People: Tara Mayer
Name: Tara Mayer
Occupation/Business/Creative Outlet: Cultural Historian, Curation, Traveller, Photographer.
Starsign: Cancer
Favourite Number: 2
First thing you did this morning? I buried my nose into my daughter’s hair; she sleeps beside us.
What does 'wellness' mean to you? In my twenties, most people close to me worked in fashion and wellness was assessed on a looks-only basis. Now, as an academic, I’m in a sphere that values intellectual rigour and output to a degree that sometimes dwarfs the importance of mental and physical health. Wholeness and the integration of our physical, emotional, social, and intellectual selves feels most valuable now. I try to ‘take inventory’ or check in periodically. Ram Dass’s words hit deep, ‘The quieter you become, the more you can hear.’
Products found in your shower/by your bath? A dry brush, Dani Kenney Mountain Soap, Sans [Ceuticals] Nourishing Hair Hydratant, Maryse Multi-Vitamin Body Oil, Ayu Ode Oil.
Three things that can always be found in your kitchen cupboard? Raw hazelnuts for homemade hazelnut milk, estate-grown Assam tea, Portuguese olive oil.
Favourite kitchen utensil? A marble mortar and pestle that Sebastian lugged back from Italy and a clay donabe from Japan.
Favourite Travel destination? Maui is our home-away-from-home. It’s where I grew up, where my parents are, and such a quick flight from Vancouver. India has my heart in a different way, though. Kerala, in particular, where my mom is from, holds so many childhood memories and still stirs and awakens me like nowhere else.
Currently reading? Patterns of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures by Michael Baxandall.
Currently browsing (.com)? Ledansla.tumblr.com, Astankonate.com, Juddfoundation.org, and half a dozen global archives of South Asian textiles.
Favourite breakfast food? Wilted greens topped with a soft-poached egg, furikake, and sesame oil or toasted seed bread with sheep’s milk cheese and raw honey.
Three items in your make up bag? Floracopeia Khus Attar, Dr. Hauschka Rose Day Cream, Maryse Mineral Dew.
An album/mix that calms your nervous system? Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver.
An album/mix that hypes you up? It changes near-weekly, but right now Marian Hill – Sway.
Most commonly used apps on your phone? Honestly, I was only recently persuaded to have a phone at all. It drives everyone close to me to distraction, but I’ve always hated the tether.
Favourite form of movement/exercise? Dancing after dinner with our girls, long forest walks.
One thing you'd like to incorporate into your day/week that you're currently yet to? I would love to make time for a short, morning meditation. Before becoming a mother, I began my days this way and I’m aching to return to it.
Nighttime rituals? Linden flower tisane, a mix of valerian, roman chamomile, and lavender oils dabbed behind my ears and rolled onto the soles of my feet, animal stories whispered in the dark to my daughter.
I feel most creatively fulfilled when...engaged in some form of intimacy or connection, deep in conversation, submerged in nature, taking photos, cooking for people I love, or travelling somewhere new.
I'm currently working on...writing a paper for a conference in Paris next month.
This time last year, I wish I knew...that it’s alright to say ‘no’ if woefully overstretched and that our lives would soon be immeasurably enriched by some beautiful new friendships.
I'm grateful for... mid-summer rains that are quenching our garden, slower mornings to linger over breakfast and extra cups of tea, the wonder and privilege of being a mother, Sebastian’s unrelenting humour and tenderness, good books, wood fires, foggy walks in the forest, tending our garden, the wisdom and love of my parents, autumn, and the stillness to reflect on all this abundance.
03 - 07 - 18