in Forest Bathing

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A fall trip to the lake is my favourite time of the year. Sure, floating in the water while the sun warms you into a crisp, then napping the afternoon away while a fan blows is a wonderful weekend spent, but it’s hard to feel connected to nature during those months. You’re hot, sticky, worrying about spending as much time in the water as possible, worried about wasting away the summer days. Yes, bathing in the lake while baby loons played about me has been a highlight in my life, and I felt so close to the original world around me, but that’s not the everyday. I’m not a Disney Princess with a passel of animals ready to make me laugh and serve me. Wouldn’t that be amazing, though? What I’m trying to say here is that summer is great, but in the fall, nature brings out her most colourful, crisp, cozy, happiness.

In the fall, my priorities change. It’s not the water I’m seeking, but the closeness of the trees. I want to feel wrapped in their embrace, I want to hear the birds and squirrels making noise, playing, and singing, and jostling about.
I need to ground myself in the Earth. I need to feel that quietness deep into my soul. With less people milling about, it’s easier to sit in silence, listening to the birds chirp while a hot mug of coffee warms your hands. It’s easier to listen to the trees talk, the rustling of their leaves providing the perfect background noise. This is when I feel most relaxed, most at home here in the middle of the woods.

I don’t need to read any studies on why Forest bathing is so good for you. I can feel it inside myself when I take a walk through the woods. When I sit and just listen. Even while sitting in a man-made structure, snuggled under a blanket, just smelling the Earth, the leaves, listening to water lap at the shore while trees whisper, I feel it. I feel the benefits before I’m fully immersed in it. I feel my body relax, my mind let go of everything. I breathe deeper, I smile more, I feel absolutely and wonderfully content. While for me, complete happiness is open fields and prairie skies, for a lot of people it’s the hustle and bustle of city life. I’m sure if you plopped them down in a forest, made them comfortable (to whatever that comfort is to them), they’d feel the same. Dropping the phone, breathing in, and connecting with the world in which we try so hard to run away from.

There’s a spot in the cabin, the breezeway, that I call my home. There’s one wicker chair, an old log used as a foot stool, and my complete happiness there. Curling up with a good book or magazine and my coffee is my favourite part of the time spent here. I look forward to it before we leave, I think about it before I go to bed, snuggling under the blanket while the quiet radiates through the air.

But, my chair faces away from the water, the magnificent lake views that the whole cabin revolves around. Instead, it points towards the trees, the small path that leads to the road. It is there, in that view, that I find the most comfort, where I feel most at home.