RETURN TO YOU by UNSUBSCRIBE MAGAZINE

A Return to You Issue 5

Whatever your work is, keep doing it. your art, your purpose, will land in the hearts its meant to. you won't be for everyone, but you are for someone. and to that someone, what you have to give matters. and that changes everything. -danielle doby

BURNOUT 12 PROJECT YOU

8 EDITOR'S LETTER

20 BURNOUT

ROOTS

THE JUICE TRUCK

26 A VIDA FAUSTO

40 LOVE LANGUAGES

78 DIPPING OUT

DANCE

BE ITALIA

44 RILEY'S TRAVELS

+ ARDOUR

74 WITH LIFE

I AM HER TRIBE

TIMOTHY

102

MOBILE MONEY

80 SAPPHO COSMETICS

84 BILL CROW 5

THE TEAM ROBYN GOODING WOOLSTON / E D I T O R

CHIEF

BRENDON WOOLSTON / C H I E F O F O P E R A T I O N S CHELSEA GAL INOS / C R E A T I V E DAVID SHIH / M E D I A

D I R E C TO R

S T R A T E G Y

NADINE VAN ASBECK , SARAH SCAL I , BILL CROW, CAITL IN CREEPER , KERRY- ANN AIKEN, SAMANTHA ELL IS , ERIKA DROLET, SHIREL ROSÃ&#x2030;, DANIELLE DOBY, ANET TE K HANSEN, LYNN MYLOU, GABRIELL A DAVOUDPOUR , T IMOTHY AUKSHUNAS , CHELSEY LUREN, KIRIANNA POOLE, L ACHL AN POOLE / P H O T O G R A P H E R S

W R I T E R S

Drops of salty water tickl the waves clash into sturd No beginning no end a continuous pattern some sometimes gentle. No control no boundaries run or dive in love like the waves do clash into one another an photo by Kirianna Poole 10

le my nose while dy shores.

etimes rough

fluid Words: Nadine van Asbeck

nd be. 11

A movement to change t he way we view ourselves

Un Mag Interview With The Project YOU Team Meagan Ayres Founder

Karen Lee

Elena Heegaard

CO-Founder

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Danielle Palumbo

CO-Founder

Meagan - My

name is Meagan Ayres, I am the Founder of Project YOU. I have always had a passion for sharing love and light even from a young age, that is why when I reached my early 20’s I knew I had to do more, something impactful that would help shift the way we, as women show up in this world, share ourselves and how we receive, spread and express love. I am on a mission to help women discover their truth.

Outside of Project YOU I am a Retail Buyer - I definitely have a strong passion for fashion, beauty and trends and that is why I love discovering

products that make us all a little bit excited not only to give them but to receive them too! If you’re looking to connect to your truth or in need of some advice on current trends - I am your gal!

Danielle - Hello!

My name is Nell and I REALLY enjoy life. Abundance is everywhere, and I LOVE trying new things, facing new challenges, and meeting new people! I firmly believe that everything we need is within us, and I am wholeheartedly dedicated to exploring, learning and sharing every day for the rest of my life. Creating (art,

businesses, communityyou name it!), working with others and genuinely helping people, enjoying nature, dancing, and laughing with family and friends truly sets my heart on fire. We all have so much potential, and the Universe is on our side - I am excited to tap into this and help others to do this also!

Karen - I’m Karen

- serial startup entrepreneur. I love creating stories out of the brands I dream up, where I can craft messages that people can connect to. I also enjoy short walks to the fridge.

Elena - I’m Elena!

I am a human connector and an impact entrepreneur. I am LOVE, fierce and intentional. I am committed to creating a world where each and every being knows they’re loved, worthy, capable and exquisite. I am an adventurer, learner, conscious community and world builder and a serious foodie. I’ve never been particularly gifted at summarizing who I am.. I’m ME, a being committed to loving, spreading light, leaving the world better than I found it, while having a damn good time.

What is this beautiful project and how was it born?

Meagan - Project YOU is a move-

ment to help women discover their truth, step into their power and honour who they truly are.

This project was born from an idea that I had when I first really started to look at my life, my goals and the things that I was and wasn’t achieving. I realized I didn’t believe in myself, I didn’t trust myself, I didn’t love myself, I had so much negative self talk ( a lot on body) and I didn’t accept who I was and all of the natural abilities and talents that I had within me.

What I was missing was a community of women to discover this with. A community who would accept me for who I was, without judgement and who would share where they had been, where they currently are and what tools they used to get out of that negative space to be able to step into a place of power and full control of their life.

I couldn’t find this exact community, so I created it. With the intention that other women would be out there looking for the exact same thing. To connect and have conversations about things that related around three core topics: mental, spiritual and physical well-being.

Project YOU’s mission is “Create, Confidence, Connection and Community”.

How did you as a team come together to make the magic happen and what are

each of your roles?

Meagan - What I love about

this is how much can come from trusting yourself enough to share the idea with others and letting them bring their talents to the team, the movement and watching it flourish together.

When I first started Project YOU I had the intention of finding someone to run it with me, I didn’t want it to be just me. Yes, I fostered the idea but it was all about Community Building. Then the stars aligned and I met Karen Lee. Literally, I had known this girl for a about 20 minutes and I said to her, “Hey I have this idea....” and it went from there. So YES! It’s true you can totally start a business with a stranger.

Karen has been our Co-Founder since day one and she really focuses on keeping us organized (seriously, she is such a boss at this - check out her calendar) and handling the Marketing/Social Realm.

Her and I decided that we definitely need a team to achieve all of the BIG goals we had. We ended up having so many women showing up and wanting to support the project. We have seven core ladies who volunteer in various ways on the Project, it is so beautiful to see!

We did realize though that if we wanted to grow Project YOU Globally we would need a core Leadership Team. Through my boyfriend I met Nell and Elena who we soon realized had so much to offer! Nell Palumbo who is our CoFounder, handles all of the Community Connection side of things and Elena Heegaard is our Director of Operations who oversees the business in all areas to make sure we are staying consistent and meeting our targets and keeping the vision alive and aligned.

What topics have you focused on so far? Who have been some of your guest speakers?

Elena - So to give some framework, we focus on all things mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing which as it turns out everything is tied to.. haha! So far we’ve covered Project: Confidence, Wellness, Identity, Gratitude, Expression, Boundaries and so much more. We’ve been so lucky to have such incredible women from all around come and speak for us. Just a few of who they are..

Samantha Skelly of Hungry For Happiness, Stacey Rae, Danielle Wiebe (Vancity Business Babes), Kelsey Grant, Wendy Williams Watt, Kylie McBeath, Ally Pintucci, Lara Kozan, Diane Rolston, Steph Yu, Sian Flannagan and so many more incredible women.

What is your vision for the project?

Meagan - My vision for Project

YOU is for it to become a global movement of women, focusing on empowerment and personal development. We will run workshops worldwide and eventually move into the Corporate Realm and be running our own Podcast!

As a team we want people to wake up every day feeling completely calm and relaxed knowing that they are in control and are 100% capable of achieving and carrying out their dreams. We want Project YOU to help women discover this truth, power and force within them. Project YOU isn’t just a solo mission - it is here to inspire women to do this together as a community. This movement is also very much a lifestyle; eventually we want Project YOU to have strong affiliated partnerships in the community where our members know who to go to for what, with all resources available to them. These resources will fulfill all the

areas we cover in mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Basically we have got you covered with providing you tools for the best business, finance, love, body coaches, nutritionist, hairstylist, stylist, beauty artist, meditation studios, juice bars etc.

We want people to live from the mantra #iamprojectyou because YOU are worth it, we are all worth it and deserve to have the best of the best interactions each day that fuels our bodies, mind and soul.

Which event has spoken / resonated the most with each of you?

Meagan - It may sounds cliche but definitely the

very first event that we hosted: Project CONFIDENCE. I truly needed the message of that event and to understand fully that confidence is within me and it’s not something I can go by a book or course on for a certificate in selfconfidence haha! It really made me realize that I needed to start with my self acceptance and master the control of my thoughts and how I viewed myself. My biggest takeaway was the ability to choose to re-create who I am by using powerful affirmations and positive word choices when talking to myself. It also shifted my thought process of needing to please and be liked by everyone to showing up

as myself unapologetically everyday to carry out my goals and dreams and stepping past any judgement or criticism that arises.

Danielle - Project LOVE was incredible! We includ-

ed the best details from every event we’ve created. The energy was uplifting and contagious, and we genuinely felt that our mission reached so many women that night and continued to ripple until now! It was the best feeling. Part of why it went so well was because the team had so much positive and loving intention, the message was so powerful, and our speakers really aligned with our values and mission and played off of each other. We really notice a difference when our speakers jive with us and each other!

Karen - It was definitely Project: CONFIDENCE - the first one. I was in a dark + negative place at the time, and the words the speakers spoke hit me like a bow + arrow. I learned 3 important things:

Abundance – We live in a world full of abundance, but driven by scarcity. Imagine how you felt as a young child at 5 years old? Did you question your self-worth? - Samantha Skelly (A: No, I only wondered when I was going to play at my neighbour’s house again). Fear – Everything you want is on the other side of fear.

The friction of fear means you are close. Whenever you feel afraid, think of it as you’re “excited” - Alyssa Gonzalez Comparison – Whenever you see someone doing something “bigger” and “better” – thank them for the opportunity to show you what is possible. - Tori Holmes

Elena - Ooooh! That’s a hard one, my favorite

so far has been Project: LOVE (Self Love), we speak all the time about how the relationship we have with ourselves is the one that we’ll have with every part of our world. It was powerful, profoundly so, to watch so many of the guests identify how much was rooted in a lack of self love. It was by far the most vulnerable event we’ve had and we all left knowing so deeply that we’d created a crucial and revolutionary space. We’ve gotten to the place where each event is building on the previous in such a beautiful way, all of the tools and community people are leaving with is so beautiful.

What is your goal for every attendee after each event?

Project YOU is that everyone is showing up as they are from where they are on their journey and simply yet powerfully being held in a space of love. I want them to leave knowing that they have been seen, heard and loved. That we honor them and their truth and that they have a force of beings behind them who want nothing more than for them to step fully into their light and power and will love them along the journey. I want them to leave feeling they can confront, in big or small ways, be seen, be loved. I want them to BE all that they are and shine their light, but it’s all a gradient, so we’ll start with HOPE and the energy that comes with that.

What have been your biggest challenges so far?

Karen - Scaling and learning to perform within

our bandwidth. Sometimes, we get so excited and carried away, we want to take on EVERYTHING. We’re learning to properly plan out our 3-month/6 month/ and yearly goals to make everything feasible. Our team has been growing at a monumental rate - it’s freaking amazing. With that, comes the need to implement systems for proper management and seamless communication.

Danielle - Self love and self acceptance - or

even a taste of it. I could list so many wonderful goals we have, but you would not imagine how hard it is for women to love and accept themselves. It’s scary, and raw and daunting, and so many barriers have been created in our lives to stop us from reaching this point. If each of our attendees leaves our events knowing in their heart and soul that they are pure love, they are loved, they are more than enough, extremely capable, and supported, then we have done our job. We want to send women home with excitement, joy, love, passion and inspiration in their hearts so they can honour themselves and share their gifts with the world. Honour yourself > self love and acceptance > create beautifully > step into your full potential! We want to get the fire burning in their bellies and let them know that we wholeheartedly believe in them, and they deserve to shine!

Elena - For that spark that is within each and

every being to burn a little brighter and to be filled with hope and tools to take action. The true power in

Where do you see the project down the road?

Karen - This is just the beginning for PY. We are

in the works of creating intimate Mastermind groups, expanding to different cities and creating an online academy so that PY’s essence is infused in everyday life. In the long run, we see ourselves co-authoring books, selling out 300-people seminars, and running a wellness center for physical, mental + spiritual health. We have a LOT coming your way.

What does sisterhood mean to each of you individually and to the vision overall?

Meagan - Sisterhood to me means supporting one another unconditionally during the happy days, the tears and when shit hits the fan. It’s not walking away from tough conversations or accountability; it

is holding one another to our commitments and helping each other see it through. Sisterhood isn’t a place for judgement, jealousy or competition. Sisterhood to me is helping one another rise to the top, to find our own power because we are all individuals and each of us deserves to find our light and shine. The vision of sisterhood to me is really to love and hold space for one another while we all learn to connect to our true selves.

Danielle - Sisterhood means honesty - honestly shar-

ing, supporting, growing, learning and collaborating with each other. We are not always going to have great days - probably a good majority of them will be rough. We are not always going to be able to squash our critical side, or tell our jealousy or negative self-chatter to go away...and that’s okay. When we are a part of a sisterhood we can be honest with each other. We can share our good and our bad - the light and the dark. We can ask for support even when it’s scary, or we can ask for people to JUST listen - and we feel heard. Basically, in our sisterhood, we can ask for what we need, and we generally find out that it is already within us...sometimes we just need to remind ourselves of that or have one of our “sisters” remind us. It’s a beautiful thing when women get into communication with each other. Magic truly happens. Things start to shift in a powerful way. Women step into their potential and shine - AND - help others do the same. It’s not about competition or comparison or division. Sisterhood, overall, is about coming together to share, embrace everything we are and willing to become, and making a declaration of self love and acceptance!

Karen - Sisterhood means creating a tribe of women with like-minded goals, whether it be in life or in business. Most importantly, it’s a community that is working together to become the highest versions of ourselves. That is truly the essence of PY.

Elena - To me it means inclusivity, empowerment, and love.

What have each of you had to ‘unsubscribe’ to in order to live a more full, happier life?

Meagan - To live a more full, happier life what I have

had to unsubscribe to are two BIG thing this year. I have dedicated my weekends to spiritual growth and working on Project YOU. This meant little time in the sunshine, lounging around, attending pool parties... but what I did get back was space, happiness and connection with myself.

I laugh at the second one: I have had to give up living like a Queen and I am living like a Bachelor. My boyfriend and I bought a place in Port Moody, BC earlier this year. Now, if you know me, style is a huge part of who I am and how I showcase that externally. For now, I have had to unsubscribe to decorating, so that right now I can do the work that will pay off to live a full, happier life … and one day it will be in my Dream Home. But hey, the Bachelor pad may not be on trend but it has great energy and that’s all that matters.

Elena - My initial response was ‘anything that the masses

subscribe to’ haha, we live in a complex and exquisite world filled with so many toxic views we’ve ‘subscribed’ to.. I’ve unsubscribed to so many things but I think most impactful was not a thing specifically but a moment. I remember one day sitting at the lake and thinking ‘I’m really gonna do this, I’m going to commit to myself fully, it’s a disservice to myself if I don’t step into my power fully.’ I went home and spent the day writing and listing out what the highest version of me (from my current vantage point) looked like and everything around me, then I made a commitment to get rid of anything that wouldn’t allow me to make that happen. It’s hard work, and it’s far from over but so worth it when you think about it. It’s a disservice for everyone to not step fully into their power. The current ‘subscriptions’ we’ve made as a world aren’t going to make that happen, we are, and I’m dedicating my life to that. We live in an abundant and beautiful world, we’re working on creating platforms so that EVERYONE can feel that and have the tools, opportunities, and community to build their lives and the world.

Danielle - Oh my oh my! This is a loaded question and

I love it! I have had to unsubscribe to the infamous “NEGATIVE SELF TALK” - it’s a HUGE PAIN in my a**, and such a time waster! I used to spend so much time questioning my intuition, strength, and inner compass, and then I would resent myself for it - which caused even more negative chatter. I used to wake up in the morning with a giant rain cloud of judgement

down-pouring on me - especially in regards to the way my body looked - a serious waste of my energy, creativity and love. I realized self-improvement isn’t self-judgement - it is supposed to lift me up, not pin me down. So I decided to wake up and focus on positive affirmations, things I am grateful for and things I am excited about what a difference! Any time I catch my negative chatter chiming in, I’m like NOPE! You’re not welcome here, and immediately shift my attention to at least 5 positive things. Try it! It’s so so so powerful, and it’s created so much beautiful space in my life! ahhh *sigh*

Karen - My NEGATIVITY. I lived life seeing the glass half

empty before PY. After a year of tough, inner work, I realized that I chose to be negative for a reason; it was a way to safeguard myself from my fear of failure. I had to humble my ego and acknowledge that I wanted a better life than I currently had.. Since then, it has been an amazing ride of self-exploration and discovery. Still a work in progress..

For more on Project YOU and to participate in an upcoming event:

www.iamprojectyou.com

Social @iamprojectyou

Imagery by Chelsey Luren

YOUR BURNOUT IS NOT A BADGE OF HONOUR Words by Caitlin Creeper

EARLY LESSONS When I was studying journalism in university, we did one class called Print Production. The intention of this class was to recreate a real-life newsroom. Everyone was delegated a title- editor, sub-editor, sports editor, etc, and over two weeks we would source, interview and write

the news stories and produce the newspaper. We had heard horror stories from the years before, all-night stints where students wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t emerge from the newsroom for days on end. Students turning on each other in moments of sleepless, over-caffeinated stress, alliances formed and broken, like

some weird Hunger Games spin-off, except with voice recorders and InDesign and draft sheets of paper with corrections in big fat red pen. Our hours in the newsroom were recorded on a timesheet at the door, which would be considered when delivering us our final grade.

I’ll never forget that strange buzz that surrounded my classmates leading up to that assignment. The anticipation, the trepidation, and strangely… the excitement. It was a challenge, you see, a test against (wo)mans own willpower, a test to see how far one could push themselves out of their comfort zone. How strongly one could fight their basic animal instincts to sleep -and, you know, see the light every now and then- it really was the survival of the fittest. Graduates who had completed the course wished us ‘Good luck’ which for all the world sounded

like ‘may the odds be ever in your favour.’

YEAH, NAH. Anyway, finally the day came. We all brought our coffee and sugar laden snacks and those energy drinks that grab your heart in a fist and squeeze it until it almost pops. While everyone bristled with excitement, I grew heavy with dread. Even at twenty-one, I was already thinking… surely stress, sleep deprivation and a 100+ hour week is not the most sustainable way to produce good,

high quality work?

It went as expected. Two days in the tears started. Four days in the news room smelt like anxiety and the wounded spirits of those who had had their stories slashed open and transplanted in the editing process. Deadlines crawled up our throats like stones and lodged themselves there. Everything was everyone elses fault.

It was around day three I decided, simply; “screw this.” Screw this

It was around day three I decid

ridiculous belief that the only way to get somewhere in life is to hustle, constantly. Screw this idea that sleep deprivation is a badge of honour, that proof of your commitment to your work lies in how rapidly you hurl yourself toward burn out. Screw being available at all hours of the day. Screw not being able to let some things just wait for a few days. Screw the belief that self care is last on the list of self-priority, that those who self care are sensitive snow akes. Screw letting others pull at your time, your energy, until there is nothing left.

WHAT MESSAGE ARE YOU SENDING YOURSELF WHEN YOU LET YOURSELF OVERWORK? When you allow this to happen, this is the message you are sending yourself: you are the least important person in my life.

After that, I decided I would contribute normal o ce hours, nothing more. I punched out my name on the door, every day, at five pm. After a full nights sleep, I returned at nine am the next day, refreshed and ready to put my heart and soul

into the work. At five pm, left again, the glares of my classmates raining down on me like daggers. “Poor teamwork” was thrown around in regards to me, both in my face and behind my back. And I’m glad I realized this young, “team work” is a stick people will beat you with when you decide to prioritize what your soul needs to continue to perform at an optimal, productive level. It’s a shame tactic, by a world very rooted in the idea that extra force equals e tra productivity.

As you can imagine, though I completed all my tasks and finished all my stories, I only passed the class by the skin of my teeth. The others passed with ying colours. his is not to paint myself as a victim, for all intents and purposes my classmates were e tremely proficient journalists and many have created very successful careers both in print and radio and television. But I knew, even before I started that career, if that type of work set-up was my daily life I would burn out by the time I was twentysix, at the latest. There must be a different way, thought. ecause there is no way in hell, if I am going to be in the workforce for the next fifty years, am going to put up with this. If having this kind of job means it has 24-hour access to your soul, it is not the job for me.

IT’S TIME FOR A NEW PARADIGM And you know what? different way.

here is a

One woman I work for is a mentor and spiritual teacher. She coaches clients, runs digital courses that encourage women to overthrow the status quo and step into their inner power and has a strong online presence. She’s a total business maestro, and has managed to build a business that not only accommodates but embraces ow, intuition and ree ivity. And she fiercely refuses to let herself or her team burn out. If we have an online workshop scheduled and she is feeling depleted, we will reschedule the workshop. If one of us needs to switch off digitally for a day or two, we will communicate this to each other. If something doesn’t feel good, even if we can’t explain why, we will discuss and revise.

FORCE VS. FLOW One phrase I hear a lot in workplaces is “smash it out.” “Tonight, I’m going to sit down and smash out some work.” “Well done guys, we smashed those figures out of the park.”

ded, simply; “SCREW THIS.” Just that word: smash. So forceful and violent, dripping with testosterone. Like your work is just a solid block of something that needs to be “smashed” from one place to the other. I think the language a workplace adopts is very telling of how it operates. With this particular woman I work for, the words are this; ‘intuitively I feel that…’ ‘my needs are…’ ‘I am feeling…’ and ‘how does that feel for you?

Yes, some stress is inevitable. Technological issues happen, deadlines can sometimes loom, opinions can differ. ut it s in that ow approach that fiercely champions everyone feeling appreciated and heard, where boundaries are encouraged, implemented and respected that I found a system of work that actually works, for me.

NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU… YOU HAVE TO SAVE YOURSELF I write this to stress that there is always another way to work, to pursue your passions, to work in a team, even in a competitive industry, that does not involve wanting to lock yourself in a bathroom and cry every fortnight. Martyrdom

serves absolutely no-one. It does not serve your partner, your family, your friends, your pets, your readers, your clients. No one. We need to make ‘I am SO busy, I got no sleep last night because I was up working…’ a deeply uncool thing to say, not a badge of honour. Even if you crash and burn out, no one will come and save you. t is up to you to fiercely protect yourself and your energy and honour your boundaries like they are the sacred gates to heaven themselves. If your workplace culture does not vibe with that, it s up to you to stay firm in what you know and believe, or it might be time to start looking elsewhere.

I PROMISE, IT EXISTS, AND IT’S OUT THERE, AND THAT IS THE WAY THE FUTURE OF WORK IS GOING. 23

Know your worth. 24

Then add tax.

Vi da A Fa u s to INTERVIEW BY NADINE VAN ASBECK

TWO YEARS AGO Lynn Mylou sold her home in Amsterdam, packed her dog Fausto and a few of her belongings into a camper van and made her way to Portugal. She found a beautiful piece of land at the foot of the Serra de Estrela mountain range. This is where her journey started in creating her own non-toxic, carbon positive, off grid treehouse. But her biggest aim is to provide harmless housing, to reprogram linear thinking into circular living and to leave a positive impact on society and the planet. A Vida Fausto is the ultimate way of living, the modern luxury life while preserving a sustainable healthy habitat. This is the story of a city girl with a pursuit of moving beyond modernist ideas and materialistic visions.

FAUSTO IS THE NAME OF YOUR BELOVED DOG, YOUR PROJECT, NEW HOME AND SEEMS TO STAND FOR YOUR ALL AROUND WAY OF LIFE. WHAT DOES A VIDA FAUSTO MEAN FOR AND TO YOU? My dog Fausto is one of my most important mirrors in understanding myself. When he arrived I was working through a lot of blocks rooted in ego, he mirrored everything from my fears, to emotions and coping mechanisms. Fausto came to me as a sensitive abandoned puppy and before adopting Fausto I had never considered Portugal as a country in which to establish my project. But while researching to go visit his birthplace for a holiday, it opened my eyes. Soon after, it became very clear that Portugal was the place to be, and things rapidly started aligning. Mine and Fausto’s trip together in the camper towards Portugal was incredible and the beginning of a remarkable journey. A vida de Fausto means ‘The life of Fausto’ and A vida Fausto translates to “The luxury life”. From a Western perspective my life is far from luxurious, but every day I feel like the richest woman on the planet. This project is all about redefining our beliefs and ideas of what true luxury, true happiness and true love means. How we can achieve such thing by rediscovering our connection with nature and therefore ourselves.

IN 2015 YOU SOLD YOUR HOME AND YOUR BELONGINGS IN AMSTERDAM, YOU BOUGHT A CAMPER VAN AND STARTED YOUR REMARKABLE

JOURNEY. BEFORE YOUR BIG MOVE YOU WORKED FOR SOME QUITE COMMERCIAL CLIENTS SUCH AS NIKE, RED BULL AND HEINEKEN. YOU’VE ALSO LIVED IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST, MOST CONSUMER BASED CITIES IN THE WORLD, NEW YORK. WAS THERE A CERTAIN TURNING POINT THAT YOU CAN DEFINE THAT MADE YOU RETHINK YOUR LIFE CHOICES AND THE PATH YOU WERE ON? DO YOU THINK WORKING IN THAT FIELD AND LIVING IN BIG CITIES (NEW YORK, BERLIN, AMSTERDAM) PROPELLED YOU MOVING TO A MORE BASIC AND MORE CONSCIOUS WAY OF LIFE? Absolutely! We all walk a different path which eventually leads us to the same destination. I personally feel that, during my early adulthood, my intuition guided me on a journey to become conscious of our external world first. I’ve learned that my journey isn’t a linear one, starting at birth and ending with our death. It’s a continuous learning curve of growth and expansion where we discover new dimensions . My experiences in advertising taught me a lot about how easily we are manipulated and what huge role the media plays in crafting our beliefs by programming our minds. When I was invited as an exchange student at Parsons the New School for Design in New York I moved to Brooklyn, a neighborhood that wasn’t touched by gentrification yet and considered quite rough at that time. Every day I took a short ride in the L-train to central Manhattan where I found myself in a top of the bill education facility. When I would get home, only crossing the river that was bordering these two boroughs, I was faced with people struggling

on food stamps, a lot of violence, abuse and poverty. Experiencing this contrast and inequality on a daily base made me very sad and angry, but it also taught me a lot about duality and human selfish tendencies of hierarchy, greed, control as well as my own privileged life. But there are many more experiences in the first 10 years of my adult life that contributed to my understanding of the true nature of society and the so called “matrix”. All these experiences combined made me more conscious of my own programmed beliefs, fears, coping mechanisms and the complex design of mental slavery we chose to participate in.

identify with them. The next action required is to transmute them and get myself back to a higher vibrational state very quick. That’s why I make my own personal well-being the highest priority of all, even though external circumstances or people may try to convince me otherwise. By perceiving every interaction and experience as a blessing rather than a curse and choosing to be a creator rather than victim of our personal circumstances, we individually have the power to create that what we desire the most and that’s a very empowering and secure place to act from.

A VIDA FAUSTO IS A BEAUTIFUL, SELFSUSTAINABLE PIECE OF PARADISE. YOUR STUDIES IN PERMACULTURE DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND YOUR INTEREST IN FOOD PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION MUST HAVE HELPED YOU IN MANY WAYS TO CREATE A VIDA FAUSTO. BUT I DON’T THINK YOU CAN EVER BE COMPLETELY PREPARED FOR MOVING ONTO A PIECE OF LAND, FOREST IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE IN A STRANGE COUNTRY WITH A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE AND CULTURE. HOW SMOOTHLY DID YOU TRANSITION TO LIVING AT A VIDA FAUSTO? WHERE DID YOUR PAST 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE COME IN AND WHO/WHAT INSPIRED YOU AND HELPED YOU ALONG THE WAY?

IN MANY WAYS LIVING AT A VIDA FAUSTO MUST BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE WAY YOU USED TO LIVE. WHAT ARE THE REAL BIG DIFFERENCES AND WHAT HAS REMAINED THE SAME?

The final projects I worked on in Amsterdam, which were all linked to the circular economy and cradle-to-cradle design processes, gave me the final push I needed to embark on this journey. By studying Willam McDonough’s work I felt like I finally had found an umbrella which takes all aspects of our modern-day lifestyle into consideration in order to provide sustainable and practical solutions.At the same time I started to understand Universal Law and discover how to work with energy, frequencies and my personal vibration which allowed me to move into a space of allowing rather than trying. I met the right people at the right time and before I knew it, the carbon positive, off grid Birdhouse and basic amenities like electricity, a hot shower and kitchen I had asked for, became a reality in front of my eyes. Being more in alignment, doesn’t mean I never experience challenges or difficult times, but I am much better equipped now to acknowledge and embrace unpleasant emotions, fears and other energies without getting attached or

It’s indeed very different and a 180 change if you compared it with my city life. Nevertheless, it feels much more natural to me. The city and the life I was living had me so far detached from nature and therefor myself, that, without being aware of it, all my energy was used towards

keeping myself from drowning. Now being surrounded by nature and finding a very different connection there, I feel much more balanced, at peace and stronger in every way. In a practical sense I’ve learned many new skills. With local friends I’ve build various houses with natural, local and renewable materials and very little use of power tools. I use solar energy, which requires a different approach on how to use resources and equipment. Although solar energy isn’t a sustainable solution in my opinion, because the way we are storing this renewable energy at the moment is far from renewable nor socially and ecologically resonsible, it is the only 27

alternative at the moment in order to live off-the-grid. I heat the water and house by making a fire for which I have to cut and collect firewood and since there’s no organic grocery store in 5 minute walking distance, I order a lot of my food in bulk through our coop and put in an order for fresh produce once a week which is delivered. I had to adjust to this longterm planning, but I now really enjoy the peace of mind and it also My days here are never the same and linear time seems non-existent. My days aren’t predetermined by a full calendar or appointments anymore as the only tools that keep me aware of time are the sun, the moon and animals who need to be fed twice a day. I also live much more in tune with the seasons and the external reality reflects that. During winter I spend a lot of time on my own and was busy designing and developing the plans for the upcoming year. In Spring we planted the seeds while working with a local crew on all the housing and infrastructure in order to harvest in summer by welcoming the course participants. There’s never a typical day at A vida Fausto, because either there are things happening here which determine the daily flow or if that’s not the case I wake up and decide what it is that I want to do that day rather than what I have to do. During June and July I have hosted here 4 courses around the topics of food, shelter and well-being. All of them were very different in nature, but providing a space in nature where people are taken out of their comfortzone, have been proven to be very transformational to those who visited and I received lots of positive feedback. In September and October I am hosting a few more, which you can find on my website. [http://www.avidafausto.net/experience/] encourages me to be more creative with what’s there.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR A VIDA FAUSTO HOME, YOUR FAVORITE MEAL TO PREPARE AND YOUR FAVORITE ACTIVITY AT A VIDA FAUSTO? My favourite place in the Birdhouse is the open kitchen downstairs, which also consists of an outdoor shower and a deck with open views to

the forest and land sloping down into the valley. It’s only 25m2 in size, with the spiral staircase going up to my bed and winter living room. I have the sound of the waterfall to the left, about 200 oaks and cherry trees providing shade and beauty, lots of birds and wildlife and a small open space in the forest that allows me to look at the stars in the distance. This is where I spend time on my own, work on my computer or hang-out with friends who are visiting. I love trying new things with herbs and spices and also experiment with not so typical combination of flavors. My neighbors Frank & Kristina, who are excellent natural gardeners, often bless me with wild greens and vegetables that I’ve never tasted before, which introduces me to a whole range of new ingredients to work with.

YOU SEEM QUITE CONFIDENT IN YOUR CHOICES AND THE WAY YOU APPROACH LIFE AND THE WAY YOU CHOOSE TO LIVE NOW. HAVE THERE BEEN TIMES OF DOUBT, THINGS THAT MADE YOU SHAKE AND QUESTION THE PATH YOU’RE ON? IF SO HOW ARE/WERE YOU ABLE TO RELY ON YOUR INNER BELIEVES AND CONTINUE CREATING THE LIFE YOU SET OUT TO LIVE? My confidence comes forth from the daily reassurance and rewards I receive from nature, the universe and in interaction with people or life itself. Over the past years I’ve become more sensitive to other people’s energy fields and that of the collective. I see it therefore as my only responsibility to be present with the feelings I experience in every moment; feel into it, acknowledge it and ask what it wants or needs me to do. If I allow myself the space and time to do so, even if it’s far from convenient because of that what’s going on outside of me, I always receive almost immediate answers and guidance. Whenever I experience resistance, whether that’s an unpleasant emotion or something stuck in my external world, the only thing I have to do now is to be aware and the rest unfolds naturally. This second year in Portugal opens up a new box of challenges. Investing in infrastructure, running the courses, working with international partners and sharing my place with lots of people from the city

shows me again different layers within myself. When the world seems overwhelming it’s easy to blame people or circumstances outside of myself for the hardship I experience, but that’s not helping me nor anyone else. In those moments my ego tries to push me in the direction of victimhood, but being aware of that takes away the power. I try not to project my own issues onto other people, but work them out myself. I perceive everything, the good, the bad, the ugly as something positive, because they all contribute to growth.

I READ SOMEWHERE THAT YOU BELIEVE THAT WE’RE CONSISTENT OF THE PHYSICAL BODY, EMOTIONAL BODY, MENTAL BODY AND ETHERIC BODY. AND THE FACT THAT YOUR BODY IS MERELY A VEHICLE YOU RECEIVED UPON BIRTH? CAN YOU TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT THOSE BELIEVES?

This notion of our various bodies isn’t just something I personally believe, but something you can find through most religious writings, great philosophers and ancient practices. Even science seem to pick up on it now by validating the beneficial effects of meditation on body, mind and spirit. In order to understand who I truly am in my pure essence I had to understand and become aware that I am not my emotions, nor my thoughts or body. When I was able to detach and let go of identifying with these various bodies, I started to learn and understand how I could use them to my advantage instead of being controlled by them. More and more I start to believe that all this information outside of us is also available within ourselves, being it stored in our dna or in the collective consciousness. It’s just a matter of discovering the way to access this database in order to remember..

YOU MADE THE HUGE LEAP TO SELL EVERYTHING YOU OWN AND START A COMPLETELY NEW, UNKNOWN LIFE IN A STRANGE COUNTRY. NOT EVERYONE WILL HAVE THAT KIND OF BRAVENESS AND INNER STRENGTH BUT MANY PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE TO A MORE POSITIVE WAY OF

LIFE. WHAT WOULD BE THE MOST IMPACTFUL STEP FOR ANYONE TO MAKE TO AMOUNT TO A MORE CONSCIOUS, MORE SUSTAINABLE WAY OF LIVING? AND FOR THE PEOPLE THAT WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A BIG SHIFT AND BECOME PART OF A MOVEMENT SUCH AS YOURS, WHAT DO WOULD YOU LIKE TO TELL THEM AND ADVICE THEM ON? There’s no such thing as the universal guide to happiness, but I definitely recommend to start living by Universal Law, rather than Corporate Law as we are used to. Invest as much time into exploring your own inner world and become aware of our external reality. Whenever you come up with an excuse why you can’t do this or that, why you can’t have this or that (which in our way of expression often is initiated with a ‘but’ in front of a sentence) it’s a sign that your ego still has control over you by trying to keep you away from your authentic self. It for sure means that there’s in more work to do. It won’t be convenient, it will tear you apart at times, but it’s the only way to raise your vibration towards a permanent state of higher frequencies manifested in bliss, peace, joy and love and allows you to receive everything you need and desire.

WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF NEEDS AND WANTS, IN A WORLD WHERE CAREER AND SUCCES ARE GUIDELINES TO HAPPINESS. WHAT WORDS USED TO BE IN YOUR PERSONAL DICTIONARY THAT ARE NO LONGER OF RELEVANCE IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE? HOW CONSCIOUSLY DO YOU HAVE TO LIVE TO LIVE A CONSCIOUS LIFE AND WHAT DOES ‘A CONSCIOUS LIFE’ MEAN TO YOU? The difference now is that I perceive life from a place of abundance rather than lack. I used to hear myself often say “I am too busy”, “I have no time” or I need to work because “I may run out of money.” This notion of lack keeps you in a perpetious state of fear. Scarcity is an illusion and when you break through that one, which is so heavily engrained in our society, you are able to experience true freedom, not some fake story about freedom made up by corporations and channeled through the media. Like everything, words carry a certain

Images by Anette K Hansen at Semidomesticated http://semidomesticated.com/ + Lynn Mylou at A vida Fausto http://avidafausto.net

frequency. By choosing your words differently, you can raise your own frequency very easily. Replace “I have to” with “I want to”, avoid words like “I hate” and increase the amount of “I love” etc. It may feel forced in the beginning, but you will experience an energetic shift after a while. Consciousness is not something we need to chase after, it’s here already and has always been. We only need to start remembering in order to tune into that field, taking control back into our own hands rather than giving that power away to our over-developped ego’s. To me living a conscious life means to be able to live in harmony with Mother Nature and all beings inhabiting this planet. In a conscious world balance, peace, love and joy prevail over human concepts of anxiety, unworthiness, control and inequality. I am only beginning to remember this information, but I feel I am on the right track and take every experience in my daily life as a practice to access this forgotten memory.

CLIMATE CHANGE IS MORE RELEVANT THEN EVER AND I THINK THIS IS WHERE YOUR ‘CRADLE TO CRADLE’ PHILOSOPHY COMES IN. CAN YOU TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT THIS TYPE OF ECONOMY AND HOW THIS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO A HEALTHIER WORLD AND WAY OF LIVING? People have a tendency to desperately try to fix the problems outside of themselves, whether that’s climate change or any other crisis we are facing. However I believe that instead of distracting ourselves with the events happening in our external reality, its’ more beneficial to use our

energy towards fixing ourselves first, to investigate our own habits and how we inhabit them. Instead of focusing on governments and corporations, who have proven not to act in our best interest nor that of our planet, our energy is better used to organize ourselves from the ground up. In our capitalistic society, profit maximization is the driving factor so as long we keep consuming the system stays alive and a few benefit. This exponential growth mentality is not sustainable and sooner than later we will hit a brick wall. As individuals we have an awful lot of power by the choices we make. If we all take responsibility for the mess we have created, instead of blaming those outside or ourselves, with very simple individual acts, collectively we’ll have a huge impact. With A vida Fausto I try to find alternatives and provide solutions that are socially, ecologically and financially sustainable while at the same time have a positive impact on our environment and all inhabitants of this planet. The circular economy is a regenerative system in which resource input and waste, emission, and energy leakage are minimised by slowing, closing, and narrowing material and energy loops. This is in contrast to our linear economy which follows a cradle-to-grave model of production based on “take, make, dispose”. The cradle-to-cradle design and manufacturing processes take the flawless yet complex design of Nature as starting point. Nature provides us with an abundance of resources but the way we’ve been using them is what’s causing the issues we are globally facing at the moment. Many great ideas and innovations are surfacing, but I personally find most of them not an viable sustainable solution, because they only solve one problem while contributing to many other problems along the chain. As ‘my man’ Einstein pointed out some time ago: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

ON YOUR WEBSITE YOU WRITE ABOUT ALL YOUR

IDEAS, YOUR DREAMS AND WHAT YOU’D LIKE TO SEE A VIDA FAUSTO MEAN TO OTHERS. YOU ARE A TRUE EXAMPLE OF GOING OFF THE GRID WITHOUT LOSING AMBITION, IDEALS AND ACTUALLY SOME WORLD CHANGING DREAMS. BUT ALSO WITHOUT LOSING A SENSE OF REALITY. JUST ESCAPING TO A DESERTED ISLAND AND CREATING YOUR OWN LITTLE PIECE OF HAPPINESS DOESN’T CONTRIBUTE TO IMPROVING THE WORLD. Ha! Thank you. Sometimes people accuse me, and friends who are on a similar path, of escapism. As if we take the easy way out by stepping out of society as they know it and find a hiding place in paradise. My reason for coming here exceeds my personal needs and desires. Of course I am aware of my privilege and the heavenly place I find myself in, but the reality is that what I try to establish here reaches much further than myself. It’s my aim to bring people, mostly from the Western cities I’ve lived myself, in contact with nature again, while at the same time learning new skills towards a more sustainable future, share our personal experiences and enjoy each other’s company. I try to design the farm and various habitat in a way that demonstrate truly sustainable, circular and affordable solutions, which are for everyone to see and enjoy. I am here now for a little over a year and everything is still in the beginning phase, but so far I have welcomed approximately 100 visitors, who all seemed to have gone through some profound and constructive transformation while they were here. Being surrounded by nature day and night sets several things in motion, both on a conscious as well as a subconscious level. No matter where people are on their path, I want to give them a seed of inspiration which they take home and nurture over time in their own personal lives.

1 acre of space per household. By receiving approximately 100-150 visitors at A vida Fausto per year we create a new internal market on site, where at the same time we immediately add value to products by processing the food and serving a large portion on site as well. In the winter months I run DIRT-residency programs (which stands for Design, Innovation, Research and Technology) to collaborate with young international people in these fields. There are incredible cradleto-cradle innovations going on in regards to packaging which I would like to explore and I hope to collaborate with many of the amazing and talented individuals worldwide who share a similar vision and decided to use their energy towards a sustainable future for all.

YOU SEEM TO BE DOING THE OPPOSITE AND USING A VIDA FAUSTO AS A TESTING GROUND, A COLLABORATIVE SPACE AND A COMMUNAL HOME. CAN YOU TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT THE TYPE OF PROJECTS YOU’D LIKE TO SEE HAPPENING AT A VIDA FAUSTO? WHAT DIRECTION YOU’D LIKE IT TO GO TO AND HOW YOU’D LIKE TO INCORPORATE MODERN DESIGNS AND FORWARD WAYS OF THINKING INSTEAD OF JUST GOING BACK TO NATURE AND SECLUDING YOURSELF FROM THE WORLD? In the future I would like to experiment with a different way of sharing space and resources. I am planning to (re)build 4 buildings, using as much natural, renewable, carbon positive materials and alternative technology as possible. I see myself living here with 2 other permanent households and a rotating group of long and short-term visitors. Together with my beloved and talented local friends we manage the natural farm; run education, research and innovation programs, create high quality content and develop plant based food and medicinal products. Because of the diverse lay-out of the 2 hectares of land, we are able to share and distribute resources like water, firewood, food, electricity, fuel and human and animal labor among us, taking up only

connect: www.sherlockandthegypsy.com + www.avidafausto.net @nadinevanasbeck 31

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Riley’s Travels Words: UN Mag interview with Kirianna Poole, Riley’s mom

Meet Riley, the 13 month old baby inspiring other babies to travel the world

We are travel addicts! I guess our recipe – ‘take one ex-flight attendant, add one pilot and mix well together’ – had the successful ingredients. Both Lock and I have always felt the urge to experience the world and witness authentic customs. I wouldn’t say we are thrill seekers – we take the slower, more relaxed road when we are on the move, especially with our baby in tow. We are both expats from our home countries of New Zealand and Australia. For our families to spend time with Riley, we needed to make regular trips back – which naturally created a ‘travelling baby’. We simply had to get him comfortable with long trips, jet lag and being on the move. And with a few test runs, we quickly realised that babies could in fact be the best travel companions – and they travel completely free! At 12-months old, Riley has visited 31 countries and 80 destinations. We began travelling to some easy destinations where we felt comfortable, such as Canada, 46

Sunshine Coast of Australia and the South Island of New Zealand before embarking onto Mexico, Cuba and Europe. Our hope is that travelling will mould Riley into a compassionate, patient accepting and understanding person by exposing him to the world’s many cultures, customs, languages and even poverty. We are firm believers that this will educate and broaden his cultural intellect. Having an understanding for other cultures history is a premier way to understand social habits, and educate him organically. We have loads of destinations in the pipeline age appropriate, where he can discover artefacts, and history while also embracing fascinating styles of ancient art, and exploring his food sensory. In time we want to expose him to landmarks where events have taken place that have shaped nations. This is his education beyond the classroom while building a tight family bond. While we started to document our travels via social media,

initially for our loved ones at home to follow and see Riley grow, we soon found other motivations. We became passionate about inspiring and encouraging other families to continue travelling, whether it be around their own countries, on yearly trips, or world schooling. We discovered there’s a huge community of families, all supporting each other and to whom we turn to for ideas – they are always there to answer any questions, give sound advice and share their own journeys. Travel and blogging have stimulated a massive love for photography. We want Riley to look back at the photographs and see the full perspective of where he has been and ignite a flame for him to revisit, so we take the time to snap these special moments that will last a lifetime and hopefully be images he will be proud of. I joke that one day he will drag his old mother along the same travel path and relive some of our pictures. How much of his world will be recognisable then?

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how long have you been travelling for? We began our travels long before Riley was born, and continued while I was pregnant. Loads of people would pass comments, such as, “Get it done before the baby arrives,” and “Once baby is here you will need routine and stability.” It was really disappointing to hear: basically, we weren’t ready to stop and, to be honest, we had high hopes we would keep travelling with him.

How has having a baby changed your lifestyle and the way you travel? Our first trip with Riley was when he was fourweeks old. We flew from Sydney to Auckland. Both airports are really baby friendly, with family lanes, prams and mothers’ rooms easing the stress. We were super spoilt by the airline staff who blocked a row of four seats for us – every inch of room counts. Because our first experience went so well, it gave us a heap of confidence.

Where has has Riley Riley Where travelled to to so so far? far? travelled Has he he shown shown that that Has he’s had had aa favourite? favourite? he’s From the Cook Islands to Cuba, to the deserts of Morocco and Turkey and onto the waterfalls of Iceland, of all these magical places we have visited we found Riley’s the happiest to be splashing around in the water – he absolutely loves the sea. We recently visited The Bahamas where he swam with pigs and from the jetty watched his Dad swim with sharks. He was so excited!

How do you determine where you’ll travel next? Our travels normally have a food agenda, with my obsession for learning about authentic recipes driving our search for the next location. Meanwhile Lock and Riley hunt for the coolest beaches to surf and splash about in. Food, sun and surf are our magic ingredients. So, over a glass or two of wine, we each write down our destinations for the year, basically a bucket list. Then we break down the best seasons and time to travel. Some destinations are to visit friends and family who are on the move themselves, some are random spots where we have just ended up on our way to somewhere else. The trip we are on now led us to Copenhagen due to overbooked flights/ staff travel, so we took that in our stride and decided to check out Denmark.

d e l l i t s n i s a h y b a b a f h o t i e s w n g e s n i l g l n e i v m l e t ra h w r e v o . n e a v o e l m d n in a n o i t a i c e appr

Do you have any recommendations to other parents travelling with very small children? Any tricks/gadgets to help make it a smooth experience? Go for it! The memories you make will last a lifetime. Enjoy your children while they are young, adaptable and carefree. Try to pick night flights – it is a lot easier when bubba is due for long sleeps. And don’t be afraid to ask for a bulkhead or row if available,

as the additional space is pure luxury! We always find and stop at a local play centre in each country we visit. This is great for Riley’s interaction and social skills, and a great chance for him to burn off all that extra energy before a long flight. Gadget-wise, we have had many triumphs and tragedies, but these are our ‘win’ items. Mountain Buggy’s ‘bagrider’. We use this all the way to the aircraft, meaning we can check-in our stroller and still roll Riley to the boarding gate! We never leave home without our travel pillow, Vicks for bubba’s ears, baby paracetamol – especially for teething – and also the Wiggles for those ultra long-haul flights!

How has motherhood changed you and the way you see the world and encounter new places? I definitely feel differently about the world: travelling with a baby has instilled in me an overwhelming sense of appreciation and love. People with so little always seem the happiest; these same people are kind and willing to help us for nothing in return. I find it so rewarding meeting new people from different walks of life and sharing experiences with them. It has also taught me not to listen to all the stories – nothing beats going and seeing for yourself.

Being married to a pilot sounds glamorous! Any insight into the rhythm, routine,or lifestyle of being an aviation family? While Lock is ‘Dad’ to us, they do say ‘Pilots live like rock stars’, and for sure there are some cool benefits of being the wife of a pilot – duty free being one of them! We are very fortunate to enjoy the perks of staff travel – discount airfares have enabled us to travel so freely – and grateful for the flight staff who always assist us. Currently we are operating two weeks on and five weeks off. It’s allowing us ample time away to soak up as much of the European summer as possible. When we are home we completely recalibrate, from sleep and catching up with friends,

to playgroup and washing the e mountain of laundry from our t

We have found that working lik maximizes our time together as – I would hate Lock to miss one milestones, if we were at home ing for him to return. So for now perfect.

Where do you cur cu call home? Ha, the aircraft! Jokes!

Seriously, we have made Toky home. It’s the craziest megaci planet, and we instantly fell in its people, food and culture. C home is still amazing – even fo dicts, nothing beats snuggling own bed after a few weeks of b the go. And Riley loves to get destroy the place while playin with his fave toys.

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Follow Riley @rileys _ travels + www.rileystravels.com

Images: Kirianna and Lachlan Poole 55

Interview: UN Mag with Roots + Ardor Co-Founder’s Samantha Ellis + Hannah Bernard

Roots + Ardor is a digital storytelling company nestled in the heart of Vancouver’s historic Gastown. Specializing in digital marketing strategy, social content and creation, brand videos and more, Sam and Hannah showcase why taking a chance on yourself is the best chance you can take! H: Hey, I’m Hannah. I’ve worked in a variety of different mediums of media - on and off the camera - but my passion has always found a home in visual storytelling.

video and e ecute its distribution effectively. S: We knew there was a need for a social media agency which cared about authenticity in a market saturated with aggressive and played-out marketing strategies. So when we thought about building a business that combined our collective strengths, we knew it would need to centre around authentic storytelling. H: We may also both be borderline control freaks which led to the desire to create all of our clients content in-house.

S: Hi, I’m Sam and I’m a Taurus... I’m also someone who is continually inspired by the words, stories, and people that shape our lives. So meeting Hannah was a match made in creative heaven.

S: We had the inkling that our core offering of strategy, content, and distribution would be instrumental for clients hoping to turn a new page in their constantly evolving business space. H: Turned out we were right.

Tell us about your business… H: Our business was almost born out of necessity and reading the shift in the market. We had both worked in various areas of the marketing sphere for several years prior to the inception of R + A and we had the sense that there was a huge void in the market for an agency that could produce kick-ass content (including

What inspired you to try on the entrepreneurial shoe? S: I don’t think the shoes we were wearing previous to becoming entrepreneurs, the 9-5 classic heel, ever suited the vision we held for our lives individually. 61

H: That and we had problems with authority. S: And now we are the authority and people have problems with us! H: But in all seriousness, we had each held the dream that we could create something of our own close to our chests and it took us coming together to really find the courage to make our dreams a reality. S: Deciding to start your own business, take the writing class, make the product, whatever it is that fires you up, is always a risk. We weren’t unaware of the pitfalls, emotionally and financially, that come alongside the huge gains of calling your own shots. But the possibility of designing our own work days and environment, which consumes so much of our lives, far outweighed the natural fear we had entering this wild adventure.

How has your journey been what you anticipated and how has it been different?

S: We’ve also had our fair share of false starts, differences of opinion with our clients, and accounting tribulations. For example, I was our accountant during our first year of business. H: So you can see where we ran into the biggest problems. S: Thank God for outsourcing is all I can say! No but honestly our greatest success have come down to the people who work for us and with us. Our team is full of people who are overly talented and kind and without them we’d probably still be working for people who email us to-do lists on weekends.

What elements of your business do you find the most and least enjoyable? H: The most enjoyable part of our business is creating videos and social feeds that we absolutely love. That’s the true motivation: Telling someone’s story behind their business and feeling as genuinely passionate about it as they are. We get to bring their message to life in front of the audience’s eyes.

S: Where do we begin? H: Almost everything has been different. ome parts have been much easier, like we’ve been blessed with a business that gained momentum through referrals and clients that have supported us and been loyal to us since day one. 62

S: We do our best to get down to the “why” with every client we work with. It’s easy to lose sight of it if you’ve been doing the same thing for years, Hannah and I can even relate, but we often have these breakthrough moments during our branding sessions that remind us all why we’re hustling.

H: As for the least en oyable? Probably disagreeing about the expectations moving into a working relationship. We’ve learned so much over the past two years that has allowed us to iron out some of these kinks. S: Every day is a learning process and sometimes we feel like the winners and other times we feel distinctly like the losers. H: But we also have a wine fridge for those occasions.

If you could give yourself advice two years ago, knowing what you know now, what would it be? S: It sounds a little sappy but I would tell myself not to be afraid. That my biggest challenges and obstacles to selfawareness were just in front of me. And that is something anyone should be very grateful for because it’s the challenges that kick your ass that allow you to rise back up higher than ever expected. H: I would let myself know that everything was going to be okay. Even if it’s not.

How do you source clients? H: We’ve been incredibly blessed by the fact that our work has stood the bullshit test and 90% of our clients are on a

referral basis. S: That’s true, but it’s also true that one of biggest “wins” was cold pitching a winery that we were madly in love with. They somehow gave us a chance and we’ve had an amazing working relationship ever since. H: They must have been drunk.

What is the key to success in your working relationship as co-founders? Any tips on choosing a business partner? H: In our experience, opposites attract. We compliment each other in areas where one lacks and it works really well. Communication skills are huge and we would be on a road to nowhere without them. We work really hard to tackle any issue head on and leave no rock unturned. S: I’ve found that people will dispense a lot of advice on this topic because the business partner experience is polarizing. There’s a lot on the line. But all I know to be true about it is this: When I have a terrible day and I think, “F*&$. Can I do this again tomorrow? Hannah is the person I call. And we do it all again the next day. H: Yes. Find that person.

How do you delegate work and decide on paycheques/ reinvesting into the business/ spending the cash flow? S: We put aside a healthy portion of every dollar that comes into our company for taxes and savings. We re e ible about nearly everything else but there’s no e ibility on this. H: What’s left after that, we distribute to each other and our employees based on the work they did. This way, you eat what you kill. It keeps everyone motivated and hungry to put in the time and work.

What does a typical work week look for you? How is this different to when you weren’t working for yourselves? H: t s uid and no day is ever the same. Some weeks, we are on shoots every day and we’re barely in our o ce. ther weeks we are having client meetings and creative sessions at the round table and spend 10 hours in the space. S: It keeps us on our toes and prevents every entrepreneur’s worst enemy from entering the picture: boredom.

Where do you see yourselves 5 years from now?

S: We talk about this often because we firmly believe the only way to move forward effectively is by chasing lofty goals. No matter how shaky the ground. H: If the next 5 years involves working with businesses we truly believe in, developing a team of people who are ambassadors for our company and are all proud to take ownership in being part of R + A, and we continue sharing stories we care about with the world, we’ll be two happy women. S: We hold the vision and trust the process. We have a few fresh ideas up our sleeve in terms of where we want to take R + A, keeping in mind the elements of our business we love and the ones which bring value to our clients. All that to say, let’s chat in 5 years when we’ve reinvented ourselves.

What is your UN- word? H: Unapologetic. S:

nfinished.

S: May you continue to be all “un” things but mostly unafraid. For more info visit: www.rootsandardor.com Social @rootsandardor

I Am Her Tribe

Words: Danielle Doby

For as long as I can remember I have spent my life running from myself.

Running Running Running Running

from from from from

pain. fear. love. my truth.

I dated and surrounded myself with people I thought I could help, or fix, when in truth, I was only seeking to mend my own self. By focusing on them, I was always able to stay in the story that I was moving forward, as if I was "being in the work", when in all actuality I was avoiding it.

I would rush from relationship to relationship, trying to fix people, because the high from people "needing me" filled an attention void in my heart and allowed me to keep from doing the work on myself.

Being with myself used to terrify me, because once I slowed down, everything I was running from caught up to me, brushed my hair away from my shoulders and asked me to lean in and listen.

I didn't want to listen. I didn't want to feel. I wanted to numb. And hide. And avoid.

The running worked, until it didn't. And I crashed and burned into myself. This burn became the foundation for which I created my life. The burn taught me that love, real love, awakens when we choose to meet ourselves. It shows up when we choose to not run, not hide, or water down any pieces of ourselves--and instead, lean in closer, listen and simply be.

A certain freedom is awakened when we decide to meet our pain with worthiness and belonging. It's in the moment of choosing ourselves we can meet ourselves wherever we are currently at in our story. That's the moment we also invite love and 66

ndin i f h

ort w e ar yo u ing. w o n k s. r h e t y r a wo on l g. i n l i l v i m lo e h n t o r wo your l l ose. a l c + ha t yo u t hold s y a lwa -d

d lle a n ie

o by

our self awareness to be in existence, too.

Being with myself, choosing myself, is something I still practice every single day. For I know that it's not until I can be with myself can I truly be with another.

Choosing to stay single and focus on my relationship with myself over the past two years has been the greatest gift I have ever given myself.

Choosing to be in this work, the work of rewriting my story about love and my aloneness, has taught me how to take up space, to say yes, to say NO, to recognize my worth-- and demand nothing less than my greatest love. It has shown me to find places, people and things that bring me fully alive, and have the courage to let go of anything else that only fills half of my heart space. It has taught me to feel this life, to lean into the cracks, allowing my chest to break open into an expansion-- fully knowing that it's here, my next relationship awaits me.

I no longer search outside of myself for the answers or to feel a sense of completion; my wholeness is already living inside of me. I believe that I am worth choosing, me and all my one million layers, so I have made the decision to belong here, with you, just as I am, knowing that I am the one I have waited my whole life for.

Now, I truly believe I am deserving of the love I call in. Because this love--this expansive, fierce, soft, forgiving love is what I am able to give to myself, first. 67

y b o D e l l e i n a D

AGE: 32 PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE: this moment FIGHT OR FLIGHT: usually flight. i am still learning to strengthen the voice of my backbone GO TO MEAL: you will find me somewhere between green juice or tacos for dinner COFFEE OR TEA: both PET PEEVE: being rushed through something INDOORS OR OUTDOORS: forever nature SUMMER OR WINTER: winter FAVOURITE PLACE IN THE WORLD: the nook of the shoulder of someone i love BEST THING ANOTHER HAS DONE FOR YOU: rejected me. it taught me how to choose myself 68

5 WORDS YOUR FRIENDS WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE YOU: that. girl. is. all. heart. #1 GOAL THIS YEAR: submit my first book to the publishers

both s can co and st

-daniell

YOU WANT OUR READERS TO KNOW ...: your story matters, and i hope you will always hold that close UN-WORD: untamed WHEN DID YOU START WRITING? i have been creating since the day i could pick up a paintbrush and pen. WHAT'S BEHIND YOUR “EQUAL + SO DAMN WORTHY” MESSAGE? these are the words my mother etched across my chest in black sharpie ink for the womens' march this past january. they are words for me, my mother, my sister, my grandmother and my collective. they are words for any person who has felt as if they do not belong here and for every human who has believed they are not worthy of being loved for who they are. they are words to serve as a reminder for our ability to love freely, and often, and for every voice that couldn't find

their words or believed that they didn't matter, because they do. and they always will.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOUR WORDS MEAN TO THOSE WHO READ THEM? that they walk away tall in the truth that they are not alone.

WHAT IS THE POWER OF WRITING FOR YOU? writing is a channel i use that allows my story to exist outside of myself. i have found that the deeper i step into my truth, the more universal my story becomes. where my pain isn't unique, my struggles are other people's struggles, my hopes, and dreams and desires also live in the hearts that surround me. for me, this art is the catalyst for "wow, me too" moments of connection. this art is what creates community.

WHAT IS BEHIND THE NAME "I AM HER TRIBE"? it is the belief that we all belong to each other. i am her. you are her. we are all her.

soft + fierce oexist till be powerful

le doby

quite hiding your magic. the world is ready for you. -danielle doby 69

“I am …”

determined. strong.

humble.

...because

you are equa

+ so

fucking worthy

Dance with Life's Essence

April 2015 was a in life that will for ever r emain etched onto my h e a r t . It was a time when my husband, Stephen, and I made a conscious decision to live life differently. Putting aside everything the world had told us, we decided to venture down the road less travelled, and we haven’t looked back since.

Ever since I was a little girl I have been fascinated by the magic of nature and the pure magnificence of our planet. As I grew in age, so this fascination and a deep sense of love grew too, slowly accompanying me into my adult years. I have immense gratitude towards this love, as it awoke a greater sense of awareness inside of me. This has caused me to question many things in life. In a society that is oftentimes driven by consumerism and technology, I have often wondered why we spend the duration of our lives working. I realised that, in essence, we are merely just exchanging our energy for basic human essentials – including food, water, shelter, and energy to keep warm. This has often been referred to as ‘the cost of living’, which is exactly what it is. It costs us our energy to live on our home planet.

What’s more is that everything that is real has been overshadowed by a superficial façade. Media, technology, news, fashion – it’s everywhere – but what will we do if it all faded away? Would we be able to once again find that pure essence, that magical spark that makes us human and lays the foundation for us to experience this life? It’s like Stephen pointed out to me recently: “What would we do if everything electrical just stopped working?!”

Stephen and I have always shared a passion for nature, art, music and magic. Individually, each of these things are unique and beautiful in their own way, but there is one place where they come together in a sacred dance of splendour – this dance happens in a forest. Forests are indeed magical places, where one can experience plant life as a perfectly arranged artwork of lush colours, glorious

time WORDS AND IMAGES BY KERRY-ANN AIKEN

swirls, and sacred geometry. A forest is serene and still, yet alive with the music of nature, where every bird, bug, or creature involves themselves in a chorus of melodic perfection. I still remember one of the first forests I consciously visited, which shifted my being in a way that cannot be sufficiently expressed in words. It was the Karkloof forest, which lies within the mist belt of the Midlands mountain range in South Africa. I will always remember my first visit here, as it showed me that magic and wonder are as real as anything else in life. Along with the flowing lakes, misty mornings, and evenings spent gazing out at the forest, I realised that it was here that I felt completely at home. Feeling my state of being shift into complete relaxation and serenity, I realised that this was the type of home I wanted to create for myself. I wanted to share this beauty with my children one day.

Upon returning home, I pondered about how this could be transferred from dream into reality. After a few months I realised that the only thing stopping me from creating a magical life, was the boundaries created by societal structures – the boundaries that I allowed myself to adhere to. One evening, I awoke from a vivid and surreal dream, in which the reality that I desired for myself had been achieved. However, in the dream nothing unusual had happened to make it a reality – I hadn’t won the lottery, made a fortune in business, read hundreds of self-help books, or gone on a course on how to manifest my dreams. No, instead the vision had been achieved by stepping back into love and letting go of everything I thought I should do and everything I thought I should be. This included the releasing of all egotistic desires and returning to community living and family orientation. The dream helped me realise that societal laws, standards and guidelines do not determine how I should live my life. I do.

Stephen and I spent the next two years discovering new 75

forests and hidden gems. We devoted many of our holidays to hiking upon earthy trails, sitting quietly near secluded waterfalls, appreciating the forms of life that dwell within the walls of each forest, or climbing old trees to get a different perspective on things. Some may call this tree hugging, but I like to call it ‘connecting’ – connecting to the same spark of energy that flows through the heart and veins of every living form. My experiences assisted me in broadening my horizons, and I began to feel small and yet greater than ever before. The shade of the forest caressed my heart and inspired me to take root in a life filled with every form of beauty and grandeur possible. As my appreciation for this world deepened,

enough to the city, but far enough to feel the peaceful vibes of the country on a daily basis. We desired nothing else but to live simply in a small home, whilst remaining in communion with nature. Call it divine intervention, or pure luck, but within a week of looking we had found the perfect place and signed the paperwork. Once all the legalities were over, we began to outlay the forest and the woodland area and we decided where we would place our houses. Following this, a massive grow tunnel was constructed. Around 90% of our diet is plant based (albeit a few pieces of chocolate every now and then) so we thought - why buy these things when we can grow them ourselves?

so I began to start emptying my life of all drama, gossip, and negativity, and instead began filling it with wild adventures, pure people, and the simple pleasures of life.

If this wasn’t enough, we soon realised that just as our individuality and creativity were being repressed by societal restrictions, so a large portion of the indigenous forests of South Africa had been repressed, chopped down and destroyed to make way for pine plantations. This heart ripping realisation pushed us even further, inspiring us to plant our own indigenous forest. We wanted to give back to the planet a portion of what humanity had slowly begun to take away. We wanted to ‘be the change we wished to see in the world’. Along with my brother in law, Stephen and I set out to find a large piece of vacant land, close

When it came time to build we realised that we wanted to build an earth friendly home, leaving as small and as impermanent of a footprint as possible, but most of the green building methods that we looked at had not yet efficiently been introduced to our country. So we decided to build a log home; the idea of living inside of a tree seemed completely enchanting. Almost two years have passed since we first walked upon the piece of earth that we would come to care for, and so far we have a beautiful home, a massive garden to plant all our favourite things in, two lovable puppies, and a forest that is currently establishing itself. Not only that, but this entire project has cost my husband and I less that R650, 000.00 (the equivalent of 49,568.44 USD).

It just shows that it is possible to live a financially viable and free life, if you decide to live it according to what lies in your heart – not according to what the world tells you.

Not only are we creating a space that encapsulates the serenity and gentility of nature, but by planting indigenous we are also increasing the biosphere of the planet. We realised that by building our home and garden the way we had chosen, we were also building homes for the creatures that inhabited the earth alongside us – from the spotted eagle owl that hunts around our cabin, to every species of butterfly that rests on the spring flowers, to the wild rabbits that find sanctuary at the bottom of our garden. In two short years the land has already begun to blossom into a haven for life.

And if this isn’t enough, my sister has just joined hands with us, meaning that we will be able to live, grow and prosper in close proximity to both our siblings.

Together with the blossoming of our home I have felt my soul flourish alongside it. By giving back to the earth and setting myself free from social restrictions, negativity and limitations, I have begun to unfold like a lotus. The courage that enabled me to create the life I desired has also opened me up to the infinite possibilities of this existence.

it h t he w r e h t e To g r ho me I u o f o g n bl osso mi my so u l t l e f e v a h . n gs i de it o l a h s i flour

I feel as if I have finally begun to awaken

us, heal us, or allow us to grow and flour-

to the simplicity and magnificence of this

ish into a happier version of ourselves.

world and my place in it. I feel alive and

The time for suffering, whether conscious

free, and a renewed sense of passion for

or not, is near its end. Inner peace and

life has awoken inside of me. In some

complete happiness can be experienced in

senses I could say that my soul has also

the simple things in life.

transformed into a lush and vibrant jungle, leaving me eager to explore the wonder, magic, and adventures that lie within and around it.

Looking back now, I realise that the last two years have taught me that we are sovereign beings who have the power to decide what we will and won’t allow into our lives. Only I could make a decision to step out of a system that is as convoluted and fixed as the history upon which it was established. I knew that the power lay in my hands, and so I decided to begin breaking the chains that fastened me to density. I stopped pouring my energy and love into a system, and instead decided to pour it into our planet and all its inhabitants. I can only speak for myself, but I am aware that there is no need for us to enslave ourselves to a system that forces us to work extensive hours just to pay off excessive bonds, expensive cars, or modern objects. At the end of the day this is only ‘stuff’ and we cannot rely on things to complete

The beauty and magnificence of our physical existence can be experienced in things, such as music, art, and time spent sitting quietly in a garden filled with bright flowers.

My decision to let go of a consumer based lifestyle and integrate my realisations into my reality has freed me from the suffering that I may have been heading towards had I followed the road we have been conditioned to think is ‘correct’. Inherently I have always known what my soul wants. It wishes to experience itself in the physical – to dance alongside life in all its glorious forms.

comes when our species leaves the earth – nature will be the one thing that remains. I can only speak from my own experience, but if I could wish one thing for my brothers and sisters, it would be for them to have the courage and power to unsubscribe from society’s boxes, rules and regulations. Once you do this, you may just find that life will become a lot less stressful and a lot more raw, wild and free. Feel the peace of your own existence. Let the wind dance through your hair, feel the grass fold beneath your feet, and allow the sweet breath of sunrise to awaken you and carry you through the day. Watch the flowers throughout the passing of the seasons, see how they unfold and how they exhale their last breath. Witness the dance of life unfold before you and breathe in the essence of your spirit. You are all you need to live a full and happy life.

I am not an observer of nature, I am an interconnected facet of it. It is here that my soul dances, side by side with my brothers and sisters, neither of us lesser or greater than the other.

There is a raw beauty that lies within the heart of nature and within the essence of life itself. It is real, divine and perfect in every way, and if the day

DIPPING OUT

WORDS BY SAM ELLIS This Past Weekend I Went On A Retreat. The word “retreat” seems like a paradox. The natural movement during the experi-

the adventure landed a few centimetres outside of my comfort zone. A plant-based menu doesn’t always mix well with my hamburger-loving anxiety-ridden personality.

ence of a retreat tends to be forward. Towards something, whatever you’re searching for in faraway places. In its most honest form a retreat is a withdrawal from the day-to-day, which is complicated, and an immersion in something simpler.

In general I’ve found the idea of health retreats intimidating. Winery tour? A more

to tear my eyes away from my cellphone, turn my gaze toward the smoky sky, and ask myself a lot of questions. Like, Aristotle’s

But Nearly Everyone Has Once Said, Everything Rewarding In Our Lives Lies Just Outside Our Comfort Zone. Thus, gently encouraged by a girlfriend

Eat, Move, Breathe. Repeat.

As the weekend unfolded and I was able

of mine who has always pushed me to consider new perspectives, I rapidly found myself on Galiano Island trading external for internal beef with a group of strangers.

classic conundrum: What the fuck am I doing?

And, You Know: Why Am oing t? These are questions most of us ask ourselves on the daily in our quiet moments. When the car idles and the class has finished and we’re waiting for our friend at

natural endeavour. Spa weekend? Sign me

So there we all were. On this island. With

the coffee shop. This nagging whisper is

up. So I’ll admit when the weekend’s itiner-

very little service, a little trepidation, and a

usually followed by a, “Shut up and keep

ary involved “health” and “fitness” that

lot of wine.

moving,” attitude that is fine-tuned by the

time we graduate university and embark on

to grit and a day’s hard work, the truth is we

That they can witness the deer that graze

our “real lives.”

all need to dip out occasionally.

freely on a giving earth.

Rarely do we let ourselves to be heart-

This Is Not A Solely Female Problem. The Long Lean Is Exhausting Regardless Of The Details.

Cooking food, dancing in the dark, punch-

breakingly open with complete strangers and even more rare are the occasions we allow true honesty within ourselves.

As children we spend hours playing in If you’re thinking, “Wow, this sounds like a really hoo-rah, hippy dippy weekend,” check your cool ass at the door.

fields, on playgrounds, in the ocean. We come home for dinner, we dream, and we go to sleep. The wildness of our youth is at

ing our emotions out and getting a good sweat. These are all acts of love. The women who led this retreat willingly gifted them to us. They were brave enough to exhale their hard-earned wisdom. To say, “Take them. Own these points of strength with us.” Nourishment, encouragement.

stark contrast with the time spent at desks, in traffics, on edge. We live our lives on a

We Need To Stop Being So Afraid Of Getting A Little Raw.

Google Calendar. But it simply takes 12

There’s a lot of life out there beyond our

ness of who we are. Who we are rapidly

computer screens and Instagram live

becoming.

hours of fresh(ish) air and a field of yellow grass to reconnect ourselves with the vast-

stories. Women in different stages of their lives came together in a safe setting to

We’re allowed to want things. Peace in the edges of our souls, fire in our hearts. Yards for our dogs to run in and fields for our kids to feel free in.

Who Says We Can’t Have hese hings?

get away from the city and acknowledge

Maybe life should be a little more about

deeper, internal traffic. The great feminist

putting ourselves out there. Having the

Life isn’t about avoiding its inevitable chal-

Gloria Steinem called these types of events

courage to make commitments, a million of

lenges. Our journeys boil down to how we

‘talking circles.’ Trump might call us, ‘The

them, and then accepting we must choose

look at our unique boundaries and how we

Nasty Woman’s Club.’

which to honour. Acknowledging that our

overcome them and - fuck it - maybe even

condos are small. Our attentions spans

embrace them.

We Could Be So Lucky. We were a collective of mothers, lovers, business owners, and pioneers. We were all instinctively different but if one commonality was clear it was that we each

limited, our world on fire.

We Exert So Much Energy On Holding On That We Forget How Good It Feels To Let Go.

sought clarity of some kind. Clarity can

Dipping out is a ritual of self-awareness. It’s

even feel like divinity after a few cocktails.

a part of recognizing that the most impor-

And though we didn’t all hike for this kind

tant walls we live in are our limbs. Our ribs.

of transcendence (optional activity), we

Our minds. It is an intentional step towards

were hungry for it.

reconnecting with the instincts that don’t just keep us alive, but the instincts that

Wild Deer Lived On This Island With Us. So Did The Beginnings Of Change. Coming of age in this particular time in the world, we’re consistently, if not fervently, encouraged to lean in. To our work, our relationships, our workout routine. We call this balance. We buy the bestselling books.

allow us to actually live.

I hope there will always be islands (real or imagined) in which we can dip out of our hectic lives together, on which we can celebrate one another’s simple presence. Places where we are free to slip into our summer skins.

And yet it’s the most imbalanced thing I’ve ever experienced. And while I praise this kind of ambition and am an avid subscriber

I hope our daughters can experience this.

Getting a dog. Committing to a relationship. Committing to ourselves. Bringing a child into this crazy world. Growing up. Growing bored. Losing someone you love. Talking honestly about your heart. Eating (delicious) plant-based food for 48 hours despite your acutely Albertan upbringing.

Whatever it is,

g e t it girl.

Skin Deep Words: UN Mag interview with JoAnn Fowler, founder of Sappho Cosmetics

JoAnn, what inspired you to start on such an incredible journey? I was head makeup artist on the L word when Mia Kirshner, one of our actresses, introduced me to parabens. I was astounded when I did my research into toxic chemicals in cosmetics and as my life ( as many others) has been affected by cancer I wished to create a product that would not only perform but be clean of potentially dangerous chemicals. Between 40-60% of what we put on our skin makes it’s way into our bloodstream and more and

more research is emerging that supports using organic, petrochemical free ingredients. Women between the ages of 20-40 use more personal care products than any other demographic and they are the women having babies. The inspiration was a calling to do something different. It comes from a place of loving makeup and wanting to be able to wear it and use it on others - fearlessly! All my life I naively thought that various government agencies were “taking care of me” in the sense that they were scientifically screening all chemicals put into personal care items, but that is not the case. It is not that they do not do anything … it is also an overwhelming task. Sappho New Paradigm sticks to ingredients that are 2 or under in the ‘Skin Deep Database’ and to be 100% transparent about our ingredients. Our colors are deeply pigmented and our formulas are truly lovely.

What is the worst aspect of the makeup industry when it comes to health? I think the use of phthalates and plastics. Phthalates are endocrine disruptors 80

Sappho New Paradigm is a high performance, organic makeup line. Think you have to compromise quality for natural ingredients? Think again. Sappho is completely vegan and consciously curated, with no artificial derivatives. This green and cruelty free makeup line is designed by Emmy nominated JoAnn Fowler, who believes that beautiful skin and luxurious makeup should be available without compromising health or the wellbeing of any life on this planet.

meaning that they mess with your hormones - they are used to make plastic softer and to make synthetic fragrance last longer. They have been banned in childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s toys but yet are still allowed in cosmetics.

I started to work with a lab early on and while they did the serious formulating, I did the colour. Honestly though I dedicated every waking hour to learning about ingredients and formulations and still dedicate part of my week to research.

How did you begin building your ingredients when you first decided to make your own cosmetics? I did thousands of hours of research and I spoke to as many experts as I could find. 81

How has your life evolved from make up artist to running your own makeup line? Is this something you ever thought you would do? Omg... running a company and creating a line was NEVER on my mind - in fact one day Jennifer Beals ( pre paraben days) said “you should start your own line” and my answer was “ the world does not need another makeup line from a makeup artist” — I soon saw this was not the case ha! The transition from set was gradual and I have been lucky enough to have the set to fall back on when I have needed to in the past. It has been a number of years now that I have not worked as a makeup artist and so when I do trade shows etc it is quite fun for me.

What part of building this business are you most proud of? Firstly I love our products! Secondly I am most proud of keeping our business

ethos intact, offering vegan performance cosmetics and being 100% transparent with our ingredients. I am proud of offering a product that does not come with any greenwashing - our commitment to sustainability, our refusal to use plastic for everything and our use of Biosphere Pellets in our plastic tubes rendering them biodegradable in a landfill in 5-7 years as opposed to 200-300 years. I am proud of doubling our sales year after year - so far with just word of mouth.

What would you do if you could go back in time and change any business decision? I would bring a lawyer to any meetings with “angel investors” no matter who introduced me to them, no matter what they said or how they said it.

Where is your makeup currently sold? Sappho New Paradigm is sold in organic and natural beauty boutiques and online across Canada and the US . Our store directory is available on our website mysappho.com/.ca

Do you foresee a future when the monstrous cosmetic industry is forced to improve its ingredients and ethical practices as a whole?

What is your UN-word? Unstoppable!

To shop Sappho, visit their website: mysappho.com/.ca

I think that consumers have a lot of power and the demand for clean products is growing every year. It is a process of maturity I think - girls are still buying celebrity products with no thought to their safety; but as they consider having children many, I think will change their habits. I think It is up to each person to take charge of their lives and health but companies can do a lot in helping to educate individuals on how to do that all the while encouraging creativity.

In the semi-darkness of our bedroom, I rolled to my side so Carol couldn’t see me crying. Lying awake in the middle of the night was my specialty - the reasons for my misery were bashed around, dissected and analyzed by my mind’s own torturers, maddeningly consistent in their nightly appearances. They never took a night off. don t want to live in this house forever, I need some adventure, I fucking hate my job. I never imagined myself as a regular guy, doing what regular guys did: college, serious job, house in the suburbs. All the expectations of a normal life were overwhelming. How did screw this up so badly? I had no business not being happy, and felt like a jerk for not wanting what everyone else wanted. I wasn’t the only guy in his fifties living a quiet working life of screaming hopelessness, but I sure felt like it. What s wrong, illy? arol was woken by her hypersensitive wife-gene, which tripped alarm bells whenever I was distressed. Could she feel my convulsions as held my sobs? hesitated answering Carol, didn’t want to speak to anyone, except maybe Scarlett Johansson if she happened to come over

unannounced.

light. We squinted in its harshness.

“Same old story,” I said. “Every working day is torture.”

“Some people - not me, but some people - might tell you to stop complaining and think about all the good this job gives you,” said Carol.

Carol propped herself up on one elbow. “No it’s not. You just like the sound of that. Don’t be so dramatic. You’re like everyone else, fumbling through your days in a job that doesn’t suit you. From the outside looking in, you’ve got it made.” I considered that statement. I was a law firm of one, working at my Vancouver home in my pyjamas, negotiating contracts on the phone. I loved almost everything about my job: freedom, money, time with my kids, the work-from-home dress code. The only thing I didn’t like about my job was the actual doing of it. Practicing law was like sticking needles in my eyes. “I know it looks good, but it’s a strain,” I said, facing her. “It’s exhausting pretending I’m something I’m not.” “At least you don’t have to worry about having an unexamined life,” said Carol, impressing me with her reference. “Oh, I’ve examined the hell out of it.” I sat up and switched on my bedside

get that a lot. ut figure if you re miserable, you’re miserable. You can’t logic it out.” “I guess it’s time for a shakeup.” arol had a confidence in her voice that was reassuring.

The next thing I knew, I’d closed my law practice and was living in the south of France. Our family of four moved to Aix-en-Provence, the most beautiful town in the most beautiful part of France. My only goal was to escape my lawyer life for a year. A long vacation, with no requirement to think. ne pectedly, rance became the filter through which I evaluated my profession, my relationship with my family, and my life. Chugging rosé on the patio of my rented country home, haunting cafés or biking through Cézanne landscapes, questioned society s definition of success and the path to happiness. Even though I didn’t know it at the

UN Covered Words of William Crow time, I needed to let go of my ego and income, and be true to myself… by finding what was really meant to do. considered goals bigger than hiding in the French countryside. With a year of idleness and no responsibilities stretching before me, if I ever had dreams of leading a creative and more genuine life, it was then. Or never.

I love cartooning, and always thought I would have a syndicated newspaper comic strip. I’m not sure how I expected this to happen, not having submitted any comics to any syndicates, ever. But in France I drew 50 strips, and submitted them to the syndicates. I was rejected by every one, as well as a famous cartoonist I contacted. He was kind enough to send a long list of reasons why my comic strip wasn’t marketable. That hurt.

Despite my failure, I recognized the creation of the comic strip was joyful. It didn’t pan out, but maybe I could try something else creative. So I started writing travel articles, planning to sell them to major magazines. That ended in rejection from every magazine

bothering to respond. Again, the writing process was a happy experience; it just didn’t work out as planned. It dawned on me I was only acting in half measures, not going for it. finally admitted to myself that what I always wanted, deep down, was to write books. And the only way to do it was to fully commit, and quit law for good this was a di cult and painful decision. I was giving up a 25-year career, a steady income, and my lawyer persona. Worse, I was doing this for the writing profession, one which I knew nothing about, except that most people fail at it. Despite this challenge, I recently completed my first book, and have never been happier.

Years ago, I was told a story by a friend. She said, “Life is like being on a trapeze. You have to let go of the first trapeze to get the next one. For a split second, you’re not holding onto anything. You’re suspended in midair and you could fall. You trust the next trapeze will be there when you need it. Once you grab the second trapeze, it’s clear sailing. If you don’t want to be a lawyer anymore, don’t. Just let go.”

I should’ve listened then. I would’ve saved myself much agonizing. But I needed the time away from my lawyer life, complete separation from that world, to have the space to think clearly. That’s what France gave me.

Disconnected from the familiar business world, hovering in mid-air and risking a fall, I was excited to grasp the next trapeze.

I just had to let go.

Learn more about Bill and his upcoming book at www.williamcrowwriter.com and follow him on Facebook, www.facebook. com/WilliamCrowWriter/.

I am a graduate of Western University (Hon. BA) in London, Ontario, and the law school at the University of Ottawa. I never enjoyed practicing law, but was successful at it for 25 years. I almost escaped my lawyer life once, taking a two-year sabbatical at Laval University in Québec City to learn French and watch hockey in bars with separatists.

he stuff like is unrelated to practicing law: France, hockey, snowboarding, literature, comics and Led Zeppelin.

ou can usually find me writing in a orth ancouver coffee shop, or the home I share with my consistently excellent wife and two children.

WHERE ARE YOU CURRENTLY IN YOUR LIFE JOURNEY? ve completed my first book, a memoir entitled The Next Trapeze. I am currently looking for an agent and a publisher. I have begun research for my next book.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY ENJOYING THE MOST AND WHAT ARE YOU STRUGGLING WITH THE MOST IN THIS PROCESS? My new career allows me to spend most days in coffee shops, dreaming and writing. no longer have to fit into society s little box, nor pretend to like it. I greatly enjoy the honesty and genuineness of my new life. The struggle is handling rejection from agents and publishers… throughout my legal career, I never had anyone tell me they didn’t want me, that I wasn’t good enough. That’s a blow to the ego!

WHAT ARE YOUR SHORT AND LONG TERM GOALS? Short term, I am focussed on seeing my book on the shelf of our local bookstore. I hope the message of my memoir, surviving a mid-life crisis by having the courage to chase your dreams, will convince others to take the plunge. Longer term, I want to have a career writing books, and exploring other creative pursuits.

WHAT HAVE YOU UNSUBSCRIBED TO IN ORDER TO LIVE A MORE FULL AND HAPPY LIFE? That one’s easy. I unsubscribed from the rat race, from the establishment career society and my parents told me I needed to be happy. However, I only found happiness once I took the unconventional, artsy path.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOURSELF 10 YEARS AGO? Don’t do anything in your career you don’t want to do, ever. Don’t worry about the money. Don’t worry about what other people think of your choices. Be true.

WHAT IS YOUR UN WORD? Unleashed, as in, once I decided to give up law, my creative side was unleashed and many artistic opportunities presented themselves.

Be I talia 88

Start ing over can be difficult and moving abroad to a new country where the language and culture differs so vastly from your own will undeniably bring challenges. This I had anticipated prior to moving overseas. What I hadn’t expected was having trouble readapting to home when I moved back.

In the summer of 2013 after returning from Asia, I felt completely lost in the city I had always called home. After a couple of consecutive years abroad, I experienced what I can only imagine was reverse culture shock. I had moved back and within a few weeks of trying to readapt, I couldn’t quite find my place or the passions I had once felt. I found myself longing for a fast-paced life filled with challenge, the kind of unique challenge you experience navigating foreign streets or the discomfort of struggling to communicate in a foreign language, and the accompanying sense of accomplishment when you manage to correctly articulate yourself or make it through the day without getting run over by a tuk tuk or taxi.

Re-adapting to no longer living the life of an expat was harder than I expected. I missed the unknown and the excitement of discovering new places, new people and overcoming new challenges that helped me grow and push past my limitations. After a whirlwind summer at home, the honeymoon phase wore off and September approached. Friends and family returned to work, life around me continued, but I remained stagnant.

I had gone from a fast-paced life abroad, to not knowing what to do with myself and my time. I was unemployed, spending most of my days trying to find work in my profession as an educator in a city with little work available. I had also begun a new phase of my life, starting an online, Intercontinental Master’s program designed for other working professionals around the world, but found myself having trouble contributing to discussion groups with no current

Words and Images by Sarah Scali

concrete experiences. My life had become completely unbalanced and it began to take its toll on me. At the same time my health suffered, and I went from doctor to doctor trying to get to the bottom of what was actually wrong. I was put on medication with side effects I struggled with more than the actual health problems. I felt constantly exhausted, depressed, anxious and as though the zest for life I had always felt had been sucked right out of me. Something just didn’t feel right and I knew in my heart that it was not my time to move back home and settle down. So, I made the decision to take the next few months for myself, to rediscover my passion for art, photography, food and life…I decided to take the time to regain my balance. And where else would you go to rediscover these things but Italy?

Italy was no stranger to me. It was a country I had traveled to before and where both my parents had immigrated to Canada and the United States from. Italian culture has also always been an important part of my life as my proudly Italian parents raised us with an understanding and appreciation for our Italian roots. It is also a country where many members of my family still live, keeping the door open for frequent visits.

So a few months in Italy seemed to be exactly what I needed. As time went by, I fell in love with getting lost in the tiny, winding alleyways, with Italian language, culture, food, architecture and “dolce far niente,” the sweetness of doing nothing. I also fell a lot, literally, because of the cobblestone streets. When I wasn’t falling, I was eating…a ridiculous amount of pizza, pasta, burrata cheese and gelato. As might be expected, I gained weight which affectionately became known as “happiness pounds” since the experience of eating those foods brought me a happiness words in the English language just can’t adequately describe. While under normal circumstances, the weight gain would not have been welcomed and the lack of traditional “productivity”

would have likely unhinged me, I felt fulfilled in ways I hadn’t felt for months, letting go of the high expectations I often hold for myself and simply allowing myself to be.

In a few short months, Italy became the epitome of perfection, exemplifying the idea of a fulfilled life. If you’ve been to Italy, you’d probably agree that it’s a wonderful place to visit. From the architecture that symbolizes a piece of history, every structure having its own story to tell, to the breathtaking landscapes that dramatically change from north to south, east to west. To the food. THE FOOD, made from the simplest and freshest ingredients, indisputably an experience in itself for all of your senses. Brightly coloured tomatoes bursting out of crates, the smell of freshly baked bread and brioche wafting through the doors of the pasticcerias, the sound of utensils scraping plates to ensure no morsel was left behind. Meals that require nothing but olive oil and sea salt for flavoring because the ingredients are so fresh, it takes you on a culinary journey back in time to days before food was so heavily genetically modified. And let’s not forget the ridiculously beautiful people, that Michelangelo himself probably couldn’t have even dreamed up. But everyone knows this, Italy is known for this. While these things have always attracted me to Italy, a bigger draw at the time was the relationship Italians have with life.

To get a real insight into the Italian way of life, I’d argue it’s just as important to observe as it is to experience personal interactions first hand. To watch an elderly couple, arm in arm take a stroll around the park, looking and touching each other like love struck teenagers despite probably having been together for a couple of decades. To see a group of elderly widows in matching black outfits, talking about their late husbands or their grand children’s latest accomplishments. To the young children getting dirty playing football in the streets while mothers in aprons scream at the top of their lungs for their children to return home for dinner, from balconies neatly decorated by flower planters. Teenagers fighting in the piazza and nobody calling the police or seeming too bothered by it, because, well, sometimes kids fight. Seeing Italian men holding their girlfriends’ purses, doting on their partners, with what those outside of Italy might argue is an excessive display of public affection. Beautiful women in stiletto’s perfectly navigating those cobblestone streets, turning heads as they walk by. Men stare, woman stare, children stare, dogs stare, you can’t help but stare. Families shouting across the street to one another, everyone seeming to know everyone, and if they don’t they are quickly introducing

themselves and becoming fast friends.

I experienced this first hand as it was almost impossible to go anywhere in Brescia, without running into someone that my aunt knew. And when we did run into someone, often she was making plans on the spot, arranging activities, for some stranger to take me somewhere the next day, or “lending” me to someone who’s cousin’s friend’s brother wanted to practice their English. All of this seemed to be the norm, including being picked up the day after I arrived by a handsome stranger on a motorcycle, being toured around town and then ending the night at some random political meeting or being introduced to the only other young North American in the city with the introduction “you both speak English, you now have to be friends.” So, I ran with it, taking a page out of the “Italian handbook,” relishing three months of unique encounters, beautiful “forced friendships” and a new sense of community.

In Italy, isolation and personal space just don’t seem to exist. Life is never just passed by because people are far too busy living it. Meals are enjoyed together for hours at a time, not rushed through alone, inhaled or eaten on the go. Everything in life that is meant to be enjoyed is truly savoured in a way that I can only describe as distinctly Italian.

Months spent in Italy taught me to slow down, to take the time and opportunities to build and appreciate all kinds of relationships, to live in the moment and to just be. It taught me that life is about balance and that means that sometimes it’s okay to do nothing. It taught me that a bad day can be turned around with a gelato (or two), that “happiness” pounds don’t count when they are gained in pizza and that everything tastes better with a drizzle of olive oil. With her thousands of years of wisdom, Italy has managed to maintain her timelessness and simplicity. She lends a different perspective, a much-needed break from the fast-paced, lifestyle of individualistic countries. Italy gives us a glance into the past, to old traditions still going strong and manages at the same time to teach us a full appreciation for the present and living in the moment. She leaves a long-lasting impression, one that sticks with you, years after you’ve left, and one that can’t help but make you stop and view your own world, from time to time, through Italian-tinted lenses.

With her thousands of years of wisdom, I taly has managed to maintain her timelessness and simplicity. 91

Months spent in I taly taught me to slow down, to take the time and opportunities to build and appreciate all kinds of relationships, to live in the moment and to just be.

I had gone from a fast-paced life abroad, to not knowing what to do with myself and my time.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Healing comes in waves wave hits the rocks an darling, you are still h healingâ&#x20AC;? - Ijeoma Umebinyuo, be gentle with yourself

Unsubscribers, remember: let the wave come and let the wave go, and si

s and maybe today the nd thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ok, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ok healing, you are still

imply experience yourself - it at its peak and in its valley.

I will soar Words: Shirel Ros é

You cannot restrain me anymore.

You part my lips to kiss me, before you force them into silence. You love my body’s curvature, but not when I use it in defiance. My intellect excites you, as long as you come out on top. My euphoria delights you, just as long as tears don’t drop.

Because

You say my sensuality’s a blessing, yet I am blamed when people stare. Their actions speak of indiscretion yet bets are placed on what I wear.

But I was not made with fire on my tongue just to (be) put out.

will

I forbid you from entering my mind, when what you leave behind is doubt. I strip you from the privilege to define me and what my life’s about. From now on when you try to choke me with your judgment I will stand proud and say out loud:

soar.

TRANSFORMING WOMEN’S LIVES THROUGH MOBILE MONEY Words: Shirel Rosé

MOBILE MONEY IS A GAME-CHANGER FOR THE FINANCIAL INCLUSION OF WOMEN IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. Yet, studies have shown that across many parts of Asia and Africa, women are much less likely than men to use mobile financial services regularly, if at all. While these women are missing out on their potential to thrive, their lack of financial inclusion also comes at a great detriment to the economic development of their countries.

Recent studies carried out in Kenya, a leader in mobile money, have found that access to mobile financial services has lifted around 2% of Kenyan households out of extreme poverty – many of these being female-headed households with no prior source of income. It also allowed a further 185,000 women to move away from subsistence farming into business and other sales occupations, and invest their earned money in education for their children and themselves.

How does a mobile service directly contribute to poverty reduction in a country? The impact on people’s livelihoods seems to stem from improved financial behaviour – women are more likely to have access to secure forms of saving, which creates a higher incentive to earn money and also leads to changes in choice of occupation. The savings are then safely kept in a virtual mobile account, password-protected from prying eyes and safe from robberies and theft.

M-PESA, Kenya’s most widely used mobile money platform, significantly reduced transaction costs in the country. Money transfers became quicker, cheaper, and more reliable across greater distances. Mobile money enabled women, who previously travelled great distances to send money to their parents and other relatives, to transfer money without embarking on unsafe journeys. When M-PESA launched in 2007, the average distance to the nearest bank was 9.2 kilometres. In 2015, the average distance to the nearest M-PSA agent was reduced to 1.4km. Many women who were previously unable to receive or save money therefore gained access to their own virtual bank account. This benefit made mobile money users more financially resilient, and provided protection from economic shocks and a financial cushion for bad times.

“These benefits sound great!” you say. So then why is the international community not investing in more initiatives that further women empowerment through mobile financial services? It’s a matter of knowledge and prioritization. Mobile money is a fairly recent phenomenon, with most studies demonstrating its positive benefits only having been published in the last two years. Governments and other key players are investing in tested and tried methods for transforming their economies. While private sector telecommunication companies are trying to tap into the untouched female market in these countries, their

efforts alone are not enough to change social norms which constitute barriers to access, such as lack of trust in technology, illiteracy, fear of being reprimanded, and beliefs surrounding mobile phone usage in certain countries.

What can you do to help? Voice your opinion! Start your own initiative, join an existing cause, or support others by signing petitions. International organizations and governments have great power to transform the lives of women and the economies they live in – let’s bring this to their attention so loudly that we cannot be ignored. Talk, write, tweet, sing, or rap about it!

I leave you with a quote from Margaret Mead, an American cultural anthropologist who enjoyed swimming against the tide:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Image by Gabriella Davoudpour 100

i stand on the sacrifices of a million women before me thinking what can i do to make this mountain taller so the women after me can see further Legacy - rupi kaur

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hotographer rofile Timothy Aukshunas Words: UN Mag interview with Timothy Aukshunas

A BIT ABOUT TIMOTHY… I am a self-taught photographer born and raised in Southern California. Photography is purely an obsession of mine - it goes beyond a ob for me. think it is di cult for people nowadays to find something they can be passionate about so feel quite lucky to have been introduced to the craft. It’s an interesting story.

I received my education at the University of California, Santa Barbara with a focus on Sustainable Development. At that time, I ran track field competitively and that actually was the last thing I can remember being that passionate about – well except for my amazing wife, Kendall and dog, Zeus.

I jumped around in a few sales jobs (while pursuing the running dream) and something about it just got stale. So I took a leap of faith to pursue marketing with a small footwear brand in Irvine, CA – this is where the creative side of me kicked in and the introduction to photography.

It feels pretty special. I guess photography is something that just makes sense.

FAVOURITE SUBJECTS …

Lifestyle Photography – anything that can tell a story, content that sparks curiosity and provokes questions. want to take viewers to these special moments that leave them wanting to know more.

A DAY IN HIS LIFE LOOKS LIKE …

Currently reside in Long Beach, CA – A typical day always starts off with a fresh cup of coffee otherwise it wouldn t be typical , a brisk morning walk with the dog, head into my o ce for the full time marketing gig and then wrap up the day spent relaxing with my wife, editing images and/or planning a shoot. I know - typical right?

SHORT + LONG TERM GOALS … know some pretty awesome people that in uence me they all keep the legs moving and challenge me to explore and share my perspective. They have cultivated who I am as a photographer. 102

These are always tough – I am always so focused on the now. I guess in the near future, I’d like to continue to align myself with

brands or groups that want to tell a story and cultivate a voice through strong, compelling imagery.

Long term, I think it would be cool to have an archive of experiences – like a roadmap of where photography took me. Places I have been, people I have met – crazy things I’ll do.

THE UNSUBSCRIBED LIFE IS …

There no rules and if there are, you make them. What’s so compelling is that living unsubscribed allows you to blaze your own trail and there aren’t many that take advantage of this. I think you have to unsubscribe from people’s opinions and judgment.

CREATIVITY IS … A PIECE OF ADVICE … Creativity doesn’t have boundaries, it isn’t right or wrong. The beauty of creativity is there are no rules. Go with the grain, go against it – everything is up for grabs.

CREATING CONFIDENTLY IS … feel like confidence and creativity directly in uence each other. It is a symbiotic relationship. We all have a story to tell and means to express it - mine just happens to be through the open and closing of a shutter. I have found that you have stick to your guns on your vision and it just doesn’t work right if you’re second-guessing yourself.

Mind over matter – if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. For more … Aukshunasphoto.com

Social @tim_auks

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This world can run on fe ar an d hatre d or love an d compassion . We must choose the plan et we want.

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