There is no spring in Canada. This winter has been unrelenting.
Baby it's Cold Outside, has turned out to have been an event foreshadowing the epic winter which had befallen us. I've never been more thankful for hats, gloves, scarves, boots and all things woolen and shearling.
On the second day of spring I awoke to a chill and upon taking a peek outside the window, there appeared to be a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. While beautiful to look at through the window, snow in mid-march is not exactly a welcome sight. Only two days before in a full blown case of optimism, as a result of experiencing a slightly warmer day which I naturally, but, falsely believed signalled the end of our deep freeze I was in full pining/online shopping force in preparation for spring.
My hopes were considerably dampened when, we were hit by snow. But, one mustn't give up, one must go on. In an effort to recuperate from the shock of freshly laden snow I sought companionship.
On that second day of spring I was spending time with some friends when I was introduced to the magical properties of an Ethiopian snack: kolo.
Coffee and kolo, a traditional Ethiopian pairing.
"Just take some of this and chew on it", were the instructions I was given. With enthusiasm I took some of this grain mixture (typically barley, chickpeas and peanuts which have been roasted and spiced), and bit.
I was rewarded with a wonderful crunch, and chewiness with a bit of a spicy kick. Traditionally served with coffee and often accompanied by it's friend popcorn, kolo is part of the Ethopian culture, as sort of afternoon ritual. After some conversation, coffee and kolo, I found my spirit restored. Laden with provisions (a container of kolo), I made my way home through the under-belly of the Canadian spring 'frost'.
Fueled by coffee, kolo and my impatient anticipation of spring, that night I dreamt of a bohemian life in the spice markets and bazaars of the world. I dreamt of a sub-tropic world and a mishmash of cultures I have yet to visit and of a wanderlust I have never known.
I am a short person in a tall person's body. When I was younger the great majority of individuals simply judging by my body type assumed that I would grow a few inches over six feet. In actuality, I've clocked in at five feet and approximately six inches, give or take a few inches (about .5) to be exact.
(While envied by some, I'd love to have a more curvaceous figure...It's that old adage of we want what we cant have).
My long monkey arms and legs have meant that when it comes to physical exercise...Well I've always felt a bit awkward, when running (Imagine a green bean or an asparagus flaying around haphazardly), or participating in any great feats of strength, at best has always felt out of place and awkward. For the majority of my adult life, I have actively avoided exercise. Mostly because I wanted to save myself the awkward embarrassment of feeling and/or believing I look ridiculous. The one type of physical movement which I've always found beautiful is, ballet.
The finale scene from Center Stage is a great example of how exciting ballet can be. An art form which I never had the opportunity to master. I've always appreciated how a good ballet dancer can make the precision, hard work and sacrifice of this art form appear effortless.
For years, I've admired this art form, and the immense amount of damage done in the name of art, especially where a ballerina's feet are concerned, as shown in 'En Pointe!' by The Australian Ballet.For as long as I can remember, I felt that I could never truly be physically active or to 'hone' my body to become a modern day female Adonis.
I had become comfortable in the knowledge, that my body would deteriorate, and that there was nothing I could or should do about it, with my clumsy uncoordinated like ways. Then out of nowhere, I kept hearing about this new craze called Pilates. Not being one to follow the fads of the cool kids (celebrity culture), l did my best not to get caught up into the hype of yet another 'thing' that was happening. I honestly don't remember what truly peaked my curiosity, but I did some research on Pilates. Joseph Pilates was the inventor of an approach he called Contrology. If you're not so much into the reading thing, or if you just love cute Infobytes video's, take a look at An Animated History of Pilates.
Researching, further into the topic of what is in the modern sense known as Pilates, I immediately recognized that I did not know how to move with or within my body. The deeper I became engrossed in the topic of Pilates, I realized that like my first love, ballet, Pilates in its own way is a made up of a series of unique and precise movements.
Where ballet was an art form which I knew I missed out in childhood (training starts quite early), I didn't want to allow myself to miss out on this 'fad' of Pilates. I took my well trained brain, and my untrained body and found a studio which specialized in the art of Contrology (Pilates) in my area. I was determined that If I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. These classes were the gateway into allowing me to discover how to exercise my body without feeling completely awkward, uncoordinated, and simply not fast enough or strong enough like other 'traditional' exercise methods had in the past. I was beyond excited that I had finally found, something that works for me, with zero to minimum green bean like awkwardness!
For many different reasons (work schedule changes, other obligations etc), I am not able to attend the classes of at the studio (I loved attending those classes). While, I strongly encourage anyone starting Pilates (If you can continue to go to classes with instructors in a studio, they teach proper alignment), I have found Pilates Anytime has helped me to maintain and continue on with the art of Contrology, where I can truly say that,
As an immigrant to this country of Canada, I have never been particularly patriotic towards my home country or culture. While familiar with the food, tradition and general culture of the region of Poland, there was more encouragement to amalgamate or become part and a representation of Canadian culture as opposed to that of our home country.
In many ways it made sense to take upon the culture of the country to which we have come to live as opposed to holding on to a culture of the past, a culture which had represented a great deal of cultural upheaval.
As a student of archaeology, I learned about the importance of the role of the pottery pieces and our ability to examine shards of them in order to identify changes within ancient cultures. Pottery has been often utilized as a means of measuring the start of or end to a time period. As well, pottery also often documented outside influence(s), such as invading cultural influences, trade with different cultures and/or changes within a culture in and of itself.
Kelley who does the topic more justice than I feel I ever could at this moment in time) of Never a Dull Day in Poland is an American expatriate living in Poland and has done a fairly extensive and relatively recent post (2013) of her adventures within and experience(s) of Boleslawiec and the lower Silesian region here and an historical post that's a little bit more in depth here. But enough of the **academic blah, blah, blahs for today.
...We're talking imagination and inspiration...'Cause you know that's how this blog rolls...
* Peacock Pattern
While always having know of the prevalence of the pottery, and being given a few pieces by way of my grandmother over the years, I had never really took an interest the pottery, until that is a few days ago.
I was out and about and saw a sign in a shop window advertising that they sold ceramics from the Boleslawiec region, see: Distinctly Tea, I wandered in noticing that they carried stoneware ceramics from my home town and I became curious to see the extent to their collection. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered was that there was an entire wall, and several tables dedicated to ceramics from the Silesian region.
* 1. Blue Daisy Design 2. Shelves of Boleslawiec Pottery 3. Official seal of authenticity 4. City Centre Boleslawiec Photo here. 5. Peacock Pattern Design
While wandering and being overwhelmed by the beautiful and somewhat bohemian designs of the ceramics, the feeling swept over me that I wanted to purchase a piece for myself. Out of all of the choices which you see on the shelves the choice was vast, I was drawn to the mug on the left, the so called blue daisy design. These mugs are popular and believe it or not, like any designer item (as these are often considered to be), fakes abound. I contacted my resident certifier of ceramics aka mom, who had once apprenticed at the ceramics factory in Boleslawiec where the stoneware is made.
In the video you may see how the artist gains their inspiration and how the ceramics from start of finish are based upon the artist's inspiration.
If like me you are keen and curious about how all things are inspired, and the journey they take to becoming a reality, and if you're super super curious, nerdy and/or studious about the process check out this:
I think or at least I've found my life, that things (i.e. people books and in this case pottery), find you when you're ready for them. Even though I was always interested in cultural history, it was my own cultural history to a great extent which I have been denying.
As I get older, and as I find that I am losing connection with the sources of culture information (i.e. grandparents), considering it a bit more closely I found that the mug was perhaps a moment of inspiration, to reconnect with my cultural heritage or to incorporate it a little more reality in my day to day life, perhaps in In a very nostalgic sense through way of pottery. But this is all in retrospect, of course.
At the time, all I knew is that I wanted to take one of the mugs home. Once I found the appropriate contender (see the mug above), and having received the "official" go ahead, being called a 'silly girl' on top of it, (I care not, say what you wish), I scooped it up and ecstatically carried this mug away to it's new home.
As I type this, and reflecting on the day's adventures enjoying a hot chocolatey cup of spicy hot chocolate, I hope that you're also keeping warm on this very snowy evening.
X,
MWiktoria
* Photos of products taken by Marta Komar for MWiktoria blog, this is not a sponsored post. Pottery, teas, and the like may be found at Distinctly tea locations. **(Pssst, if you really like the academic twist you can always, and I would encourage you to check out the 'Museum of Ceramics in Boleslawiec)
