L: It’s Friday! What will you do tonight?

F: Oh boy! It has been so busy at work with everyone cleansing this time of year, I am happy to have a night to just chill. I fly to New Mexico tomorrow morning to meet you and Mom for the weekend, so I will probably just get to bed early. I know that is a boring response. You know what? Come to think of it! Maybe I’ll dance the night away and take some shots!

L: What advice would you give someone who is generally looking to live a healthier life?

F: Routine is your very best friend when living a healthier life. Establishing a daily routine that you can rely on will help you stay healthier and make it easier for you to stay healthy. I generally have a smoothie in the morning which I think can be the secret to setting the day out right because you tend to make better choices throughout the day after that. Also, everything in moderation, including moderation.

L: What did you think of that Pumping Iron documentary we watched the other night?

F: I thought that documentary was amazing, disgusting, interesting, hilarious, gross and weird. I mean, what a strange and bizarre lifestyle and way to look. I just don’t understand. Most of those guys looked like their heads were going to pop off.

L: What kinds of LA things do you want to do together while I’m here?

F: I want to go to the Getty, go on more hikes, spend more beach days together and have more friend hangs. Nothing too complicated.

L: What is your favorite/most visited website these days?

F. Ha! Cleanprogram.com. I probably go to it 100 times a day.

Pass It On

By Lauren

January 15, 2015

Inspired & Inspiring

Leave a comment

1) 7 Cultural Concepts We Don’t Have In the U.S. (via MNN.com) include a whole lot of nods to the importance of spending time in nature, finding coziness and practicing ingenuity. -Lauren

2) Send the Gift of Glitter to Your Enemies (via Mashable.com) Over Thanksgiving we had some glitter in our wrapping paper when we exchanged gifts and for days everyone had glitter on their faces! I think its a hilarious idea to send glitter to anyone. -Farrell

3) The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck (via MarkManson.net) was linked to in this week’s reflection by Composure. It is an entertaining, if not crass, read on being deliberate with the ways you spend your energy. –Lauren

4) How to Understand Introverts (via Atchuup) I feel like this article shed some light about the differences between introverts and extraverts. I can also see that I have a little bit of both in me as well. –Farrell

5) How Yoga Changes the Brain (via Scientific American) Spoiler: It enlarges several ares of the brain which control things such as a mental map of the body, directing attention, reducing stress, and our concept of self. -Lauren

6) Working on a 6 Pack (via Delightfully Tacky) This is the workout that I am doing and I hope to have an 8 pack in no time! – Farrell

7) The Lighthouse Works Fellowship Program (via The Listings Project) is now accepting applications for visual artists, writers and musicians to spend six-weeks (with housing & stipend included) on Fisher’s Island, NY! Sounds magical. –Lauren

A new year, a new tarot

By Farrell

January 14, 2015

Inspired & Inspiring

Leave a comment

By now, you all must be familiar with Osho cards since Lauren and I both love them. On January 1st, my beautiful spiritual running buddy and I did readings for each other. This was one of the strongest readings that I have had yet.

Because each card is really up for interpretation, here is mine: Although a lot of people tend to express themselves outwardly through creativity, I will focus more on myself as my form of creativity, reminding myself that making myself better is enough for now. I will also find that through meditation this process with be much quicker and more enjoyable, also while remembering that the master is simply a reflection of yourself. I have hit a new level of maturity (I will be 30 this year!) and through that comes wisdom and all things will seem more rational and calming. The bottom card is possibilities which is meant to remind you that, as my mother says, “all options are available.” Everything does not need to be done the same way. You can create your own path. And last but not least, change. There are no certainties in life other than change. I have come to know this at a very young age and feel it has shaped my expectations. This card is a good reminder that all things change and though a door may close another one will always open.

Even if you don’t “believe” in tarot cards, it is always a fun thing to do. If you are in the mood, try pulling your own card from Osho.com.

Tuesday Doings

By Lauren

January 13, 2015

Inspired & Inspiring

Leave a comment

(via here)

STARTING a Tree Grows in Brooklyn and realizing that it all takes place on my old street in New York over 100 years ago.

SPENDING time with my friends and my sister at the same time and I love it. It’s like old times!

HELPING so many people through the 21 day Clean Cleanse. It is the best time of year to do it! Message me if you want any more information.

RESEARCHING places to see in New Mexico for my trip there with my Mom later this week.

STARTING to read Daisy Miller by Henry James for my NYC book club’s LA meeting later this month. Can’t wait!

POSTING more regularly on our @sister_disco_ Instagram feed. Follow us, if you don’t already!

for me, it’s here

By Lauren

January 13, 2015

Inspired & Inspiring

1 Comment

(via here)

I’ve gotten back into a little bit of a yoga routine since being in Los Angeles. At the last class I was in the teacher talked about comparing yourself to your past self. It is so easy to stubbornly hold yourself to a previous standard, yet doing so can intrinsically set you up to fail (or injure yourself) as it ignores what currently is. It amazes me how much information our bodies give us if we can honestly accept & act on where we are, and what we’re feeling, at any given moment.

I stopped working three months ago today and (mostly thanks to AirBnB) have been living an elongated & unstructured period between what I was and what I will be. This was a useful lesson for me:

Resist comparison of your current self to your past self. Turn your attention to your body. From a place of ease, move forward from where you actually are.

Namaste

Picturesque

By Lauren

January 12, 2015

Pictures

Leave a comment

It was a pretty gloomy weekend in Los Angeles and there’s a definite cold & flu bug going around but we still had a really nice weekend together. Below, some moments we captured.

*

Farrell – Los Angeles, CA

Did some online shopping for our apartment.

Spent some downtime with this sweet thing (Lauren).

Enjoyed the most delicious and lovely dinner with our friend.

*

Lauren – Los Angeles, CA

Rainy roads and grey skies

Browsing & lounging at CB2

Fairy Iris’ catching my eye on the side of the road

Coast to Coast

By Lauren

January 9, 2015

Coast to Coast

Leave a comment

F: Tell me a little bit about your day today.

L: Today I woke up at your house, had coffee with you and Al. Then Teddy came over and he and I spent the rest of the day hanging out. This evening I went to a screenplay reading at my friend’s house which was really great!

F: What is your favorite thing that you have done since you have be in LA?

L: Oh man, my time here has been off to a really great start so it’s hard to say. The first yoga class that I went to here was awesome and that’s what is sticking out in my mind at the moment. I’m really feeling new to this place which is super exciting the majority of time, with a few passing moments of fear, panic and unease peppered in. At this point pretty much everything I’ve done has been cool.

F: Is there anything that you really want to do while you are here?

L: Yes. I want to go to the Getty. I want to try two restaurants that were recently suggested to me, Osteria Mamma and Father’s Office (for the alleged best burger in LA). I want to go to that paint night in your neighborhood that we talked about. I’d like to hear some live music. Other than that, I’m pretty open.

F: Do you miss New York? If so, what do you miss?

L: Yes, I do miss New York but not in a desperate way because I know I can go back if I want to, and I haven’t really been gone that long. The other day I was walking down the street and found myself missing being surrounded by pedestrians on a mission. I miss the familiarity I feel in New York, and realize now the sense of security that the city has provided me with for a very long time. I also miss my people, of course. But overall I’m very happy to be here for now.

F: Do you think LA and New York are comparable in any way?

L: It’s difficult for me not to draw some comparisons because New York is what I know. However, at this point LA feels like too much of an unknown to me to draw any particularly insightful comparisons.

Homie of the Day: Kyle Studstill

By Lauren

January 8, 2015

Homies

1 Comment

I had the pleasure of meeting Kyle Studstill last month at a neighborhood AirBnB event. In addition to admiring the gorgeous scarf he was wearing, I was quickly inspired by the way in which Kyle blends a practice of mindfulness, reflection and ritual into his work at Composure. I’ve become a devoted reader of Composure’s weekly Reflection and was thrilled when Kyle agreed to share some thoughts with us here today. Thank you, Kyle!

*

Hello Discoees,

I do a lot of thinking about meaningful work, and how more of us might spend more time in creative, fulfilling pursuits. As part of this I craft short notes that reflect on various themes, because uncertainty plagues all worthwhile pursuits—if we are to do our best work in the face of uncertainty, perhaps we must first hone virtues and perspectives that allow us to stay the creative path. This week, humility.

Perhaps it’s true that some ideas can be expressed only in the post-modern abstract, but monuments are much more direct. Monuments endure—yes in form, but more importantly as a concrete image in our minds. This one above a gentle reminder, now sitting peacefully in a corner of your own mental stage, there for you when some unexpected curtain rises or falls, a distant million twitteryears from now.

“Never presume that just because you disagree with an idea that you must be correct.” Neil deGrasse Tyson on the kind of humility that comes only with understanding a truly astronomical universe of possibilities.

(And Dangerdust’s ongoing series of chalk paintings are humbling in themselves, beautiful. Take a look.)

And this image complimenting a favorite note from writer Tag Savage:

“Right there is where I got my first parking ticket. Was sitting outside of my car, my hand in a girl’s hair. Wanted badly for her to be my girlfriend and was readying some kind of move. Barely started kissing and bloop bloop, Officer Edmonton of the county parks department pulled up, accused us of being on drugs, cited me for blocking…something. Was unclear. She took this as a sign that our love was not meant to be. But soon enough we did properly date and we lasted a couple of years. Then we hurt each other as restless people do, and we didn’t speak for lots of years.

Last year, her husband painted a portrait of the dog my wife and I own. I really like this painting. It hangs prominently in our living room. There are very nice things about growing up, and hushed forgivenesses are one of them.”

Consider all the above simply fodder for reflection on how to make humility part of your life too. As part of my own work to hone these virtues, I design and produce a line of scarves made and worn with individuals in my life in mind, those who embody the virtues I value. For now I simply tell their stories alongside each scarf; find scarves, virtues, and more reflections over at www.alwayscomposure.com. My enduring thanks for taking a moment to do so. Hushed forgiveness otherwise.

Holiday Snaps

By Farrell

January 7, 2015

Pictures

1 Comment

Who doesn’t love to look at pictures? I took so many pictures over the holidays, but here are some of my favorites from my phone, snapped throughout the Christmas season.