Photo for December

Christmas dinner table

What made it my best Christmas in years?

Let's see---

I live about a 12 minute drive from my folks' home and my family home. I really wanted to sleep over on Christmas eve but IM A BIG GIRL! Or at least on my way to being one so I SHOULDN'T right? Well I don't know the answer to that, but I do know I did sleep over. Not only the 24th but the 23rd, 24th, 25th AND 26th! Why so many nights? My roommate went back to her family home for all those nights and I didn't want to be alone around Christmas... and... I really wanted to spend time with my family! Yes, that much time.

So 23rd my 2 brothers and I finished up our gifts for our grandparents... we made almond bark and tea (pretty cool eh?!). On 24th hung around... went on a run... and did Christmas eve at my Aunt's. It was great! First year Christmas eve at her house and it was really beautiful because she was really excited to have it at her house- where it was always at my Grandma's but she's a bit too old now to host it. I sat beside my 91 year old grandpa and we laughed all night long together! Everyone was in such a delightful and joyful mood. 25th I got to wake up my 2 brothers in the morning because, well- SANTA HAD BEEN! We spent 3 hours opening gifts. Not because we have a lot of gifts but because we were all chatting and explaining why we got this for this person- why it made us think of them! We all took turns opening and exchanging love! It was so beautiful! I cried more than once. It is truly such a gift when people see you for who you are and they almost know what makes your heartbeat! ...tear...

Later my mum's folks came over to exchange gifts and laughs... and then more people for dinner. We had 18 people at our dinner table! I love the large ones! We hadn't had one this big in years. We have our family family which is about...11 and then others that we are lucky enough to "adopt" for the evening! Again- so much joy and laughter. It seemed that everyone was just super excited to spend time together. I sat beside my cousin who just finished his first semester at university so I got all the gossip!

I hope this season has been as beautiful for you as it was for me. My heart was so full of love and joy I thought it might burst! This was one to go down in the books for sure- with huge gratitude. I find it exciting also because I believe firmly in the law of attraction and what you put out you receive. And so I am also in huge gratitude that what is being reflected back to me is something of a beautiful and loving exchange of people for people! Truly magical! That is what this season is about for me anyways! I really didn't even care about the gifts at all- except that it is kind of fun to see what the other person chose to represent you to them! It was a joy to laugh and chat and listen to so many beautiful people in their sharing of each other in life!

With Love and Respect to you all!

Christmas Rally

Happy almost HO HO HO!!! It's is exciting, well because I do love Christmas! Why do I love it so much? I had a revelation, just today in fact, when thinking about how much I love Christmas- which is quite a lot!! I have always been this way and everyone in my life knows it! I am one of "those" who plays Christmas music in the summer when I am sad!

My conclusion- which I do feel is quite brilliant- is ...

I love Christmas because everyone has to love each other! I mean- you don't have to... but it is slightly mandatory for the season if one were to think about it! People do secret santas, people donate, people wishing total stranger HAPPY HOLIDAYS! People exchanging things with others to represent their relationship or show the other that they care. I mean- how can you NOT love everyone in this holiday season, unless you are a scrouge. And if there are any scrouges out there... spend one day with me and I will show you love and you will be infected. It is a beautiful infection, be assured!

On sunday, I was a part of a Christmas Rally. That is what I am choosing to call it, by the way, I do not really know what else to call it. To me- it was a rally to bring Christmas back to what it really is. Now we have movies that preach what Christmas is. The Grinch had that song "Where are you Christmas?" And Jack Frost has the dad who died and came back as a snowman to be with his son and family. We get it- Christmas is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT THE GIFTS. Let's face it- it is! We live in a secular world where our religion has become money. I have a lot of issues with that one- but I will leave it for another post. For now I would like to discuss the Christmas Rally I was involved in and please read on if you are so inclined to learn about it!

I got together with a group of -oh 10-12 people and we had white shirts that we wrote different slogans on. The messages all were intended to put forth the idea of thinking about the person you are buying a gift for, for the holidays, and find something appropriate. This was not an ANTI-CONSUMERISM protest. It was simply a RALLY intended to bring people to the awareness that they do usually know the person they are buying for and so why not buy something that represents that person to you. Why buy for the sake of buying when you can purchase something lovely and meaningful that really shows you care. It was about stopping and thinking.

And so in the attempt to demonstrate the slowing down to think we walked PAINFULLY slowly throughout the downtown Vancouver mall. It was Sunday December 20th and it was a pretty full mall. We walked slowly and people saw us- I didn't make contact and instead looked around aimlessly and tried to avoid looking in shop display windows, which at some points was tricky! We also sang Christmas carols, which was my favorite part!

So in this season of giving... if it isn't the gift but really the thought- and I really believe it can be... BUCK UP and put some thought into it. Don't fret and buy something silly just to buy something. Think about the person you are buying for- who are they to you and what is something that they would appreciate or maybe even enjoy for more than 15 minutes?! Reflect on them and find something that represents who they are to you. I have always shopped that way and trust me- it is very enjoyable. Not always easy, albeit, but usually turns out well. A word to the wise, though. If it is the 23rd or 24th of December and you still haven't even started shopping- which is something I do not understand- then yes. Panic! Go and buy things that kinda represent the person. But at least write them a meaningful card for goodness sake!!

Happy Holidays to you all!

Love and Respect!

Finding support from places you didn't even know existed is a TREAT!

Hello world,

I have been slacking on the blog- or rather have been extremely pre-occupied with other things and well, this take the back burner! Im okay with that this time around. I knew the one post/day was not possible!

Today's topic is that when you really need people, they find you! What I mean by that is that I wanted to support my mum's foundation called "Looking Glass" which is a non-profit organization trying to start the first residential treatment center in Canada for adolescent girls with eating disorders. I needed people to sign this petition and so I emailed it out to everyone on my email list and sent it to everyone on my facebook profile and people I don't even know are replying with support! Signatures, words of kindness and their own stories are flooding through the door! That is amazing!

Things come from nowhere and go somewhere!!! 'Tis the season to be giving and to be grateful! So- that is what I am doing!!!

Happy Ho Ho Ho Ho or Holidays to you all- may this season fill your heart with so much love it begins to overflow in bliss!!!

Love and Respect!

Why do things happen when you don't expect it?

I don't know!! Is that the trick? To just pretend that you are not looking for anything else? That your life is full to the brim as it is? Maybe not to pretend but to believe it is the trick! To see all the beautiful positive things that are happening in your life and how could you possibly fit anymore good into your life and then POOF! It happens!

In a White Christmas, given it is Christmas time I will reference a Christmas movie, Bing Crosby sings a song about "counting blessings instead of sheep." I think that is really beautiful and do enjoy drifting into sleep with glorious thoughts of all my blessings dancing in my head- yes another Christmas reference!

The Law of Attraction argues that one manifests things by intending them and then letting them go. It is in the letting go of them that the world is able to bring them into manifest. It is interesting for me because I notice that when I do not have a strong attachment to the outcome of something and kind of hope it happens but it doesn't really matter if it does- that it comes into manifest. However, when I want something really badly and wish and wish and wish for it- it doesn't come. That is a hard one to grasp in my mind!! For it is the things that I truly want that I prevent into coming into my life through holding onto them too tightly!

I suppose in letting go of how whatever I am wishing for comes to me it will be able to come because I am not expecting it to come in a certain way. I don't know exactly but it is delightful to know that things come on their own time. I cannot force anything in to happening... for the most part :) I suppose our jobs are to let go and allow it to happen... and to trust that it will!

Love and Respect!

Is love really all you need?

The truth...

I was in love oh- a few years ago now. I've never been the same since! It hit me like a mac truck, out of no where and I felt like I could not go on without him. Isn't that always what people say happens? It happened when I least expected it. It came out of no where. I was finally happy being single and then there he/she was! I guess that is just how it all happens!

That too is how it was for me. I was in deep deep love and I didn't want anything else except to be with this man for the rest of my days and he wanted that too! What happened? Where did it go sour? Where did it all end? He was into drugs and I was on the roller coaster with him for a while. I was willing to stick it out, I mean isn't that what a partner does? Support the one they love through rough times? At what cost though? I mean is love really enough? Is love really all you need?

It breaks my heart to ask such questions because, truthfully I want SO badly for that to be true, but don't really know if it is. I tried to do so many things for him... man I tried to give him it all I tried to give him the WORLD! All my family and ALL my friends were against us. They saw what it was doing to me and wanted me to leave. In fact no one wanted me to even get involved and couldn't believe I did. If one of my friends were to get involved with a person in the same situation as my love I would have done the exact same thing. I do not fault them for that at all. At the same time it hurt because I couldn't share the joys with them because they saw it all with jaded eyes.

I was with this man in Ontario and I left and have moved back home to Vancouver, where I have been for two years. I still think about him ALL THE TIME! How long does it take for a broken heart to heal? Does it ever really heal? I want to be in love again AND I want to be with him again. I know it wouldn't work with him but I come back to the question I asked before. Couldn't I just love him enough that it would all be ok? And I don't think it would be. I don't think love is always enough. And that... breaks my heart too.

Love and Respect

What is the point!!??? ... of being so stressed out?

Hello again world- it's Kelsey here advocating for just CHILLING OUT! Why do we do what we do? Why do we stress ourselves out to the MAX for no apparent reason? I know sometimes I think I am being more efficient or effective if I am thinking about what I need to do ALL DAY LONG! And I also believe that I am coming to some sort of conclusion or resolution to my situation or problem if I think about it ALL DAY LONG!

Let me tell you that I do not think this is true anymore! What changed you ask? What revaluation occurred? Where did my AHA moment stem from? From hitting my head against that damned brick wall so many times I have a perpetual headache and cannot see anymore! Einstien did say that the true definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results! Well I give it! I don't know what I am going to do different- but it will be something!!!

Happy full moon day!

Love and Respect!

What is love?

What is love?? Baby don't hurt me... don't hurt me... no more. Check out the music video on You Tube - Haddaway - what is love, original

Ok- so WHAT IS LOVE? We all seem to want it with many stipulations. I want to love without breaking my heart. We resist having out hearts broken. You know the phrase "Oh she broke my heart" "He's a heart breaker" "They got their heart broken".

Then we think we want love but do we? We dream what it would be like to have our perfect puzzle piece (I stole that phrase from one of my friends!) However, we are to frightened to actually dive in and make commitment. Don't get me wrong, I am just as terrified as the next person. But why am I so terrified? Why is it that which I want I almost ensure I don't have?

I am not a serial monogamous person. I do not sleep around. I have not dated in just over a year- and that was only a couple months at most! In the last two and a half years I have had three boyfriends all lasting under 4 months. I was the one, every time to break them off. Does that mean they weren't right for me? Does that mean I wasn't right for them? Does that mean I don't like commitment? Does that mean I wasn't in the right pace to be in a relationship?

People construct these ideas of who their perfect person will be- and then when they meet they are too terrified to do anything about it! And then there is always the argument "how do you meet people?" Well- I really do not believe it is a science! I met my friends, my past boyfriends, many many other people in my life! Relationships are happening out there, just not to me! I am sure that many people have various stories of how they met. Whether through work, a friend, online, in a coffee shop, in line at the grocery store, or at the gym! I don't know how people meet other people- but I assure you, it does happen!

Back to the topic of love- if we go in with preconceived notions that we don't want to get hurt or that the other person only wants sex, or that they are too good for us, or that we are too good for them, or they have brown hair and I really like blonds, or their boobs are too big or too small, or their dicks might be too big or too small, or their too hairy, I don't like their clothes, I don't like the way they asked me out they should have done it like this instead... blah blah blah blah blah

I mean we are really- and I mean REALLY- limiting our options. I don't know if any of you are Seinfeld lovers like myself- but think about Jerry! If we all are Jerry's what is going to happen to this world?!! Question for you all!!! Are we really feeling the way their hair is styled is a "deal breaker"? Or are we just to damn chicken shit to actually take a gamble that our hearts will be broken. OR WORSE... our hearts WON'T be broken and all our dreams will come true. Or at least one part of the dream I mean a love-relationship really won't make all our dreams come true will it!? Or will it?! I don't know the answer for you but I write this because I have been contemplating these very questions the last little while and needed a place to put them!

Love and Respect!

Buy Nothing Day!

Hello all- for those of you who do not know, today is buy nothing day! So many days in the year I buy something and I am assuming this is the same for you. So one day a year is Buy Nothing Day where the western world, as a collective, can bite back against consumerism!

We cannot completely fight consumerism, that is not realistic. We live in a world where we need to buy things to survive. It cannot be expected that we can just live in a forest with gnomes and fairies and be happy and healthy. But this day intends, I believe, to bring our awareness to the things that we do buy. Being selective in what we do buy instead of buying for the sake of buying.

Especially in the time of the Christmas season we buy things for people because we feel obligated. We don't always want to but we get something just so we have gotten them something. I am putting out there a challenge. Reflect on what you are buying and why. When did we start buying useless items that we don't even like or need? Probably around the time we wanted to have money- just for the sake of having money!!

Love and Respect!

What a bus chase!

So this morning my delightful roommate missed her bus for work. Instead of being upset and starting the day off on an upset foot she and I made an adventure with the present situation! 

Background- I have a red convertible and I live in Vancouver, and it's the fall and it rains almost every single day! Not the best combination. To top it off... I don't have anywhere to park it except for the street! Needless to say I have a moisture problem in my car in that it is always too moist and I have a moldy roof. So my roommate asked me if I could drive her to catch her bus and I was happy to in my MOLDY CAR! (please note I took my moldy car to a detailing place to get cleaned out and am figuring out a different arrangement to prevent future mold!)

We get in the car that, again, due to the excess moisture factor is very foggy! I can't see out of my windows so we had to put the windows down in the cold to be able to see and we are trying to get ahead of her bus to meet it at a stop so she can catch it downtown. We take backstreets and are wondering if we should holler out the windows (that are conveniently down) to ask bystanders whether her bus has come by yet. Then we hit a red light heading north. We see her bus is at the same intersection about to turn left and head north. IT'S AT THE SAME INTERSECTION! I tell her to hop out of the car and make a run across the street to try to catch the bus. "Can I do it? I don't know I don't know!!" she claims.  "YES YOU CAN" I encourage! "If you don't I'll pick you up though!" I see her standing at the corner waiting for the light to go green to cross. At this point she marches across the street and of course misses the bus! I drive up and pick her up and we make another mad dash for it! At least we know where the bus is now!

"You didn't run across the street!" I point out the obvious to her!! "I know I was waiting for the white man!" WHAT??! "You don't wait for the white man when you are about to catch a bus! You wave at the bus and wait for the opposite light to turn yellow and then you RUN! All the while waving your hands and making obscene gestures. You don't know how to catch a bus!" "I don't always wait for the white man!! And the bus never sees you waving and then you just look like an idiot!" 

Oh dear- clearly waiting for the white man at the wrong time- a stickler for order and rules and I love her for it! So we now know where the bus is at least! I go around it and am point out that I am much nimbler than the bus and so I can WEAVE in and out of traffic!! It is helpful being in a little car- by this point I was able to see clearly, which was helpful given the weaving in and out of traffic factor! But then we couldn't recall where its stops were. It was an express bus and doesn't stop at every stop.

You could touch the adrenaline in the car! I felt like I was in a mad car chase- like it should have been on that TV show "world's craziest car chase." But instead it should have been called "world's craziest bus chase"!! I think it would be quite a hit! I think knowing that if we didn't catch the bus that I would have driven her to work anyways was helpful to have in our back pockets!

Well- she made it alright! Everything turned out great and I had an amazing start to my day!! All thanks to a miss of a bus! Turing lemons into lemonade really is just about seizing your opportunities!

Love and Respect!

Jerry and Esther Hicks- Abraham quote

I don't know if any of you are familiar with Jerry and Esther Hicks and their Abraham phenomenon? Check it out online if you don't know what Im referring to. Jerry and Esther Hicks- Abraham

Yes- it may be considered a bit out there, but what legitimate things aren't a bit funny and odd and interesting?! Isn't that what makes this life so diverse! Anyways, I was emailed a quote today- from my loving mum!- to help me out...

As you look for a better-feeling way to approach whatever you are giving your attention to; as you continue to ask yourself, from your ever-changing vantage point, "What is it that I do want?" eventually you will be standing in a very pleasing place—for you cannot continually ask yourself what it is that you do want without your point of attraction beginning to pivot in that direction. . . . The process will be gradual, but your continued application of the process will yield wonderful results in only a few days.

--- Abraham

And what person knows you better than my mum? I don't want to admit it and I push it away and resist it LIKE HELL! But in the end, she really knows me so well and can help guide me if I let her. That is my truth (whether unfortunate or not!!!) Just kidding- I am truly so lucky to have the people in my life that I do. At times I try to assert that I AM THIS PERSON- and WHY do you think I am someone else. You know what happens 95% of the time?! I am asserting myself to me! Those close to me already know who I am and I assert myself to me- God knows why! Because I feel challenged, maybe because I am posturing! The possibilities are endless! But really- in the end I know I have the stability and freedom to go on my tangents of life because I come back and am loved just the same, if not more for admitting I am human!

Love and Respect!

Dear WORLD!

Dear World,

I know people say that we create our own reality and that we are 100% responsible for how things go. I know also that people say we create struggle and that is not really what was intended for this world and that it is not necessary. Do those things not seem completely polar opposite views? Is that just me that sees that? I feel like I am trying to turn around the bloody Titanic, in a ferocious wind storm and I'm blind! Now that is a feat! Maybe I don't need to turn it around though...

Hmmm... maybe a redirection of where I am heading will suffice! OH I LIKE THAT! If I can drown out the noise around me, then I think I will know where to go. That's a feat in and of itself now isn't it! Sometimes I don't even know what is my thought and what is the world around me's thought. And that I don't like.

What does my heart crave? Love, joy, truth! I desire to write, travel, sing, dance and photograph. If I were to truly do those things, though, COULD I MAKE A LIVING?! Isn't that the question everyday? How are you going to make a living? What are you going to do? Where are you going? You need to grow up and stop doing nothing! You need to figure out what you want to do and do it!

OK OK OK OK OK OK!!! I get it, and believe me I want that too! I need to just shhhhhh for a little while! I need the world to STOP spinning and for me to STOP spinning and to just rest, and live, and realize what it is that I want. Because I don't know what I want to do right now! Do I stay in Vancouver? Do I leave? Where do I go? Do I work here where I am unhappy? Do I school? Do I work and school? Well-  one thing I know- no school at least! That I am FIRM ON! The other stuff I really do not know!

Do what I want and the rest will follow huh! I will do that! Wish me luck!

Love and Respect!

I had a dream last night!

I love dreaming! I dream very vividly and in colour. I love interpreting my dreams, other peoples dreams and attempting to understand what my true self wants me to know! I love that dreams appear to us as chaos but they really aren't and there is a lot of meaning in them.

SO... I had a dream last night that I had twins. Now, usually when one dreams of having a baby it means that they are experience the birth of a new idea. That seems to be pretty true to where I am right now in my life! The interesting thing for me was that I birthed twins but they were only kind of twins! As in- the baby boy had been in my belly longer than the baby girl. I can even remember joking with the doctor about how they were "kind of twins" because they were in my belly for a little time together. Nevertheless, I birthed a boy and a girl. I birthed them standing! Which the doctors were all laughing at me for and saying "no, you can't do that!" And in real life my Gran was an OBGYN nurse- in my dream she helped me birth these babies!

The boy came out first and I remember it not hurting very much at all but expecting it to hurt because, well, I was birthing babies and that is supposed to hurt!! Once they were out I didn't want to hold them right away because they were covered in crusted blood. I remember looking at them and asking my Gran to wipe them down. But in an instant I held them to my heart. It was as though they were asking me to! It was really quite beautiful and moving.

Something weird happened next- the girl was suddenly, like 2 years old and walking and talking! Everyone couldn't believe it because she was only a few months old but acting like a 2 year old! I loved it and thought this kid was a blast! The baby boy, on the other hand, kept on disappearing. It was very odd because we were at a water slide park and he wasn't there. We went up Whistler mountain on the gondola and he wasn't there. I didn't feel very concerned ever, though- which is a bit upsetting if you think about it!!

Then someone I know through work, had my baby boy. They told me he was in the hospital with prostate cancer. I remember thinking - oh, that can't be my boy, he's just little! It turned out it was my son but then I knew that everyone was confused to believe that he had prostate cancer when he didn't. But it wasn't like I was in denial of his condition I knew it wasn't the case! Well, trying to convince these people, first of all that he was my son was a challenge and a half! And secondly to convince them that he DIDN'T have prostate cancer when he was already in the hospital was extremely hard! But I continued to try telling them he WAS my son and I knew this because I gave birth to him! I told them he had a baby sister that I have been with!

Anyways I don't remember much after that, except going to McDonald's to meet someone and not wanting anything from there!!! Interesting eh! What do you guys think it means? I think it's about staying true to what is true for me. Like, with the birthing of the baby, trying to convince the people that he was my son and that he didn't have cancer were all true but people didn't believe me! And I was never concerned about where my son was, something people are sick over in the real world, because I knew we would be together again. That seems to follow the theme I mentioned above- that doing what people expect for the sake of it didn't seem to work for me. Again, this was true for not feeling pain during birth but expecting to!!

I love dreams- they are so interesting!

Love and Respect!

Who are you and what defines who you are?

I am presently in school at le UBC! It's a great school- very beautiful campus and lots of alive-ness! I am sitting here and writing my essay for an english class. We had to read a book call OROONOKO and write an essay analyzing it regarding human nature. It's interesting b/c the book is about African people being enslaved by the europeans and how that all goes- let me just say it isn't well!!

Writing about human nature! The book has African people, which i think represent people before humanness kicks in because they are pure and beautiful and innocent. Then the developed europeans, representing humanness, come in a steal these people- buy their innocence and make them change their names. Well how would you feel if that were to happen to you. Someone put a price on your identity?! Made you change your name and bought your innocence...

So I love this book b/c that is EXACTLY WHAT I SEE EVERYWHERE!!! It sucks that my essay is a literature essay and NOT a philosophical essay b/c I would sure put in my own opinion more than I have!! But really- look at this western world. If you wear all star shoes who are you? Kind of grunge. If you wear a popped collar who are you? A prep. If you have a coach bag you are you? An elite. If you wear sweats who are you? A bum! If you wear lulloolemons who are you? A yoga fan or just a fashion zombie! If you wear track pants- you are outdoorsy and athletic.

NAMES ARE LOST IN TRANSLATION! You are no longer jenny who likes yoga you are a yoga fan. You are no longer tommy who likes to skateboard you are a skater. This happens to us everyday and why do we accept it? Why do these seemingly insignificant things define us? Why is someone who has schizophrenia suddenly a schizophrenic? Not to take away from the pain of struggling through that or supporting someone who struggles through that. And not to say that schizophrenia is "seemingly insignificant" because it is NOT. That is not my intention. My intention is pose a question: where between being diagnosed does that person become their illness?

Similarly at what point does doing ballet define me as a ballerina? It's a fuzzy line and I don't know where it is- Im not pretending to know! Now, as my BEST FRIEND pointed out to me a while ago- humans need to categorize things so that they make sense to us. We need to say, oh yes this is like all the other things in column A so it belongs in column A. i.e. fruits and vegetables. But when did cucumbers and tomatoes become forgotten fruits?? I don't even know what I really mean by that other than there are always exceptions to the rules- there are always those who don't fit- there are always definitions and labels that don't make the cut. So why not just call it a tomato or a cucumber?! Because in calling them fruits or vegetables we may not quite grasp what one is trying to convey. And if the message being conveyed is getting confused regarding bloody FRUITS AND VEGETABLES- man that gets messy when we add in complications like HUMAN BEINGS!!!!

I don't even know how I got here, but it's my blog so that's ok with me! I got where I got talking about slavery and the purchasing of peoples identities and landed on tomatoes!! WOW!!! Im gifted!!!! By the way I love when you are little and you mum is like "hunny, can you help me make a salad- I would like all the vegetables for it" and you're like 8 or 9 and cocky because you go up to your mum with the tomato in your hand. Your hand is on your hip and you have your head tilted. In one hand is the tomato throwing it up in the air and catching it with the hand not on your hip and you're like "hey ma- did you know that, like, this isn't a vegetable!!" And you don't even wait for a reaction b/c you know you beat her!!! Or maybe I'm just talking about me now!!

Anyways- ponder that one for a while please! Does what you do define who you are? Or is it not what you do by who you are? Or is it not who you are or what you do but how you do what you do??

Love and Respect!

Dan Savage

HELLO WORLD!

So- do you all know who Dan Savage is? If you do- he's pretty rad eh! If not...WHAAT?! He writes a sex column called Savage Love- see the link. He's pretty BAD ASS and I think you would all benefit from finding out who he is. Really I am doing you a favour! Dan Savage and Savage Love

I went to that last night at the UBC campus, Chan Centre, for those of you who might know what I am referring to. His whole "Dan Savage" thing is based around a Q&A. A bunch of people submitted questions and he went through almost all of them with responses! His style of response is that of a friend. He can be quite brutally honest and poke fun of people who write in. He said that he does this because he wants to be casual and respond as a friend does- in a brutally honest yet loving way. Dan even said last night- what would your friends tell you if you came to them with a question about sex? He said the FIRST thing they do- is make fun of you!!! Well- at least true friends do! And why is that??!! Because it's funny! And they care about you so they are mocking you in a hug! (those are my words by the way, not his!- but that was pretty much the gist of his approach. Brutal honesty, humour, and care.

And he is making the world a better place! That is what my roommate/best friend and I think! I mean think about it- people have these unusual fetishes, or not-the-norm things they like, or don't understand, or questions they want to ask but feel really dumb to ask anyone they know! And how does Dear Dan respond to these millions of people? Absolutely 100% judgement free, he uses humour and basically wants to be your friend!!! LIKE WOW! And millions of people read his column because of this brutally honest yet caring approach with no bull shit. He holds you in a big hug while he kicks your butt! That is a pretty tricky art to learn, and to perfect with such grace and he has. And he is humble- oh my! He loves his job and he feels like it's not really a job! Isn't that the best!!

Haha- interesting how I am back to this job thing! Dan even said last night- well, this sure beats work! That's what I want to create in my life! Can you imagine a world full of people who found their niche, followed their heart and didn't care who didn't support them b/c they did what they wanted to do. If people everywhere followed their passions- we would be happier doing what we want and we would probably feel more committed to it too! Not only that but we do all have a special gift and if we were to harness that the possibilities are endless!!

So, to summarize- Dan Savage is a really cool guy! Check out his podcasts or check him out in the Georgia Straight in Vancouver (a local newspaper). He rocks! Secondly, follow your passion, follow your heart and don't let other people tell you can't or shouldn't! SCREW IT MAN!!

Love and Respect!

My goal of happiness

To reflect on my post from yesterday about the jobs and careers- I draw on an experience I had last night! I thought is was "ironic, don't you think... a little too ironic- yeah I really do think!" That was to draw on the lyrics from my co-Canadian singer Alanis Morrisette.

Alanis Morrisette - Ironic

Ok- so back to my story! I met my BEST FRIEND last night to meet up with two of her co-workers downtown for some dinner. She and I were going to the hockey game after, which I must say was awesome! (Canucks vs Colorado Avalanche and we kicked butt 5-2!) Soo my friend, for background, is just getting started as a financial advisor and is in training with these two guys. I meet one who I would like to focus on in particular who I will call Man A. I met Man A and he politely asked how I know my BEST FRIEND! and I tell him we are roommates. He then, without missing a beat, asked me what I do! It wasn't intrusive he said something like "if you don't mind me asking, can I ask what you do?"

Ok first of all- I could NOT believe that given I had written that post in the morning this is exactly what happened! I was dumbfounded to say the very least! Please know that Man A was delightful! At dinner I very much enjoyed him, he is a hard worker dedicated to his training and apparently quite spiritual, which is always super cool with me! But again- I was a little awestruck at this question exactly as we all knows is asked daily. So I told him I work in a very different field! I work with troubled youth- who may I say teach me more about life everyday than I could ever learn!

We were walking to the restaurant and I am chatting with Man A and asked him what got him into this line of work. Why did he want to become a financial advisor? You know the thing that weirded me out? I wanted to ask him what he did before!! It was like a relfex. Oh- so you are doing this now, but what did you do before because you are just starting this!!!! I am a hypocrite! However, I am grateful that I "blogged" my thoughts about all this to the world yesterday afternoon b/c I did not ask him my reflex answer. Instead I asked him why he wanted to become a financial advisor.

His answer was really cool at first! He said, "well I wanted to do something where I could follow my dreams. I wanted to do something that could take me where I want to go." I was like WOW! That's really cool! And so what are your dreams that you want to follow? And then my belly sunk a bit because he said- "well money! Isn't that everyone's dream?!" BAHHHHHH

So that is my reflection on yesterday I suppose! I find so many people have the goal of money and try to hopefully find happiness along the way. I dream of my goal as happiness and then whatever happens along the way happens! Call me crazy because I am okay with that! Sometimes I just feel like I don't fit! Maybe that is what makes me fit- that I don't fit.

Love and Respect!

It's a new day- it's a new dawn!

Hello all- happy Friday!

Fridays are good right? They are the nice closer to a week and the beginning of the weekend. Often people prefer the weekend because they get to play and don't have to work. Or it is the closure of the school week. and again, people get to play! I love to play because I feel so free! It seems unfortunate that so many people live to work and don't work to live. I have recently discovered secret option b) work to live. By that I mean work is a means of making money, challenging oneself, and attempt to make a difference, pay it forward or what-have-you. Work does not define an individual! Life does not equal work.

It's interesting, to me, that when you meet someone you politely say, oh yes how nice to meet you (insert name!) How's your day going! What do you do? It's like the first or second question you are asked or ask another. And why is that? It could very possibly be because you don't know this person and want to get to know them. You have nothing else to say. You say it because that is a place to start conversation. Whatever the reasons are this job has a lot of weight in society and defining who we are. If I work as an accountant- there is a stigma. If I work as a cashier- there is a stigma. If I work as a doctor- there is a stigma! What is that all about?! Is it because the job defines a wage which defines a status? Is it because we are able to categorize who this person is in our mind and better understand them? Is it because we usually find strength in numbers and want to surround ourselves with similar people on a similar wavelength? I pose this question because I do not know the answer.

We spend hours and weeks and months at a job that we may or may not like, that defines us and why? There are clearly responsibilities we have and we must follow through on those. I understand that but I do not understand why we live to work. I may be wrong and PLEASE correct me if I am! But work is everywhere. If it isn't a job, or school is working on the house or in the garden or in a relationship. Everything bloody well takes work and a lot of it! What happened to "follow your heart" "follow your dreams" "smell the roses"??? No one has time to even know what their heart wants, what their dreams are or to smell the roses. Everything is instantaneous and bigger-better-more-faster-now-for less. I do not have a solution of am even going to pretend I have an idea of where to go. All I think is that we are caught in this BIG MESS! Now- I believe that what I see outside of me is what is going on inside of me. So I suppose that means I am living in a big mess I created! How do I get out?

It's the dawn of a new day- that's how!

Video of the month

Wear Sunscreen-Everybody's Free

Now, I sure hope you all know about this video-if you don't watch it and if you do, watch it anyways. It's pretty BAD ASS!! I heard this for the first time in grade 9. It was on the radio and I fell in love with it immediately! If you didn't fall in love with it immediately then you didn't really let it sink in. So listen to it again! I have listened to it so many times I have it completely memorized and will randomly quote it when there are not really other words that a phrase from it to capture how I am truly feeling.

Really- so much is covered in this video, song... whatever! I think my favorite one is when he says "worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum." AKA it does nothing!!!

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Love and Respect

First post

Hello world! To all those who may or may not be reading this post!

I have spoken about writing a blog for many months now but have been oh-so-very hesitant. Not for a lack of things to talk about (I can definitely chat an ear or two off!) but because does what I have to say really constitute a blog? Well world- I do not know! All I know is in Kung Fu Panda there is a revaluation that "there is no secret ingredient in the secret ingredient soup!" With no requirement for a secret ingredient- I suppose I suffice! I suppose I am adequately equipped to write a blog.

And so my friends, this is where my journey of my blog begins!

Join me won't you!