mindful monday

image courtesy of apartment therapy

dearest readers,

i hope you had a juicy weekend filled with your favorite things. or at least a smattering of them.

friday night we spent at the emergency vet with our beloved bonnard. diagnosed with cancer in january, i've felt blessed each day we've had together since. he's my first born (circa 1998), incredibly ornery, and black as night. the irony, he has a mass growing in front of his heart. despite his feisty (to put it nicely) exterior, we've been deeply connected since i scooped him up as a kitten. at a meditation class years ago, a fellow student announced that the alley cat had delivered kittens and they were free to a good home. recently out of a tumultuous relationship, i determined the only thing i'd miss about it was touch. well, a kitten would cure that! and boy did he. i've been an overprotective mum ever since. if he had a limp or was acting odd (nice), off to the emergency vet we'd go. although the late night vet wasn't positive about his prognosis friday night, she gave him some opiates, subcutaneous fluids, and pepcid. she also declared him on kitty hospice. he's been sunning outdoors, eating heaps, and begging for more treats ever since. whew, we got over that hump. although i know the end is near (as we will not tolerate any suffering) and my heart is heavy, i have been blessed with an amazing kitty (with a 3-inch thick medical file including cat scan images from his blind/partially paralyzed stint from which he miraculously recovered) for nearly 15 years. and for that i'm incredibly grateful.

saturday evening was our first night out in a long time. besides the ballet as le beau likes to remind me. we met up with friends and headed to the black cat to see JBM and cloud cult. if you don't know the song in a different time, you're missing out. i don't get super attached to songs, but this one gets me every time and it's a popular one during classes at tranquil space. truly touching. we stayed through the entire show and crawled home at 1:30am. as we headed to our bikes to ride home, i squealed, "bunnie, we're out super duper late!" oddly proud of myself. and, truthfully, still tired.

sunday was the release of our exciting news of the upcoming tranquility tour. we're most grateful for the support so far and can't wait to meet many of you during our adventure. consider hosting a tranquility pop-up, sponsoring the tour via one of your indie products/services, or attending a tranquility pop up. a portion of proceeds will benefit farm sanctuary and tranquil space foundation. the mission of the tour is to meet blog readers and podcast listeners, connect with nature, create memories, live simply, hand deliver copies of my upcoming hardback artsy book Tranquilologie: A DIY Guide to Everyday Tranquility, and sprinkle a dose of tranquility wherever we go. listen to our announcement here.

finally, the reason you're reading today is to get a sprinkle of mindfulness. i've been reading from the now effect and loving it. have you had a chance to peruse it? truly juicy and filled with good tips for everyday mindfulness. also, one of our lovely mindfulness e-course participants shared this article on 10 little things to do with mindful awareness. as you may know, there are both formal and informal mindfulness practices. this article shares heaps of daily informal practices to help bring you back to the present moment. that's where the magic happens. enjoy. bisous. x