001: Hello World
Lynn
What I’m up to now…
I don’t like to live by seasons, but like Helen Fitzgerald of Griefbacon said, “I’ve never expected myself to get over the school year calendar … The school year calendar is a hysterical one, a real drama-queen way to set up a year. It tries to teach the idea that life is a series of Homeric-sized journeys: Every hardship blossoms into reward, every conclusion offers a transformative lesson, every new beginning, every return to routine, comes with a scrubbed-clean self, a chance at rebirth.” Summer comes with the expectation to make the most out of the longer, warmer days so you can come back to school in the fall and share all of the wild times you had and all of the memories you made. That association with summer was at the forefront of my mind this year. When people found out that I was new to Toronto, they would mention that the summers here are amazing and that I’ll have the best time ever. I wanted to see what the hype was about, but with the end of August quickly approaching, I can’t say that I’ve had much Toronto fun. Instead, I spent Canada Day long weekend in Montreal for my sister’s bachelorette and following that, my friend got married in Canmore, AB and my sister got married on Bowen Island, BC. I’m not disappointed though, because looking back on fall/winter, there were so many beautiful moments associated with being new to the city, not knowing anyone, and exploring the abundance of events Toronto has to offer. Now that Robyn and I are back, we signed up for dance classes, are planning some overnight trips, have to finish outfitting our home, have to shoot some hoops and hit the tennis courts, and it’s been a minute since we went out!!! Personally, I’m writing a piece about my trip to Vietnam last June for my friend Kolton’s self-published magazine, ruminate. Concert season doesn’t start until the fall so I’ll try and see if there are any summer festivals and events left (missed Caribana cause of the weddings) and go on some dates since I reactivated the good ol’ apps *swipe swipe*.
What Foolish is for me…
Foolish is the creative outlet I’ve always wanted to have. I’ve done some one-off things in the past like short fashion videos and organizing a pop-up shop, but I’ve never kept up anything creative consistently, (besides my Instagram, lawl) so I’m excited to see where this goes. I’ve always been someone who has many interests and curiosities, and would like to share what stimulates my brain in hopes that it inspires or gives the feels to someone else as things do for me. As Foolish evolves, I’m hoping it’ll push me to grow creatively and personally. Time to put my many years of collecting information and making lists in my million Evernote notes to good use! There’s a lot of knowledge, resources, culture, and me in that one little app. I don’t know what I would do if it suddenly crashed and I couldn’t access my personal database. I often joke about it being my most prized possession. I’m also not afraid to get into the darker, messier, and emotional aspects of life and love. Having my moon in Scorpio means “I feel most at home when my life is emotionally honest. No matter what highs-and-lows that brings.” I need psychological upheaval and to investigate what is going on underneath the surface of things, which in turn will bring about honest, thoughtful, and relatable conversations with this project. I’ll eventually plan more seriously for my next career move, but for now let's be Foolish bitches!!!
Recommendations
Listening to disco
My Poems Won't Change the World by Patrizia Cavalli
Taking a solo day trip to Ikea
Chris Black’s Please Advise articles for The Strategist
Robyn
What I’m up to now…
This summer has been a whirlwind. I’m back in Toronto after taking a generous amount of vacation time to celebrate some important life events of friends and family. My home is back on the west coast and I was so happy to be a part of some beautiful moments; my best friend getting married on Bowen Island, B.C. and surprising my folks for their 40th wedding anniversary in Kelowna. Besides the various love fests I was graciously included in, it’s been difficult to reach the insanely high expectations everyone around us had set for “our first Toronto summer.” How can you reach that peak of excitement without knowing exactly what you’re after? Summer also started off with a very busy July. Work was crazy, personal matters seemed to pile on, and overall I wasn’t feeling balanced. I kept using the fact that Mercury was retrograding to explain the various shit storms that ensued. Making it out of that a little older and a little wiser, August was a refreshing change from the “emotional growth” done the month before. My headspace feels clearer than it has in a while and I’m excited to have routine again and check off the housekeeping duties in my life. There’s something meditative about organizing your calendar with activities of your choosing and seeing the week filled with productive tasks, fun things, appointments, work and dance classes. I’m welcoming all the good that these last days of summer has to offer me with goddamn open arms! I’m ready! I plan to get my mind right, i.e., career direction, continued counselling, and get my body right, i.e., dance and gym memberships, and finally, FOOLISH BABY.
What Foolish is for me…
Foolish started as a passion project when Lynn and I had so much to say and wanted to see if it was of interest to anyone else! We booked a studio at the Vancouver Public Library and recorded an episode, “Beginnings.” It was rough… countless minutes were cut and we ended up with a 20 minute sound bite of our life, a screen capture of Robyn and Lynn circa 2017. Two years later, it’s an even more exciting time for us now. We chose this move to Toronto together and we’re anxious and eager to get Foolish off the ground with the intention to create more meaning behind it, rather than a one-time SoundCloud upload. I hope with a little refinement, personal maturity and overall growth, it will be an outlet to express my thoughts and feels, a place to turn to for inspiration, and a project that will foster creative collaboration. I’m currently in a unique position in my life where I have finally been able to let the darker parts of myself see the light of day. This has been equally liberating and terrifying as vulnerability has always been a struggle for me. I am confident that many of us share similar experiences and as I grow, learn, fuck up and learn some more I’d like support along the way and to also be a source of support to whoever may need it. Just knowing we all are a little messed up and going through it is somewhat comforting, right?
Recommendations
Groupon massage deals
Trevor Noah’s argument on the importance of TRYING when it comes to the mass shooting epidemic and gun control in the states
Face sprays
This Beauty & Essex choreo by JP, our Underground Dance instructor
Tonight I’m Someone Else by Chelsea Hodson
Sending voice recordings