Writings - Montalut

💚 What do you find endlessly fascinating?💚

My exact words about Turkey 🇹🇷 when we just moved here. It was my third visit, and I felt I was still seeing things for the first time. The richness of the land, culture, seasons, history and life on the streets–endlessly fascinating. The blues of the sea and sky, the changing leaves, the rich food and weekly markets–endlessly fascinating. And the animals! Dogs, cats, and the everyday sightings of storks, flamingos, pelicans–endlessly fascinating! 🦩

When our daughter rode the Istanbul metro for the first time, she loved it so much, she asked to ride it again the next day and “pretend it was her first time”.🚉

This ability to find everyday things endlessly fascinating is a gift 🎁.

💚 On Green Day, make a list of what’s endlessly fascinating for you, and keep that list handy.

🧡 Do you let yourself say Maybe?🧡

RhythmOrange Day

The other day our daughter cried buckets because I didn’t keep my promise to pick her up from school.

“If you can’t keep your promise, just say maybe.”

💔

The next day I made sure to be there for her pick up. One of her favorite things to do is ride the bus, so we did the bus for mommy-daughter time.

I learned an important lesson that day: it’s okay to say maybe.😌

We’re told to let our yes mean a Yes and our no, a No. I say let’s add maybe to that list.

🧡 On Orange Day, let your maybe be a Maybe.

💛 Summer heat is a gift? 💛

RhythmYellow Day

“Çok sicak” is the new “Hello” these days, with summer going strong, even hitting 53°C 🔥. So thankful we found a summer school for the little one, to keep her mind off the heat and still have outdoor playtime in the shade.

🌦 Life in four seasons takes getting used to, especially on days of extreme weather like today. The passing of time is more felt too, as opposed to the endless summers of the tropics. There’s a hurriedness in the background, like an everyday ticktocking.⏰️ It’s both a constraint, something that limits what can be done “while the sun is out”, and also a movement, something that pushes you forward, even when you’re not ready.

It’s definitely an interesting feeling, perhaps a great recipe for creating: you get excited with all the changes in nature–so many new things happening all around, if you pay attention!🌤 And you also get the pressure of deadlines–if you wait around, the moment will pass and you miss out.🌬

I’m thankful to experience this for the first time in the Mediterranean, where the culture prioritizes balance and taking one’s time.

💛 On Yellow Day mornings when the house is quiet and the birds 🐦 sing their songs, let’s remember to just take it all in and roll with the moment, especially when things get extreme. There’s a gift somewhere there, that’s allowing us to push and create.

❤️ What do you hold on to?❤️

RhythmRed Day

No coincidence that I’m re-writing this for the third time after losing two drafts– truly as an exercise in holding the vision.

Here’s @korayerimez and I in the 2,000 year-old ampitheater in the Ancient City of Ephesus.🏛 It’s a site to behold, 30 meters tall (that’s 10-storeys high) and with a 24,000 seating capacity (that’s as big as half a football stadium). It’s a massive testament to human innovation, built to face the Harbour Road,🛣 which was the main entryway to Ephesus, the first metropolis of Asia. Back then it was a magnificent port city before the water 💧 receded and earthquakes happened. Imagine how visionary it was to even visualize a place like this at a time without cars or modern equipment. They say it took 60 years to carve it out of the mountain, and since then it has staged many shows and gatherings, from St. Paul’s preachings to gladiator fights, sacrificial feasts, and modern day operas and concerts.

It would’ve taken intense manifesting and future visioning to build this, and to stand there offering our own vision for @leadiagrowth was a goosebump moment. Thanks @baliliudaagnes for the picture 📸 and the caption–it really was a moment for holding the vision.

❤️ On Red Day, we remember earthquakes and modern disruptions (like pressing the wrong button on your phone 📱😅) and say, “Stay there. I have built, and will keep building. I stay the course and hold the vision.

💜 Powerzone Monday: What protects your space? 💜

RhythmPurple Day

It’s the start of a new week, and the distractions are lining up: chores, emails, daily commute.🚝 When it’s a busy day and you need to move around a lot, how do you stay in the zone and protect your space? 🙅‍♀️

I pulled up this family photo with Topkapi Palace behind us, remembering the feeling we had on this day.🌈 We’d just spent a wonderful week in İstanbul, soaking in the energy of the city, and already decided we would move there asap. It was a feeling of possibility.🌟

This moment is a powershield, one that I can pull up on combat days like today, to help me remember my safe space and stay in flow.🚀

🤍 How do you balance? 🤍

RhythmWhite Day

We’re on crunch time for @leadiagrowth Festival İstanbul, and yet Koray insisted on getting proper R&R this weekend.😎 When in Turkey for the summer, that means heading to the seaside and having a barbeque.🍢

Here’s our dinner setup on the balcony with the mezes, cheese, bread and salads.🥗 It’s still bright and the sun doesn’t set until 9pm on summer days. Notice the two sets of glasses ready for the all-time fave local drink: rakı, a distilled liquor made from anise or licorice. Raki is usually paired with fish, and it turns milky white when mixed with water. It’s taken ice cold and with water as a chaser.🧊 It’s an acquired taste for sure, and I half-jokingly said it seems like a ladies drink because it’s sweet. I got forced laughter in reply (we call it “labas sa ilong” in Filipino) so maybe it’s scandalous to say such things.🤭

Thank you Ablam and Abim for again hosting us and letting us refill the well and balance work with rest and play.🌈

🤍 White Day is the day of wholeness, of seeing the big picture and remembering that we’re part of a whole: a whole culture, history, expression, industry, gender, family, clan, community. Today, do something to balance. Allow yourself to stand upright, relaxed and open for what’s to come. 🧍‍♀️ 🧍‍♂️

💙What parade will you join?💙

RhythmBlue Day, Connect

We’re rewatching Mamma Mia with all the feels because we’re over here in Foça, Turkey across the movie’s beloved island of Kalokairi, aka Skopelos, Greece in real life.🏝 We now get to swim in the same Aegean coast, feel the same summer heat, and eat the same food and fruits as Donna, Sophie and all their fun friends.

The Dancing Queen scene tugs especially different this time. Meryl Streep makes her way to the beach and local women follow behind her, awakened and caught up in the moment of dance. Even our daughter dances to it with extra umph.💃

This is a powerful scene, now made extra special because we can relate to Kalokairi. We feel connected to it. The physicality of space and environment has made Mamma Mia real for us.⛱️

Now that @leadiagrowth Festival is coming closer, we’re rolling up our sleeves and readying our own parade.🌈 The energy that we’re putting in this parade is the energy of possibility.🌬
Very excited how İstanbul will amplify this, making it real and new at the same time. Space has energy. People have energy. Gatherings have energy.⚡️

💙 On Blue Day, I invite you to review the parades that you’ve signed up for–this year, this month, today. What kind of feels do they awaken in you?

💚What’s on your picnic spread?💚

RhythmGreen Day

Here’s an indoor surprise that greeted us one Spring day. Curated by a little girl who really wanted to have a picnic.🌼

She chose these for her spread:
✅️ A bowl of fresh fruit from the garden (green plums)
✅️ Assorted Biscuits
✅️ A pitcher of water
✅️ Plates, cups and straws according to the number of invited guests
✅️ Kolonya aka Turkish hand cologne/sanitizer and wipes
✅️ Handpicked flowers from the garden
✅️ Pretty ribbons and a family photo as her party decorations
✅️ A big Yellow ribbon by the door to welcome the guests (not in picture)

It’s hilarous how she’s already picked up how to host and set up a party, and meticulously planned and executed it in one go.🍪

Her spread says a lot about her: what’s important for her, how she wants her guests to feel, how she anticipates their needs, and how she wants the experience to be beautiful.🌈

💚 On Green Day, imagine what you’d put on your picnic spread. What colors, textures, smells, sounds would be there? What experience would you want for your guests; what will they feel at your picnic? And what does all this reveal about you?

🧡 Who you gonna call? 🧡

RhythmOrange Day

I’ve known these girls since we were nine. They make up half of my childhood barkada or close circle of friends, and it sucks to be thousands of miles away from them right now, especially with all the changes happening in our lives.🤸‍♀️

The other day I watched “Do Revenge” on Netflix. Reviews gave it good stars for its ode to 90s plot and music, but my biggest throwback came from seeing Maya Hawke all grown up and doing her own thing. Ethan Hawke was my ultimate childhood crush. I wrote to him twice, and got two hand-signed postcards in reply (nevermind that the signatures were different each time). Seeing his daughter carry the torch as a new generation celeb is an interesting trip down memory lane and back to the future.😉 Extra tug that she’s also in Stranger Things, another ode to our childhood that jumped through time, and with its own cult following today 🎬

Our childhood is a treasure trove, not just of memories, but of identity and feelings. And the people who bring us back there are treasures themselves.🎁

🧡 On Orange Day, ask yourself: When things are strange and need a little cheering up, who do you call? Who are your pickmeupper friends?

If there’s something strange
In your neighborhood
Who you gonna call?
…🎶

💛 Do you build from scratch? 💛

RhythmYellow Day

Our 5yo wanted a pizza day, and @korayerimez went all out 💯, making handmade dough and coming up with three kinds of pizza: flat bread, calzone, and thick crust 10″ pizza. Hats off to her babam for top class effort (and yes it was top class delicious!). If it were just me, I would’ve used store-bought pita bread or tortilla as dough, and let our daughter have pizza day by putting sauce and toppings.🍕

Of course it comes with the territory–Koray loves food and cooking, and he won’t cut corners food-wise for as long as he can help it.🔪 I wouldn’t cut corners with my paintings either–doing the necessary prep work and choosing the right materials is part of the creative process itself.🎨

💛 Some things to think about on Yellow Day: When does using ready-made things work? Does it satisfy the joy of creating? What is gained (or lost) in building from scratch?

❤️Does your vision go on and on?❤️

RhythmRed Day

Here’s a painting I did 7 years ago. I was at my fitness peak and felt I finally made peace with my body.🤝 It turned into a whole series called “I Love My Body”.💃

This vision took a backseat when I became a mom, and my relationship with my body changed.🤱 It got…messy and contradictory. There was “Wow, my body birthed and nurtured a whole new human being, amazing!” Vs. “I don’t like how I look, I don’t own my body anymore.”🪞 I lost interest in taking care of my body, eating well, sleeping well, even dressing well–because, hey, the baby came first.

In 2022 I launched the series as NFTs, and relaunched them again in 2023, I guess as an attempt to again make peace with my body.🧘‍♀️ There were small wins thanks to IF and Zumba classes, but they were fragile and short-lived. The unpredictability of a nomadic lifestyle also made sticking to a routine extra challenging.⏰️

Loving my body is a fragile vision that is still very blurry for me at this point, and maybe the way forward is not to revive the old, foggy lenses.👓 Maybe I need something more drastic, like vision surgery. Or as my therapist says, start with a lot of self-love and self-compassion. 💅🤲

❤️ On Red Day, here’s a full stop to check how far do you actually see? Does your vision go beyond what’s already visible? Can you see what’s not there yet? And can you keep seeing it into the future? What helps you see?

💜How do you powerstart your day?💜

RhythmPurple Day

Here’s mine: with quiet time to remember what happened in my sleep the night before. 😴

Both science and spirituality ( i.e. consciousness work) say to always go to bed with a question we need help with, and let the divine forces and/or our subconscious do the answering for us while we sleep🛏. Our job is to be ready to receive the answers the next morning.🌤

This only happens with a clear mind and heart, without the clutter of errands or news or social media feeds🤯. Blank slate mornings are critical.

💜How about you? What power move starts your day right?