Category Archives: Freedom Fro(m)

Who Am I Running For?

Posted by Freedom Fro in Freedom Fro(m) and tagged with , , , , , ,

I tend to daydream a lot. I imagine myself as a Grandmother with crazy coloured dreadlocks and a lot of kooky stories of growing up in East Van. A loud guffawing laugh. An impeccible cup of tea for my visitors.

I have dizzy daydreams of being a Mother. Of not sleeping for the first year of my child’s life. Of not getting ID’d at 7-11 anymore because of the years my eyes will age. I dream of making up silly songs…and laughing…and laughing…and laughing with a small version of my future husband’s giggle. A brat, but a crappy liar. Twillby.

I cannot imagine Cancer in me. But it could happen. It could happen to any of us at any stage of our lives.

I’m running for Ashlyn. It happened to her. Twice. And nobody knows what tomorrow will bring, because tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us. We only have today. Each day, a gift. To Live. To Love. To do 100 things. To do 1 thing.

I am also running for everyone who is motivating Ashlyn by sharing their stories. There are too many stories. Too many women remembering their loved ones winning and/or losing their battles.

Run. Walk. Think. Donate.

There must be a cure. There must be.

Faith is being sure of what you hope for, and certain of what you cannot see.

Donate on my behalf or for my team, Ashlyn’s Angels.

Entheos Gathering 2012: A Memorable Experience That Won’t be Marred

Posted by Freedom Fro in Freedom Fro(m) and tagged with , , , , , ,

I really should be better at shutting off social media banter when events of great significance occur. I find that many people have this dark side of their personality that bubbles to the surface during these times. A side that likes to stir, speculate, and point fingers without any sensitivity to the people impacted by the event. A lot of the social media posts that I’m seeing related to the tragic incident that occurred at Entheos Gathering yesterday…yesterday — is so mean spirited, it’s mind boggling; especially considering that this festival and conference is meant to be about the spirit and our connection with one another. Balance. Harmony. Love.

I felt like this after the Riot in Vancouver. Would these people say these mean things as readily and eagerly as they type them? The permanence of what is typed is clearly not on minds as one clicks post, comment, send. The people that painted apologies and cleaned up and hugged and cried together: that is who I want to be surrounded by. That is the energy I want to fuel me.

This was my first Entheos. I wanted to experience being at a smaller music festival that attracted a different crowd. I was fully enchanted by the location and by the friendly people…children…animals. Running, walking, singing, playing, dancing; this place had a heart-warming energy. An amazing little hippy village. haha

Wild cloud formations rolled through the vast skies and there was so much green. I am in love with the colour green in all of its variations. This festival fully embraced the beauty of its location.

While I loved dancing in the forest to some talented DJs, I moreso loved the days. I loved going on a ‘nature walk’ with my fiance (oh yeah…I’m engaged!!). We got to walk through this forested area, surrounded by lush green trees and hearing music playing in the distance. While this festival was far from a ‘road’, the area was quite large to explore because you are in a valley. I enjoyed lounging on deep seated chairs constructed for just this thing and laughing with the man who was lounging with his large pan of dahl. Watching Bellyfit Live where around 100 people danced in unison, until she shouted FREESTYLE. It was a tribal movement. I also relished over the campfire, that was fueled by a volunteer throughout the evenings. Camping with 1000 other people is just such a great atmosphere to escape to. Seeing so many down-to-earth children was very warming as well.

It was evident that something horrible had happened by seeing the large RCMP presence in the morning. My beautiful hay field had a helicopter resting in the middle of it. Police tape melded in with other yellow tape blocking off gardens and edges of camping zones. With such a small community, the incident cut deep. Peaceful serenity stripped away by an act committed by one. And, now that I’m home, the acts of many keep ripping at my peace. All of my emotions…and I don’t even know him.

This happened yesterday. So, I have to be hopeful that those who are currently completely struck down with grief will soon have a voice. I just keep wanting to write STOP STOP STOP on all of these thoughtless threads, but everything adds fuel to angry spirits. So, I post this here, STOP, LISTEN, LOVE!

I connected to a beautiful festival. I will continue to connect with those I love, because, sadly, it sometimes takes tragedy to remind us how precious love and life is.

Day 2 Blog Challenge: The Original Blogger: me, age 7

Posted by Freedom Fro in 30 Day Blog Challenge, Freedom Fro(m) and tagged with , , , , ,

Well that’s just silly!! Why did I go and make my topic for Day 2 about my blog name? If you want to know about how I came up with my blog name, read it here. In an effort to keep this interesting, I thought it would be fun to share some snippets from one of my grade 1 journals. Journal time was my favourite time as a kid, because I loved to write and draw pictures.

I Want Long Hair

This entry is very related to The Essence of Freedom Fro. I spent so much of my childhood, youth and young adulthood loathing my hair, fighting my hair, feeling restricted and limited by my hair. Today, I am a woman who embraces her afro. Big hurr, short hurr…bring it!

Blonde?! Self Portrait: age 7

Some of my funnest journal entries involved my self portraits. This one is a classic. When I was 7, my Mom dyed us matching blonde splotches on the front of our curls. My blonde afro was stylin’ (Mom’s was a perm) and I can’t help looking at my class photo the following year and LAUGHING! My Mom had a lot of fashion influence on me when I was a kid. Because we kept my hair short, she would experiment with shaving designs in the sides (back when it was cool to do that sort of thing) and she’d put some of her funky jewellery and tops on me.

Atari!

Another thing that popped up occasionally in my drawings was the backdrop of my livingroom. While it looks like I am sitting on a low chair playing Atari…in a tropical forest, you’ll note that I have drawn the thermostat on the upper left corner. My Mom has always been artistic (I had to get it from somewhere), but we didn’t have money for expensive art supplies — so she would use a combination of make-up and those super cheap paints from Chinatown to create these large murals on one of our living room walls. I loved the palm tree and flamingo scene that she did so much that I not only drew it in multiple journal entries, but I grew obsessed with drawing tropical birds and palm trees. She also did this incredibly detailed portrait of a geisha.

I should be inspired by my 7 year old self. I would write if I had a good day, I would write if I had a bad day. My journal represented an open book into my emotions. When I was going through rough times, it was identified by a change in tone from my journal entries by my teacher.

Anyways, that’s all I’ve got for today! Ciao-dah!

Vegetarian Restaurant Options : rant

Posted by Freedom Fro in Freedom Fro(m), Fun with Food, Musings and tagged with , ,

Veggie Burger. Mediterranean Pasta. Salad. Mushroom Risotto.

I have this qualm about restaurants in that I don’t like to order anything that I make better at home. I have this other feeling in that I get so irritated that a restaurant chef can’t come up with a more original vegetarian option on their menu than one of the 4 items I listed above (all of which I make better at home). I want my boyfriend to have great dining experiences with me and to not have to eat the same thing all the time.

Vancouver does have a number of incredible veg/veg-friendly restaurants. It also has an excruciating number of chains and chains disguised as independents that I despise going to because of how limited they are in veg options and how mediocre their veg options turn out being. There are a lot of people who can’t get creative with vegetarian food at home, and I think that this is a direct correlation to the lack of creativity in many main stream restaurants.

Anyways, I just needed to rant a little because my partner had another meh meal at what is deemed a popular and otherwise tasty new restaurant (Ensemble Tap). He said that what I had made for lunch was a thousand times tastier (Black bean carmelized onion quesadillas with guacamole).

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. I’m suffering from a sore everything (post my first Sun Run)

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Afro Etiquette 101: Don’t Squoosh the Fro

Posted by Freedom Fro in Afro, Freedom Fro(m) and tagged with , , , , ,

I have big puffy fun hair. You don’t (unless you do, then Hi! I know you’re feelin’ me, here). While I can understand the fascination with the look and feel of my hair, it does not mean that I want your hands to squoosh my afro. In fact, to be completely honest, I have upsetting childhood memories of what happens when strangers touch my afro. They are usually taking some kind of comb to it, and are trying to separate the curls. That tearing sensation rings through my ears and yanks on my scalp. Riiiiiiiip. Not cool. Someone cut my hair a few months ago and told me I was all weird because I didn’t have a Black Gammy to yank at my hurr when I was a kid. True. I had a Cree Granny who patted me on the head and giggled.

I also have very pleasurable intimate memories of getting a good deep head scratch by a loved one. Laying on the floor in front of my Mom, she’d dig her hands into my hair and scratch my head. Cuddling beside my partner, he knows a good head scratch is very comforting for me. I do not have any desire to experience any of these feelings with someone I do not trust and love. Yet, I feel awkward saying “No, thanks” when someone asks if they can touch my hair. I need to be more witty in the moment and ask “Can I touch yours first?”…but I need something better than that, because I really don’t want to touch your hair.

There are times when so many hands squoosh my afro that I feel like it’s a bulk bin at the grocery store. People want to sample, so they sneak a little pat, a grab, a squench, a squeeze. Do I have a hand-washing station on my back so I can not be totally grossed out each time you decide to dive on in? Sadly, no.

So yes, it is my noble opinion that great hair is to be admired, not squooshed. Compliment it, Want it, but don’t touch it (and don’t even ask…unless you are okay with someone running their hands through your fine locks — that I’m sure you spent much effort adding volume to in the morning)

One love!

;-)

See Colour

Posted by Freedom Fro in Freedom Fro(m), Musings and tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

For anyone who expresses that they ‘do not see colour,’ I want to encourage you to open your eyes. See colour!

One may believe that not seeing colour is a way to treat people equally, but it is not. It is an expression of awkwardness about something that is right in front of your face. To see colour: to see the diversity of the people around you, and love it for what it is and how it makes our world beautiful, and then to treat each individual with respect and fairness; that is the sentiment of equality.

See colour.

See that the differences between us are intentional. Learning about those differences and embracing them will give each of us a greater depth of perspective of the world.

See colour. Colour is not shy. It can be bold and vibrant or soft and muted. The colour of skin is diverse. It requires varying degrees of moisturizing (do not look at my legs right now), and responds in a multitude of ways to the sun (do you have a friend who doesn’t tan?). It changes from childhood, to adulthood. It blushes. It tans. It burns. It freckles. We are equal, but we are definitely not the same. And, you know what? I think that’s pretty awesome!

See colour! One love! <3

What Job is this… a month later

Posted by Freedom Fro in bored, Freedom Fro(m) and tagged with , , ,

New Logo? check
New Website? check http://www.suite400.net It’s about as basic as a multi-page site can get when you start from a blank page as opposed to a template. But anything much more fancy would have misrepresented this company.

I’ve created business cards and client creative. I’ve trouble-shooted issue after issue after issue left behind by my predecessor.

Posting about work is boring and devoid of creative expression. I don’t suspect I’ll be doing it again. But, since I’m intending to complete this yawn of a post, allow me to do some house-keeping:

I joined Twitter @freedomfro. I don’t feel like I’ve found my niche yet. But I think a huge part of it is about having an audience and having interaction and feedback. I would appreciate followers that don’t have handles like @cuminmyface and @bangmybooty, as well. Babysteps.

I started Freedom Fro because I knew I’d have a lot of time to do nothing last summer. But it got put on my personal backburner because I’m already so active on Facebook. It felt repetitive. This site was intended to be about my creative expression: food, art, musing, iPhone pictography. Thinking about the reasons why I called this site “Freedom Fro,” and the constant battle I seem to have with my afro, I realize that I should write about that as well.

Writing about hair. Am I really that vain? I do not have to reflect to know that, when it comes to my hair, I’ve always been that vain – so why not commit to the process and hope to learn a thing or two about how to have a better relationship with it.

Ok, that’s it! Looking forward to new things creatively! Bring it!