Make Art/Memories

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Bhanu Misra Marya

In the most ideal situation I would have stacks of photobooks for us and the girls to look through. But my art doesn’t get created there.

So for memories sake I create these and share with you and my future self these inspiring quotes about making art.

The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. // K Vonnegut

Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art. // A Warhol

A creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life. // E Gilbert

15 Mid-Week Mood Boosters

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Bhanu Misra Marya

Sharing a mid week list of mood boosters + some of my creative photography! I truly loved capturing the image of the flowers and the lines of shadowed light. I need to get better at prioritizing capturing creative photography everyday! Scroll down to see the image as well as a list of mood boosters. I hope that one or two works for you!

Read 5 pages or a chapter of a book
Put on a cute outfit and take some mirror selfies
Make a list or a do a brain dump
Write a letter to your future self about how proud you are of your accomplishments
Tidy up some space in your home
Setting up personal BHAGs and breaking them down into executable steps/milestones
Hug everyone in your family
Take a warm shower or a bath if you have enough time
Go for a walk or run (make sure a portion of it includes being in a forest)
Meditate
Use the pomodoro effect to focus on completing a piece of work
Make a vision board
Write down what you are grateful for
Drink an entire bottle of water
Do something creative

Quotes to start your Monday off right!

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Bhanu Misra Marya

A few quotes to set you up for your week!

Life is a series of baby steps // Hoda Kotb

Lead from the heart, not the head // Princess Diana

Everyday is not success, every year is not a success, you have to celebrate the good // Reese Witherspoon

No one is you, and that is your super power // unknown

To succeed in life, you need 3 things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone // Reba Mcentire

5 Ingredient Vegan Cookie Dough Bars

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Bhanu Misra Marya

OMG! This FIVE clean ingredient INDULGENCE is so good and addictive. I’ve made this recipe several times, rounding measurements up and by half – each time it turned out equally good. I’d even think it would taste amazing with a sprinkle of flaked sea salt!

The texture is so incredibly like raw cookie dough but without the butter, eggs or white sugar. The coconut oil helps everything stick together perfectly. But the real star is the almond flour (I used the Kirkland brand blanched almond flour from Costco).

You could definitely make this for a potluck by swapping the 1/3 cups for 1 full cups, all other ingredients would be to taste.

Want more cookie recipes? Check out this vegan, gluten & guilt free cookie, granola that tastes like cookies, 3 ingredient breakfast cookie or this chickpea chocolate chip cookie (ha! don’t knock till you try it!)

Exploring Glen Stewart Ravine

Posted on August 11, 2020 by Bhanu Misra Marya

The last few months of the shelter in place with the people in your own household was challenging and rewarding experience. On one hand, we were with each other all the time without the help of our village and on the other hand we got to spend all this time together that I always felt we were missing out.

When some of the restrictions lifted it was nice to enjoy the warm weather which worked really well as some of the first areas to open for public use were golf courses, open space parks and trails.

We have some great friends and family who made plans / did the research to figure out where to go and what to see (Nokiidaa Trail, Moccasin Trail and Wahoosh Falls) and then finally got out of my energy rut and found Glen Stewart Ravine and knew we had to check it out.

Glen Stewart Ravine is a lush, deep forest albeit short trail walk in the middle of the city is pure magic. There are number of streams, downed logs for seating and lots of shade.

There are a few different entrances (Beech St, Glen Manor Dr and Kingston Rd), we came in from Kingston and there were a few 100 stairs to make it down. We managed to see the cute stream (pictured below) and then found a cute shaded area to eat lunch (pictured above).

The middle of the trail is the entrance from Beech and it literally looked like we were in Hawaii!

The trail is not stroller friendly so keep babies in a carrier and leave the bikes/scooters at home. The air is fresh and the way the sun pours in through the trees is amazing – you’ll just wish the trail was much longer :)

Why I run (a letter to myself)

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I’ve been running since high-school. Well technically I started running cross country (3km?) when I was in middle school. So really, I’ve been running since i was 10 or 11 years old.

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My oldest memory of running was running with the middle school cross country team during early morning practice through a forest/ravine behind our school. I can’t believe I had that level of discipline! Although, being disciplined doesn’t really feel like work when you are doing something you really love.

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So it’s safe to say I’ve always been running. And I want to continue running. So I am writing this letter to myself as a reminder to keep running. Whether the way I run changes (distance, time, speed) – I want to remind myself what running means to me.

1) Running is my moving meditation

2) Running brings me greater awareness to my capabilities

3) Running allows me to disconnect

4) Running makes me feel like I am flying

5) Running makes me grateful

6) Running allows me to connect with my natural environment

7) Running brings me immediate relief from overbearing emotions

8) After a run, I can think more clearly and make better decisions

9) Running is my favourite cardio

10) Running makes me feel fit

11) Running helps me organize my mind

12) Running makes me creative

13) Running has taught me over and over again, there is always room for growth

14) Running is as much about my physical capability as it is about my mental resilience

15) Run every day, because I only regret the runs I missed

16) Running always starts with walking first

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