Remember: no matter how long you’ve been dating or married to a person, always make time out of your busy schedules to go on a date and relive the very reason why you fell in love.

— Joyce

Dinner last night on the patio at Queen Elizabeth Park (Restaurant: Seasons in the Park). Fireplace ablaze, bottle of vino, beautiful view, and three handsome gentlemen to share it with. La vita é bella… 

Earlybird Americano.. (6AM) Happy Thursday! It’s my Friday! :)

Vancouver, keep smiling with that sunshine..

Avec mon coeur… je t’aime de plus en plus chaque jour. 

Banana peanut butter yogurt muffins with chia seeds. Morning breakfast! 

Slow Jam Sundays with some of my favorite people.

Made vegan chocolate cake with glaze and crushed almonds! Trying to channel my inner baker.

the heart > the mind.

Yes, I said it. Most people will not agree. In fact, majority of women (and men) out there hate being vulnerable to what their heart says and choose to be logical instead of risk the emotional. Because who really wants to be sitting on their couch with a tub full of ice cream watching Serendipity or Never Been Kissed over and over and over again… No one. Well, except for me.

I have always thought (no pun intended) that the heart was smarter than the mind because of its production of passion, that burning desire to take that leap of faith and put everything on the line, gambling the outcome. Now contradictory to what I believe in, I am and never will be the “casino” type of girl. I’m talking about the risks in life that you take because you listened with your heart. It’s that choice you made of the bad guy over the good guy; The not-so-steady career over the million dollar income; The savvy SUV over the fuel efficient hybrid; The holding on versus the letting go. You’d be surprised at some of the positive outcomes. But naturally, of course, chances are you’re heartbroken, broke, and crying pools of tears right now racking your brain thinking “WHY DIDN’T I LISTEN TO MY HEAD?!?!?!” We blame the heart, persecute its stubbornness, and ridicule its ignorance. What we choose to forget is that sense of freedom, that happiness, that pride, that stability, that confidence in ourselves we felt for that exact moment when we chose our hearts over our heads.

Let’s face it, we are a human race built of cowards when it comes to making tumultuous life-altering decisions. We always want to think ahead, think what’s best, what’s safe, what is considered the norm to society (because no one wants to look like a fool in front of everyone else, you might just be dubbed ‘clinically insane’). And yes, the head may have your best interests in the long run, but you will always be left with that nagging thought of the I wonder’s and the What if’s. What ends up happening are regrets of not taking that rocky, more faulty, route because we all strive to experience the unknown. It’s like a question with no full answer. Left unsatisfied, this is our demise.

The heart says, a day never promises tomorrow. I’m going to tell you now, as if you didn’t already know, the heart doesn’t always have your best interests at hand, instead it gives you lessons. It allows you to fall and is forgiving if you break it. It mends and let’s you fall even harder only to return to you more lessons learned. Your ego is bruised, reputation possibly shattered but not once were you held down by chains of not knowing. As you get up from these falls and rise above these lessons your heart only grows stronger and pushes you further up to take those chances because they may never come again. Your passion, your drive, your hunger have sufficed, which leads to a life fulfilled.

Life is all about taking risks, trusting yourself enough to know that your heart may break you, but only momentarily, that the outcome is out of mind’s reach because, ultimately, the heart is driven on emotions of passion, strength, perseverance, and love, emotions that the mind has no place in.

— Joyce