Stress is not a healthy thing, and I am ready to be rid of it. Christmas is over with all it's ever increasing demands to produce sellable product (something I feel I was barely able to keep on top of). A week later the stress of a changing household and my brother's wedding was upon me. It's hard not to let it get to me. It's all so intense though...
It's exciting to be able to create a unique masterpiece to celebrate such an event with.Preparing for the wedding meant, for me, another opportunity to achieve another portion of one of my life goals... to make each of my siblings their wedding cake.Also neat to see difference in style requested due to the colour code of the wedding.The wedding cake that I recently spent a good 8 hours creating, was a three tier one, with a base of Chocolate caramel walnut fudge cake, a mid layer of baked raspberry cheesecake, and a top tier of carrot cake. It's amazing the cake that can be hidden under a layer of fondant. The fondant was a lovely shade of lavender and was accented by red ribbon, which in the reception hall, looked stunning due to the way the colours were already made prevalent in the room.
The more I do it, the easier it seems to get, but I am still not keen on making wedding cakes as regular work due to the pressure (hence stress) it creates in me (partially due to my perfectionism).What a special wedding it was, and though it was in winter, it was a beautiful day in which to fill with picture taking, and being with others celebrating the binding of two into one, or perhaps better said, three cords in one strand (including God as the one who strengthens such a union).

I was reflecting lately about some of the ways our life is structured in North America and how it can help or constrain us in different ways. And I was connecting that to various initiatives which are more planet and people-friendly, but noted that sometimes I disagree with what is normally thought of as ‘good’.

I’m against:

1. Subways: I’m not against public transit, but rather hiding people underground while cars get to be above ground. I’m for LRT (light rail transit) which puts people in the city at the right level with pedestrians and bikes. People need to be a part of the city, not burrowing underneath the surface.
2. Tall apartments and sky scrapers: I’m not against high density, but when the scale of things is so much bigger than us, it is overwhelming. I think something like 5-6 stories at maximum would enable us to connect with our built environment and allow for trees and greenery rather than be dwarfed by it.
3. Anything disposable: Single use items, even if they are recyclable (as it costs considerable energy and creates pollution to re-make it). If it’s not reusable, don’t buy it!
4. Commuter trains: Again, not public transit, but rather the idea that you should be able to travel very far distances to work. I am for places where you can live, work, play and learn all in one small area. Infrequent visits to other areas will still happen, but not for our regular daily activities. Why waste and hour or more each way everyday travelling to your workplace and have no connections to it outside of your work.
   • As a sub-category of this, I wonder about school buses. Why are we making children “commute” to school rather than have schools in walking / biking distance? Buses are great places for bullying and meanness, and have very limited supervision (the driver needs to focus on the road!).

I realize it’s been a LONG time since I’ve written anything substantial in this space, and even though I want to write, and I’ve brought myself here, I still feel unable to get my thoughts down. The past months have been busy. Good, for the most part, but still busy. I never knew how busy it [...]

It feels like I am living three distinct lives right now:

1. Work: With my two jobs I am happily working in community development and food access / food security. Here I am planning, organizing, encouraging, networking and thinking big and long term.
2. Home: I am a wife, friend, gardener and member of an intentional community. I am with people, trying to be available for them (finding that hard right now), working on relationships, weeding and making the garden grow.
3. Sailing: I am training and competing for the Olympics. Here I am pushing my body physically, watching my nutrition, and thinking about tactics. I am often on the road and away from home and work. (http://teamgordon.ca)

Each of these places is a facet of me and what I love to do, yet they seem very distinct right now. The overlap does not seem to be strong between them and I think that is why I feel like it is three lives. All three are about relationships with people (I thrive on that), and keeping busy and pushing myself is also good for me. To weave these together best, I need to ensure I have enough re-charge time so that threads don’t become unraveled.

At most times, in most places, I feel very excited about the place I am in. And that’s a great thing!