Sometimes all I have on my mind is work. It’s not a bad thing, I love it, like a lot. I love it so much that I can create more and more work for myself as I see everything as an opportunity to learn and grow and push myself to do better and better.
I was kinda born this way. I am unable to sit still and do nothing. I get bored fast. I remember, as a kid, boredom felt like it was killing me. It was torture, to the point where my stomach would end up in knots. That has not changed. I still have that same feeling today.
Keeping my mind ticking with work makes me super happy, but sometimes I need to take a break, to learn how to play again and to get away from my work obsession.
That’s where the guy I married 16 years ago today comes in! He knows how to play and loves to take me on adventures. I admire how we pushes me and keeps at it when I sometimes want to reject his great offer and just get back to work.
As the years go on, he becomes more and more insistent that I take breaks to enjoy life. Last weekend he filled up our water bottles, packed us some snacks, and told me to get my running shoes on because we were off for some fun!
The day was glorious. The sun was shining, it wasn’t too hot and we headed east bound for the Leslie Spit! Okay, seriously, you need to go. In case you are not familiar with the Leslie Spit it is a 5 km peninsula heading right into Lake Ontario from the foot of Leslie Street in Toronto. It is a man-made landfill that began in the 1950’s. It was a project to expand Toronto Harbour in anticipation of more shipping traffic.
In the end, the original need for the project was stopped, but construction waste continues to be dumped at the site – things like hydro poles, the building material from Toronto’s Subway lines and large office towers among other buildings.
The spit has become a beautiful spot to enjoy nature. There are over 300 species of birds that reside there, a wide path used for cycling, roller blading, running and walking plus they have a gorgeous shoreline which I fell madly in love with.
Wayne and I spent the day playing with rocks in the water and all along the beach. These were not your regular rocks, they were washed up tumbled and smoothed out pieces of tile, bricks and glass. Discovering these fossils of our concrete jungle got me feeling quite emotional. It made me reminisce about riding the Subway with my Oma as a little girl, going to concerts at Massey Hall, waiting in line to get into the Big Bop, and working in big office towers in my early 20’s. Toronto has changed so much over the years and I wondered if any of this rubble I was climbing over were perhaps relics of my own history with Toronto.
Every time I surrender to my husband’s request to get out and play I never regret it. He is the friend I was looking for as a little girl who needed constant excitement in her life. Thank goodness he finally found me, now I get to play for the rest of my life with my best friend.
Monica XO
The Leslie Spit visit got me so inspired this week with all of it’s colourful stones, shimmering water and blue skies that I was inspired to design THESE new julz for the month of October!
Hey, any Leslie Spit Treeo fans out there?
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