Hudson Place One– Availability, Plans, Prices

At a Glance

• located at 777 Herald Street in downtown Victoria
• 25-storey residential tower
• Victoria’s tallest buidling
• 176 luxury condominiums
• panoramic downtown views
• 11,000 sq ft of amenities
• 1,500 sq ft of commercial space
• exceptional access to restaurants, shopping, leisure activities

An Elevated Urban Lifestyle
A landmark centerpiece in downtown Victoria’s skyline. Boasting the highest, elevated views of the city, Inner Harbour, and surrounding mountains, this luxurious, modern 25-storey residential tower offers a distinguished collection of 176 intelligently-designed 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom homes in the heart of a vibrant and established urban village.

Be A Presale Condo VIP!

Find Out About New Presales & Get Access to VIP Openings & Special Promotions!

Are you a realtor? Click here

• First/Last Name *
• E-mail *
• Phone
• *
  Select A Region * Vancouver Downtown Vancouver East Side Vancouver West Side Vancouver South North Shore Burnaby/New West Coquitlam/Tri Cities Richmond Langley/Surrey
• I Am Interested In *
  New Vancouver Presale Condos Buying a Condo Selling my Condo
• Realtor Status *
  I already have a Realtor I don't have a Realtor yet
• Comment/Notes
• Page Label
• Type
• Receipent
• Security Code *
  

  
• Should be Empty:

The Hudson District is a vibrant, amenity-rich, pedestrian-friendly village with doorstep access to a unique mix of artisan shops, daily conveniences, services, and leisure and wellness activities that are the heart and soul of the community. Its central location in beautiful downtown Victoria provides easy access to transit. It is just a short walk from the city’s best boutiques, hotspots, scenic Inner Harbour, and neighbourhood attractions, including the city’s venue for world-class concerts, events, and sports. For the ultimate urban convenience and the highest elevated views downtown, Hudson District is the perfect place to live, work, socialize, and play.

Pricing for Hudson Place One
As sales have not yet begun, pricing is currently unavailable. Sign up to our VIP list above for priority access to Hudson Place One updates.

Floor Plans for Hudson Place One
Buyers can choose from the following homes:

• The Tower Collection (Levels 4 – 20)
  • 453 sq ft Junior 1-bedrooms
  • 1-bedrooms from 529 – 603 sq ft
  • 2-bedrooms from 775 – 925 sq ft
• The Estate Collection (Levels 21 – 24)
  • 2 bedrooms from 849 – 1,246 sq ft
  • 1,112 sq ft 2-bedrooms + den
  • 1,242 sq ft 3-bedrooms
• The Penthouse Collection (Level 25)
  • In design phase. Details to follow.

With not a lot of units on the market in Victoria at the moment, interest is already strong for Hudson Place One. Therefore, I recommend that those with a serious interest to purchase should contact me today to discuss availability, plans, and prices according to your needs.

Amenities at Hudson Place One
Residents will enjoy the use of over 11,000 sq ft of indoor and outdoor amenities, including:

• Full-service concierge
• Cold/dry storage and electronic parcel delivery room
• Fitness studio, yoga area, infrared sauna, change rooms
• Creative studio, party, and hobby room
• Billiards room
• Business centre
• Dining and social lounge with gourmet chef’s kitchen
• Hotel-inspired guest suite
• Two intimate fire pit lounges
• Outdoor dining area with BBQ and harvest table
• Outdoor children’s play area with stepping stones and slide
• Fenced dog run

Parking and Storage
Six levels of underground parking will provide 245 vehicle stalls with 26 visitor spaces. There will also be 192 residential bicycle parking stalls. Six visitor bicycle stalls will be available at grade.

Maintenance Fees at Hudson Place One
Details included with pricing package.

Developer Team for Hudson Place One
Townline is a real estate development company focused primarily on the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Since 1981, they have amassed a diverse project portfolio spanning market and non-market multi-family housing, rental apartments, single-family homes, heritage restoration, mixed, commercial, and retail developments. Through the firm’s various departments, they stay hands-on for the entire life of a project to ensure they create the kind of residential and commercial places people want as their own, such as 999 Seymour, 1335 Howe, and Calla at The Gardens.

Established in 1983, Rafii Architects is a Vancouver architectural firm offering comprehensive services in architecture, urban design, planning, and interior design. Rafii Architects provides client-focused consultation with a collaborative approach to each project. Their reputation is characterized by a proven ability to work with public officials and challenging client programs, while maintaining a timeless and refined design philosophy. Rafii’s extensive portfolio includes many well-received projects throughout the Greater Vancouver area, Vancouver Island, Alberta, and the US with particular recognition for high-rise residential and mixed-use projects.

Cristina Oberti, a respected interior designer whose name is well-known in Vancouver, will be applying her extensive knowledge and systematic design process to create a unified look for Hudson Place One that conveys a unique and coherent, yet stylish message.

Expected Completion for Hudson Place One
Mid-2020. Sales begin mid-2018.

The post Hudson Place One– Availability, Plans, Prices appeared first on Mike Stewart.

from Blog – Mike Stewart https://ift.tt/2FDrNz1

George by Marcon – Availability, Plans, Prices

At a Glance

• located on the 3000 & 3100 blocks of Saint George Street
• 2 x 6-storey woodframe condo buildings
• 11 x 3-storey townhome buildings
• 179 x 1- to 3-bedroom condominiums
• 73 x 3- & 4-bedroom townhouses
• short walk to Moody Centre Station
• near Rocky Point Park
• close to Brewery Row craft breweries

Modern Port Moody Homes
Coming soon to Moody Centre is George by Marcon, distinct 1- to 4-bedroom condos and townhomes, ranging in size from 472 to 1,627 sq ft. In the heart of the revitalization of Saint Johns Street, George is a short walk to shops, restaurants, galleries, and bakeries. Kayaking, biking, and hiking is just five minutes away at Rocky Point Park, opposite Brewery Row where you can relax afterwards in one of the popular craft brewery tasting rooms. Nearby Moody Centre Station offers convenient rapid transit connections to downtown Vancouver via the West Coast Express or other destinations in Metro Vancouver, like shopping at Coquitlam Centre, with Skytrain’s Evergreen Line. Yes, Port Moody.

Be A Presale Condo VIP!

Find Out About New Presales & Get Access to VIP Openings & Special Promotions!

Are you a realtor? Click here

• First/Last Name *
• E-mail *
• Phone
• *
  Select A Region * Vancouver Downtown Vancouver East Side Vancouver West Side Vancouver South North Shore Burnaby/New West Coquitlam/Tri Cities Richmond Langley/Surrey
• I Am Interested In *
  New Vancouver Presale Condos Buying a Condo Selling my Condo
• Realtor Status *
  I already have a Realtor I don't have a Realtor yet
• Comment/Notes
• Page Label
• Type
• Receipent
• Security Code *
  

  
• Should be Empty:

Pricing for George
Priced from $399,900 to $599,900. Sign up to our VIP list above for priority access to George updates.

Floor Plans for George
George offers an exciting mix of new housing for Port Moody to be built in three phases. Phase One will see the construction of 179 condominium homes within two six-storey woodframe buildings on the north side of Saint George Street. These will consist of 104 1-bedrooms, 55 2-bedrooms, and 20 3-bedrooms, ranging in size from 472 to 1,627 sq ft.

On the south side of Saint George Street, Phase Two will consist of 37 3-bedroom townhomes within six 3-storey buildings. Phase Three will see the development of 36 3-bedroom townhomes within five 3-storey buildings, offering 13 3-bedroom 23 4-bedroom residences. Each townhouse has a balcony on the second floor, facing an internal driveway and a usable patio space fronting the street.

Those with a serious intent to purchase should contact me today to discuss availability, plans, and prices for this highly desirable living opportunity.

Amenities at George
A 1,139.7 sq ft shared indoor amenity space will be available for use by condominium residents. A large outdoor amenity space in front of the condominium building facing Saint George Street, includes a children’s play space, off-leash dog run, and a fire-pit lounge. The developer will also rehabilitate the Dallas Creek watershed running through the property, creating a natural habitat around the stream that includes planting 187 new trees, as well as a new 35,197 sq ft public park with a greenway trail and an open play area.

Parking and Storage
Residents of the two condominium buildings will be provided with 227 vehicle parking spaces, while visitors will have use of 36 parking stalls. Of these, 46 spaces will have electrical vehicle charging outlets. Bicycle storage will be available with 224 resident spaces. Another 12 bicycle stalls in racks will be provided for visitors. The western townhouse block will offer 74 resident and seven visitor vehicle parking spaces. The eastern townhouse block will have space for 72 resident and seven visitor vehicles.
Maintenance Fees at George
TBA.

Developer Team for George
Beginning life as a construction company has given Marcon Developments the experience to deliver homes not only of high standards, but also of high value. Homes built with extra attention to detail – where the fit and finish is just that much better. Marcon has developed some notable residences over the years, such as the first high-rise in Canada to achieve LEED certification. Building to these standards helps to future-proof your home, as well as allowing you to breathe easy from the first day you move in.

Shift Architecture has been chosen to design George. Shift is a high-performance practice with a track record of respected, inspired projects throughout Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. With proven expertise in multi-family housing, Shift boasts a diverse portfolio of residential, commercial, healthcare, and mixed-use developments. Renowned for its collaborative design process, Shift’s team of core personnel draws upon a deep collective well of experience spanning decades.

Expected Completion for George
TBA.

Are you interested in learning more about other homes in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, or Port Moody?

Check out these great Tri-Cities Presales!

The post George by Marcon – Availability, Plans, Prices appeared first on Mike Stewart.

from Blog – Mike Stewart https://ift.tt/2Ifknr0

April 2018 Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver Statistics Package with Charts & Graphs

Home sales down, listings up across Metro Vancouver

The Metro Vancouver housing market saw fewer home buyers and more home sellers in April.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in the region totalled 2,579 in April 2018, a 27.4 per cent decrease from the 3,553 sales recorded in April 2017, and a 2.5 per cent increase compared to March 2018 when 2,517 homes sold.

Last month’s sales were 22.5 per cent below the 10-year April sales average.

“Market conditions are changing. Home sales declined in our region last month to a 17-year April low and home sellers have become more active than we’ve seen in the past three years,” Phil Moore, REBGV president said. “The mortgage requirements that the federal government implemented this year have, among other factors, diminished home buyers’ purchasing power and they’re being felt on the buyer side today.”

There were 5,820 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver in April 2018. This represents an 18.6 per cent increase compared to the 4,907 homes listed in April 2017 and a 30.8 per cent increase compared to March 2018 when 4,450 homes were listed.

The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 9,822, a 25.7 per cent increase compared to April 2017 (7,813) and a 17.2 per cent increase compared to March 2018 (8,380).

“Home buyers have more breathing room this spring. They have more selection to choose from and less demand to compete against,” Moore said.

For all property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for April 2018 is 26.3 per cent. By property type, the ratio is 14.1 per cent for detached homes, 36.1 per cent for townhomes, and 46.7 per cent for condominiums.

Generally, analysts say that downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below the 12 per cent mark for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20 per cent over several months.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $1,092,000. This represents a 14.3 per cent increase over April 2017 and a 0.7 per cent increase compared to March 2018.

Sales of detached properties in April 2018 reached 807, a 33.4 per cent decrease from the 1,211 detached sales recorded in April 2017. The benchmark price for detached properties is $1,605,800. This represents a 5.1 per cent increase from April 2017 and a 0.2 per cent decrease compared to March 2018.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,308 in April 2018, a 24 per cent decrease from the 1,722 sales in April 2017. The benchmark price of an apartment property is $701,000. This represents a 23.7 per cent increase from April 2017 and a 1.1 per cent increase compared to March 2018.

Attached property sales in April 2018 totalled 464, a 25.2 per cent decrease compared to the 620 sales in April 2017. The benchmark price of an attached unit is $854,200. This represents a 17.7 per cent increase from April 2017 and a 2.3 per cent increase compared to March 2018.

The post April 2018 Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver Statistics Package with Charts & Graphs appeared first on Mike Stewart.

from Blog – Mike Stewart https://ift.tt/2w6X8Lc

How Much Should You Borrow For College?

School loans are a reality for many who attend college. But how much should you borrow for college? Here is a rule of thumb on how much you should borrow to pay for your education.

I graduated from law school with $55,000 in school loans. It took me nearly 20 years to pay off that debt. And here’s the really crazy part of it all–many in my class had far more in loans, some exceeding $100,000. And this was in the early 1990’s!

While my law degree has been valuable, this experience has caused me to look at a college education very differently than I did years ago.

A few years ago, my daughter informed me that she planned to attend The Ohio State University. Now I’m a diehard Buckeye. I grew up in Columbus, and both of my parents graduated from OSU. I have fond memories of my dad taking me to see the likes of Cornelius Greene and Archie Griffin play in The Horseshoe. But we don’t live in Ohio anymore, and my daughter won’t be going to OSU. Why?

The cost of out of state tuition, room and board at OSU is $34,974. As much as I love OSU, it ain’t worth that kind of money.

And that raises an important question–how much, if any, should you borrow to attend college? My wife and I have recently tried to answer this question for our own children.

So today I want to cover two related issues. First, we’ll look at a couple of rules of thumb on how much you should borrow for college. And second, we’ll take a quick look at how much certain degrees are actually worth.

The Borrowing Rules of Thumb

Before we dive into the rules of thumb, a quick note: We are talking here about how much you’ll borrow for college. This isn’t necessarily what you’ll pay in total, and it’s certainly not the sticker price of the college in question. If you have your eyes on an expensive Ivy League school, don’t avoid applying. You may qualify for more debt-free aid, like scholarships and grants, than you think. So keep that in mind as you’re deciding where to apply for school.

But when it comes to borrowing, there are a couple of common rules of thumb.

• Visit Credible.com to secure a private student loan (or consolidate existing loans)

An Older Rule of Thumb: First Year’s Salary

When we first published this article, a common rule of thumb for college borrowing was to not let your loans exceed the amount of your first year of income after graduation. The idea here is that the standard repayment period on a federal student loan is 10 years. By keeping your debt under one year’s salary, you won’t have to put more than about 10% of your income towards student loan payments.

This rule may be a bit outdated, though. That’s actually quite a high percentage to devote to student loan payments, especially if you’re expecting heavy housing costs. So you might want to look at the second rule, instead.

Newer Rule: No More Than Eight Percent in Payments

This rule allows for less debt based on your income, but it works off of the actual repayment rate for your student loans. Mapping Your Future has a calculator that shows you how much you can afford to take in student loans, based upon your projected future salary.

This option is better because it includes interest in your repayment plan, but also limits your debt to a smaller portion of your income. With increasing housing, food, and transportation costs possible, you’ll want to be sure you can afford your student loan payments on your future salary.

But Less is Always Better

Remember, with these rules of thumb, we are talking about the maximum you’d want to borrow for your given degree. But you’ll have more financial freedom if you borrow less–or nothing at all–to get your degree.

Less money in outstanding student loans means lower monthly payments. And that means you can afford to do things like take a lower paying job that’s more rewarding, start your family sooner, or buy a home more quickly. So always be sure you’re tapping out your non-loan resources, including savings, scholarships, grants, and more, before you take out student loans.

Some Degrees Just Aren’t Worth The Loans

The amount of student loans you can take on depends largely on the field of work you’re looking into. If you’re going into a higher-paying field, taking on more debt for a prestigious degree could be worth it. But if you’re going to squeak by working for a very low salary, you’ll want to avoid debt if at all possible.

As parents, we’re often great at encouraging students to pursue a career they love. But we’re not so good, often, at helping them figure out what their lifestyle will look like as a result of that choice. There’s nothing wrong with going into a high-reward but low-pay field. You just need to be prepared to live with a lower income, and to pay less in student loans as a result.

You’ll also want to do research into which schools are the best for your chosen degree. Some schools are known for their departments of engineering, science, or education. Just because a university has a good reputation broadly doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for your chosen career pursuits. You’ll get much more bang for your buck if you choose a college or university that’s well-known in your particular field, especially if your field is competitive.

Not sure what you want to do or how much you can expect to make? You can always check out average earnings and career options through the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But to get you started thinking about the majors and pay the most and least, here’s the latest data from PayScale:

Worst-Paying College Majors in 2017-18

1. Early Childhood Education
   • Starting Salary: $32,100
   • Mid-Career Salary: $40,400
2. Child and Family Studies
   • Starting Salary: $32,000
   • Mid-Career Salary: $42,100
3. Veterinary Technology
   • Starting Salary: $31,800
   • Mid-Career Salary: $43,600
4. Early Childhood and Elementary Education
   • Starting Salary: $35,000
   • Mid-Career Salary: $43,600
5. Child Development
   • Starting Salary: $32,300
   • Mid-Career Salary: $44,000

Best-Paying College Majors in 2017-18

1. Petroleum Engineering
   • Starting Salary: $94,600
   • Mid-Career Salary: $175,500
2. Actuarial Mathematics
   • Starting Salary: $56,400
   • Mid-Career Salary: $131,700
3. Actuarial Science
   • Starting Salary: $61,200
   • Mid-Career Salary: $130,800
4. Nuclear Engineering
   • Starting Salary: $69,200
   • Mid-Career Salary: $127,500
5. Chemical Engineering
   • Starting Salary: $70,300
   • Mid-Career Salary: $124,500

The bottom line here isn’t to choose a career based on salary, necessarily. If you love working with kids, then go for that degree in early childhood education. Just be smart about how you obtain that degree. For instance, you might work your way through an associate’s degree at a community college. Then, find a job at a high-quality daycare center that gives you funding for continuing education, as many do these days. That way, you can get your degree with little to no debt. So you can work at something you love without drowning in unfeasible debt.

But if you want to be an engineer, consider a high-quality school with a good reputation, even if that means taking on a large chunk of student debt. As long as you finish your degree and start off well in your career, you can likely pay back the debt quickly and efficiently.

And whatever you do, take the time to research potential salaries for your chosen major or field–before you start signing those student loan promissory notes!

• Consider applying for a student loan consolidation with SoFi

Topics: Education

The post How Much Should You Borrow For College? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

from The Dough Roller https://ift.tt/2FBJfDZ

Presale condo assignments ARE NOT Shadow Flips and DO NOT push up real estate prices in Vancouver

Recent media articles on presale condo assignments of contract have been full of factual errors and have misrepresented presale assignments as shadow flips.

Presale condo assignments ARE NOT Shadow flipping.

Let’s clarify.

What is a Shadow Flip?

A shadow flip is when an existing property primarily a single family house or single family house lot is purchased by a buyer under false pretenses. The contract that was used to purchase the property has a clause in it saying that the buyer can assign the contract without the permission of the seller. This practice victimized unsophisticated sellers of single-family houses in areas that had lots of demand before the Advent of the foreign buyers tax. This practice of assigning existing properties without permission is now not allowed in British Columbia. If the buyer of an existing property wants to assign it prior to completion, they need to get the seller to sign a release saying they will allow on assignment of the contract to occur.

What is a Presale Condo Assignment of Contract?

A presale condo assignment of contract is when the buyer of a presale condo sells their rights or “assigns” their rights under the contract to another person. The original seller of the presale, the Developer or builder of the property has to give written permission to allow the assignment to occur.

Presale condo assignments regulated by legislation called the Real Estate Development and Marketing Act here in British Columbia.

Again, to assign a presale condo contract you need to get permission from the original seller which is the developer.

Developers here in British Columbia are some of the most sophisticated and richest people in the province and typically have the best lawyers in the province at their beck and call. There’s nothing Shadow about this. The written permission of some of the most sophisticated and well-off people in The Province who actually are actually building the property is required to let sale of the presale condo assignment.

To clarify nobody is taken advantage of and everyone who is party to the contract has to give their written permission for a transfer of ownership of the rights in the contract.

Thinking of Selling?

Use this form to find out how to sell your home sooner and for more money.

Email Address *

Phone number

First Name

Last Name

Interested In:

I want to sell a property General Question

I am currently working with a Realtor

* indicates required

Presale Condo Assignments of Contract Increase Supply to Keep Prices Under Control?

Yes.

Presale condo assignments do not inflate of the price of real estate in Vancouver.

Presale condo assignments actually increase the supply of available properties at times when they are available for sale. This supply actually keeps prices stable or lower than they would be without presale condo assignments. The reason why presale condo assignments occur is because of a lack of supply and too much demand. This excess demand can be seen from the rise in prices we have seen in Vancouver recently.

Consider this:

A person buys a presale. That presale increases in value caused by increasing demand for property. Our person by assigning their presale condo is increasing property supply and are keep prices lower than they could have risen by making their assignment available for sale.

Why real estate prices are high and rising in Vancouver.

There are three major reasons why property prices are high in Vancouver and continue to rise.

• Demand caused by immigration – The federal government is projected to let 310,000 people immigrate to Canada in 2018. These people need somewhere to live. Canadians have a birth rate that is below replacement level. The vast majority of population gain in Canada is from immigration. A growing population who want to live in the nicer parts of the country likeVancouver results in demand for property. Increased demand equals increased prices when you have constricted supply which leads us to our next Point.
• Limited Supply – The Vancouver area has limited land available for development. We have the ocean to the West the mountains to the north and east in the US border to the South. There is a limited amount of land that can be developed on in this area. We are not Calgary or Toronto or Los Angeles where we can sprawl our way out of high property prices. We need to build up and that leads me to the next point about government and their role in inflating the price of real estate in Vancouver because of delays and their environmental and social agendas.
• City Government Caused Delays & Expensive Environmental + Social Agendas – City governments in the Vancouver area take a very long time to allow new projects to come online. This delay increases cost for the builders and developers of properties that is passed onto buyers. Every delay that occurs caused by government increases the cost for the builders of properties because of interest, holding costs, and other costs.  Also if the focus of the cities in the region is on an environmental or social agenda rather than housing affordability, housing is not going to be cheap. High environmental standards are expensive. Social housing in the city of Vancouver is expensive. Those who buy properties and pay taxes in the Vancouver area are the ones who pay for this. Typically they pay for it in the form of higher housing costs.

The post Presale condo assignments ARE NOT Shadow Flips and DO NOT push up real estate prices in Vancouver appeared first on Mike Stewart.

from Blog – Mike Stewart https://ift.tt/2I9nHEp

{#TransparentTuesday} When I’m a REAL adult…

If you’ve been following my journey on Instagram, you already know that I went back on the pill recently, as a desperate (and successful) attempt to stop the tsunami of damage PMDD was causing.

I had spent 14 months hormone-free, in an attempt to get to know my natural menstrual cycle, despite the fact that it broke me down in ways I didn’t know were possible. Now, over a month on the pill and completely free of the symptoms that were destroying my life for the last year, I look back and I wonder why I waited so long to take this action.

I know the answer will continue to develop as I process and recover, but right now I’m stuck on something relating to deeply nuanced layers of self-acceptance, self-identity, and self-expectations.

As long as I can remember, I’ve  had an image of myself.

This image wasn’t about “who I am,” but rather “who I want to be,” and “who I think I’ll be.”

Many different influences participated in the creation of this image of who I would become– some of it was straight up wishful thinking, some of it was internalized beliefs based on observations about me from people who know me, and (naturally) some of it came from societal messages about what a woman “should” be like.

Part of this image is hard to explain, but I always saw myself as eventually becoming a sort of… magical, mystical, spiritual, woo-woo feminine hippy earth goddess.

Ya know?

Some of this came from experience (I do believe in a certain brand of magic) and some of it came from feeling like now that I’ve arrived in my 30s, I “should” embrace my feminine and crunchy granola side. Even when I was living a life that indicated these parts of myself barely existed, I always felt like… “someday when I become a REAL adult, I’ll finally do things like composting, drinking tea, and celebrating the magic of menstruation.”

This last year and a half, I’ve been working so hard to become this “real adult” version of myself that I never realized I was going the completely wrong direction.

When I went hormone-free, I thought that all the ovulating, bleeding, and tapping into my “real” female cycle would be the pathway to finally be able to hone and integrate this underdeveloped side of me. I was convinced for whatever reason that some fairy-goddess-domestic-earth-mother part of me exists (and should exist), and felt like it was finally time to access to her.

Looking back, I can see why this plan felt so frustrating and difficult: it wasn’t me. I don’t believe in or enjoy most of the shit I was trying to “embrace,” but I’m an all-in committed kind of person, so when it didn’t work, I just doubled down harder.

Of course, that didn’t work either.

Because the kind of feminine spiritual magic I was pushing myself toward was just a picture I had in my head of the “right way” to be an adult; the “right way” to be a powerfully conscious leader of women. It was never me.

The kind of spirituality I believe in is the magic of stories, placebo, suggestion, and making someone feel heard. The magic that moves me comes from unconditional positive regard, and communal support, and birthdays, and fresh starts. To me there is something unarguably divine about the human body and our capacity to heal from trauma, and I bliss out on modern neuroscience.

I talk directly to my body, and the moon, and the universe, and my emotions. In many ways I already am weird and woo-woo, but in many ways I’m just not. And somewhere along the way I decided this conflict represented a problem with me, and I just needed to learn how to be conscious and feminine the “right” way.

I felt like I was too magical to be scientific, and too scientific to be magical; too much of a free spirit to be grounded, and too grounded to be a free-spirit. I think, all this time, I was still holding out hope that when I became a Proper Adult, the conflict would dissolve and I would finally make sense.

What this amounted to was trying to force myself to become something I’m not; to flatten out my complicated details; to become something other people could understand.

Sometimes being complicated is exhausting, and lonely. Even the people who seemed to vibe with me and connect with my beliefs often turned out to believe things that were completely unpalatable to me.

I wanted to believe in crystals, and essential oils, and mythology, and the power of positive thinking. I wanted to understand those people, and I wanted to be easier to understand. But I couldn’t.

Looking back now, I can see how diving headfirst into yin, softness, slowing down, domestic life, feminine energy, and other earth-mother-hippy-goddess stuff was an attempt to finally let myself “get there.” But I wasn’t honoring my truth, I was honoring a fantasy; a wish; a hope.

The hope was that if I could just understand the right way to be weird, I might finally feel normal.

Now that the grand hormone-free experiment is over, my energy and mood have shifted too. While I learned many valuable lessons and gained many important insights, it’s an enormous relief to let go of all that work, and return to my deepest truth.

It’s time to re-embrace the exact kind of weird that I am: the hustler and the lover, the storyteller and the scientist, the sensualist and the entrepreneur.

To be honest, I’m excited.

I don’t believe in a lot of the stuff that “people like me” seem to believe in, but sometimes I cry while reading books on neuroscience and trauma resolution, because it feels like proof to me of a benevolent and divine force.

I don’t believe in astrological significance, but sometimes I talk to the moon because she has been my companion for 31 years and I feel compelled to honor such a long relationship.

I collect crystals because they’re pretty, and I light sage because it smells good.

Sometimes I am filled with love and light, and sometimes I am filled with darkness and cookie dough. (And none of that is a problem.)

Now that my hormones are stable, it’s time to expand again. It’s time to fill out my biggest self again, to release everything that wasn’t me, and to move my life back into alignment with my truth.

Ahhhh self-acceptance work never ends.

<3
Jessi

The post {#TransparentTuesday} When I’m a REAL adult… appeared first on Jessi Kneeland.

from Jessi Kneeland https://ift.tt/2FwsiLs

The Pros and Cons of a Reverse Mortgage

The post The Pros and Cons of a Reverse Mortgage appeared first on Team RRP.

from Team RRP https://ift.tt/2jkLvHk