Pie-Making Superpowers, Admirable Women and Learning to Take No Bullshit

Who are you, sister? Tell us a little about yourself. Hi! I’m Leslie from Toronto, Ontario where I live with my other half of 16 years, Niall, in an awesome high-rise apartment with views of Riverdale Park, the CN Tower and Lake Ontario.

In the real world I’m a daughter, sister, partner, niece and friend to a variety of wonderful people I’ve been lucky enough to have placed in my life. Professionally, things are constantly changing and I’m currently full-time caregiver to our mother. It’s a job I never envisioned for myself, but neither were any of the others so I’m happy to do it and expect something equally interesting will follow.

Superpowers? Baking kick ass cheesecakes and peach-blueberry pie, enjoying camping despite a major fear of spiders and my ability to make gummy candies vanish in the blink of an eye.

Let’s do some one word answers. Ready, set, go!

Morning Drink? It’s random: herbal tea, water, hot chocolate, maybe
Indulgence? Baking
Lusting after? Financial security
Spirit Animal? Falcon
Head Space? Gratitude
Heart Space? Compassion
Bloom of Choice? Wildflowers
Turn-on? Channing Tatum! Oh, I mean seeing people LOL audibly, in real life.
Go-to Gemstone? Pink Agate & Amethyst
Celebrity Icon? Oprah, Iyanla & female comics
Favorite compliment? “You should do Colgate commercials!”

What does practicing joy mean to you? It means remembering to bring what I’ve learned and am learning about compassion, kindness and gratitude out of my workbooks and into my daily life. It means making myself pause and acknowledge the moments of joy that are there in the small daily stuff, especially on the hard days.

This year I’m doing my first gratitude journal so it’s literally practicing making mental notes of what made me smile or feel good during the day regardless of if it would qualify as a great.

Biggest life lesson you’ve learned lately? That peace comes from within first so it’s best to stop striving to get to the point in life where things are peaceful. Instead, choose, in this very moment today, to be at peace and watch how living it from the inside out changes how your life feels, which is wisdom learned from Deepak Chopra.

That’s been a huge lesson for me in my year of perspective!

What’s your definition of success? Living a life where the energy and effort I put into the world, the picture in my head of how I’d like my life to look and the desires in my heart to be of help and some good use in the world all line up for the good of others and myself.

Name 3 things from your Life that light you up!

My 1.5 year old nephew. Nothing is better than seeing him smile and, just recently, hearing his little voice talking.

My work. When I’m in the midst of it and things are flowing, the energy it gives me and the excitement I feel is magical to me. I love knowing that what I do has made a moment in someone’s life a little easier to get through.

My family & friends. I love my mom. My siblings are hilarious and fun to be around. My boyfriend often makes me want to start drinking heavily, but as well as being cute is also one of my greatest teachers of patience, compassion, forgiveness and unconditional love. My friends whom I was lucky to have chosen well because they definitely make my life fun and are there when I need them.

What do you do when life gets messy?  Cry. Make appointment to see my Naturopath for some direction & perspective. Bake. Eat. Rest. Pray. Go play with my friends.

I also spend a lot of time talking to myself and seeing if I can get to the root cause of what’s going on.

3 Songs, 3 Books, 3 Instagram Accounts

SONGS

“Run The World” by Beyonce
“Low (Apple Bottom Jeans)” by Flo Rida ft T-Pain
“Green Apples” by Chantal Kreviazuk

BOOKS

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist and Teresa Barker
My Joy Equation Workbook by Molly Mahar!

INSTAGRAM

(besides @mollymahar & @stratejoy)
@christinehmcconnell
@superlativelylj
@supersoul

What do you love most about yourself? That I didn’t give up. In spite of all the days and years I can recount as being awful or times that I can’t believe I got through, I’m still here trying and actively learning how to do my life better.

Which living woman do you most admire? I love any woman that’s out there kicking ass and taking names, but there are two at the top of my list: my mom and Oprah.

My mother will be 80 this summer and in spite of 3 strokes, some memory loss and not being as strong or mobile as she once was, has never once complained or had a moment where giving up was an option. I admire her courage because when shit got real and she realized she was married to the wrong kind of man, she immediately set a moving date, told him where to stick it and busted her ass to make sure her kids turned out ok. She’s survived a mean father, growing up poor as oldest of 9, the depression, WWII, immigrating to Canada from Trinidad while pregnant with a two and a half year old in tow, a 23 yr marriage to a bad choice, her in-laws, divorce & the cruelty it brought, depression, 29 yrs as a public school teacher, death of her mother and several siblings, me and my 3 siblings – and that’s just the stuff I know about!

With all of that, she’s content, cheerful and grateful for and with her life every day. It took me a very long time to see it but one of the best examples of how to live a joyful, grateful life has been with me all my life.

And the second living woman that I admire is Oprah for the reasons we all love her. I can’t think of a better example of manifesting the life you believe you deserve regardless of what you were taught to believe about yourself. There will only ever be one Lady O but what an example! There’s a lot of nonsense we’re told as women, but as a black woman, I was fed some extra special bullshit from a young age about how life is going to be. So, for me, Oprah’s example hits hard and deep and I’m so grateful to be living in a time where I can see an Oprah take all the nonsense I was taught and prove that none of it is true!

Having great examples of how not only how to survive but thrive and being awake enough now to see what’s possible for my own life is incredible.

Book That Made A Difference: A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson
Can’t Live Without: Time spent in nature
Currently Obsessed With: Learning to roller skate!