Gestures of kindness can change lives. Theirs. And yours. Say hi to strangers. Be generous whenever possible. Generous with your money. Your skills. Your time. Spend as much time outside as possible. Eat what is fresh. What is in season. What is local. Find someone who can fix that broken thing. Support local and independent […]
Jessica Blaine Smith
That Invisible Weight
I posted something on Instagram a number of days ago and received so much feedback from people for it. In it I wrote the following: If I am being honest, which I always try my best to be (and a trait which sometimes gets me into trouble), I am struggling with balance in my life. […]
No Left Turns
I have been known to take no left turns on my bike. I only started cycling in Toronto a few years ago.If you know the city, you know that it’s not the most bike-friendly one. You are constantly in a battle with cars (particularly taxis and delivery trucks), other cyclists (particularly those who deliver food […]
Birds Oracle Deck – An Update
UPDATE: My BIRDS ORACLE DECK is now available over at Golden Blue. Hello friends! It has been three months since I announced that I was working on my own Oracle Deck and while I have been quiet here about it, I have been posting progress images along the way on my Instagram. I thought that […]
Dear Photography Students
A few days ago I was asked if I would help out with graduating students of the photography program at OCAD. There would be five of us real-life working photographers in on that day and over the course of a couple of hours, we would have twenty minutes each with six students. In that twenty […]
30 Days in Puerto Escondido
30 days in Puerto Escondido 120 showers (two people) 30 sunsets 6 beaches 3 bottles of mezcal 3 pounds of coffee 2.5 books read 2 full moons 2 tubes of sunscreen 0 sunburns Countless tacos, chilaquiles and avocados consumed, waves jumped, freckles gained, words written, images captured. For thirty days, I haven’t worn a bra, […]
The Story of a Towel and My First Experience in Mexico
Yes, that’s right, I am going to write about a towel. A towel that I bought in 1991 when I was ten years old. A towel that I still possess and a towel that is currently with us here in Puerto Escondido. It has Bart Simpson with his skateboard on it and it says “Cool […]
That Juicy Middle Bit
I have been thinking a lot lately about the middle part of things. That juicy middle bit. The place between forming an idea for something and the final result of the creation/moving forward of said idea. The middle part where everything actually happens. Sometimes the boring place. And always the necessary place. I am currently […]
New Project: My Own Oracle Deck
I am really excited to share this post because it has been a long time coming and because when I start something that I am particularly excited about, I usually run fast with it and do not hold back on talking about it. This time around, I have been easing into things. Really feeling them […]
The Desert of Australia
About a year ago I was given an opportunity that I didn’t hesitate in accepting. I was asked if I wanted to travel to the centre of Australia with a group of women. We would camp there in the desert with some Aboriginal women, the original people of that land. Would I like to join? […]