a peek inside the fishbowl

I’ve saved the wrap up post of our sugar fast for today, because I needed to sit and think about it for awhile, not to mention the fact that the whole production left me totally exhausted.

To summarize: it was tough. It was much harder than we thought, and we didn’t actually manage to be “sugar free” for the whole week.

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I completed the entire 9-week Couch-to-5K program today. (!)

I channeled my inner cheetah the best I could.

My iPhone was randomly shuffling through my entire library and the last song that came up during today’s run was Wayne Newton’s Danke Schoen. Dear lord, I so love that song.

Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen
Save those lies, darling don’t explain
I recaaaaaaall Central Park in faaaaaaaall
How you tore your dress, what a mess
I confess that’s not all …

I sang along as I ran and danced along my residential street, while wiping tears of happiness from my eyes. Hokey, but true.

I.DID.IT.

Today I’ve been thinking about how special and rare and incredible our bodies are. It’s a miracle that each of us is even here on this planet. I felt like a machine today, running, leaping, stepping, looking. This machine of mine is my most prized possession.

There is an expiry date on this machine too, but I don’t know what it is. I mean SHIT, it could be tomorrow for all I know.

It’s amazing that I have the life that I have. I am here. I am here. I am here.

I’m drafting up a couple of posts about the sugar fast, and about another aspect of healthy living for posting later this week. And I keep asking myself myself, how did I honour my body today? And how will I honour it tomorrow?

I’ve written about the West End Studio Tour (W.E.S.T.) here before. It’s a VERY cool way to (a) browse art (b) buy art and (c) see where the artists live (although not all stops are in the artists’ homes) and (d) peek at the creative environments in which they work.

It really is a special treat.

This year W.E.S.T. is celebrating its 15th year of 20 local community artists opening their studios and homes to art lovers of all kinds. The continued success of the juried W.E.S.T. tour can be attributed in part to the quality of the art work and the addition of new artists.

This year’s tour is taking place on September 18 and 19, and on September 25 and 26 from 10 – 5 pm. The tour is very family friendly, and what’s more, it’s free. It is a very pleasant self-guided walking, biking or driving outing that anyone can participate in.

One of my blog patrons – Alison Fowler – is on the tour again this year. I really urge you to check out her studio. It’s on Wellington near the Metro, right above Chickpea Boutique. A piece we bought from her figures prominently in our home … and I STILL love and admire it every single day. Hooray for art!

You can pick up a tour map at the W.E.S.T. home base, WallSpace Gallery (another amazing Fishbowl patron – go there to see art too!) or on the official W.E.S.T. website.