Mindful Kim Blogs!

I just had a thought.. maybe everyone already knows this but it was a light bulb moment for me. Maybe minimalism is about living in the present! Most (me) normally live either the past (old journals, lots of momentos of past events/ppl) or the future (those clothes that will fit some day, the book that you will get around to read some day, the jewelery never worn but you will.. some day). Maybe minimalism is about embracing the now. I love xyz now and am using it now. We, as a family, play games a lot so we will keep the ones we use NOW. This feels like a spiritual revolution to me. I want to be present NOW!! This realization  is a total  game-changer.

I just realized another favourite thing... or maybe it's just evolving again... Just now I was writing out a grocery list and feeling grateful that I didn't feel rushed, but right after I looked up at a clock that needed a new battery so changed it and cleaned it as well. Again, feeling grateful for not feeling rushed. I then decided that my nails needed trimmed, and while doing that thought of most times before now, I would leave it until before bed, also feeling kind of resentful that I delayed bedtime to squeeze it in. No more. So that's it. My new fav thing is that I have time for the little things that would once have been annoying but now I can feel present while I accomplish these things. Present and grateful that I have the time to be mindful.

I have a pet peeve, many actually, but I'm sure many other vegans have the same pet peeve.  Just like the grammer annoyances, we see it or hear it, and cringe.  I'll say right away that VEGANISM is the most important thing but it doesn't mean that I can't have an annoyance about how people incorrectly use the word. So lets get it straight. Veganism is an ethical connection and decision.  To me, it's both an adjective and a verb. It can describe a person but it's an action. It describes an ethical decision.  I was vegan the moment my husband said he was open to it.  That was it for me.  I knew it wasn't right to harm someone, without it being self-defence. Period.  We used up the non-ethical food and beauty items we had but we were still vegan while we were consuming them because we stopped contributing to harm - rape, torture and murder of sentient beings. Beings with feelings. This all means that there is no 'vegan diet' because the diet did...

Yoga is a creativity. It's personal. To have others ask you to change it or criticize is unthinkable. When you see a sculpture you could say..."wow, I know that the piece came from your soul but you should have done it differently." OR you could say, "Wow, your soul shines through that piece." When people ask me why I no longer teach yoga, that is why. My yoga style is moving meditation. Focusing on breath and spirit.  It COMES FROM my soul.  It's my soul guiding me.  Most of the time my eyes were closed or partially, while I taught. No, the area in which I live and used to teach isn't very meditation-friendly, or yoga or holistic health for that matter, or spiritual. OR, maybe it's that I haven't found those people. OR, who knows, maybe it's that people don't really get me or my style. Who knows. :-)

#LeadByExample and #AspireToInspire are two of my favourite hashtags. They also really follow the Law of Attraction theory as well.  If you want people to repect you then you have to respect yourself. Model that to others. Of course, that doesn't mean people will like you, as a matter of fact, anyone who is used to disrepecting you will resent you for the change. Any change. People who admire you wil often be jealous of you, even for respecting yourself enough to not accept less from others. But still, lead by example and those who are in your life (or stay in your life after the change), those who matter, will be respectful of you. If you want your partner to pay attention to you then first pay attention to yourself with self-love and then to him/her.  Model that. Self-love and giving love and that's what you will attract. If you want your kids to have a tidy room, with bed made, then have a tidy, clutter-free house with YOUR bed made and a clean vehicle.  Focus on Y...

I listened to a podcast today. A life-changing podcast. It was called, "How to Succeed When You Fail" (link will be found at the end) so I almost didn't listen to it since I don't believe there's such a thing as failure, unless you make no attempts at all.  Or so I thought. Let me tell you what I was doing to myself.... I had a holistic health centre for about 2.5 years and it was such a joy.  I had tons of new friends and people coming and going and using the centre. I did yoga (taught) a few times a week there so saw pregnant mammas and young babies and new moms and everyone in between.  I rented the space out to a dance instructor and enroled my own dauhter and saw how busy and loved the place was by others as well.  Success for YOU is your OWN definition. Nobody else's. BUT all that didn't bring in much income and when Summer hit I was down to NO income so decided to close the doors. I was devistated.  And lost. That was about 3 years ago and ...

If one were to see my home he or she might not guess that I'm a minimalist, by most's standards.  But, I see myself that way.  Minimalism isn't someone else's view it's your own.  I have a minimalist mindset about different aspects of minimalism. Such as, my rule of one in one or more out. But, not just posessions, also, effort. If it's not pretty cut and dry I don't bother. I know it's not right for me or not the right time. Even with my thoughts I have a minimalistic goal. I try to make time to meditate, daily.  I think it all starts with a cluttered mind.  I believe that is why we go looking for minimalism in the first place. And then there is diet. Diet is HUGE to me. I don't cook or generally eat cooked food.  I am vegan but even for a vegan person it doesn't mean a minimalistic diet. I eat mostly fruit and it is definitely a minimalistic way to live. For me, anyway.  Some go all out with a dehydrator and with elaborate recipes. Not me. ...