Self Care and Body Image

Something I think that a lot of people tend to forget about is Self Care. You know how when you're on an airline and they say - if in an emergency, make sure you put on your own oxygen mask before you help someone else, or there's that other saying - physician, heal thyself. That's because you can't do anything for anyone else if you are suffering yourself. It's so very important to take care of yourself. Make sure you are getting enough sleep, eat when you're hungry, relax when you are stressed out, etc.

When I was in school, I was involved in a lot of activities and I had a lot of friends so those things on top of my school work could be really overwhelming. As time went on I felt myself struggling to keep up with everything and I was becoming more and more stressed out - as I know a lot of students do. What I did to deal with all of that was I made a schedule for myself. I made it so I only worked on my school work at school, that way I knew when I got home I could just relax. The most important thing I ensured was that every night I was getting enough sleep. I didn't pull any 'all nighters' I would just wake up early in the morning and work on whatever it was. This method really did a lot to reduce my stress and gave me time to wind down but also helped me keep alert and my mind well rested when I needed to think.

 Another thing I did, or rather didn't do, was cram-study for tests or exams. I found that when I did, my mind was so focused on the things I tried to remember that I all but completely forgot everything else, I just drew a blank. So when I was in class, I took small notes, but mostly just paid attention to the discussion. It worked really well for me in the end and I ended up with a GPA of 3.8. :) Mom was really proud. Now I'm not trying to tell people not to study, if it works for you, that's great :) this is just what worked for me.

Anyway, I just really think that self care is super important, life just gets really overwhelming sometimes and when we try to take on everything at once, we tend to crash. That's why another one of my rules for myself is to take everything one step at a time. I am religious about making lists to help keep my thoughts organized, it helps me prioritize and remember everything I need to do. I also like to break things down for myself and give myself baby-step goals to help me accomplish something. But as far as self care, I like listening to relaxing music, especially classical acoustic guitar or Dan Gibson's Solitudes. I also like to give myself relaxing 'Goddess time' where I take a long, hot, candle-lit bath, then relax, listen to music, brush my hair, moisturize, etc. I call it Goddess time because that's how I treat myself and that's how I feel. It is wonderful and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Stress is highly destructive to a person spiritually, mentally, and even physically. That's why I always tell my friends and the people around me (especially myself) that you need to listen to your body, it knows what's up and can help you to figure out what it is so you can deal with it.

The second thing I want to talk about is body image, I work at a women's fashion store called Voluptuous that caters to plus-size women and I see so many people who just have a terrible view of themselves. All I see every day is beautiful ladies, but all they can see about themselves is big arms, or back fat, large backsides, broad shoulders, etc. Somehow these gorgeous ladies perceive themselves as ugly because they don't fit into a certain idealized image - which is ridiculous.

Everyone and I mean EVERYONE is beautiful in their own way. If we all looked the same it would be a boring world. Also, the models who these women are trying to look like  - the models themselves don't even look like they do in their pictures. I think everyone needs to develop a healthy love and respect for themselves - not saying to be self-centered or conceited, but to love everything you are and accept the things that you aren't. Find things about yourself that you love. - for me it's my hair and eyes ;)

Being native, I use to be really ashamed of my white skin. I told my mom when I was probably about 13 or 14 that I wanted to dye my hair and go tanning so that people would believe me when I told them I was native. She told my dad and he took me aside and said "Mija, don't ever try to change who you are, the Creator made you this way for a reason. And don't let anyone else try to tell you who you are or where you come from. If you cut your finger, you bleed just as Red as anyone else." - It was from then on that I tried to always embrace myself and who I am, what I am, and the kind of person I am. I try to be the best I can and yes, I am white in my colouring, but my heart and my spirit will always be Native and I know that no one can ever take that from me.

As I got older, I started gaining weight too and my curves became more and more pronounced. Like anyone, I started seeing myself as fat and ugly, telling myself that I needed to lose weight. The past couple years I have learned a few things about that too. First, no one really notices your flaws until you point them out yourself. Next, when you see yourself as beautiful and you act the way you feel, that is how others will see you as well. Also, I have learned that people are always so focused on themselves and their own "flaws" that they really aren't going to even notice let alone care about any that you might perceive to have. Finally, I have learned not to compare myself to anyone else because that just breeds envy and not only that but comparing yourself to someone else is just foolish because you will never be them and they will never be you.

In the past while, I have started to see myself as beautiful and radiant, I just love me! - I don't think I am better or worse than anyone else but I am the very best ME there is. So there. I think that is enough for now, some food for thought (hopefully).

I hope you enjoyed this episode of The Starchild Diaries, see you next time!

~ Oriona



Photo 1 Credit - http://www.mytripolog.com/2012/07/top-best-resorts-and-hotels-in-maldives/

Photo 2 Credit - http://www.iacg.co.in/viewportfolio.php

My Various Endeavours - The Starchild Diaries

So today I want to tell you all about my various...campaigns that I have attempted over the years. These are ideas I have had that were business or non-profit ideas that I started but then lost my stamina for the project. Now I have not entirely given up on all these ideas, they are just...sitting on my back burners for the time being. I guess I inherited more than my love for writing from my parents as they were also very resourceful, creative, and good sales people too.

My very first business that I can remember was at the Quartzsite, AZ Gem and Mineral show. Right before we had left, a friend of mine had given me this Crayola set for my birthday and I had brought it with me on the trip. While my parents were busy with our booth, my little brother and I would be running around playing and obviously, since we were in the desert, there were a lot of rocks and stones everywhere. One time I picked one up that was oddly shaped but to me, I saw the image of a mother holding her baby - so I just coloured in the rock to bring out what I was seeing. I still have that stone as you can see in the picture, it was the only one of the stones that I kept but it sparked an idea for me that actually turned out to be pretty lucrative for an 11 year old.

Stone and I would gather different rocks and wash them off and then I would colour them to look like different things. Mostly I would make little bugs or flowers I think, but some of them were pretty different, depending on what I saw. One of them turned out to be the Loch Ness Monster! - I was pretty proud of that one. We put them in a tray and made a little sign and then we walked around selling them to people. My mom always laughs because she couldn't believe that we had picked these rocks off the ground and were selling them to the people who were also selling rocks.

Another little business venture I had went over a few years. When we lived in Erie, my neighborhood always hosted a one day block sale where everyone would have a yard sale at the same time. We would get a couple thousand people pretty much every year. So me being the little entrepreneur that I am, I thought of setting up a lemonade stand because I had a 'secret ingredient' - which was lime juice FYI - that I thought just made my lemonade the very best. So I had a couple pitchers my first year and I set up in my front yard. It was going pretty good, and then an elderly gentleman asked me if I had any sugar free lemonade or something because he was diabetic. We did have some Splenda in the house so I made him a glass but this
got my wheels turning a bit more. I'll spare you all the details, but over the next few years my little lemonade stand grew to carry ice cold, regular and sugar free lemonade in two 10 gallon drink dispensers. The next year we started carrying hot dogs, then chips, and I developed the 'meal deal' where people could buy a glass of lemonade for 50 cents, chips for 75 cents, and a hot dog for $1.50 OR they could buy the meal deal and get all for $2.00. That year I made more at my lemonade stand then my parents did at the yard sale!


My next business ideas came after we moved back up to Canada, the first being dyed silk scarves that I sold at $10-$20 a piece. I learned the very delicate art of dying silk scarves at a workshop we took at this Christmas retreat we went to for a weekend. I also tried jewelry making because I had a couple bead boxes from our house in Erie and my sisters had been quite skilled at beading so I tried my hand at it. I even started a Facebook page called 'Sacred Star Creations' to try and sell my things online.

When I went to New Orleans to visit my friend, Abi, she taught me a new form of art called Splash Painting! To this day I still love it and try to do paintings fairly often because they are fun and turn out really nice, I think. My most recent splash paintings were a set of three that I made because I am redecorating our bathroom from a rain forest theme to the ocean and...I wanted some ocean-like art to put in there so I made these:

Yes that is real sand and those are real seashells hot-glued to the bottom, I spared no expense ;) What I would like to do is make a bunch of paintings, I have a lot of ideas for some, and sell them online or at an art house. It's possible...that could totally happen...(hahaha) I guess it's better than my idea for 'splash-line' where I splash painted clothes, hats, and other accessories.

I have also attempted a few other things that haven't exactly panned out, like my handmade paper, stationary, and journal business. I have not quit on this one, I just don't have everything I need yet. Also, becoming a chocolatier; again, I just need to you know, go to school for that. If nothing else, I will own my chocolate cafe one day and even if I don't make it myself, I will be serving a lot of chocolate products. Because chocolate is delicious and makes people happy. It has endorphins and antioxidants...oh my gosh so many antioxidants and those are good for you - so chocolate is also healthy! (everything in moderation is good) Not to mention the amazingly rich and ancient history that chocolate has - like how it use to be considered the drink of the gods! Cray cray! (omg I can't believe I just said that...and apparently it's staying)  I did a lot of reading up on chocolate when I was preparing a business plan for the government and I really learned a lot about chocolate that I find fascinating.

Anyway, the point of today's post was to share with you all of the random little ventures I have thought of and tried over the years. I think I have pretty much...touched on it lol. I really have my mom to thank for it because she use to tell me these stories that she made up called 'The Brave Little Adventure Girl' all about this little girl(me) who was always going on crazy adventures trying to provide for her family. So I guess I was inspired.

I am writing a kid's series based on these stories now just called the Adventure Girl series. The one I am working on right now is called Adventure Girl and the Missing Water Mystery. I want it to be in the same genre as books like Judy Moody, Junie B. Jones, Nancy Drew, and other series like that. Anyway, I hope you guys are continuing to enjoy my blog series, I never know what I am going to write about so I hope you don't mind the randomness. I sure as heck wasn't expecting to actually keep up with writing this even once a week, but here I am so far writing almost every day and it's turning out to be really fun! I think what I like the most is just getting all my thoughts out and having them heard. It's been really motivational hearing all the positive feedback on Facebook so I want to thank everyone for your support so far, I love you guys! :)

Anyway, have a wonderful rest of your day and I'll blog to you later :p

Ciao,

Oriona

Spring Cleaning/I Think I Might Want to be a Comedian - The Starchild Diaries

Good Morning!

I know it's afternoon, but I always find that good morning is the most cheerful greeting of the day. :) Today I have decided to cast open my curtains, let in the sunshine, and do a bit of spring cleaning. I am currently listening to one of my nostalgic childhood albums my mom use to play during our Saturday morning cleanup - The Carpenters Gold: Greatest Hits album. Obviously since I'm cleaning, I can't just sit here and write all day so I'll be back periodically...though I will just be posting the whole thing at the end of the day so for you it will all be at once...oh well, see you in a bit!

12:53 - just finished sorting the laundry. Not so easy to do when your darling little furry friends keep jumping in the basket and knocking it over to play. T_T Next up, throwing the laundry in and then we sweep and mop! before I do that though, I think I shall have a little break for lunch, I'm thinking grilled zucchini and cheese sandwich :p

5:13 - Okay so I didn't mop, and my break was a little longer than expected (the sandwich was delish btw) but I am happy to say that our apartment is now very near spotless! I am losing my gusto however, cleaning can take it out of you, but I think my issue was more the whole hour or so that it turned into a dance party for one - which was super fun for me and probably traumatizing for our kitties. Haha :p And the saga continues...

6:27 - Alright, I'm done cleaning for the day. I have been distracted to the point where I am seriously considering getting into stand-up comedy. Now I did take a aptitude test one time in 9th grade and ONE of my options was stand up comedian. Today, after I was finished listening to the Carpenters and then a bit of the Beatles, I started to think about what I might say if I were indeed a stand up comedian.

Have you ever been alone, and you just start talking out loud to yourself? But you're not talking to yourself, you're talking to people that you know or imagine and it's kind of like you are rehearsing conversations that you know are probably not EVER going to happen. Like I can't tell you how many times I have been on the Ellen show...in my mind. I am always there for some random reason, like she saw one of my Youtube videos of me being actually really boring but talking about things I find important for about 15 minutes.

Today, I was imaging being on stage doing a stand-up routine and I was talking to my 'audience' about cleaning...just saying right now, I was terrible. Even my make believe audience - which was my bed filled with clean, folded laundry - was booing me off stage. However, I really think I could be a comedian because every time I am around people and we are talking, they laugh a lot! Either because of me or something I said. I have never really pictured myself as a funny person but I don't know, maybe I am.

What I like most about the idea is that I love to make people laugh, my parents both have(had) great senses of humour. I remember them telling me and my siblings so many stories and jokes that had us all in stitches! When my family would get together in Ajo, AZ for Christmas, we would all stay up late into the night just sitting around my Nana and Tata's table listening to our parents tell stories and jokes. My Aunt Rachel, I remember, was especially funny to me because she would be in the middle of telling a joke - in Spanish, which most of us didn't understand - and she would be laughing so hard, she would have tears streaming down her face and she would just be snorting and cackling - that good kind of - can't breathe - belly laugh, half way through the joke! So, we couldn't understand what she was saying anyway but she couldn't even make it through the telling of the joke because she was already laughing too hard and we would all be laughing just as hard, just because of her!

There is one story that my Dad use to tell and it was one of my favourites and I would like to share it with you now. Now I said in my first entry that my family use to travel around a lot. My Dad use to travel by himself sometimes because us kids had to go to school and Mom would stay with us etc. etc. And he use to go and do shows and Pow Wows to sell his books and the Native crafts we would make at home like Dream Catchers, Medicine Wheels, and other stuff. Anyway, one time he was at this Pow Wow and I guess he was friends with the guy who owned the property it was being held on. So anyway, he had to use the washroom so he asked someone where it was and they told him. But they warned my dad that the owner had a pet goose that hung around that area who was very ornery and VERY territorial so he should be cautious.

When my dad was walking up to the washroom building, out comes this big old goose charging towards him honking and flapping his wings. My poor dad panicked and his first instinct was to just reach out and thwack the big bird on his head. And the goose sorta um...sagged down and staggered away and Dad kind of panicked and felt bad, thinking he might have seriously hurt the thing. But he went into the washroom and when he came back out the goose was nowhere to be seen.

Later on, my dad and his friend(the owner) were walking together and chatting when they came to the area around the washrooms. Again, the goose comes charging out honking and flapping his wings - until he catches sight of my Dad. The goose stopped in his tracks, looked at them for a second and then turned his tail and ran! The guy was surprised and said, "well that was strange, he's never done that before!" And my Dad is all, "Yeah, weird..."  - and I always crack up at that story. Even now as I am writing it up to share with you, my dear reader (I've always wanted to say that), I am chuckling thinking of this big old goose stopping dead in his tracks with a shocked look on his face.

What I also love is how my parents use to make each other laugh. They both had infectious laughs that could make anyone join in even if you didn't know what you were laughing at. Anyway, I guess that is all for tonight(because it is now 9:40pm) I am going to wrap up this post because it is already much too long. But I hope you enjoyed it, thank you for sharing my day with me and I hope you have a wonderful evening :)

Salutations!

~ Oriona

Introduction - The Starchild Diaries

This is an old picture from my trip to NYC ;)

So, being a writer, I have decided to start a blog. I am constantly filling notebook after notebook with pages of ideas, stories, and realized life-lessons. Now I guess I just want to share them with whomever might benefit from them. Now, you'll have to bear with me as I imagine that this blog will probably jump around subjects like I do in real life. I have a variety of interests, activities, and passions so I never stay on one thing for very long - but I do always come back.

So a bit more about me as a person, I am a girl...woman? Young woman, at the age of 22 when I am starting this blog. I grew up traveling around North America with my family. I was born in Ontario, Canada, but for a large portion of my childhood, we lived in Erie, PA. I was raised in Native American spiritual traditions, and we attended various ceremonies on a regular basis. I am over 25% Native, though you wouldn't know it by looking at me. 

When my father passed away in 2007, my mother decided to bring herself, my little brother, and I back up to Canada. (this is a very short version of all that actually happened, I may write up a more detailed description later) At the time, it seemed like our lives were over, but here I am seven years later, and I feel so very blessed. I now reside in the amazing city of Toronto with my boyfriend and I am very happy.

I am going to school to study Social Service Work, which will be my first career. Like I said before, I have a lot of interests and passions including but not exclusive to dancing, singing, cooking, writing, splash painting, outdoor activities, writing(obvi.), etc. With all these different things, I always thought, "how can I use this to help people?" So when I realized that above all, my passion is helping people, social work seemed to be the best way that I could do that. Now on top of that, like I have said before, I would like to be an accomplished writer, hopefully get some(all) of my things published. At some point I would also like to own my own cafe and overall work from home or own my own business. 

Now don't worry, I know that I am thinking WAY into the future, and it is going to take a lot of work and determination to achieve even half of what I want to accomplish. However, I am a strong believer in that if someone really wants something and he or she is willing to work for it, they can achieve it. Like right now, I am going to wrap up this short introductory blog entry and get to working on one of my books. Before I go though, I want to just share a few of my life lessons that I have learned and try to apply to my life every day. They aren't in any specific order and don't worry if the list seems short - these are all I can think of off the top of my head.

- Never be conceited, but always have a healthy love and respect for yourself. No matter what size, shape, colour, age, or whatever you are, love yourself. You are not better or worse than anyone else, but you are the very best YOU there is.

- Always be kind, even when others are not kind to you. Just because the world might seem like it is trying to bring you down, don't let the negative actions of others cause you to bring yourself down to that level.

- Never settle for anything less than what will make you happy. This is valid for all aspects of your life, if you are in a situation that is bringing you down and you are feeling negative all the time, it''s time for a change. This applies to people, work, your home, your body, whatever. Do what it takes to make yourself happy.

- You are never stuck. There is always a way out of a situation and there is always a way to accomplish your goals, you just have to find it.

-Don't be afraid to admit your faults, in fact, embrace your faults because they are a part of who you are. When you accept your faults, you control them and no one can use them against you. Furthermore, once you know your faults, you can go about changing or fixing them if you want to.

- Be healthy, laugh, sleep, be active, eat. Above all, bask in the joy of simple pleasures.

That's all for now, I will try to be semi-regular with my posts, my goal is at least 1 entry a month but I'm hoping for more. Anyway, have a good night, or day - depending on when you read this. I hope you enjoyed this first entry of The Starchild Diaries. :)

~ Oriona

 Photo credit - James M.