Love From Maria

Fear. It's one of those trendy-type things now, you know "feel the fear and do it anyway" and all that jazz. It's also one of our most basic states. From a very young age, fear is something we know and a state that our body enters with relatively little stimulus. We enter it in a physiological state - that flight or fight response - and we enter it in a mental state - when we don't understand.  There's a lot I don't understand. The past few weeks have produced several events that I don't understand, that I may never really understand. I'm not writing to convince anyone to take either side. I believe every situation needs to be examined independently of others, in its entirety - all details included. But I would be lying if I said I had little fear in regards to the recent events. I am afraid. And I am confused. And I am saddened. Why are people being judged by the colour of their skin or the profession they choose? Why are so many people being sh...

I often find myself thinking about the society we live in today - how we live, what we do, eat, say, etc. - I always wonder how we ended up here and why. I wonder this even more when I read an article like this one , underlining the damage we are doing to our bodies by living the ways we do now.  I know we are all trying to do our best and I am in no way calling anyone out or trying to criticize any one person's parenting, but we are a collective whole and as a whole we really need to reconsider the choices we are making. In specific, the movement we are, and more often than not, aren't making. I hope you had the time to read the above article, if not, I hope you'll find the time at some point. This information gets me down, I have to be honest, but rather than dwell on the negatives, let's talk about how we can work on this. Incorporate movement into your daily routine. Carve out time to take your kids to the park, for a walk around the neighbourhood or i...

Today I watched as fifty people became Canadians - fifty people, from twenty four different countries. I hope you join me in thinking this is an amazing thing.  Years ago I was lucky enough to help a dear friend study for her citizenship. I'm sure when she asked me that both her and I figured I would be a helpful tutor, being the good Canadian that I am. I'll be honest though, and I remember admitting this to my friend, I didn't know a lot of the answers to the questions on the exam. I was humbled and filled with so much respect for anyone who decides to become a citizen and write our exam. You can imagine my joy when my good friend officially became a Canadian.  Of course I thought about this when watching the fifty new Canadians take their oath this morning. I thought about the time they had spent studying for the exam and the effort they put in to officially joining our country.  Before the ceremony we were asked if we had any advice for the new citizens. I thoug...

I want to tell you a story - it isn't too long, if you have a minute, I hope you'll read it. She's always been a survivor, she's always been strong. Her childhood was not what anyone would label as easy and unfavourable situations at home led her to move out at the age of sixteen. After marrying she bravely moved out west, with her husband, to start something new and leave behind what needed to be left. Her first child came to her easily - a boy - her whole heart wrapped up as a sweet, blond headed baby. He quickly became her everything but like so many, they wanted more children. As it turned out, the second would not come to her so easily. For four years they tried to conceive, experiencing no luck. When the time came that the doctors decided to investigate her troubles with conceiving, their luck had changed - she was pregnant with baby two. Life went on, as it does, and at twenty four weeks pregnant she found herself away with her family of three when sh...

Do you ever just hear a song that instantly connects with your soul? I don't just mean your jam or something that makes you want to dance but a song that could just bring you to tears, to your knees, a song that feels almost like you wrote it? I hope you've experienced this. It's one of my favourite feelings, and I am sure it's the intention behind most artist's work. Recently good old, Tim McGraw released Humble and Kind and it's one of those songs for me. I don't have too much to say, because I think the song speaks for itself. Just imagine we lived in a world where everyone was humble and kind?  -lovefrommaria

It's a funny thing, sharing. We are taught about it and teach our kids about it as early on as we can, we tell them how nice it is and how it's the right thing to do - but do we really think about it in our lives? As adults, do we consider that it still means so much to us? At the beginning of this year I decided I would do more to make me happy - I would walk, every day, even if it was just a short one, I would try my best and make myself more of a priority. And just in case anyone else was feeling a little how I had been feeling, I decided I would share my walking photos every day. I wasn't sure if anyone would care, look at them or feel inspired, but on the off chance that just one person would gain something from my walking journey, I decided to share.  It's been over sixty days now and I can't believe how many people have felt inspired, have asked to go walking together and have encouraged me along my journey. Friends from my childhood and...

Today I was out walking the paths in our neighbourhood and noticed some kids skating down on one of the frozen ponds. Then to my right I heard a motor, and a man - whom I can only assume to be their father - came strutting out of their backyard with a snowblower, powered on, blowing snow everywhere. I really wish I had taken a video or at least a photo. He walked straight out of their yard, across the pathway and down the little hill to the pond - obviously headed to clear the frozen waters of the fresh snowfall. Not only did I LOVE his tenacity for the snowblower but even more so, I loved seeing this whole family outside, being active and enjoying the community together. Where we live and how our communities are designed is something that I feel is essential to leading an active lifestyle. Trust, there will be more posts covering my passion for how we need to strategically and intentionally design our communities with healthier generations in mind - but I digress.  ...