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The big day has come and gone and…. I have my outline!
{Tattoo by Rich at Kapala Tattoo}
The decision to get this tattoo took me a long time to come to. My last tattoo experience was hard. My koi fish was done on the part of my back where my chronic back pain comes from, and at the time I wasn’t doing much to keep it under control. About twenty minutes into the colour, I lost it- the pain went off the richter scale and the muscles in my back started spasming. I ended up having to leave, let it heal, and did two months of physio and massage and yoga to get the pain into a place where it was manageable. I went back and sat through the colour, but for a long time the sound of the tattoo machines made me feel like I was suddenly seasick. I knew that my shoulder pice was something I wanted, I wasn’t sure that my body could handle it.
I don’t know when it happened, but something changed in me this year. Over the winter, in the thick of school and worry (and probably mid-cup of tea) it hit me: if not now, when? It sounds corny, but after a year of plans falling through, it was like being hit by lightening- I have to stop planning and start doing. I have to find the energy inside myself to stay positive and charged up, all the time, and I have to do it like my whole life is at stake.
I’m happiest when I’m working. When I have an idea for a post and I’m rolling over it in my mind, trying to find the right way to approach it and trying to find the right words. When I have a project on the go and ink on my hands, and when I finally find that moment of Ah Ha when everything comes into focus. I’m happiest when I have ideas that make me dream bigger than I thought I could, and that make me so single minded about what I want that I have trouble sleeping.
Six years in a private junior high and high school was definitely interesting. My school was progressive, secular and high pressure. It hung on the British structure, from uniforms and boarding to being put in one of four “houses” when you were admitted. My graduating class was unprecedentedly large at a whopping thirty five girls, and my time inside its gates were wild. They were everything you would imagine and more. We worked two grade levels ahead of other schools in most subjects and the implication was clear: this is a gift from your parents, so get the scholarships they paid for.
It’s been five years, three moves, one house, two degrees, six jobs, two puppies, a hundred some concerts, a million or so I love you’s, and I still can’t get over how lucky we are to have bumped into each other out in this great big world.
You are my favourite.
Love,
Kyla
A little while ago, many bloggers posted this plea for one of our loves, Brandy. Her request was simple, her boyfriend was told he might have multiple myeloma “an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life” and asked us to spare some positive thoughts and prayers for him. We re-posted her letter, sent her e-mails and held our breath on the day of the doctors appointment. And then the diagnosis was confirmed.
The quandary:
We feel terrible. Just horrible. And oh so helpless… if only there was something we could DO for them.
Last week was Ukrainian Christmas, and I had an interesting talk with my grandpa (who I call Bampa) on the way to mass. It felt like a story I wanted to tell. So for now, it’s story time, but there will be DIY’s and giveaway announcements later this week, stay tuned! kr.
I climbed out of the icy air, lungs stinging, and into the belly of the warm Jeep. It’s from the mid-1990s and makes creaking noises, and the leather seats hug you. They’re worn and unpretentious, they fit my grandfather perfectly.
Bampa: “I almost missed your house, Kyla! I went right past it!”
I'm Kyla- a twenty something web designer & full time creative business owner, friendly introvert, thrifting addict & vegetarian foodie. I live in a tiny house with my husband Jesse and very small (very bad!) dogs, and am passionate about handmade, living simply, organization and making my time stretch so I can fill it with all the projects I have whirling around my mind.
This is my personal blog where I share stories from my life, lessons I'm learning through living with GAD, being self employed, results from my kitchen, and inspiration that makes me swoon.
