What Are You Painting?

“Your body is not your masterpiece. Your life is. It is suggested to us a million times that our BODIES are PROJECTS. They aren’t. Our lives are. Our spirituality is. Our relationships are. Our work is. Your body is not your art. It’s your paintbrush. Whether your paintbrush is a tall paintbrush or a thin paintbrush or a stocky paintbrush or a scratched up paintbrush is completely irrelevant. What is relevant is that YOU HAVE A PAINTBRUSH which can be used to transfer your insides onto the canvas of your life- where others can see it and be inspired by it and comforted by it.”
— Glennon Doyle Melton

One of my favorite places to clear my mind and enjoy the beauty around me.

It's tradition to finish all of my coast rides at the San Benito House Deli in Half Moon Bay. A year ago I met Marie, the lovely woman who works behind the counter. We've since become pen pals. Every few weeks I'll receive some lovely photos that she's taken and has adhered to cardstock with her own personal message in cursive across the back. I happily created a few of my #100DaysofMaking cards especially for her.

She tells me that she's proud of my project. But she's also quick to add that I'm not the only one she sends letters to- "I write to older folks, those who are home-bound or in the hospital. Those who really need a lot of love." I ask how long she's been sending out photographs and cards to people in the mail. She smiles and her eyes twinkle. "30 years."

Marie makes the most amazing sandwiches at work. But after the deli closes and she heads home is when her real work begins. She is the most magnificent paintbrush I know, and raises the bar so high in loving people on a grand and magnificent scale. If you're in Half Moon Bay, drop by the deli and give her a hug. May the love she's poured into the world return to her tenfold.

What are you painting with your paintbrush? You are just as inspiring and have the opportunity to leave your mark on this world in your own unique way. As Neil Gaiman says, "And now go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. MAKE GOOD ART."

Candlelight Yoga 10/23

As the seasons change, it's helpful to take a moment to pause and reconnect with your body and breath. Praveena Kumar will guide a restorative evening practice of Hatha yoga by candlelight. I hope you can join us on the mat.

Date: Sunday, October 23

Time: 5:30-7pm

Place: Vara Healing Arts Studio on 850 Talbot Avenue in Albany, CA

Cost: Donation-based. 50% of all donations will go to GlobalGiving to help the Hurricane Matthew victims.

Given studio space considerations, please contact me to reserve your spot. We look forward to spending the evening with you.

Reason Enough.

Illustration by Elle Luna

I'm nearing the home stretch of my #100daysofmaking project. Day 93, to be exact. The 100DayProject is a call to create or make something consistently for 100 days. Write a poem, sketch, draw, or do whatever makes you greet your inner artist and say, "Hello! It's been awhile. Remind me again of who you are and what you're inspired by?" The bottom line is to create something everyday. Mostly it's the fear of not having the perfect finished product that prevents us from starting at all. This project forces you to start and finish something new and exercise your creativity muscle. Since July 1st, I've committed to making a homemade card each day. 

I've created for myself, for new acquaintances and old friends, for co-workers and complete strangers. Each has had its own creative challenges and blessings. My favorite was creating a card for a runner in Singapore, who I'd met over Instagram. 

Her card never arrived. It was one of the first I'd tried watercoloring for, and I used her own words across the front because oftentimes we quote others but don't realize the beauty and power that our words have. We patiently waited. 10 days. 14 days. 3 weeks. 5 weeks. The thought that my handmade card was floating around lost somewhere between the United States and Singapore made me sick. 

She was gracious. Her excitement when I finally sent her a picture of the card that she never received was sweet and heart-breaking. I write a post about fearfully running underneath the Golden Gate bridge and feeling like it's a miracle that the bridge isn't collapsing on top of me with its sheer weight. And the next day, riding my bike on the same bridge, marveling at the beautiful view and not thinking twice about being supported by only steel and wire. Perspective is everything- we can choose to live under the bridge thinking that everything is about to collapse and go wrong, or we can be on top looking ahead with wonderment and awe. She shares candidly about how she used to live in despair under that bridge, but running enabled her to find inner strength and overcome fear. Her transparency touches me.

And so I do what my heart tells me to do. I make her another card that is inspired by her story.

This time, I walk into the post office, lay the envelope on the counter and tell the postal worker that I need this to be sent as registered mail. 

He looks at me, brows furrowed. "What's in here?"

"It's a card. It's very important that it gets to her. Last time it got lost in the mail."

He stares at me, then down at the envelope with my cursive calligraphy across the front. "Why do you want to send this as registered mail if it's just a card? It is very expensive."

He tells me the cost. It's more than my watercolors and chalk pastels and the the 50 blank card and envelope sets.

I don't blink. "Because I made this."

He nods. There are no more questions exchanged. The act of creating something from nothing, for someone else, is reason enough.

14 days later, it arrives in Singapore. Of all the cards that have been sent and received from this project, this one makes my heart leap with joy the most. Making something for someone, I've learned, is priceless. And trying to put a dollar amount on its worth is like trying to capture the ocean in a bottle. 

 

 

The Best Parts of Being a Betty...

Representing Betty Designs both on and off the race course as a part of Team Betty 2016 has been one of the highlights of this year. I've been inspired by strong and resilient women from all around the world. It's not like junior high anymore, thankfully, where everyone was catty and cruel. Where girls would gossip and tear each other down since we were all self-conscious and drowning in our own insecurities, and tainting another's image seemed like the only way to make yourself shine. We're women now. We know better. It's far more rewarding to be in the business of empowering and encouraging each other. If a fellow 'Betty' shares her deepest and most vulnerable struggles, we rally around her and offer advice and love her in the best ways we know how. Because that's what teammates do.

It's been an amazing year of racing (grateful to have snagged some podium wins!), but more importantly, connecting with some of the strongest and resilient women in sport.

Alison killing it on the race course at Solana Beach Triathlon, July 2016

Aside from racing, the opportunity to cheer on fellow teammates at races has been one of the perks. I met Alison, a fellow Betty from Canada, thirty minutes before the gun went off for her swim start in Solana Beach. It felt like we had known each other for much longer, and she put up with me randomly showing up all along the race course and screaming at her to run faster. How cool is that?

Body marking Jessica before Pacific Grove Triathlon, where she was the featured athlete for TriCalifornia Events. So proud!

According to Kristin Mayer (founder/owner of Betty Designs): The #BettySquad is group of like-minded women who embody the spirit of being a Betty. We are strong, spirited, athletic, and keep fitness, fun + fashion at the forefront. We play hard and work harder, and feel confident in our skin, skinsuits, or wetsuits while we do it. We're powerful alone, but together, we're unstoppable. 

Coast rides with fellow teammate Jessica Frazier. 

Applications for Team Betty 2017 are open now until October 10, 2017. Apply HERE now if you want to be a Betty!

REVITALIZE Picnics!

The recipe for a perfect evening: food + friends + conversation + nature. The better, the better.

As an outgoing introvert, I meet so many amazing humans, but prefer to spend one-on-one time with them. Lately, I noticed I was saying to each one of them, "Oh, I can't wait for you to meet my friend, you'd love them..."

So this is how the idea of REVITALIZE Picnics was birthed- to gather all these lovely people together. Praveena and I will be hosting these with the intention of building authentic connections around plant-based food. Soul food, in a real, holistic sense.

Join us for our first REVITALIZE picnic next Saturday, 9/17 at 4:30 pm at San Leandro Marina. We'll be across the volleyball courts, facing the water. Just bring your sweet self, a vegetarian dish to share, a blanket, and some things to eat with. We'll stay until sunset and celebrate this beautiful thing called life together. Hope to see you there!

The Rapture of Being Alive.

“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”
— Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

From today's sunset run along San Leandro Marina...

Full Bellies and Hearts...

Last night was another amazing evening hosting beautiful people and enjoying delicious food. I love watching how the unique mixture of flavors, textures, stories and personalities around this table magically mix and unfold as the night grows long. Full bellies, minds, and hearts. I'm so grateful to make art in this way with my dear friend Praveena. Stay tuned for our fall REVITALIZE dinner. Check out some pics from last night's menu HERE.

Finding Purpose in Your Pain

Last week, my friend and I were talking about being refined by fire. Some of the most heart-wrenching experiences in life have gifted us with the greatest lessons. Anyone who's felt loss or pain has a greater appreciation and empathy and knowingness that resulted from those times.

Climb on...  (Mines Road, Livermore)

If you asked them, most would willingly walk through that fire again because it made them who they are today. Out of all the various friendships in my life, these individuals are the most beautiful humans. They have found purpose in their pain. They now seek out opportunities to guide someone else climbing those same hills, wondering when it's going to end, curious what's around the bend, anxious for a respite. They are a trusted authority because they have lived that same story. Advice is real, raw, and true from these people.

My friend describes the depth of pain from her divorce as "enough for ten women's lifetimes." She is intentional about using her past pain for a bigger, greater purpose. Hurting people seek her out. She is the one they call when they're suicidal and can't fathom living another day. She speaks life and hope back into them, and gets them climbing again. 

Even if there was once shame in our stories, there is so much power in sharing them with those who can benefit from our journeys. By deciding to do this, we are harnessing the stronghold they once had on us, and using that power now for good. There is always purpose in our pain, and it's up to us to find it. Lives may depend on it.

PRESSED!

I love surprise packages. These arrived today in the mail, and the timing couldn't have been better. I wasn't feeling in the mood to go grocery shopping after a long drive back from San Diego yesterday, so enjoying one of these bars was the perfect real-food snack after my morning swim.

My favorite? Cherry apple chia...

KIND bar has done it again, this time with only fruit, veggies, and chia in their all-new PRESSED by KIND bar. It's nutrition made simple. No preservatives, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan, no added sugar, and all that jazz. Basically how real food is supposed to be.

Whether or not you're pressed for time, these bars make the perfect snack. Stash them in your car, your office drawer, your workout bag or in your purse, and I promise you'll never be hangry again.

REVITALIZE Dinner: Summer Edition!

Folks, it's that time again... We have a few more spots left for our 5-course plant-based dinner on Saturday, August 20th. Enjoy delicious, local, organic summer produce picked at its peak and prepared in a creative and vibrant way. Hope you pull up a seat with us. We'd love to have you join us!  More info HERE. 

***Update*** We are now at full capacity for this event, but keep your eyes out for future retreats/event dinners!