16 Lessons I’ve Learned in my 29 Years

March 19, 2016March 19, 2016Hannah

As I approached my birthday, I started to think of the things I’ve learned in my first 29 years on the planet. I thought it might be fun to put together the lessons I gathered into a list. I started writing it out, and though I had some mildly clever thoughts, I realized that most of my lessons came from my family, friends, bosses, coworkers and the great writers of the world. Here I’ll provide a small homage to the lessons they’ve taught me, in shaping me into the woman I am today. It’s a sort of collection of educational gifts I’ve received over the years.

Birthday celebrations — Yep, I’ve loved birthday celebrations (e.g. ‘PrDE’) since I was a kiddo.

Life Lessons

1. “You can never be too kind.” — Mom

Postcard from #YogaCamp

February 6, 2016February 6, 2016Hannah

I went to camp in January. I went to camp on a blue mat in our little Hungarian kitchen. I went to camp all by myself and with thousands of others. And when it finished this week, I felt so good and strong that I didn’t want Yoga Camp to end.

Yoga Camp with Adriene postcard — Artwork by Roman Lucio Martinez

Yoga Camp is the brain-child of Adriene Mishler of Yoga with Adriene (YWA). I started following YWA when my wonky work-bus schedule kept me from my favourite classes at Shanti Yoga in Edmonton. My brilliant teacher (Hi Amanda! Thank you!) recommended finding a yoga video I enjoyed to keep my practice going at home when winter roads kept me away from the studio. There are a LOT of yoga videos out there. You can type any combination of descriptors into Google or Youtube and find your perfect practice. “45 minute strength yoga workout” and “20 minute morning yoga” will provide you with dozens of options, not to mention what your local library has on offer. For me, I sifted through endless online videos and “Top 10” lists until I finally stumbled upon a bright, calm and quirky Texan yoga teacher who encouraged me to “find what feels good.”

Zurich Loves Its Water

January 1, 2016January 10, 2016Hannah

I recently traveled to Zürich to visit with my aunt Anita traveling from Margaree via Malta for meetings. I had only visited Switzerland to catch a late night flight in Basel (and enjoyed Avatar in 3D with 3 sub-title languages!), so I was looking forward to exploring its largest city. We spent the weekend walking all over the city, enjoying the views of Lake Zürich, the Old Town and its many, many water fountains.

Zürich loves its water. The city is home to 1,248 public water fountains. You can’t walk a couple blocks in the Old Town without coming across an imaginatively sculpted waterspout. Though the fountains become simpler in form further from the city centre, they are just as handy.

The first water fountain was built during the early 15th century to supply trusted water after the Black Death created a (well-founded) mistrust of city wells. The water was brought to the city centre, the top of Rennweg, from a source four kilometres away by wooden pipe. An engineering feat of the time, and the first of many public plumbing projects to come.*

It is refreshing to see the importance and elegance of publicly available drinking water. We live in a generation that remembers thinking that buying water from a store seemed ridiculous to now seeing bottled water as an important part of our convenience diet. Plastic bottles are still popular in Zürich, but many residents choose to bring their own refillable ones instead. The water is said to be deliciously fresh and a treat to enjoy. I can attest that it did indeed taste like water.

Six Tips on Keeping Holiday Shopping Simple

December 11, 2015January 3, 2016Hannah

The Christmas markets are jostling, the streets are brightly lit and the smell of mulled wine seems to be temptingly everywhere here in Budapest. The holiday season is at that lovely point where everyone is feeling festive but before the last-minute errands and tenuous travel has started. In the midst of all the holiday cheer, I’ve done some of my holiday shopping. Though I generally dislike shopping, which helps in living a simple lifestyle, the holidays provides a particular combination of pleasant and painstaking consumer experiences. To make the season a littler simpler, here are my six tips on keeping holiday shopping under wraps (pun intended):

Be Thoughtful

My little sister is the best gift giver. Each Christmas, she selects gifts for our family that are spot-on. I try to emulate her style and it comes down to being thoughtful and observant. She notices interests, needs and desires throughout the year and picks a gift that touches on these aspects. She never purchases something for the sake of filling a gift bag; her gifts are always well thought-out and valued by the recipient. In the hustle of the season, I can often get caught up with gift-giving and thinking it’s better to just give something. However, a gift given without thought isn not a great gift and will often just become that ‘stuff’ no one needs. Make your list and check it twice to be sure it’s thoughtful like Carrie’s.

An Ode to the To-Do List

December 5, 2015January 3, 2016Hannah

I am a person who cannot work in my own headspace. While some people can mentally visualize their schedule and tasks, I work far more efficiently when I get my thoughts out of my brain and into the world. After a conversation with a close friend or recording with pen and paper, I can then truly process my thoughts and get things done. This post focuses on writing as I find it very cathartic. Whether I need to make a difficult decision, to record a beautiful day or to remember my groceries, my scurried scribbling allows me to reflect and release.

This love of writing means I keep a number of notebooks. One of my realizations while moving cross country and continents was that I kept quite a number of notebooks. Each has its purpose: daily lists, agenda, language lessons, programming notes, personal journal and job notes. None are redundant as each fulfills a particular role. Perhaps this multitude of books goes against my search for simplicity, but for me – these books are essential to my version of it. They keep my ideas, goals, tasks and lessons straight, allowing me to move forward knowing these important items are recorded.

Showing Up: Global Climate March on Sunday

November 27, 2015January 3, 2016Hannah

Things need to change.

That’s simple.

Little else is.

Climate change is a complex, global process that disparately effects the regions and peoples of the world. The solution is complex, requiring rapid, insightful action on every personal and political level. If you’re reading this blog, you know the situation and I don’t need to lay out the facts. If you’d like to read more from the world’s experts, you can find more here, here, here and here.

As complex as it is, there are a number of simple steps. In fact, the UN created The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World. I’m not sure if it’s clever marketing or a sad statement of the state of the world. Either way, there are simple tips to minimize your impact. I’ll advocate for another simple action: show up.

Nothing’s Simple in History

November 16, 2015January 3, 2016Hannah

After watching the devastating news about the attacks in Paris on Friday night and later learning about the attacks in Beirut on Thursday, it was quite a solemn weekend in our household. It’s hard to understand how such cruelty can be played out amongst innocent people. To better understand, I turn to a wide range of media sources to grasp the factors that took us to this point in history. It’s never simple. It’s layers of historical shifts, political plays, media overlays weaved together. My combination of CBC, Al Jazeera (including a new favourite AJ+), Twitter, Wikipedia and other articles, infographics and commentary that pop into my news, searches and social media feeds never provide a perfectly clear picture, but it does deepen my understanding of the situation. It deepens my empathy to the victims and affected communities. It deepens my compassion for those fleeing fear and my support for those fighting for peace and justice on all sides.

With this dark veil over the weekend, it made for a very interesting time to visit Budapest’s Memento Park. The Park was developed as a holding place for the statues and plaques of the Communist era. When Hungary peacefully became a democratic country with parliamentary elections in 1990, there was much debate as to the fate of the statues. Though destruction was suggested, the Budapest city council resolved to create a themed statue park. The architect Ákos Eleőd described the park as such:

Miklós Rónai and the first business to open after the Siege of Budapest

Always Read the Plaque

October 25, 2015January 3, 2016Hannah

I love plaques. I always stop or make slight detours to read the interesting tidbits of information about the place through which I’m walking. I’ve always done it and though I don’t know where this habit started, it’s one I highly recommend. Reading a plaque is a simple way to better understand a place. The community has deemed this person or moment or location important enough to record in bronze.

However, I have had some complaints about the meandering and sometimes time-consuming process required to read these plaques. I offer a rationale for Always Reading the Plaque. To support the relaxed and informative walk, I give to you my three arguments:

Travel Learning: One Drink at a Time

October 16, 2015January 3, 2016Hannah

I love to travel and I have made visiting new communities, cities and countries a priority for my paycheck. I’m lucky to have been able to travel across Canada, parts of Europe and now live in Budapest. I’ve made mistakes and I’ve learned a few things along the way. I love experiencing a new landscape, culture and language. There’s nothing better than getting a taste of a new town. Literally. Culinary tourism may now be an overused term, but it’s the way to my heart.

My most standard menu is to indulge my over-active sweet tooth. However, I also have a romanticized version of cafe-culture and a daily caffeine addiction that must be fed. So, by blog recommendation or foot traffic testament, I like to try out coffee shops. I’m no connoisseur and I’m not hip enough for most barista bars, but I have found one way to simplify and enjoyably explore Budapest cafes:

One Drink at a Time

In a world with almost unlimited choices, it can be overwhelming to compare and contrast your experiences. It can be a struggle to navigate foreign language menus. It can be intimidating to keep up with new city’s pace or protocol.

As always, my advice is to keep it simple. Don’t try to taste every caffeinated variation a city has to offer. And give up trying to order the drink that will make the local hipster barista’s scowl mellow momentarily. Pick One Drink that a) you enjoy and b) is probably found in most cafes.

Seeking A Simple Story

Simplicity