Hitchens

"That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence."

— Christopher Hitchens

Don't just do something

A very wise woman once said to me "Don't just do something; sit there."

It is often said that we need to take time to do things for ourselves. Sometimes this means walking the dog, taking a bath, painting our nails, playing video games, working out or whatever it is that you do for you. Taking time to do something for yourself is a great way to relax. The 'problem' with doing something for yourself is that you're still doing something. People get so busy being busy that we don't spend time where we simply aren't occupied.

So how about this, how about we take time to simply exist. To be. Just be. Go outside, or to your living room, or to your bathroom or wherever you need to go. Don't journal, don't draw a bath, don't turn on the radio, just sit there and exist. I find one of the most lovely things is to just feel my body exist. The way the air moves through my lungs; feeling my heart gently beat the oxygenated blood through my ever complex circulatory system, delivering the necessary elements for life to each and every cell in my body.

If you are outside, the sun will gently warm your skin or you may feel the rain. You might get caught up in yourself, and that's ok. Getting to know yourself is a really awesome and wonderful process. When you get to know other people you have to take them exactly as they are. When you are getting to know yourself if there is something you don't like you have the power to grow into the person you want to be.

Nautical Athletics

Last Saturday I participated in a glorious nautical sport with 4 other very talented ladies. Our team, "Right Meow", was given stiff competition, but we managed to pull through for the win (although in the end everyone is a winner when it comes to BOAT racing).

I would like to give a shout out to my Nana and Grandad for their continual support in my athletic endeavors.

Soup and the gym?

So I just got home from the gym and had some hearty spiced lentil soup. Both of those things are reflections of a few goals I have for the term (September to December).

Goal 1: Follow the Mediterranean food pyramid, which means eating very little meat, especially red meat. I plan to cut out pork and beef all together, eat chicken rarely and fish occasionally.

As a side note, the Mediterranean food pyramid has an entire layer for olive oil; this fact jives with the way I cook very well. By following this eating style I hope to be consuming lots of fruits, veggies and plant proteins.

Goal 2: Work out three times a week for strength training and four times a week for cardio training.

This goal essentially gives me something weekly to achieve, and in the long term will improve my body composition and overall health.

Goal 3: Learn very basic Japanese and French through reading, listening to music and in the case of Japanese writing the basic alphabet. I want to learn these languages to increase my travel opportunities. By the end of the term I would like to be able to ask basic tourist questions in each language.

Ok, so the soup and gym do not really reflect on the languages. I suppose next time I will have itchiban soup or french onion to lead into my goals. However, there they are and now that I have 'published' them not only am I accountable to anyone who reads this, but I also know that I have support.

All of that being said, if you have any cool vegetarian recipes, work out tips or language learning secrets I would love to hear them!

Cheers <3

First!

So my mom thought it would be a cool idea to start a blog. Sometimes my mom is right about stuff (taking a sweater, wearing sunblock, not eating yellow snow etc.) so I think I will give this a shot.

I am in my third week of work for this term at the University of Guelph. My position is Youth Outreach Officer. This position includes going to high schools and elementary schools and giving talks about science, engineering and technology, as well as doing a hands on demo. I am really excited for this position because it will give me classroom and teachingexperience. Right now I want to get my B.Ed. after I finish my engineering degree so I have the option of teaching high school (gr 10-12) or doing something in the field of engineering. As much as I love engineering I really have a passion for teaching.

Well, it is about time for me to start walking home from work (For the record Dad, when you walk somewhere it is only uphill one way, and it does not snow in the middle of summer, and I wear jeans, not pajamas. Just saying.), the 3km each way is doing wonders for my legs :)

Caio <3