Tiffany Pratt: The Queen of Colour

 hello everybody. Welcome to the Jann Arden podcast and show. Well today we have a little something different going on. I am in a hotel room in Vancouver, British Columbia, and our guest, which is the human equivalent of a confetti cannon, like she is a dear friend of mine and gives the best hugs and the best like twisty leg hugs in the world. Tiffany Prout is a celebrated Canadian designer, artist, author and television personality. She is so zen, she is so sage and so wise, and she's helped me so much in my life, just bringing positivity and so much love. And I'll be forever in her debt. She has brought so much color to my life. You really have Tiffany, like, just the idea of color, What color does for our hearts and for our souls. And we're gonna, we're gonna talk about just what that is. You've seen her on HGTV shows like home to win and buy it, fix it, sell it, and you've probably seen her signature rainbow hair from outer space. She's here today talking about the power of design making Joy a daily practice, or even how to turn a glue gun into a lifelong philosophy. And I can get behind that. Tiffany Pratt, welcome to the Jan Arden podcast.

1:18  
Wow. Listen. Folks, thanks for everything. Jan, that was great. I love

1:23  
ya. We have become friends. So let's just back up a bit. Sarah and Caitlin and I had you and your co host from Project bake over and you and I, we got a chance to talk. We both discovered on that particular day that we each had a dog named Poppy.

1:41  
My Poppy's sitting right here,

1:42  
which was insane. My dog's name is Poppy. My dog's name is Poppy, and then we just launched a lifelong friendship from there. And Tiffany came out to my place and we went to Canmore anyway, because of the podcast, you and I became friends. So I'm really, really grateful for that

1:57  
instant click. We all know you Jan as Jan Arden, but what I recognized in you that day is your beautiful spirit and your soul. It's like I knew you from another time, and you and I had our hers had met each other before.

2:12  
I believe that completely. Listen, I'm gonna let Caitlin start with the first questions, because she's always got great ones, and I'm always talking way too much. So Caitlin, write us off. How you can make our lives better with design, color, vibes, you know, meditation, practice, all that. So go.

2:29  
Jan always says she talks too much on her own show, which I love, but I do you're funny. Okay, before we even started recording, I was talking about this with Tiffany a little bit, because we've crossed paths in media before, and I always I feel a little bit out of my depth when it comes to color placement, because I'm a minimalist, and I think wearing predominantly white and black and navy is easy. It's just like, it's just the way my brain can just pick an outfit that way. But I really like color, and I know that I look and feel more fun when I wear it and I like it in other people's home an awful lot. So I'm wondering if you have baby step suggestions to people to start with color, like I know the one thing red rule. I've heard about that from friends who are interior designers, so I may start there. But what do you usually tell people when I'm sure you get asked this all the time.

3:20  
It's one of my favorite questions, because I always tell people, it's not about it's not esthetic. Color is an esthetic. And I and I think we get hung up on on that, especially because we're dealing with seasons. You know that there's that whole you're a fall, you're a spring, you're a winter. It's not like that at all. If you go back into ancient times, color is actually a healing property. People wear certain colors to feel a certain way, and you want that color in your life, on your body, in your home, because you want to bring that energy into your life. And so everyone has colors that they naturally gravitate towards, and it's not because it's esthetic. Yes, we all love color, but there's actually a reason why we like the colors we like, and it's healing. And so when I work with clients in their home, the idea is, let's fall in love. It's it's not about what's on trend. It's not about what you know Sally Joe's doing. It's not about what's happening in fashion. It's about what do you love? And then that conversation doesn't happen a lot with people. You're not constantly being asked, What do you love? You know, and then all this other noise goes away, and then you start hearing the truth. I'm obsessed with purple. I love red. And then you start, I start to peel back the layers. Then in a space, I could go, okay, I can work with those colors with what you have. And we can integrate with simple things like pillows and carpets and art. And same with the outfit, you don't have to go for broke and wear a fucking rainbow. We're dealing with the idea of, what do you love? And then from there, you build, obviously, with your coloring. If you don't look great in that color, purple. Fold, just wear it in a, in a, in earrings, or have it in a bag, or just have it around you, because the joy that comes from that thing you actually don't understand, but it's there. You walk down the street, you see a colorful building, you smile. People see me, and they see my hair, and they just kids, and everyone wants to talk to me. Is it just immediately takes that whole thing away, and I become very accessible. And it's not because I don't take myself seriously. It's that color brings joy. So for the people who are scared of color, I always say, start small and fall in love. If you love something, don't overthink it. Don't say it's going to go out of style. Don't say, Oh, it's too childish. Oh, this is too this. This is to that follow your first impulse to color and understand. It is a breadcrumb to where your soul needs you to go to heal and feel better. So first

5:54  
of all, there's no seasons, right? You're telling me all the stuff that we've been taught white after Labor Day or before Labor Day, or whatever the heck it is that any of those rules are not applicable in today's world, like, if you want to wear, you know, a bright orange, like leisure sweat suit on a plane in the middle of whatever it doesn't matter. Does it?

6:17  
Does that matter? And you know what the craziest thing is? You hear the no white after Labor Day, and then all you see in fashion is winter white. Everyone's wearing winter whites, so it's all BS. I truly feel that when you compliment someone and you see someone, they're wearing all these colors, and they're doing themselves up. You're complimenting the buy. You're feeling that person feeling themselves because they are wearing something that makes them feel good. And I think that that's the essence of what we need to return to, is to feel good. And when you start to tap into how you feel, then it totally changes for me. I cannot wear black. I wear it and my my spirit

6:59  
crushes, okay? My spirit

7:01  
lifts. Oh, and keep wearing

7:03  
black. I'm curious if Caitlin, too has had this. But like perhaps, my feeling of confidence with black came from that age old idea that it's slimming right now, of course, and although I don't really that's not really present in my brain now when I wear black, I'm sure at a point earlier in my life, it was so what about those people that are kind of hiding behind black? How do you get

7:27  
out? I don't think you need to get out. I think you just need to add to it. Because I don't think that black is bad. It's just not for me. But you see people who wear all black, and they look so sexy and gorgeous, but if you did a pop of color on the lip, and you did really cool earrings and a really great colorful bag and a really great accessory on top of it that was like red or orange or yellow or something that black comes to life. So I don't necessarily think it's about getting rid of who you are and what your comfort is. It's to continue to build on who you are the color the color is like adding a new element to your, your your being, you know, your your spirit, keeps growing, and so does your ability to see new things and try new things and learn new parts of yourself. And color is expansive, and it does that. So that's what you know. When I got into television, I didn't do it. I didn't start this as a publicity stunt to be the most colorful person on television, and I was coined Canada's queen of color. And quite frankly, it wasn't about me trying to do that. It's because I truly believe that when people on TV saw what I was doing with color, it brought them joy. And so you see a joy come out, and you kind of can't place it. And so I kind of would say that don't shame yourself to what you love, add to it. Keep doing things that, keep chasing the things you love, and just keep building and don't tell yourself the stories. Don't listen to what people are saying, or what's on trend, or what society saying, because that's that's a big thing. Our parents will tell us something, and it gets locked in forever, like, black is slimming, and then, bam, you're wearing black because you think is slimming. My mom hated me in pink because I was at her enough, and I it's almost like I was like, No, Pink is my color, and in because pink is pink is the highest vibration for me, it brings me into a place of pure bliss. And so I wanted around me, because I like the feeling. So I think everyone that that's listening right now could really do with I started a color meditation series called quietly colorful. I was

9:43  
just gonna ask you about that you're reading my mind, because I am a die hard obsessed viewer of your your quietly colorful, the beautiful pieces that you create around a color. So Tiffany will choose a color, and there's an audio. Portion of it was, you know, ringing of like bulls. Take a deep breath,

10:10  
close your eyes, and let's meet pink, the glow of love. Pink is the universal heart.

10:29  
Home roses in the secret garden, my favorite lipstick and perfect blush, the Lotus floating in the peaceful pond. It's a

10:40  
visceral feeling of color. So it's not just looking at the color, it's this vibration. You talk about vibrations of color. So do expand on that. Quietly colorful has really affected me. And you, you, and I mean this not because of this podcast. I'm wearing more color. Hold please. I just want to show you something.

11:00  
Jan's going into a closet. I

11:03  
bought this frame shirt. This is fucking $320 or something, and but I bought it to wear with, like, a tie and, like, I got this really cool jacket. You see the

11:15  
color when you put it underneath. You look at how your skin

11:18  
pops. You'll have to go on YouTube to see

11:21  
the pop. I haven't worn a lot of color in my life. I'm with Caitlin. I I don't know why, and I will say this in all earnestness, I don't like drawing attention to myself. This may seem really odd. I find that if I walked in with like a green suit or like red pants and an orange shirt or something fun, that people would look at me. And I know this sounds nuts, because of the nature of my job, but the nature of my job has nothing to do with me. In my life, walking around, going to a grocery store or going through Costco, I do not want people looking at me. It's as simple as that, and it's not because I like, Oh, I didn't want to talk today. It's nothing like that. It's just how I feel in my chest totally. I don't want to engage and I don't want someone looking at me. And some people can dress like I love how you dress. And you can take absorb that attention and the admiration that people have for you because they're like they're seeing joy. And I've been around you in places where people come up to you and go, I love what you you just feel so good. I saw you guys come in, and then they notice me. Oh my god, Jan, but you lady with the stuff going on, and I'm always so proud of you, because you take that attention and that warmth and that gratitude for what you're wearing because you dare to be different and dare to be yourself. Maybe you can speak to me at that a little bit. I I don't want people looking at me. Well,

12:45  
I think in your case, it's a two fold situation. One is, I totally can respect the fact that when you are off at Costco, you want to be left alone to buy, you know, your vegan burgers. However, no, because it's true. But I want to say, do it's almost like wearing the sexy lingerie. Do it for you underneath your black jacket. Wear something you know. Wear it underneath. Okay, I like that. It's not necessarily about trying to call attention. And also, you can have your big black coat on, but are you wearing a cute, colorful scarf underneath that no one can really see. Are you doing your nails in really bright, fun colors? So it's, it's that secret love that you

13:29  
have for these things. I like all of this. It's really sexy, actually. Well, it is sexy. I can have a turquoise bra and underpants underneath your dark jeans and your your faded, shitty, the great gray t shirt that's ripped to shit in a black jean jacket that makes so much sense to me to have that underneath you as this little superpower. And I do have under I do have underpants that are quite colorful, just from work stuff, and I should start fucking wearing them. Where are them? I'm always saving them, like good china. I'm like, Oh God, like, I brought this hole please for you to YouTubers.

14:07  
She gonna show us her underwear right now. I'm terrified. I think

14:10  
that's what's happening. So I didn't do a shake in a show, or, trust me, I didn't, but I tried this on before I left. And I'm like, I forgot about this bra, and it's so comfortable for traveling in and it's sheer and it's great t shirt bra, but I have not worn it on this trip. Why? So now I'm thinking, tonight I have a corporate job. I'm singing for a guy's 70th birthday. I've sung at his 40th, his 50th, 40, 5060, now I'm singing tonight for his 70th. I'm wearing this underneath my outfit tonight. Anyway, you just struck a chord in me that was very visceral about wearing this underneath jeans and a shitty

14:50  
feature. Your color

14:52  
is red, though, Jan, you say that. I was just gonna say you

14:55  
always wear red lips when you wear a red I do

14:58  
wear a red lip. I. That's one thing that's a piece of color that does make me feel good,

15:03  
see and if, even if, you were all black. So I'm going to flip the script, though, and say in the time that people are looking at you, Jan, and you know they're going to look at you, you're at a concert, you're doing something, and there's no getting around it. Use color as your secret weapon. That's a time when you could wear the whole blue suit and, and it would just be freaking phenomenal, because you're it becomes a beacon for you. Color starts speaking for you, and, and so I think it's the twist and the turn. We have to understand that there are guys, I don't own any item of clothing that's not colorful, but you know what color I do wear? Your version of Black is what I when I wear all white. And Jen, you've probably seen me wear lots of full white all the time. And I do, I wear head to toe white everything I have white shoes. That's my version of all black. And that's when I don't want to think and I just put everything on that's cream or white, but when you add color to it, it's magical. So I want to also go back to quietly colorful, because can you guys see this? These are the sound bowls that I use in quietly colorful. And every color has a resonance. And I learned how to do sound healing a few years ago, and as I was learning sound healing, I learned that there's a resonance to color. So it wasn't just the resonance of healing, but the there was a color associated with it. And we can go down a whole chakra system conversation, but we won't, but I started to realize that people were missing the boat, and quietly colorful was not a money maker for me. It was just something I did as my service to humanity. Because when you're a designer, when you're in color, creative direction, everything I do is very colorful, but it's grounded in something so quietly colorful. Was a way for me to ring those tuning forks, play those bowls, and I did a visual of all things I could collect in my studio that were those colors, and I and I talked about, what is red in the world, what is orange in the world, to get people to connect all the dots, because then you start to have visceral memories around colors, and then you start to have happy feelings, and the happy feelings start to release dopamine, and then all of a sudden, you start finding yourself, I have goosebumps saying it, but you find yourself looking at an object in a new way, like it carries something that's so much more precious than what you ever dreamed. This philosophy also carries into what I do and I do interiors, but everything is energetic, is the punchline. Everything you have around you carries a resonance and an energy. Everything you put on your body is the same. So you have to think of it as more powerful than we give it credit for. And so that's always my work is be very intentional with what you're buying, how you're buying it, how you're wearing it, how you take care of it in your home and on yourself, because it's it's adding to the energy of your life.

18:17  
You have one of the most interesting homes I've ever been in. I go in your house and I feel young. Oh, I've thought about what your house makes me feel like, and it makes me feel young. Does that make any sense?

18:31  
Oh, that's the highest compliment I could ever be paid. And

18:34  
everything has a reason and a purpose. And like, my house is quite dark, like, it has a lot of natural light. You've been in my home, Tiffany, and I have a lot of little hits of color. Like, I made sure that I have this, you know, big green couch, and I have red furniture, and I have a red, black backsplash in my kitchen. And so I was intentional about that. I thought, I have to have, I can't just have sage cinnamon and fucking, you know, light, what? Light Beige in this house, like I'm gonna be suicidal. So I made sure that I had bits of color, and I repainted my bedroom during covid. And it's funny that you should talk about healing of color. I was lying during covid, like, probably six months into the first year, and my bedroom walls were very dark, I would say they were a blood rust, dried blood red, like almost a brown red. And I was lying in bed, and I it made me feel not good. And I just thought, I gotta do something in here. I can't sleep in here. I thought it would be a good idea just for light and, you know, my schedule and blah, blah, blah. So I had Russ broom, his wife, farI, you know, everyone was looking for jobs to do, and she's an exceptional house painter. She did it in her life. She's a restaurant tour, she's a lot of things, but she came and painted my bedroom. Room, a really creamy, edible ice cream, off white I have it made such a difference in the time that I spend in my bedroom, how my art looked on the walls. All of a sudden, my art had meaning. I could see faces, the colors popped. I've got some really cool art in my bedroom. So when, when you talk about design and color, I'll tell you right now, from my experience, which is limited, that made all the difference in the world, in my life, and how much time I wanted to spend in my bedroom. Now I'll go in there and read. And it was fucking color on the wall that was killing me.

20:44  
That hits back to what we originally talked about Jan, which is, how do you want to feel? Right? Because you felt that color brought you down right did. And so as soon as you change that color, you felt different. Yep, I'm not formally trained in anything. I never went to school for interior design. Nothing. For me, it's all the same stuff. The space is the same as a set is the same as an outfit. It's about feelings, textures and assembly. And so when I go into a home, what you're saying to me, Jan, is exactly how I design is I start to make those decisions based off of the Okay, great art collection needs more light, needs to feel this way, needs to feel more space, needs to feel and then I start to concoct a plan around the feeling. And then, of course, the feeling starts to cascade into other things. And the one thing about your home, Jan, that I love, and I want to give you credit for that people don't do, is that some people get to a stage in their life where they just say, Screw it, toss it all. I want to start new. I don't want any of this old stuff. Whereas you have collected for so long, your home is a museum of I have goose bumps. It's, it's memories, it's art, it's, it's where you came from, it's your family, it's a story, it's a it's a cool person who made you something. And that's what home should be, is a collection of things that bring us joy. And it's not about staying on trend. It's about a feeling, and your home has a feeling, and that's a

22:23  
gift. Well, that's good questions. Caitlin, Sarah, because there's a ton of things here.

22:28  
I want to know if there's, if there's, like, a top line, I guess, like, You talk a lot about sort of the energy around colors, and I mean, if we stick with the primary colors, what would you say is sort of an associative energy for each of those?

22:41  
There's so many. I want everyone to go to quietly colorful, but I'm gonna say top line, red, power, orange, your creativity. Yellow is joy. Green, Yellow. Yellow is joy. Green is is love. Blue is your communication and how you speak purple is knowing the truth. I can say that there are tones and shades around all of it, but if you look at something yellow, even if you don't respond to yellow, you will feel joy and creativity comes from Orange. My My hair was orange for 15 years, orange, orange, like electric pylon, orange for 15 years. I needed orange in my life. I was so high creative. I needed orange around my face. I needed to see it every day. And then as soon as I kind of flipped that switch, that's when I went to pink, because pink actually hits a bob in the shopper system above purple, and purple is here, so pink is the highest state, and pink is just all love. It's universal love, because pink is the first color every human being sees when they're in utero, because through the tummy, you see pink. So there's not one person that doesn't see pink as a as a happy making color,

24:04  
or when your eyes are closed, right? Like you kind of see pink. I feel

24:08  
because I am naturally I don't wear it a lot. I'm naturally drawn to, like an orange red. It's the nail color I always pick. It's the lip color that I always like. And for some reason, which I think it's funny that you said yellow is joy. Yellow has historically been like, repellent for me. Like I just I can't deal with it. I get it out of any place I'm in. If there's a slight yellow tinge to a wall, a yellow tinge to bedding, bat like, I just am, like our podcast

24:35  
star shoot,

24:38  
I think I said that to you guys, but I really didn't like the yellow,

24:41  
but apparently we chose joy. So something I know,

24:44  
I know, and I'm not, it's just like you, it's, it's like you said that certain colors you gravitate towards, mine have, for sure, changed throughout my life. Is that that seems like something you've experienced too, where you used to have the bright orange hair and now it's pink, yep.

24:57  
Oh, well, and you, and that's the thing about human beings, and I see. This about spaces. I say this about clothes. I say this about hair. We are not trapped in a moment and we can't get out of it. You know, we are evolving all the time and always morphing and changing. And I always invite people to give themselves permission to do that. Give yourself permission to just grow and evolve and change, because nothing will stay the same. I am always rotating stuff around here, because I always believe that when you touch something, you animate it, and by animating it, you bring it back to life. So if you're touching the clothes in your closet, you're wearing them, they're animating you. You're animating them. You have life if you have a closet full of clothes that you don't touch. This is where I started, by the way, in fashion. That was my first love. That was my first job, and I used to be a personal shopper at Saks, and I would dress women. And that's where I got the bug for understanding what people had in their closet, how to turn it into what they were buying and then making lots of outfits with these combinations. And I learned a lot about how people get very emotional about clothes, and so they'll keep it hanging in their closet, but they'll never wear it again. And so Jan, just like you're saying the red bra, you're gonna fucking wear that bra now, nothing but colored undies now, because so it's so important to live, live. Wear the clothes, wear the bra. Pull the silver out. Don't do the fancy. You know, napkins for the Thanksgiving. Fuck it. Life is now. Now is time for for luxury and and enjoyment and and being the fullest expression of ourselves. Like I'm wearing a pink Ferrari now, hello, I'm wearing I'm pink everywhere. The color thing is real. It's not a conversation. It's a reality for me. And I'm just always trying to encourage where I can, because it does help people. So just like you, Jen, I feel like I'm talking too much, but here I am.

27:06  
I wanted to ask you how your your husband feels about color. Well, Zach, you guys are such. You guys are so different from each other. And I and I know that you know, you guys celebrate those differences all the time. And but my question to you, I guess, is, I'll repeat it again. How does he feel about your color palette, your sense of style? Because you are big, you are big, big, big, and he seems to revel in it. From my perspective,

27:34  
he is a minimalist. He is getting more color in his life, and I think it's because he's so surrounded now it almost starts, it's starting to feel like his normal, but it's his tones. He's a ginger, so it's the the plum, the mustards, the khaki greens, the navy blues. He'll throw, you know, pink in there too. And now he's adding tons of color into his wardrobe, and I think it's sort of become a thing for him now he's he's adapting it because he's around it. He has my art in his office. He has big, colorful art in his office. And I think, you know, subconsciously, he feels the effects of having color in his life. But if left to his own devices, my husband is a athlete turned finance guy. So he'd be wearing his like, gray, you know, navy blue, black, white basics and nothing more. But you know, when he he now has a pale pink suit, when he wears that to a finance gig, and he walks in, he talks to everyone. Everyone comes up to him. He's so shy, but people come to him now because he's wearing color. So I get that, you know, like he he's putting himself in a new in a new place, so I'm giving him quiet confidence that, and also, you meet me, and there's no changing the situation. So he this is a full package deal, me and my wiener, my color, my my costumes. You know, it's all part of it, and he just had to, like, get on the magic carpet ride or not.

29:15  
I know this story, but can I ask how you met? Because we have a romantic streak going through this podcast right now. It's, it's, we can't help it.

29:23  
I'll keep it brief. I have lived in this little beach apartment for 16 years, and Jen will tell you, it's like 20 steps to the lake. So it's a

29:36  
very beautiful we laid on the beach one day and we just hugged, and we we drank Diet Coke, and it was so nice. It was, it was a romantic

29:47  
Lake. Are we talking? I live in the beach in Toronto. Whoa. Okay, yeah, so I'm like 20 snubs of the lake. I've lived here for 16 years, and I didn't start talking to my neighbors until I got my wiener. Yeah. Poppy. Look

30:01  
wiener dog.

30:02  
We also named Poppy.

30:05  
Poppy. That's how Jan and I start bonding. Sarah, yeah, our wieners. I'm sorry, our dogs. So So Poppy and I would go out and we're I'm trying to train this little puppy, and I'm trying to get her on a pee schedule. And at the so three doors down is Zach's, where Zach's parents live, and she used to go there and camp out in his driveway and sunbathe, or she just kept peeing on his parents lawn, and that was where she liked to go. And when you're dog training, you just want your dog to pee. You don't give a shit where they pee. You just want them to pee outside. So mornings I just be down there like, you know, pee, pee, pee, sweeping, you know, trying to get her to go, yep. And then his mother said, You got to meet my son. She kept coming out and chatting to me, and I said, Trust me, I don't need to meet your son. I'm not joking. Her and I were like, this clash of the titans for six months, you're gonna love my son. I'm like, I bet you I won't. I was not having it worseably single for three years. Loved my life busy as hell. Girl,

31:10  
you are talking my language.

31:13  
Don't give a shit. And then, and then she he comes out. And let me tell you guys, I found nothing. He comes out. I said, hey. He says, Hey, he's so He's so shy. I'm like, there I met your son.

31:28  
I thought you were gonna say he came out of love at first sight. And you're like, and nothing. No, I

31:32  
am such a I'm a picky bitch. And I just, I was too distracted to even just put it in my consciousness. Just focus on my own shit, my dog, my life not looking and he moved into this coveted building around the corner that is literally on the sand, and you have to have like a lock and key and a special code and know somebody in a secret like sound to get into this building. And he moved in, and his mom said, well, Zach's moving into the Ella K building. So I said, Okay, keep talking. She goes, I think that he may need some help with design and I was like, okay, and I just wanted to see the building. So here I go into his place to give him design tips. He and I are walking around, and as I'm giving him design tips, he's diligently taking notes, and he's asking great questions, oh God, and he's so kind, and his personal energy. Jen, you can attest to this, yes, is so clean and clear. And

32:36  
what color is it? It's green.

32:39  
Just love. Oh and so, um, squishy, squishy, squishy. And I just sat there in his presence, and I was like, Oh, it wasn't him. It wasn't this beer drinking, young athlete, finance guy that I had in my head. It was just this, this feeling. I was like, Oh, what's this feeling? Oh gosh, I feel different around him, and I like the way I felt around him. It wasn't about his name, how old he was, what his job was, how he looked. I didn't give a shit. It was how I felt in his presence. And we just kept building from that. And love it, yeah? And that's, that's how it happened,

33:21  
yeah. I just I love that story so much. It wasn't what your perception was, it was how he made you feel. And that is a pretty magical thing to remind ourselves of. Is when we meet people that are adversarial or confrontational, trust how they make you feel? Bingo, you know, if they're great looking or they fucking seem to have money in the dog trust, how they make How do they make you feel? If they make you feel like shit, if you don't feel confident or safe or uplifted or supported, walk on. And, you know, walk on. And if you meet someone who's just like, oh my god, I cannot believe how you make me feel. You know I would, I would trust that I was very untrusting too, of that I didn't really trust how I felt about anybody a lot of the times. But I love that story, so thank you for sharing it. I could keep you here for 17 years, which you know we will definitely. We will do that. You and I will be together forever. So

34:23  
we have two things we always do at the end of the episodes I'm going to throw to Caitlin for one of them, I know that, like TV wise, you know, HGTV Food Network, is there anything we should know about that you have coming up? I

34:34  
always want the people to be on my website and to check out my Insta, because that's where I keep all the latest and greatest. So my Insta is at the Tiffany Pratt, and my website is Tiffany pratt.com and I keep it super updated,

34:48  
slightly colorful. We will have a link in the show notes, so you guys can read the show notes today, and you can click on, and I highly advise going if, if anything, you will have a meditation that will change. Change the course of your day, because these quietly colorful, these pieces of art that you create, Tiffany, are a great way to start your day. And you can pick a new color and just listen. Look at the color. Here are the tones and listen,

35:15  
oh, I have more thing to add. I wrote a book like 10 years ago called this can be beautiful. Yes, you did. I think it's an important read for people who just want to create for the sake of creating. And dig back in. This isn't a how to book. This is a it's an inner creative quest book. So look for this can be beautiful.

35:34  
Also in the show notes, I want to make sure that we shine a light on all the amazing and beautiful things that you create.

35:41  
Caitlin, and now over to me for hard hitting journalism. We like to ask our guests what they do to take care of their mental health, something that they do every day for themselves and that brings you joy.

35:55  
This is an easy one for me. I've told I screamed from the mountain tops. Two things. One, transcendental meditation. Oh, yeah, I do that religiously.

36:06  
What is that? I know what meditation is, but what's that kind of meditation?

36:11  
It's you. It's one where you got to go in for three days. You get a special mantra, and you learn a very, very ancient healing practice that is called meditation, but it's really just repeating your own private mantra in your head for 20 minutes, twice a day. Um, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, worked on this back in the 70s. Had the Beatles doing it. It was a thing. And I try. I meditated with. I've gone into ashrams. I've gone into Buddhist temples. I've meditated with all different types of people to find my way. And TM transcendental meditation was my thing. And the other thing I would always encourage anyone, I don't care if you think you're creative or not, creative writing every morning to dump your brain out is essential. Julia Cameron wrote a book in the early 90s called the artist way, and she encourages her readers to do three long handed pages every day. And I have been doing that for 20 plus years now, and I it really does restore, dump and heal, and it saves you a lot of time, energy, money and therapy

37:27  
costs. That book was recently recommended to me. That's so funny.

37:31  
It is a it's a Bible, okay, yeah, and you could keep going. There's vein of gold. There's walking in the world. She keeps going. Julia Cameron is, is prolific, but so that's that's me. I write three pages every day. I do my transcendental meditation, and that is what brings me back to myself, not myself, the exterior, myself, inside of my head. I can go into the day with my clients, my friends and I am my clearest self. Love that great

38:04  
advice, and I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that. Are you going to be writing any intentions tomorrow for the Lionsgate portal?

38:10  
Oh, you're not wrong, because I'm a full I'm a full Neo so of course, yes. Also, Jan, you're in Vancouver, and there's so much Lionsgate shit in Vancouver.

38:23  
Okay, wait, guys, we gotta, we gotta bring this down to basics. What is the Lions Gate thing? I bet you half our listeners are like, What in the hell is happening right now?

38:32  
It's the 888. Portal happens on August 8 every year. It's a very auspicious number. It's a very auspicious day. You can ring in, call in, lots of things happening. It's, you know, eights are infinity symbols. You could just dig into this forever. Caitlin, what do you know about the Lions Gate?

38:50  
I only know that it's a great day, from to set intentions, like, it's a it's a particularly powerful day, like, you know, the thinning of the veil. All of that stuff is supposed to be happening and present in your life. So if you have things you really want, goals you want to set, it's a great time to really set those intentions, speak it out into the universe and then see, kind of like, what comes back to you. It's funny, my my sister in law, is a big she's very big into all of this, and she and I just did before I left a family vacation the East Coast, the wisdom Oracle guidebook, like the shocker cards these, yes, so we just did those before I left. And so it's just so funny and timely that you were a guest this week, because we talked a lot about colors. Orange came through huge for me and all the cards that I pulled. And then we had a big discussion about the wine gate, which, yeah, we're recording this on a Thursday, but when our listeners hear this drops tomorrow. That's the day, that's the day to do that.

39:42  
That's the day we're dropping in the portal. Wait,

39:46  
yes, we are portal. Yes, exactly, and you're a Leo. Like I'm telling you, this is all really tying together.

39:51  
I am pissing my Icelandic girlfriend is a Leo just,

39:56  
just, no way. Oh, I did know that. I did know that. Okay, I love Leo's. I love.

40:00  
Yeah, and wow, we went 43 minutes without talking about tortoise this week, new new

40:04  
record. New Record. All I want to do is talk about tortoise. We talked immediately. We were x amount of days apart. We were born in the same year. I was like, I freaking love you, thorndis, what is it about you that I like? It's magical. Jen, and I am so your love gives me strength. Your love lights up the world. It is truly a beacon for everyone going through so much darkness right now. You sharing your love is lifting up the planet. And keep doing it. And thank you. And I'm so funny. You know how I love, love, man, don't be starting this

40:45  
year. Remember, I was walking, I was in Ottawa, and I had phoned early days. I phoned Tiffany, and I said, I have something to tell you.

40:54  
Something to tell you, message, yeah, and

40:57  
she just flipped. Flipped out. It was so

41:00  
Jen, you walk towards this. You do not you do not turn away. You

41:05  
Jan, you run to her. You run to her. Right? I

41:10  
was like, This is it. I was like, you hold on to love with both hands and you run like the fucking Dickens. Love is the highest vibration of all, and if we could all carry love in our hearts at a high degree, this would be a different planet. And so when we when we give love, we share love, we express our love, it is the greatest thing we could do. So is there

41:34  
a color coming off a tortoise that you pick up?

41:36  
Purple? Oh, hmm.

41:39  
What does that mean?

41:41  
She's right here. She's throat communication and higher self. So authors, likes to speak her truth, but she also operates from her highest self. Right now, in this moment, what

41:53  
color is Jan?

41:54  
Jan is always red. I agree. I agree. She's earthy, she's powerful, she's sexy. She's because, you know, the red is actually at the bottom. It's

42:06  
on so little red that poor little bra in my suitcase. I'm gonna buy some I'm gonna go today. I've got a few hours before my sound check singing for my fellow 70 birthday, and I'm gonna go get myself something red. I promise you that.

42:19  
Well, I'm gonna say. Caitlin, you're 100% you're 100% orange. Sarah, you're 100 100% blue. I'm blue or blue. You are. You are here throat, speaking out to the world, says clearly, feeling your truth entirely grounded in your voice, what you have to say, what you have to communicate. Caitlyn, you have a hidden creative agenda, and it's coming out now, and it's bursting, yes, oh,

42:47  
those were all the cards I pulled, literally verbatim. They were, it's like, it's, it's wild. We're

42:52  
probably gonna have to give our Patreon members some sort of a astrological reading or something in the future for an offering. We should, we should have Tiffany actually come do Patreon

43:02  
on my Insta, I was doing color readings for people, just for fun, and I go live, and I would just see their profile picture and immediately see the color, and say, light purple, sage green, yellow. And it was so fun. I think I did like, 30 colors in like a half hour. Oh, my God, um, but it's super fun, because color, to me, is like a it's like a language. Yeah, I can speak that language. So I love to connect people with color. Well,

43:28  
this has been an amazing, colorful, uplifting, very informative podcast today with Tiffany Pratt, thank you, Tiffany. You are so dear to my heart, and you are a friend of the show, and you are welcome back here anytime. So please say hi to Zach. For me,

43:46  
I will, and say What word is for me, I will.

43:52  
We will have a nice dinner sometime. I'm gonna drag the three of

43:55  
you out. You're going, Jan, do you see the love light? It's hot, true.

43:59  
I have this hotel lamp here. That's,

44:03  
I kind of fall for that you've got the love light on. Thought it's gave it to you.

44:17  
Well, thank you. Um, now I really am red. Enjoy the last dregs of summer, because it's coming to, you know, a rust colored end, isn't it?

44:29  
Tiffany, you're kind of not wrong with that. Jan, that is correct.

44:33  
Yes, we're coming to a rust colored end. Love you. Sarah, love you. Caitlin, I love you. We'll see you next time you foreign.

44:46  
Welcome back, and thanks for listening to that great piece with Tiffany Pratt. We love Tiffany Pratt. Oh, beautiful. There's lots of things to unpack. Go to the show notes. As always, we like to end with some voice notes, but we're also. Trying a new thing. The girls and I thought it would be a great idea to do an Ask Jan. Now I might be trying to do to Caitlin and Sarah for some help on the ask. Jan, I have made a litany of mistakes in my life, and, God knows, I don't want to pass those on to you. Well anyway, we do have an ask Jan for this week. And then, of course, like I said, we will. We'll hit you with a voice note or two. What is our Ask jam this

45:22  
week? Okay, so this is from one of our listeners, named Janelle. She wrote this last week. So on Sunday, I lost my very best friend of 18 years, my beautiful Chihuahua, churro. I feel like I'm drowning in grief, and honestly don't know how I will ever get through this. I've lost both of my parents in the last seven years, and this is this is just so different. It feels like a different piece of my heart. Could you share how you were able to move through your grief with MIDI?

45:50  
Listen. First of all, thank you for this beautiful question. You and I have tons in common. I lost both my parents before I lost MIDI, so you and I are running parallel lives here. Were probably very similar ages. My parents both had Alzheimer's, long term illnesses, and I kind of saw it coming. And you're able to reconcile that you can speak to your parents even when they're not completely there, and you can have conversations it wasn't like a tragic car accident or anything like that, so I'm not sure what your situation was. So I had time to come to terms with what was happening. I had a long time. It's the long goodbye with memory loss my little dog, however, I could not explain to her that she had congestive heart failure. I could not explain to her how much she meant to me. I could not explain to her that I was actually going to make a decision where I would be the harbinger of death. I could not explain to her that I was taking her to the vet for one last time to travel to another place, the fucking anguish. It's everything you're not supposed to do. You're supposed to go somewhere to beg for help and to help them fix your dog, and as you're making that decision and that drive, I've never been so sad in my life. I've never been so scared for my well being in my life. I've never been so depressed in my life, and I it was completely different from my parents. So don't think that what you're feeling is weird pets, statistically, over and over and over again, with studies they have done, is one of the biggest losses that people will experience in their lifetime because of the unconditional nature of a pet's love. Sarah is a new dog owner. I'm looking at her right

47:36  
now and I can't Sarah's crying,

47:38  
so it is a god awful thing. But when you choose to love something, part of loving a dog, because their lifespan really is probably between nine and 1415, years, depending on the breed, it's an accelerated time, and you pour your entire heart into that, all your trust you you have a faithful companion. They are magic. They are magical creatures sent from the veil of the beyond whatever you perceive God to be. I think dogs are God well backwards, so you will get past it. I knew at the four month mark, much like how most people feel as I'm not getting another dog, and I can't put myself through this again. And it hurts too much. Well, people have more than one child, it hurts them a lot. They fucking lie there and say, let me die. Let me die, as my mother did when you're having children. And guess what? You get pregnant again, and you do it again because you forget about it, and you're like, it's worth it, and this is part of human life. So I started looking. My friends encouraged me to start looking for a rescue. You know, for another dog. There's so many dogs that need homes out there. When I found my Poppy during covid, and I didn't feel like I loved him at first. I'm just telling you like it is I feel like I was thinking that I was going to feel the same way I did about MIDI. And it's different. Every love is different. Love is a different shape. MidY shape of love was MIDI shape. There's no other being that will ever exist, that ever has existed, or will exist, that has the shape of love that MIDI had from me and hers from mine. That's why it's so special. When Poppy came, I had him for like, a month, and I just was like, I really like him. Like, I really like him. He's so cute, and he's such a pain in the ass. And, oh god, how am I going to get past this Poppy stage? And And anyway, one day, Lisa and Bev came in the door. They had their dog, Malik, who's another covid Dog. Malik is a long haired Chihuahua, and he was really aggressive at the time, and he went to snap at Poppy soon as they came in the door, like, we should have been more organized. I should have had Poppy up, and poppy cried out so loud, and he leapt towards me in like slow motion. I had this tiny little thing leaping towards me like, You're my guardian. You're my person and and. I just caught him in mid air, and the love that came out of my body in one second was like, This is humanity. This is what I'm here to do, and love is perpetually adapting and changing and showing us what it is. Poppy shape of love for me, is different than none other. So you will get past it. Time is a wise healer. But don't ever think that you don't have room for another little being. I highly recommend looking for another dog. Your dog wants you to have another dog, and your dog is out there and might be back on the damn planet already. I don't know. I feel like dogs don't have to fucking come back here. I think they're the ones that actually get it right. They don't have to go through this stuff again. It's hard here. This is hard.

50:48  
Did you ever do anything like with Kim Dennis or anything around MIDI?

50:53  
No, but she actually just contacted me and talked about, you know, maybe doing something for Halloween, and that's definitely something that I would love to have. I haven't talked to her about pets, but also, MIDI has shown up in readings, but she's with my dad, which does not surprise me. My mom would say, I feed that dog, I brush that dog, I do everything for that dog. And she just wants dad. If dad goes to bed, MIDI goes with him, because they would look after her. So the fact that Mitty sitting there with Dad is no problem to me. So yeah, love goes on and on. There's it changes. It'll never be the same as your little chihuahua. It'll be a different shape, and it'll be just as powerful and just as big and steady on. My grandmother used to say that having grief, you know, or sorrow, is like putting water in your cupped hands. You know, no matter how hard you push them together, you can't hold it like you can exert all the pressure. You can take all your rings off just to close up those gaps, and you can try and hold that water. It will not it'll take 70 seconds and it's it's gone. So you can't hang on to grief. And I would rather feel grief, in all its horrible magnitude, to know that I have loved something and that I have had the ability to love something, because the absence of grief only exists with the absence of love, and I will choose love every single

52:23  
time. So we do have a couple of voice notes as

52:26  
well. Hi, Jen Caitlin and Sarah. This is Jen from Rocky Butte County here. Patreon member, and so I will be vague, but I just wanted to say that this week's Patreon was so good. You guys started my Saturday morning off just right. I haven't laughed that hard in quite some time. Keep up the great work. Love you all.

52:51  
Thank you. My God, we love laughing on

52:54  
this show. What did we laugh about last Patreon? I'm trying I

52:57  
forget. We'll have to go back and figure it out. Okay,

53:01  
here's one more

53:02  
Hi, Jan and ladies, it's Wendy from downtown Toronto, off leash dog park here at Allen gardens. I just read this wonderful article, Jan that you shared in your social media from shirt box, and I just wanted to say thank you so very much for sharing your love with all of us for tortoise, because it really makes us feel warm and fuzzy. Some of us really need love and want to experience precariously the love you have for tortoise with you and thank you for being so honest and open about your relationship with her and she as well. And love is love, and love is wonderful, and thank you for spreading the love with all of us. Thank you so much.

53:47  
Wendy, see that's the correct emotionally mature response,

53:53  
exactly,

53:55  
living precariously through me, but living vicariously through me, but it could be precarious too, and you never know, if you come to Patreon today, you might hear a little bit more about tortoise and meeting her parents and her kids and just life in general, and what the girls are up to. We we appreciate you. Coming on over, coming on over to Patreon. There's over 1000 of you now, so which means it's just so amazing. I cannot tell you how fantastic it is to have so many people that are interested in our little world. But anyway, come see us on Patreon. We're going to talk about some more stuff today, $7 a month to join our book bag. Always interesting. We are going to talk about intermezzo probably in the next week or so, 10 days or so, and then we'll be moving on to a new book on our book club, always fun. People really love coming on our big zoom calls to talk about these books, and you can talk about anything you did if you have a problem you want to get solved at the book club, we can do it for

54:51  
you and a chance to win an indigo gift card for 50 bucks, which we're always excited about. Yes, God

54:56  
yes, that's so cool that Indigo is doing that with us. Yeah. And tell you what, 50 bucks you can pretty much get any book you want that really is a good price point. Most books are between 25 and 40 bucks you want. You might want to get Tiffany Pratt book that you'll find in the show notes. Okay. Anyways, great to see you guys. Thank you very much for joining us today. As always, you can hit subscribe. You can leave us a review. It makes it easy for people to find us week after week. We appreciate you so much, and we will see you next week on the Jan Arden podcast. Caitlin green, Sarah Burke, until next time, too late.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai