Chill Out... Space

Hiya! Hi! Long time, non? Happy to be back - to be writing again.  It's been an 'eventful' month - some unexpected challenges.  I caught the flu (probably from some germy kid) the first week back from Christmas holidays, then for some totally bizarre reason, lost my eyesight - not totally but enough that I couldn't drive or look at the computer - plus a whole slew of other symptoms.  I went to 62 different doctors and specialists (including an opthamologist, naturopath, massage therapist, and osteopath), some said it was allergies (not sure I've come across a Claritin brand for blindness), some sinusitis, most had absolutely no clue. The most widely accepted theory was computer burn out (again, weird) so I was ordered to stay away from the screen for 2 weeks.  I temporarily cut back my schedule at work, arranged a team of drivers and muddled my way through the next couple of weeks reading scads of books and writing building histories out by hand. Some people are great at being sick. You never know that anything's wrong - not one complaint.  I suck at sick.  I loathe with every cell in my body not knowing what the cause is and am paralyzed by pain. And my poor husband had to hear about every single symptom recapped in detailed minutiae including his very favourite a couple of weeks ago: "I think I'm allergic to my face" 

I started to keep a journal of every weird symptom that was happening and scheduled another appointment with my naturopath with the list in hand.  He finally pinned it down to adrenal failure and that somehow it had compromised my thyroid, which essentially made my auto-immune system attack itself. See more information here. Explains the full range of totally bizarre symptoms, including exhaustion, blindness, eye pressure, massive headaches 24-7 and a whole range of other splendid goodies.  I've been put on a very strict, boring diet that includes a whole lot of 'no' (no sugar, wheat, corn, potatoes, peppers, milk, cheese, red meat or alcohol [waaaahhh]), I take an epic cocktail of naturopathic drops and consume an entire school of fish oil/probiotics/vitamin D daily.   In the week that I've been on this program, I'm improving drastically every day.  I can look at the computer without pain, can stay up past 8pm and I'm finally driving again (although the chauffeuring around town was starting to grow on me).  The cause was a perfect storm of extreme stress, poor eating and getting sick (so... Christmas).  

Being partially blind, trapped inside in the dead of winter and having no joy in anything I was eating gives you good perspective on life.  Like how had I managed to get on SEVEN volunteer committees?  Why was I continuing to work 70 hours a week, then coming home to blog/tweet/pin/FB about it?  Then proceed to spend entire weekends running around the city trying to find the perfect shade of teal for a pillow for my couch sandwiched between endless kids activities, birthday parties and playdates...  

My entire 2013 has, by brute force, slowed me down - I'm down to one volunteer position with a group I really value and enjoy, I've started a meditation course with 'Ginger' at the Canadian Meditation Institute (it's seriously the hardest thing I've ever had to do - I have to sit. still. for 1.5 hours with my eyes closed) and I've streamlined my online use to things I really love, like this blog (and pinning - hot damn I love Pinterest). 

As part of the 'slow life' program, we decided to convert the office into a chill room - think mounds of gooshy pillows, layered rugs, Buddha statues and a new pallet couch that H made from a bunch of free pallets and a futon mattress. For the first time in my life, I painted out an entire room in white, including trim.  It's killing me to not have a coloured feature wall. Have you seen the new deep green hues this year?  Plus we diverged from our usual mid century style into an eclectic ethnic mix with some traditional elements (GASP!) mixed in. Here's the inspiration (I'll update with photos of the room tomorrow - it looks better in the sunshine). 

 Pallet Couch. Source: French By Design

Layers and animal heads - surprisingly tough to find in Alberta. Also French By Design

 Blocks of wood for tables. Soucre: Daniella Witte

Art. I love every single one of these prints. Source: River Luna on Etsy

Leather butterfly chair, ethnic rug, and piles of books.  And that green wall.  Swoon. Source: SF Girl By Bay

Possible light. Satellite 6 Pendant by Schoolhouse Electric - they ship to Canada - yehaw!

I'm really happy with the final design - such a departure from my mcm 'esque-ness - plus turned out to function perfectly as an oasis from the frenetics of daily life.  

LP