Today I have a guest post from Kailey Chislett-Mohammed, a young entrepreneur who is a mentor to my children. I met Kailey a few years ago when she was a volunteer at my children’s outdoor program. Recently she has been taking a group of families through one of our area’s largest parks to wander about and explore the habitat. In fact, she led us on a frog walk through some wetlands yesterday evening. She is also a young entrepreneur and is one of the owners of Apoidea Blooms Nursery.
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My name is Kailey Chislett – Mohammed. I live and have grown up in Scarborough within the Highland Creek and Rouge River Watershed. I am inspired by natural landscapes in Ontario and by plants and animals that prove to be resilient despite the pressures from an expanding urban environment. I am motivated to create micro-habitats within the urban landscape to provide habitat for species through the urban landscape.
You can often find me wandering the valleys in the Rouge, puttering in my garden or spending time with my family and friends.
From my education, passion for wild spaces, and hands-on experiences doing ecological restoration with Friends of the Rouge Watershed in Rouge Park, I have co-created a native wildflower nursery with my partner Steve Dale, Apoidea Blooms Nursery. This is a part-time project right now, but I am hoping this will literally grow in the near future, every year there are more and more species we propagate and share with our community to encourage pollinators to urban gardens.
I don’t really have a creative routine… at least I don’t think I do…
I do enjoy a good cup or two or three of tea a day. Tea made from various herbs and wildflowers that I harvest from my garden or sustainably from wild spaces.
Drinking tea is probably the thing I do routinely every day. Usually I drink the same herb or blend throughout the whole day.
I like to express my creativity through gardening, cooking, herb gardening, making herbal teas, and herbal medicine making, practicing yoga and stretching.
When I find that I am in a creative rut, there is not much I can do to regain my creativity. I find that I can’t suddenly become creative again. It takes a bit of time, maybe a few days or a week or so to come back. If I find that I am in a rut I find that visiting some of my favorite places helps to re-inspire me but this may not necessarily bring my creativity back. I used to feel frustrated by these ruts, but now I
see these ruts as time to take breaks.
My mom is the roots of my creative inspiration. She’s always supported me and allowed me to express myself in every way possible. From dressing up in funky coloured beads and jumping from couch to couch for hours, to those times when she knew it was about to rain so she told me and my brother to go outside and do “the rain dance” for it to rain, to supporting the constant building of caterpillar “houses” with my best friend Raina Milnes, to those times when I call her and can’t stop talking about something because I am so excited and nobody else can truly understand why – her guidance, love, and understanding has made me the strong and resilient woman I am today. I am forever grateful for my family and friends and for their love, support and for their personal inspirations.
There is a wetland in Rouge Park that is recently restored and is a huge source of my inspiration. I watched it fill with water, assisted in planting native plants and enjoyed as the animals returned to the
site. I visit it often and feel that everytime I visit it that I reset and am re-inspired.
Creativity is different for everyone. It’s magic. It stems from within and explodes into the universe. It can be shared and enjoyed by others.
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Go outside. Take your shoes and socks off. Let your body feel the earth.
Just take a moment to be still on the earth in any way, shape,
stretch, movement etc.
Enjoy the time with the earth and allow your body to move freely.
Bonus: if theres mud, squish in it and/or paint yourself with it.
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Thanks Kailey for guest posting today and for being an amazing inspiration for my kids! We are very grateful for all that you do and for your general love of nature!
Last weekend, I stocked up on some wildflowers, herbs, and veggie plants at Kailey and Steve’s plant sale. The sale continues this week with a stop at a local farmer’s market in the east end. For more information, visit Apoidea Blooms Nursery’s FB page.
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FYI: I do not receive any monetary compensation for any of the businesses that I promote during mayBE. I feature products and people that I support and whose stories are amazing examples of creativity in action. Any books that I recommend with an Amazon link, I get a small fee which you can read about here.
You can leave a comment below or join my top secret life explorers group on Facebook if you want to share any discoveries or explorations. Friend me and I will send you an invite! You can share your thoughts or your creative expressions there. You can also post on Instagram using #may_BE2015
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