Rad Livin’: Meet Brooks Dame

Thursday // April 24 // 2014

You know that feeling you get when you’re with your friends on a road trip, your favourite song comes on, and you look around feeling completely grateful for being exactly where you are? That’s how I felt the first time I watched one of Proof’s video blogs.

They were open, honest and real.

They were passionate, adventurous and collaborative.

They spoke as if anyone who watched their videos were an old friend.

Proof is a an eyewear company whose products are made from sustainable wood. They’re passionate about doing good to mother nature, giving back to those around them (a portion of every purchase goes to a good cause) and living a positive lifestyle. Aside from their awesome eyewear and charitable efforts, what instantly draws you into Proof Eyewear is the genuineness of the men behind the brand, the Dame brothers.

Meet Brooks Dame, Founder of Proof Eyewear…

Doing what you love: Why wait?

Tuesday // April 22 // 2014

When you think about doing what you love, fear or doubt might come in, but you usually believe that you will go for it at some point in time. Believing that it will happen in the future takes the pressure off the current situation, but if you know that you would love to do something, why would you wait until an unspecified time to finally do it? What if that time never comes because you are always too afraid, or you continue to push it more and more into the future?

Sometimes we believe that if we put our bliss aside, it will benefit us in the future by providing even more bliss. But… like attracts like remember? When you do something that you love now, your future will be more aligned with what you love because you will be in positive, blissful energy. Rather than putting your bliss on hold for hopes of a more blissed-out future, follow it now by doing what you love. Continue Reading…

Embracing Through a Summer Perspective

Monday // April 14 // 2014

When you believe that something is temporary, you can accept its differences. You can accept the place, person or situation exactly how they are and how they are showing up in your life. You don’t feel constricted because you know that soon, like most things, this too will change.

When you arrive in a new place, you aren’t trying to make it be exactly like you, because that’s the magic of it, it’s completely different and you accept that and appreciate the differences. It’s the same feeling as when you’re in the middle of summer, you become friends with those that you may have seen as different to you during the rest of the year. This is because you give yourself the permission to accept them for who they are and how they are showing up in your life, because it feels temporary. This is why the summer relationship may feel so blissfully intense; the walls are torn down and you enjoy the person for who they are because you aren’t trying to change them for the future. It’s easier to open up and fully show up for a situation when you know that later down the track you’re off the hook if things don’t work out. This flows out onto other experiences, for example a hostel roommate that you meet while traveling. They are totally different and unique, yet you embrace that about them. You embrace it with a different amount of acceptance than you may have if you showed up to your first day of college and met them, knowing that you would need to be roommates for the rest of the year. Continue Reading…

Following your heart with ease

Monday // March 24 // 2014

There are moments in life when we are faced with a big decision. These decisions feel like they are larger than life, because both choices will steer us into two completely different directions. Sometimes we think we know how one scenario will play out, and other times we feel like either way we go, we are jumping into the unknown. Sometimes one feels risky, while the other feels safe, but often the risky one feels like it is calling us. The risky one is tied to doing something that you would love to do, or tied to following your heart, but might be afraid to do.

When making these big decisions, it’s easy for us to pull out the lists that are filled with pros and cons. It’s easy for us to reach for our phone and call every friend and family member that will listen. Ultimately, It’s easy for us to make it completely harder on ourselves that it needs to be. I love discussing my dreams and plans with close family and friends, but I love doing this after I have already made up my decision. It’s easy to get caught up in our head about the benefits of doing one thing, or how the future will look like with the other. An easier, more enjoyable, approach is to literally just feel what it feels like to think about the two scenarios.

The first thing to ask yourself when fear comes in about a particular choice is: Even if I’m afraid… does it feel expansive? Nurturing? Exciting? Aligned?

Adventure Seeker: Open to Synchronistic Possibilities

Monday // February 10 // 2014

There comes a point on this journey where you no longer question whether you should take a risk or not, or go on a wild adventure. You no longer wait for them to come to you so that you can ponder on their existence or test the waters within yourself. It becomes your way of life. You expect the wildness. You crave that sense of adventure daily. You wake up believing that something incredible, something synchronistic, or something adventurous could be coming at any moment.

This is when you get out of your own way. This is when you are free.

You no longer wait for fearless situations to come in so that you can outweigh the risk, or talk yourself up into a frenzy before going through with it. You no longer wait for things to be fearless about. You create them. You seek out people and situations that are assignments. Each step you take, you ask yourself, “How can I grow? How can I grow closer to myself? How can we co-create wild experiences that are freeing, fun and make us feel alive?” Continue Reading…