Tag: hope

A Fresh Start

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I’ve been working behind the scenes getting everything updated and fixed up, clearing out spam, and generally doing “invisible” projects for a while now, all in preparation for today. The one-year anniversary of my last post. Not really something to celebrate, but it seemed like the perfect time to give myself a fresh start. More on that below.

To celebrate the rebirth and renewal of my blog, I decided to create this ikebana with a bold and sculptural protea blossom, surrounded and protected by tiny mums in a very similar colour pallette. Airy nigella greens help contrast the heaviness of the focus flowers and bring balance and light to the whole arrangement. The flowers were purchased at a lovely florist here in Montreal called Les Champs Fleuris while I was out with Sophie. While we were there, a woman came in to browse and she was wearing yukata!

As I outlined in my last post, I had a very eventful end of 2023 leading into 2024. I was over-ambitious and thought I’d be able to pick up where I left off, at the same time as I recovered from a pretty debilitating accident, all while working 40+ hours a week, travelling back and forth across the continent, and planning a very DIY wedding.

I accepted that life had gotten in the way, but convinced myself I’d get back into the swing of things when I got back to Montreal (where all my kimono, ikebana vessels, and other blogging necessities still live) last month only to find out there’d been a minor fire in the house here and my parents hadn’t told me to “not stress me out further.” Don’t worry, everyone is safe and sound and the only damage was to one wall where a thermostat shorted out. My mother thankfully felt the heat emanating out of the wall before calling 911 immediately. But I came home to new walls, an entirely refinished floor due to water damage, and the bulk of our possessions boxed up all over the hallways.

But here’s the good news. The wedding went off a treat, I have been happily married for six months. The house here in Montreal is slowly getting back to normal as we unpack everything. The kimono room is still upside-down and I’m still dealing with a lot of chronic pain in my legs and can’t stand for long periods of time, but I’ve got lots of reviews and little adventures planned out for the near future. I still need to wrangle The Husband into a formal kimono and hakama so we can take some very belated “wedding” pictures. Maybe for our first anniversary next December. Seems fitting since I keep doing things on anniversaries lately.

On that note, if you’re still here I can’t express how much I appreciate your continued encouragement and support. Please select your top three options of content you’d like to see or drop me a line here or on any social media platform if you have any requests or suggestions. I can’t promise anything, but I can sure as heck try! All reviews/diys/etc will obviously be related to kimono or Japanese culture, and of course I will be doing as much actual kimono blogging and coordination as I can in the coming months!

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A Prayer for Notre Dame

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Monday, I watched with the world as the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris burned. I may be, as I’ve mentioned before, an atheist, but the thought of the world losing such an important monument filled me with despair. There is no denying that aside from spiritually, it’s an incredibly vital structure historically, artistically, architecturally, and culturally. It has witnessed revolutions, wars, births, deaths, been central to great works of fiction, and great works of art.

Now, several days later, we know the extent of the damage, and mercifully it’s not as dire as it felt watching it live. However, it’s going to need a massive amount of restoration in the years – and likely decades – to come. Thankfully the structure is still mostly stable, and the bulk of the art and religious relics contained within were saved, but she is still going to need a ton of work.

If you’re a regular around here, you’ve likely seen my use of kitsuke as a coping mechanism for distant but impactful deaths. This time, I’m using it as a coping mechanism for loss and despondency. I wanted to honour Notre Dame in the best and most personal way I know how.

The wrought-iron metalwork designs on the haori call to the famous spire that was lost about halfway through the blaze. As an unintended but not unappreciated bonus, the haori over the obi makes a distinctive hump, hearkening back to Quasimodo, the cathedral’s most famous fictional resident. I chose an obi with the circular floral motif to echo the Rose Window, central to the front facade. The roses on the kimono are also a bit of an indirect nod there. The red accessories add a vital, aggressive pop of contrast, exactly what Notre Dame needs right now. A reminder to fight, that she’s been through worse and come out the other side, and will remain standing for centuries to come.

Items used in this coordination

Rebirth and Renewal

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I have always tried to keep this blog apolitical. It’s a hobby, a place of beauty fun and a bit of a distraction from the “real” world. However, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that in the modern political climate, remaining detached is essentially an impossibility. This is not to say that I’m suddenly going to change the focus of things here, but I am having a harder and harder time keeping my mouth shut about the state of things. Syria, Brexit, Trump… we are living in a world that is increasingly on the defensive; cold and closed and unwelcoming.

So with that in mind, I needed a subtle reminder that there is always hope in the world, always a chance for rebirth and renewal. I bought this obi along with the hawk obi from my last coordination, and had intended to pair it with my leaf-green iromuji from the get-go. The obidome and obijime were bought at the same time, and seem like the perfect little complement. I’ve always had a soft spot for pearls, and they draw the eye to the silvery buds on the obi that otherwise blend in and nearly disappear. This felt like the perfect time to tie everything together.

The outfit feels as though it’s looking forward to Spring, but also looking forward in general. In a time when everything seems uncertain, at least we know the leaves and grass and first buds of the flowers will be back soon enough. It may not be much, but at least every time I see it I will be reminded that after every hideous, frozen, deathly winter there will inevitably come a spring when everything is reborn.

Items used in this coordination