Riding a Bigger Wave

Today, I sat down at the Maitland River and just watched the water. The water is quite a bit higher than normal, so it was really flying over the rocks and crevices of a normally pretty quiet river. The water was flying over the rocks at such a rate that it was creating white caps and serious current.

What struck me was how the force of the river made sure that the water didn't get stopped by the rocks in its way. The water just went over them effortlessly. If the river had been lower, the water would have had to take a different course. It would have had to go around the obstacles. But with such a volume of water going through, the water just flowed over those rocks... Hmmm...

In our lives, there are many obstacles that it seems we are constantly working around. Some big, some small. We are mature people that know we have to "go with the flow". But sometimes we are truly disappointed that we have to change our course even if slightly because these things come up. And hey, if it's a big enough obstacle, we get stopped right in our path!

So comparing this to our river... When there is very little flow, it is easy for the water to become stuck in small cesspools behind big rocks... Hmmm... stagnant cesspools... we know what that feels like.

When there is average flow - adequate to get done what we need to do - when we come across an obstacle, we can change our course and flow around it. Sometimes a bummer. But it's possible. We soldier on.

But what if there is high flow? What if there is all kinds of water? Then the power of the river simply takes us right over top of the obstacle.... No changing direction... Just up and over. So, you know where I'm going with this...

In our lives, what is the high flow? What is the energy that we can flow in that will just bring us up and over the obstacles in our lives?

I definitely don't have an answer for everyone. On a spiritual level, it would be whatever faith means to you. For me, it's believing in something bigger than me that I can tap in to (and when I do, life is so much more interesting).

In meditation, we often feel a beautiful stillness inside that strangely enough makes us feel connected to the whole. I think that the "bigger wave" is connected to this stillness.

The truth is that the more I describe what the "bigger wave" is, the further I will get from the truth. We each have to sit quietly and feel what that big wave would feel like. What is it for me? What can I do in my life to make sure I stay tapped in to that "greater flow"? How do I just be a water drop riding that wave?

This is what all the great religions say... That all we have to do is relax, have faith, enjoy ourselves.

That there are no obstacles we can't rise above.

That we just have to enjoy the ride.

Is Nudity Immoral?

When we decided to go on the Nude Cruise, we thought it was quite an adventure (and still do :)). We were excited and nervous and excited again. The experience itself was by far the funnest experience I've EVER had in a billion ways that are very hard to explain.

When we returned, people all had very different reactions to it. Some were intrigued and would LOVE to try it someday. Others were intrigued but knew that they could never do it. Some had no interest at all in ever doing it. And this is all good... God knows we're all different and not everyone has to like everything.

But what has surprised me lately is how many people are coming out of the woodwork telling me that they have a friend/aunt/neighbour who think that it is IMMORAL and WRONG and DISGUSTING and all kinds of other things. One man approached me and said, “Well, aren't YOU the talk of the town?”. Someone else said that it was disgusting that I was blogging about it and that I must really think a lot of myself parading around all naked like that.... Hmmm...

Honestly, this just blows my hair back. I realize that I tend to think outside of the conventional box, but normally I can at least understand the thoughts inside the box. But this one has me bewildered. And so, I thought I would share some of my experiences around the morality of nudity and see if it helps...

The main concerns that I've heard or imagine are:
1) Nudity is heavily linked to sexuality and so therefore if people are nude, they must be doing “inappropriate” things
2) Nudists think a lot of themselves to be walking around like that showing off their bodies
3) Some vague opinion that “It's just wrong” that doesn't need explanation. Any moral person would know that... or something...

OK. So here goes:

1) Sexuality: The interesting thing about nudist resorts, clubs, and this cruise ship is that overt sexual behaviour is absolutely prohibited. There are certain resorts that are all about swinging and sex games and all that. But you don't have to be nude to do that (and most of that activity happens among the clothed population).

In fact, on the cruise, any kind of overt or inferred sexual anything is absolutely prohibited! If you do anything at all to make another person uncomfortable in the least, then you will be put off the ship at the next port. And they are so serious about this that they ACTUALLY enforce it.

And so, what you end up with is an environment that is not sexual at all. What's interesting is that there aren't these strict rules at normal clothed beaches or bars or resorts. You can do anything you want there. But here, because nudists are trying to change all of the misconceptions that society has about them, they are absolutely militant about keeping things “clean”.

And so, when you're walking around or dancing or swimming or anything, there aren't people staring or leering or making comments or approaching you or anything. It's just a bunch of people hanging out (sorry :)) naked.

Now, there certainly is a sensuality about being naked in the fresh air. It's like the amazing feeling of skinny dipping. There's something wonderful about feeling the water all over you. There is the same sense when you are walking around in the sunshine. But this is just a sensation of the body. It's not sexual.

Honestly it felt more like we were a bunch of little kids just running around the backyard through the sprinkler naked on a hot day than a bunch of adults naked on a cruise ship.

2) Self-Image: There will always be all kinds of people everywhere you go. There are people who work hard to be fit and are very proud of their bodies in all sections of society – and in the nudist world as well. But what is interesting is that most nudists aren't like that. In fact, that's one of the rotten things that I do hear on occasion... “Ya, nudists are all just old and fat anyway” or “Most people who are nudists really shouldn't be naked (because their bodies are unattractive)”

These comments are part of the training and programming that we all received that makes us so terrified of being naked.

 

The first time Wayne and I did the “naked thing” was last year in Jamaica. We went to Breezes Resort in Negril because it had a “clothing optional” section which we thought would be a nice way to try it out – and if we didn't like it, then we could just stay on the clothed side.

Truthfully, it took us about 3 days before we felt comfortable. But it wasn't the other people who made us uncomfortable. It was our own brains. Every day we were there I could feel programming and thoughts and fears and judgements coming up and being discarded. It honestly felt like I needed to be de-programmed to be able to be there at all.

At first, my issue was that I didn't want anyone to look at me. My body isn't “perfect”. I've got surgical scars and cellulite and varicose veins, and things just don't look like they did when I was 18....

And then I didn't know where to look. Was it appropriate to look at other people's naked bodies? Was it rude? Was it going to feel sexual? It was very confusing.

But everyone acts so natural and casual about it all, your fears and judgements just disappear. They make no sense there. There is no judgement. Your body is just your body. (And in fact I've come to a beautiful new appreciation for our bodies – when you consider what they've been through and carried us through and survived!! Honestly how could I not appreciate how this body has survived nearly dying three times and all the other things it's gone through... Our bodies are quite miraculous actually!!)

So by the time we got to the cruise, being naked wasn't a big deal. The “de-programming” was completed. There was no judgement or fear or worries. It was just easy.

And the reality is that we all have “imperfect” bodies. There were people on the ship who were 400-500 pounds (likely this was the one place where they were the least judged). There were people in wheelchairs, paraplegics, people with extreme reconstructive surgeries done so that they could just walk with arm crutches. And of course you see every scar from every surgery... and trust me it's amazing how many of us have lots of scars... :)

There were also very young and very buff people. But they just looked like young, buff people... And because there's no judgement, there's no “good” judgement either. They just had different bodies than others... But it just didn't matter. We were all just there to have fun. What our bodies looked like was completely irrelevant. You can just enjoy being who you are.

3) “It's just wrong”: This is a curious one. I'm guessing that it comes from our religious roots - modesty being important and all that. But the curious thing is that in the Christian religion, Adam and Eve were living in perfection in Eden – nude!! And then the snake came, and they now felt the need to hide themselves... Interesting...


Truthfully, I can't judge whether something is right or wrong for someone. All I know is that my experience of nudists and nudist “adventures” have been overwhelmingly positive. Being around these people released me from negative thoughts about my own body. It has allowed me to be more relaxed in ways that I can't explain. These people are fun in a way that I've never experienced.

I've never experienced an environment that was so truly non-judgemental. I think that this is such a big deal. This is the one thing that we cannot even imagine living in the world we live in – which is why when you get to one of these places, it takes time for our brains to adjust. We just don't even know how to act or think or interact with people where there is no judgement at all. I find this the most mind-boggling because I didn't think I was a judgemental person. But being there, I've realized that the programming goes deep.. and even if I try not to judge others, I can still be pretty hard on myself. It's a fascinating realization to have and I'm very thankful for the de-programming!!! Definitely easier than 20 years of counselling!! :)

And so, “Is Nudity Immoral?” I truly don't think so. It hasn't been my experience. I can understand that the IDEA of it might be frightening and what we IMAGINE it could be like could go a thousand bad places... But it just doesn't seem to be true in the real world...

In the end, my heart now has a permasmile that was cemented there one day on a nude cruise as I danced to YMCA with a thousand other naked people. And when I ever get down, I can just close my eyes and go there... And I think that that's a VERY good thing. :)  

   

Day Three - Nude Cruise Questions Answered

OK, so I've received some interesting questions that are quite fun to answer!! (If you have some, I'm happy to answer them. And if I don't have the answers, then I'm more than entertained to go ask random nudists... hehehe!!)

1. What happens when men become sexually aroused? Do they just parade around like “that”?
   The truth is that they just don't become aroused. I've talked to lots of men about it who have been nudists for a long time and it just doesn't happen. Nudists just like being naked. They don't connect being naked and being turned on – which is really a huge connection that we make in the “clothed” world. We think that if we are clothed, then we aren't being sexual and if we are naked, then we are obviously into sex or something (broad brush I know, but it's something like that). You truly get used to seeing a lot of skin.
   
   
   One guy told me that if a woman came up behind him and brushed his shoulder or said or did something provocative, then sure, he would become aroused... So then you jump in the pool until things subside...
   
   
   We were just talking about this at breakfast actually, and our friend from California said that sometimes guys will bring a girlfriend to their nudist club who is shy about getting naked so she'll wear some skimpy little bikini. This woman in the skimpy bikini turns way more heads than if she was naked... So it's an interesting perspective that being naked makes things more sexualized...

2. Is the environment more sexualized?
   It isn't on this kind of nudist experience. Most nudists aren't looking for anything sexualized. There certainly are resorts like Hedonism in Jamaica where it is clothing optional plus there's all kinds of swinging, sex games and all of that. But the resorts are very specifically one or the other.
   
   
   This cruise is definitely the other. In fact, if anyone is caught doing anything at all that might make someone else uncomfortable, they are kicked off of the boat at the next port. Friends of our new friends actually did get kicked off a ship a couple of years ago because they pretended to take a picture of themselves giving oral sex on the deck. It wasn't real or anything. They were just being silly. But one of the staff saw them and Carnival kicked them off the ship because they couldn't risk any of that getting out!!
   
   
   The other thing about the sexuality is that it's not like you don't look at each other. You do. And sure you notice “nice bits” and stuff. But for some reason, it just isn't all sexually charged. It's like you can just appreciate something and get on with it. But in the clothed world, we just get all amped up about seeing nice breasts or whatever. Maybe it's marketing. Maybe it's old-school puritan training. I don't know. But it's really only in the clothed world that we're so weird about it.

3. What is the median age of the nudists?
   I'd say the range of nudists go from 30 to 80+. Average age? Probably 50.
   
   
   This also does something for the “sexualized” question. I mean, you can be sitting there and some young, buff guy is strutting along, all tanned, tattooed, whatever. And right beside him is someone's 75 year-old grandma who looks just like any woman that you'd find at any knitting circle in Goderich. The mix of ages and body types seems to kind of normalize the whole experience.

4. Jumping up and down? How does that work?
   Well, honestly, I was trying to figure this one out too. But honestly it depends on the person. Some women “keep 'em still” and others just give 'er... And the men? I kinda think that they like the sensation myself (I apologize to my children and their friends if they're reading this... :) )
   
   
   
   

I'm not sure you can have more fun than this!!

Funny Breakfast Happening:

So over breakfast today, we're sitting at the bar chatting away with a couple from Idaho... And this 70-yr-old guy walks over towards the bar... and my eyes are drawn down to .. you know.. because there were two yellow eyes looking at me!! It was some kind of clamp/jewellery-type thing that basically put one eye on either side of his penis... And yes, I couldn't stop looking at it. So, I said to “Laurie from Idaho”, “Hey check out those eyes!!”... As soon as she saw them, we broke into hysterics! Then it was just one line after another... Hey, you lookin' at me?... Hey four-eyes! ... Keep your eyes to yourself!... Whatchu lookin' at?... The husbands were going, “What? What?”... We could barely eat our breakfast!!

If you ever find yourself in a serious Fun Deficiency, then I would highly recommend going on a nude cruise!! I don't know whether it's because only people who take themselves lightly can go on nude cruise or the fact that as soon as ANYONE gets naked, they immediately become more relaxed, take themselves lightly and are just open to anything else that's fun...

So, I have to paint the picture for you... There's the Lido Deck – which is where most of the pools, hot-tubs, waterslides, etc are – where all the fun is!! There's a pool and a couple of hot-tubs in the middle. From there, there are tiers that go up all around for two floors that look down on the pool and hot-tubs. And all the tiers have various kinds of chaise-lounges and chairs on them.

So we're lounging on the top tier – overlooking the ocean flying by... Aaahhh... And all of a sudden, I hear all of those crazy songs that they play at weddings all of the time that are so desperately over-played it's truly painful when they play them... the Macarena, the Twist, ride a cowboy and of course YMCA!!!

The music is absolutely blaring, people are laughing and having crazy fun... So the macarena comes on... first my eyes instinctively roll. But then I thought, “Hey, when will I ever have the chance to do a naked macarena?” So I climbed down all the stairs down to the dance-floor and joined all of the other naked people doing a crazy-fun macarena... And then the twist... I really dislike this song... But the people I was dancing with were so much crazy fun, I just had to keep going... And the crazy dancing continued... I didn't even know that doing the naked macarena or the naked twist was on my bucket list... Who knew?

And then, I'm back up on my chaise-lounge, and the music starts up and it's this great song that I danced to in Jamaica that goes “Penny, nickel, dime, dollar...” And so I jumped up off of my chaise-lounge and became one of those crazy people dancing in the aisles all by themselves... and then the cruise director saw me from across the way and the two of us started doing this crazy Jamaican dance together from across the Lido expanse...

And then I lay back down...

Soon, this awesome salsa music is playing (blaring really)... I look up and my cruise-director-friend is doing some dance moves and sweating like a crazy man. So I get up and walk over to the railing and look down. The whole bloody place is dancing. Everyone in the hot-tubs were standing on the edges just salsa-ing like crazy. People in the aisles are just given-er!! I have to tell you that my inner smile was absolutely laughing hysterically!! It was completely overwhelming in the most awesome way!!

And then YMCA came on!! OMG!!!

Normally, this is where I run for the border. But the first few bars came on and the entire deck started cheering and now nearly everyone was on their feet. Hundreds and hundreds of naked people were just jumping up and down following “Victor” in really fun YMCA moves.

I'm totally on my feet dancing to YMCA like I've never heard it before and it's the best song ever. Even Wayne had to concede and started dancing too!! :) Now everyone is just going crazy. People in the pool are doing it! People on their chaise-lounges are doing it! Everyone was just groovin'... The smile on my face is killing my cheeks. It's definitely one of those “now-I-can-die-cause-I've-seen-everything” moments...

But most of all, it was just SO MUCH FUN!!!

We need to have fun like that.

Do we have to be naked? I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not...

But to feel so free and so uninhibited – and not wasted (the drinks are crazy expensive and not included on the ship – so alcohol wasn't really a factor...).

It was absolutely wonderful.  So healing and fantastic!!

I tell you... I will never be able to hear these songs ever again without getting a crazy silly smile on my face and be jumping on the dance-floor dancing like a crazy person!!!

Such good medicine!!! Might be worth a try ;)

The Big Nude Boat - Day One

So here we are on a cruise with 3000 naked people. It should be a bigger deal. But strangely enough, it just isn't...

So, first of all, we made some awesome friends – Peter, Laura, Heather, Jerry & Marina from San Jose, California. Most of them are hard-core nudists. They belong to “naturist clubs” which are like golf & country clubs except for all of the events are naked. Before a year ago when they banned public nudity in San Francisco, they would walk down the streets naked for an afternoon stroll. They even have a big 10K running race where all the nudists would walk it together – just for a chance to walk naked outside in public together. (I'm not sure, but I don't think Goderich is ready for that yet! )

We got to travel with them to the ship and navigate where to go and all that. So nice to have friends!! It's also nice to have people to ask all the silly questions that we all want answers to. Plus, they're just the funnest people I've ever met!! So awesome!!

So, we all get on the ship – Carnival Freedom (such an appropriate name!!!) - at noon and it was absolutely crazy! Everyone was dressed because we aren't allowed to be naked until the ship is 3 miles out to sea... it's an interesting distance... as if anyone could see anything half a mile out to sea... but regardless, it's actually a really big deal for Carnival cruise lines to even have these nude boats and they want to make them as proper as possible. So, everyone starts out dressed.

But what a party going on!!! I don't know if all cruises are like this, but we headed to the Lido deck (there was food) and the music was absolutely blaring – all seventies and eighties... (I think we're going to hear a lot of Prince and “Mustang Sally” this trip!!)... And people are up dancing in the aisles. They're laughing, they're happy, they're just having a blast! I mean, sure, they're on a cruise, why wouldn't they be happy. I was happy too, but I didn't just start dancing in the aisles... and in the pool ... and in the hottubs... According to our new friends, these nude cruises do tend to be a little more light-hearted and fun and the people are just totally relaxed and easy-going... Hmm...

Then an announcement comes over the loud-speaker that the captain will announce exactly when the "fun" will start... (when everyone's allowed to get naked). So then I start thinking, “What's going to happen when this happens?” Is everyone going to start ripping their clothes off and hooting and hollering? I was having quite a bit of anticipation imagining watching 3000 clothed people suddenly ripping their clothes off... And the more I thought about it, the more I just couldn't picture it at all...

And so, for a couple of hours, I kept imagining different scenarios of how this was all going to go down

But alas, it was all quite anti-climactic. We had to go for our emergency briefing about where to gather for our lifeboats... The ship was late to leave... It started raining... We had to go for dinner (where we have to be dressed)... So, by the time we were done dinner, we all went our separate ways and found hottubs around the ship (because it was bloody cold with the wind and rain...) and by this time, most people on the ship had simply become naked.

There were naked people walking down the hallways, on the ship's deck, in the hottubs, at the customer service counter, in the casino,... everywhere. There are also clothed people who just came from dinner, or for whom it was too cold to be naked. There are people walking around in bathrobes, sarongs, just t-shirts, and every combination of dress/undress, you can imagine.

But it's all pretty chill. Nobody looks at you funny... Not even all of the Carnival cruise employees who are fully dressed. They just say as you walk down the corridor totally naked, “Evening ma'am. Hope you have a good night.”... And life goes on...

Hmmm...  

And so, off we went to a hot-tub at the back of the ship and warmed up with a whole pile of people from all over the world... I sat and chatted with Dino from North Carolina for a while... talked about the weather... how this was our first time on a nude cruise... you know, basic stuff... And it was... really normal. 

In fact, so far, I swear it was even more relaxed BECAUSE we were all naked... No posturing. No pretending. Just totally there... chatting in the hot-tub... Very cool... Really nice :)

Aahhh... So we'll see how many pictures I can come up with from here on in... pictures are totally prohibited for obvious reasons... But we'll see...

The Healing Power of Love Meditation

I was recently in Jamaica at the Caribbean Yoga Conference and I made this video about how we can bring the feeling of love into our everyday life... partly through understanding how we push it away... and partly through practising a simple meditation.

I know that it sounds a little hokey... like every love song ever written... "All you need is love.." 

But one interesting point comes from people who have near-death experiences and the amazing sense of love that surrounds them when they're "in that other place". I have had this experience twice in my life. But I couldn't articulate it until I read Anita Moorjani's book "Dying to be Me".. and while she was clinically dead - her body wracked with cancer, she was having the most beautiful experience.

She felt completely happy, blissful and surrounded by love. The love absolutely permeated her entire being. There was no lover or child or anyone else there... just love.  This is what we forget "down here". We think that we have no love if our partner thwarts us or we're struggling with our parents or children. But that "love" that we think we've lost isn't really love... It's relationship expectations and other twisted versions if it.

But real love is a beautiful feeling that we experience. It's not rational. It's just there. And our biggest problem is that we actually only let it so far in... then we push it away - ever so slightly - or a lot!!

But this love has amazing abilities to heal us.

When Anita Moorjani returned to her body, her stage 4 cancer was healed. She was forever different. There's something to be said for that. (As a side note, we are super excited that Anita is coming to Blyth from Hong Kong on April 21st to speak about her book. More details can be found at: http://www.eaststreetstation.ca/coming-events/april-21-anita-moorjani.html )

And so, without further ado, here is the video from Jamaica. 

Enjoy!

Just follow this link: Meditation Video

Please share this with anyone you know who needs some love in their life... anyone who needs hope and uplifting... anyone who feels alone. 

Love always,

Katrina

Our True Human Potential

I truly believe that we are able to do anything we put our minds to. I believe that our bodies and minds will respond with vigour to any challenge that we put before them. The problem is that our goals are too small due to fears, conditioning, "what has always been", our upbringing, our society, whatever.

And so, with this in mind, I have signed up to participate in a Tough Mudder challenge on May 11, 2013. (See www.toughmudder.com for a video). This is a challenge that is truly quite beyond me right now. It is a 20km route with 25 military-style obstacles designed to test your strength, your mettle, endurance and challenge your fears. There's everything from climbing cargo nets to getting over vertical walls to jumping into ice-water to jumping off 30ft heights into water. And in-between these things, we run... in our case, it's at Mount St. Louis Moonstone, so it will be all climbing mountains.

(By the way, this is a team running electrified wires... 

always the final obstacle before you get the headband and the beer!!)

So why am I doing this? It's a great question. But I feel called to do it in that wonderful way that always turns out to be the most interesting!!!

Basically, at the time of writing this, I have 18 weeks to be able to comfortably run 20 km with serious hills in them (I'm nowhere close). I have to improve my upper body and core strength enough to even be able to participate in the challenges and help my teammates(I have the upper body strength of a T-Rex) ... Oh yeah, this is a team sport. So the teams must progress together through all of the obstacles. For me, this is a huge stimulus...Letting other people down is definitely one of my greatest fears!! 

Our Human Potential:

This challenge lets me finally test my deeply-held belief that our bodies will rise to any challenge that we put before them. Back when I wrote "What If You Could Skip the Cancer?", this was the number-one finding in the research I did about spontaneous healings. Over and over again, we see people overcoming SERIOUS disease. People heal against impossible odds. 

Why? Because this is what these amazing bodies are designed to do!!!

These bodies are not only phenomenal in their physical make-up alone, they are linked to our amazing minds and spirits which have infinite potential for ideas, healing, and future possibilities. When our minds are clear, our bodies respond.

And our minds are absolutely amazing things!! They are entire pharmaceuticals that will help us in any situation we find ourselves in. Our minds are amazingly plastic - they can adjust and adapt to any situation that we put them in. We are limited only by our imagination and our fears.

And so it only stands to reason that our bodies would also respond to this kind of challenge - to build strength, endurance and stamina... 

And so, these 18 weeks will be a chance for me to really dig deep inside and weed out the ideas, beliefs and thoughts that stand in my way. Because as long as they are there, I won't train enough. I won't heal enough. I won't become strong enough.

But when I can get my mind and intentions clear, what is possible? Anything? Everything?

This is what I truly believe. And I'm thrilled to have this opportunity to really experience it!!

It's going to be an interesting 18 weeks!!!

Being Careful of Our Goals

We`ve been in renovation for a while now. Partly it`s because we moved into a "fixer-upper". And partly it's renovations from the tornado last year.

This morning over coffee, my husband remarked that there are lots of people that would be crazy living in constant renovation like this - that he was glad we weren't like that.

Hmm... The truth is that we are definitely kind of slack about these kinds of things. Maybe it was 17 years of living on a dairy farm where the work was never-ending has burned us out. Or maybe we're just too busy to get too wrapped up in it. But the truth is, I don't want to miss out on REAL LIFE because we've set a renovation goal.

I had a really weird thought last August on the day of the tornado.  As my daughter and I were coming up out of our basement and we saw the devastation all around us, it was horrible to see all of our neighbours' houses destroyed (ours only had minor damage).

Now, the mind is a weird thing and I don't know when I actually had this thought (and I know that this has nothing to do with them personally - that it's my stuff), but I remember looking across the road at our friends' house which was destroyed. It was a cute little wartime home that they had really spruced up inside - it was really lovely. Well, our friends were devastated. They had just grabbed their infant daughter out of her bed just in time before her room was filled with debris and glass. It was a horrible time for them...

And what goes through my mind? "Man, I hope that they didn't bust their butts getting the house cleaned and fixed up that morning."

I know it's sick and ridiculous. But that moment has haunted me ever since.

That thought haunts me every time I get antsy about getting a job finished. You know the time - when something in your brain says "You should get "this" job done. You just have to put your mind to it. You just have to get the kids helping. You just have to get your priorities straight. Don't you want to get this done? Wouldn't it be nice to live in a finished house?..."

But some days, I just don't feel like it... finishing just feels hard... I'd rather relax or hang out with the kids or go to the beach...But now, on those days when "The General" in my head starts to lecture me, I think about my friends' beautiful little house and I think, "What if we make ourselves miserable getting it done and it all gets blown away in a tornado?"

Eventually a day comes where we truly WANT to work on the renovations. And often, there is some interesting new thoughts that inspire us to do something slightly different than we would've done if we'd pushed and things turn out even better than we'd expected.

The truth is, I think that the destruction of the tornado and the suffering of everyone around us really helped me to get my priorities in line.

For the first six months, I walked out of my house into a war zone. For the last few months, thank goodness, it's a construction zone. And every time it reminds me how transient our "stuff" is. It reminds me to really focus on the things that matter - for me, relationships, personal growth and the pursuit of joy.

And sometimes that joy is truly painting a wall and laying new flooring. But it is definitely crystal clear when it isn't. And I'm not giving up ENJOYING MY LIFE just to get the job done. :)

Loving Ourselves Once and For All

Many of us struggle with self-worth issues. We spend a huge amount of time and energy trying to make our bodies look like something that we can be proud of. For some it looks like eating disorders. For others it's extreme workouts. It can even be done through extreme yogic discipline which gives it a righteous, spiritual twist - but it's a twist nonetheless.

For me, I wasn't so different from other girls who were obsessed with their body shape. My friends were all size 0 - I wasn't. I thought I was fat. I wasn't. But it started me on a rollercoaster of dieting, extreme exercise - even bulimia in my teens.

So, I am reading a book called "Body and Soul: Honouring Marion Woodman". What follows is an excerpt that describes a time in Marion's life when she was very anorexic and struggling with self-worth and so many of the things that many of us struggle with.

I found so much truth in this, I had to share it. Thank you Marion.

During her severe bout with dysentery in India, Marion had an experience that turned her life around. Too weak to stand, she fell on the tile floor of her bathroom.

How long I was there, I do not know.  I came to consciousness on the ceiling, my spirit looking down at my body caked in dry vomit and excrement. I saw it lying there helpless, still, and then I saw it take in a breath. ‘Poor dummy,’ I thought. ‘Don’t you know you’re dead?’ And mentally gave it a kick. Suddenly I remembered my little Cairn terrier. ‘I wouldn’t treat Gyronne that way,’ I thought. ‘I wouldn’t treat a dog the way I’m treating my own body. I wonder what will become of it if I leave it here? Will they burn it? Will they send it home?”
She wondered why her body wouldn’t stop breathing, why her spirit was not taking advantage of this opportunity to finally free itself: “I’ve been wanting to get out all my life. And here I’m out. All I have to do is take off,” she thought.
“Paralyzed by the immensity of my decision - either to leave my body there or go back into it - I saw it take another breath. I was overcome with compassion for this dear creature lying on the floor faithfully waiting for me to return, faithfully taking in one breath after another, confident that I would not forsake it, more faithful to me than I to it.
“All my life I had hated my body. It was not beautiful enough. It was not thin enough. I had driven it, starved it, stuffed it, cursed it, and even now kicked it, and there it still was, trying to breathe, convinced that I would come back and take it with me, too dumb to die. And I knew the choice was mine. Most of my life I had lived outside my body, my energy disconnected from my feelings, except when I danced. Now it was my choice - either to move into my body and live my life as a human being, or to move out into what I imagined would be freedom. I also thought of what a blow it would be to Ross, not to know what had happened to me, and did not want my body to be burned on the ghats in India. A profound shift took place: an overwhelming sweetness and love came into me for this poor thing on the floor.
“I saw it take another breath and there was something so infinitely innocent and trusting, so exquisitely familiar, in that movement that I chose to come down from the ceiling and move in. Together we dragged ourselves to the little bed. I did my best to take care of it. It was as if I could hear it whispering, ‘Rest, perturbed spirit, rest.” For days, perhaps nine days, I stayed in the womb of the Ashoka [hotel].”

Here's to loving ourselves, once and for all.

The lovely Marion Woodman.

Confessions of a Newbie Nudist #2

So, it's day three on the "clothing optional beach". By this time, we were relaxed enough to really enjoy ourselves. In fact, all kinds of funny thoughts were now allowed to run through my mind (and out my mouth). I would be lying there doing a Logic Puzzle and I'd turn to Wayne and say, "Hey Wayne! Guess what? I'm doing a Logic Puzzle on the beach TOTALLY NAKED!!"  Bahahahaha!!!

Then, the fireman from Illinois on the chaise lounge next to me would strike up a conversation. An hour later, I would roll over and say to Wayne, "Hey Wayne!! Guess what? I just talked for an hour to a naked man who WASN'T YOU!!!"  Bahahahahaha!!!!

Soon, I was able to actually look at people's bodies (not just at their eyes). The amazing thing is that it was really nice. There were old people and young. There were heavy and skinny. But the amazing thing is that none of it mattered. Sure, there was the odd woman with a "perfect" body and fake boobs. (Did I look at them? Sure I did. She was my age. After nursing two children and 40+ years of gravity, mine just don't look like that. It was like staring at an alien or something... something just wasn't right...  But to each his own... It's all good.)

What was really interesting was how the women appeared so different. Bathing suits "cut us up" into legs, belly, boobs, etc. We are able to be critical and say "My legs have cellulite" or "my belly is fat", or "my boobs are too small", etc. But I wonder if this is just because we "frame" these parts with a bathing suit. Because once you're naked, you're just naked. You become this "whole" person. And the women - old or young - heavy or skinny - just looked like beautiful women. They were whole. They were just wonderful specimens of femininity. You had to look pretty closely and critically to see the sagging breasts or skin or cellulite. Of course it was there. But for me, it all got lost in the whole, beautiful picture.

Then there were the men. Sorry guys, but naked men aren't quite as physically interesting. Basically take off the swimming trunks and you just add a couple of extra parts - nothing particularly intriguing happens from a sight perspective. What IS profound though is how once a man is naked, there seems to be an amazing "leveling of the playing field". There is no posturing (I mean you can't posture while you're naked..). There is no hierarchy of social positions. There just isn't the need for the "false machismo" and stuff. They were just naked men and everyone was in the same boat.

The result of this was this amazingly relaxed atmosphere.

Then add to this relaxed atmosphere, nakedness everywhere. I'd be lying if I said that there wasn't a sexual component. But even though we were surrounded by sexuality, there was none of the pressure or tension that normally accompanies it. It felt like the most natural and healthy thing.

Truthfully, I miss it. There was something so natural, relaxed and freeing about the whole experience. I highly recommend it - definitely worth being on your bucket list.

Confessions of a Newbie Nudist #1

The truth is that I specifically chose the resort "Breezes" in Negril, Jamaica because it had a "clothing optional" beach. Call it something on my bucket list - some strange exhibitionist desire - some rebellion against "the Man"? Whatever, at some point in my life, I was going to attend some kind of nudist resort. And here was my chance!

Truthfully, my husband Wayne had his doubts - and so did I!! The first day that we were at the resort was a write-off due to travelling anyway, but we would sneak by the corridor that led to the "clothing optional" area and take the odd peak in - saw a bit of skin...just enough to make us nervous.

On Day Two, after a "few" rum punches, we packed our bag (with what you ask? SUNSCREEN!!!!) and headed over!!  As we rounded the corner that led between the buildings, suddenly there they were!! Naked bodies everywhere (excuse my 10-year-old-ness here... just telling the facts!)!! Tall naked bodies drinking beer at the bar, naked bodies sitting by the hot tub, naked bodies walking along the beach... Honestly, it's not that I mind seeing nakedness - I actually like it... But my brain had never quite seen SO MUCH!! It was kind of blowing my mind.

So, we tried not to look at anyone and hurried through the bar/pool/hottub area to find a secluded place on the beach where we could be inconspicuous. (??) So, we found our chaise lounges, laid out our towels, looked at each other with a kind of shared fear, took a mutual deep breath and took our clothes off and laid down.

So, we'd done it. We were now officially naked on a beach with a whole pile of strangers. My mind was absolutely reeling - with what? Who knows? With every shred of self-consciousness I had ever felt in my life. As a naturally shy person, this was blowing my mind. So, I closed my eyes and just tried to enjoy the wonderful feeling of sun on skin... Aaahhh...

Just as I was totally relaxed, I looked up to see a fully clothed waiter standing over me with those beautiful, relaxed Jamaican smiles asking me if I wanted a drink. "No, I'm fine"... And another of my brain cells popped - how could I talk to people who worked there who were fully clothed while I was totally naked? Bloody hell!!

It's funny how being on the beach actually turned into a Buddhist Koan for me. In Buddhism, students are given sayings called koans that will hopefully cause their brains to disengage long enough to let them experience true reality. Well, every moment that I spent on that beach fully disengaged my brain. It is impossible to describe the effect on my mind except that my normal rational mind simply couldn't make sense of it - and so my brain truly went on vacation as well!!

Stay tuned for more stories from "the beach"!!

Finding Meaningful Work - Or Not?

I have been thinking about the number of people I know who have been laid off from work and are struggling to find meaningful employment. We want something that fits our passions and joys - something that really makes us want to get up and get out there each day.

But what if 're looking too hard? What if there is work all around us.. but it's up to us to make it meaningful?

I'm all about finding your ideal job that perfectly matches your gifts and strengths. This is the ideal situation. But what if that job isn't out there right now? What if you can't make enough money at your passion to pay the bills? What then?

The funny thing is that there are dangers to making your job the compilation of your passions. We love the idea of taking what you love to do and spending all day working at it and making money - "being paid to do what you love" - it's the big dream. But this puts tremendous pressure on your passions. Suddenly you can't do the things that you love to do with the same carefree joy and creativity because you always have to be considering "Will they buy it?", "Is it consumable to the public?", "Is it good enough?", etc. Often, the focus of putting food on the table completely squelches the creative process that we enjoy about it in the first place.

So what do we do? Do we just get any old job and make the best of it?

Perhaps the answer is YES.

We often focus on the external aspects of our lives and work. We look at the people around us, where we live, where we work, who our relatives are, what our education is, how much money we have, etc. But what if the most interesting thing going on is actually deep inside of us? What if it is the inner journey that is the most exciting regardless of what is going on on the outside?

What if we brought our personality, joy and sense of abundance to ANY job that we had. What if those things were what we were growing and working on each moment of our day? Suddenly it wouldn't matter whether we were driving a taxi cab, teaching grade 6, or being a rocket scientist. We would still be bringing OURSELVES to each moment of the job. We would still be finding joy (or not) in each new experience.

Regardless of where we work, our experience is simply OUR experience. The actual job has very little to do with how much we enjoy it. Whether we want to enjoy it is what defines our experience of it. It's all up to us.

This is the problem with always trying to find the PERFECT job. Underlying this goal is the belief that "once we find the perfect job, we will be happy." This statement is just as false as "Once I find the right man, I will be happy" and "Once I have a child, I will be happy", or the infamous "Once I lose 30 pounds, I will be happy." None of these statements are true. And their belief will lead you down a perpetual road of always longing for things to be different.

Being happy is a state of being. Being happy is a choice.

I'm always entertained by the stories of sages who work at menial jobs. They always have a sparkle of youth and joy in their eyes - like they know something that we don't - like they are a little entertained by the idea that we think that we will find happiness somewhere outside of ourselves - that we think that what we do for a living matters SO MUCH...

Being happy doesn't come from finding the perfect job. It comes from choosing to be entertained by whatever life throws at us. Could be drama, could be hard work, could be a low paycheque. Or it could be learning, growth, and great friendships.

What we do with it is entirely up to us. :)

Intuition

What is intuition anyway?

Intuition is a new way to navigate through this world.

We have been trained that we can use our brains and intellect to find our ideal path - that we can study the options, find the optimal one and be confident in the desired outcome. We do this in how we act in marriage, raising kids, work, and every aspect of our lives. Our brains rule. We trust the "facts", the numbers, and the analysis.

The problem is that the real world isn't like that. We cannot guarantee our outcomes no matter how much research and intelligence that we apply to the problem

The Scientific Side

(feel free to skip this section if the idea makes your eyes roll back in your head)

Modern sciences distinguish between linear and non-linear systems. A bridge or a car tend to be linear systems - we know all of the pieces, how they work, how they interact and what the purposes are of each piece and function. We can analyse the situation, dissect it, figure it out, and find the ideal solution. It's all very possible, reasonable and intelligent.

Non-linear systems are things like weather and ecosystems. We can observe what we can. But in reality, there are so many variables - some we can observe and others that we haven't even seen yet - that we can't begin to predict what would happen at any time (this is actually quite a lengthy discussion that I thoroughly enjoy having that might get added to this website one day).

Using logic and intelligence with non-linear systems doesn't work because we don't know or understand all of the variables and the causal agents.

Human beings are non-linear systems.

Explanation for Mortals:

Our physical bodies are so phenomenally complex, that we can't pretend to understand how they all work, let alone the infinitely complex interplay between all of the moving parts. Then there is our mind filled with ideas, ideals, thoughts, fears, emotions, dreams, wonder, and so much more. How do they all interact? Then there is spirit? How does that work and how does it affect all of these other things.

Then let's look at our relationships - marriage, children, parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, & neighbours (close and far). There's our jobs, finances, life-long dreams, challenges,...

How can we possibly know the effect that any decision that we make could have on ALL of these things?

The truth is that we can't. The ripple effect of all of our decisions is infinite and impossible to know. This is where intuition comes in.

Our Actual Navigation System:

We weren't meant to navigate using our brains. The reality is that the smarter we are, the more impossible it is to use our brains to make decisions because we can see both sides. The dafter we are, the easier it is. But once you can see both sides, how do you make a choice.

We have to navigate through an inner guidance system. Some call it intuition, divine guidance, gut instincts, the "little voice", our Highest Self, Inner Wisdom, and the whispers of our soul. I call it all of these things.

In order to trust this inner wisdom, you must believe that it comes from something that understand the "whole". Science says that we consciously use less than 5% of our brain. Perhaps that inner guidance system has access to 100%. Spiritually, maybe it is directly hooked into a general consciousness that understands the big picture. Or maybe it's our direct link to God - and the whisperings are our answered prayers - guidance from the "Big Guy/Gal".

Regardless of what we imagine it is or where it comes from, I went through an experience that I wrote about in my book "What If You Could Skip the Cancer?" which required me to turn off my brain and follow that inner voice. I had to listen to guidance from somewhere else - somewhere other than where I'd been listening up until that point. The result was a miraculous healing and the beginning of a new way of seeing the world and navigating through it.

I can tell you of a thousand seredipitous events, continuous miracles appearing in my life - in big ways and very small ways. When I live this way, I never know what's coming, and life is amazingly entertaining!!

The only way to know this is to try it. My experience won't help anyone unless it inspires them to try it on their own.

This is why I love teaching about intuition. It's such a juicy way to live. I love counselling individuals and teaching it to groups. It is a cornerstone of yoga and meditation because it is intrinsically part of how humans are naturally meant to operate in a peaceful, calm, and joyful way.

(I am in the midst of revamping my website. I will posting various things like this that will go on my site one day soon.)

Growing Younger Every Day

What if our bodies don’t have to break down as we age? What if this is just an idea that society has because that is what we tend to see happen? But what if it isn't the way it has to be? What if we can become physically stronger, fitter, and healthier with each coming year?

I completed my first triathlon last weekend in Bala, Ontario. Yay!!! It was a 750m swim, 30km bike ride and 7.5km run. I started training in January when my sisters and I (insipired by the Biggest Loser TV show) decided that we should each work towards doing this triathlon. Since none of us are athletic in any way, this was a huge stretch - but a good one.

One of the most inspiring things about the triathlon was the ages of the people competing. There were a few teenagers and twenty-somethings. But mostly, we were 30,40, 50-years old and even quite a few in their sixties! I know this specifically because they write your age on your calf in magic marker and being a relatively non-athletic type, many people passed me in the race - I had lots of chances to see the backs of people’s legs!! (I actually finished last in the race - but finish I did!!).

Later, after the race was over, I was looking at my stats online - how long it took for the swim, the bike, etc. And I thought to myself, "Well, I can do better than that. If I just do this and that, I can definitely shave some time off there." And suddenly this triathlon thing became a yearly goal. I thought to myself, "What if I don't have to become a triathlete in one year? What if I can gradually get better each year?"

But this goes against everything that we've ever learned! Once we’re “over the hill”, our bodies are supposed to get worse each year, not better. People gain a few pounds each year. We don't become fitter. This is against North American-culture!!

But the funny thing is that I expect all other aspects of myself to improve with age. Mentally, I expect myself to become smarter and wiser. There's no greater teacher than life experience. If we're paying attention, wisdom is the direction we're heading.

We should become more emotionally intelligent each year. We should be able to understand and be compassionate in more situations. We should be able to be honest with ourselves and others easier every year.

Spiritually, I expect to become more intuitive. We should be more peaceful and connected to the world around us. We should hear guidance and trust the callings that come to us. With each year, this should become easier to do.

So why wouldn't we expect the same from our physical bodies? Why wouldn't we expect to become fitter each year? If we’re overweight, why wouldn't we expect to lose a few pounds each year - improving all of the time? Why wouldn't we be more tuned in to what our bodies need nutritionally? Why wouldn't our bodies continue to get better with age?

The problem is that our beliefs about aging can be self-fulfilling prophecies. We have a belief that we die because our bodies break down. But what if we die because it’s just our time? What if we can be totally healthy until the end?

There's a story about a lady that they call "The Iron Nun" who competes in triathlons. She's 80 years old this year and is still doing IronMan Triathlons - 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26-mile run. She's 80!!

I like it. I like the idea of improving each year - of getting better with age in every way!! And so, I am going to do a little experiment with the universe. I'm going to test the theory. What if I could improve every year? What if growing older can mean growing better. I'm going to give it a go.

Care to join me?

The Newbie Triathletes post-race- Cori, Wayne, and me

2010: A Year of (Im)Possibilities

There are things that we believe that we could never do - things that deep down we believe are impossibilities.

But what if they aren’t impossible?  What if you really could find a job that you loved?  What if you could be really healthy?  What if you could heal the rift between you and your spouse/child/parent/friend/neighbour?  What if you could actually be slim and trim?  What if you could do anything that you put your mind to?

Well, this year, I have decided to do something that previously I would have believed impossible.

I am going to participate in a Triathlon in July 2010!!

I don’t know how it happened.  But somehow over the holidays, my sisters and I decided that the three of us would do a Triathlon.

What makes this so impossible, you ask?  Well, none of us are athletes.  In fact, we’re quite a long way from athletic.  We’re more the “sitting-on-the-couch-with-a-cup-of-tea-solving-the-world’s-problems” types.  Athletic?  Absolutely not!

In fairness, all three of us are pretty decent swimmers.  We can all get on a bike (if we can find one) and ride it.  We are all capable of walking.  But running?  Biking for any great distance?  Those are things that deep down, we truly believed were absolute impossibilities.

But then came the show, “The Biggest Loser”.  On the surface, it’s a reality TV show about a bunch of very obese people losing weight.  But there is so much more going on.  It has totally turned my brain inside out.  I just love it. 

Why you ask?  Because it breaks through the beliefs that limit all of us in our lives every day.  As the on-screen trainers push the contestants in their workouts, the common cry is, “I CAN’T!  I CAN’T DO IT ANY MORE”.  And the reply is always, “Yes you can.  You can do anything that you put your mind to!”

Many of these contestants have good reason to believe that this isn’t true.  Many had very painful, difficult childhoods.  Some had traumatic events that they couldn’t get over.  Others just couldn’t handle the day-to-day pressures of marriage, kids, and paying the bills.  These are very common situations – common situations that can leave us believing that there are many things that we can’t do – that we are out of control in our lives – that giving up is a reasonable reaction based on the crazy world we live in.

But then you see these people have breakthroughs.  They start to get to the bottom of their emotional and mental blocks.  They start to believe that they CAN do anything that they put their mind to - and you start to see the pounds drop off.  You start to see their outlook changing.  They start to shift from victims to victors.  The weight loss is secondary to the phenomenal inner healing that happens.  (Did I mention how much I love this show?)

So what does this have to do with me doing a triathlon?

Well, this season the final contestants had to complete a marathon near the end of the show – a mere 16 weeks after they started!!  Some of these people started out over 450 pounds!!  And many of them were still 300+ pounds when they did the marathon!!

We would normally believe this to be impossible.  This just doesn’t happen.  Only skinny “runner-types” do marathons!!  We know this to be true.  The rest of us CAN’T run marathons, right?  We are sure that this is true.

So to watch these people complete the race just turns our brains inside out!  And to see the joy and the victory and the immense feeling of satisfaction that they had after the race!!  Such a gift to us!!

Why is it a gift?  Because we got to watch someone break through the belief that they couldn’t do something.  We got to watch the same feelings of inadequacies and lack of control in their lives as we struggle with all of the time.  And they changed those feelings and beliefs.  They now know that they really can do anything that they put their mind to – that there are no such things as impossibilities!!!  Imagine!

And so, as we begin 2010, let’s ponder our impossibilities?  What are the things in our lives that we’d love to have or to change but deep down, we don’t believe are possible? 

Let’s challenge those beliefs.  Let’s imagine that nothing is impossible.

Hey, if I can do a triathlon, anything’s possible!

The Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine

I had a wonderful chat with a lady named Beverly Vote last week. She stumbled upon my website looking for something else, found out about my book, sent me an email, I sent her a book, she really liked it, and we made contact last week.

It turns out that Beverly is the publisher of "Breast Cancer Wellness" magazine. It is a free magazine (alas, only available in print in the States) but is available for free download at: www.breastcancerwellness.org.

The mission of her magazine is "to empower breast cancer healing journeys with education, inspiration, and encouragement using
mind-body-spirit and whole-being wellness principles."

She said that my book just blew her hair back!!! She said that it was just what she had been looking for to help her to make some interesting steps in the future of her magazine. She even said that on the previous day, she told one of her sales reps that if everyone would just read my book, then she wouldn't even need the magazine!!! How cool is that??

We had a lovely conversation where I found out that Bernie Siegel (who gave the endorsement on my book's front cover) sits on her advisory board. Olivia Newton John was on their last magazine's cover and is apparently a really lovely, down-to-earth woman!!

We talked for nearly two hours about how we can work together going forward. We aren't sure yet. But it will come to us. It is very exciting.

The funny this is that although I teach, give seminars, and do many very social things, a large part of me is actually quite introverted. The selling of the book is hard for me. I don't want to convince people to buy it. (I don't want to convince people of anything, really)  I just want people to have the book and be able to read it so that it can either speak to them or not.

So, the idea that Beverly was totally moved and inspired by my book and would like to take it places just makes my introverted heart so thrilled. And the fact that she has such wonderful connections as Bernie Siegel, Olivia Newton John, and her other phenomenal networks in the cancer world, just blows me away!!

I don't know where this will take us.  But I'm sure that it will be wonderful!!

Katrina

The Joys of Doing Something Badly

So what would you like to try that’s new? What have you always wanted to do, but just never got around to it? What has that little voice been asking for that you’ve been ignoring up until this point?

What about writing poetry, or playing basketball, or dancing, or art. What about learning a new language or playing the violin?

Whatever it is, my recommendation is to do it—but don’t try to be good at it. Who has time for that? My advice is to get out there and do whatever it is – and do it badly!

Here’s a true story. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine came over to my house and saw that I had a guitar.

“Hey, can I play your guitar?” she asked.

“Sure. I didn’t know that you played.”

“Oh, yes. I’ve been playing badly for years.”

It probably took me about ten minutes to figure out what she had said. She’s played badly for years? What was she talking about? I knew all of the words that she had used in the sentence. But put together, the sentence just didn’t make any sense.

The problem is that we seldom do anything that we aren’t good at. We are taught from an early age that only those who are good at things actually get to play. We learn in school that only the best athletes actually play on the sports teams. The rest of us watch and cheer them on.

Only the best singers get to sing in the choir. The rest of us watch and enjoy the music. Only the smart kids go on the debate teams, take part in spelling bees, and take funky tests named after famous Mathematicians. And the rest of us… well we don’t watch, cheer or enjoy… (Being smart isn’t quite so glamorous!)

Eventually we learn that if we aren’t good at it then we don’t do it. So as life goes on and we get jobs, families, and other responsibilities, we find our free time quickly consumed with watching TV – continuing our pattern of watching other people do things!!

But is that any fun? What happened to the fun in life? When do we get to do things just for kicks? Why do we have to be good at things in order to do them?

We aren’t being graded anymore. Our team doesn’t have to win the championship! Us not being fantastic at something has absolutely no effect on anything or anyone at all. So what’s our problem?

When I first saw the motion picture “Mamma Mia”, I was shocked at who they picked for actors and actresses – not because of their acting abilities – but because they had to sing—a lot!! And most of the actors simply weren’t great singers. But sing they did!!

The funny thing is that now we own the movie and do you know which parts I love the most? The less-than-fantastic singing!! Pierce Brosnan belts out his songs with this Bruce-Springsteen-meets-Clint-Eastwood kind of voice. But he puts so much passion and heart into it, that his songs are some of my favourite parts of the show.

And the whole movie is like that. Is the choreography great? Not really. It’s kind of quirky and strange – but the dancers are having so much fun, that you just have to watch it over and over again. It’s so quirky and that we can relate to it.

Our society suffers from a serious fun deficiency. There is so much pressure to achieve and be the best that, in the end, only kids are allowed to have any fun. But we can change that. We can start doing things that we love without having the pressure of having to be good at them.

We can choose to play basketball with our kids even though we were the ones on the debate team. We can play the guitar because we like the way it sounds, not because we have dreams of sounding like Santana. We can take a painting class because we love the colours and the way the brush feels as it flows over the canvas without any plans of fame or recognition.

We can take some sage advice from Ms. Frizzle on the Magic School Bus. “Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!!”

It’s time to have some fun!

(This column was first published in the Goderich Signal Star in March, 2009)

The Joys of the Six O’Clock News

I don’t normally watch the news.

It was probably twenty years ago that I decided that a daily update of the number of homicides, rapes and car accidents in Toronto just didn’t seem to be adding much to my life. My opinion of the Six O’clock News became quite cynical. I felt it was “too sensational”. It seemed like they only reported the bad stuff and therefore, we were given an overly negative, inaccurate and incomplete portrayal of what was going on in the world.

And so, my news updates have tended to consist of whatever I hear in the car on my way to work in the morning and that has been fine with me.

But a few weeks ago, I was at my dad’s place and the Six O’Clock News appeared before my eyes. As I watched stories of the men who drowned in Toronto and the young boy who was killed in a drive-by shooting and the solders who had been killed overseas, a great new realization hit me: “Thank God this is what they’re reporting on the Six o’clock news!!”

How lucky are we that we live in a country where we still think that someone being killed is newsworthy? There are many places in the world where people of all ages are killed every day and it is simply considered a part of life.

There was a clip about the rescue attempts of a man in Toronto who had been fishing and fell into the river. Divers worked all day trying to find him. Paramedics were on hand in the hopes that they found him alive. In the end, they just worked hard to find the body so that there could be a proper burial. How many places in the world wouldn’t or couldn’t go to such lengths for a single man’s life?

There were stories of assault, robbery, illegal drug operations, car accidents and violence in the schools. In a world that we are led to believe is going down the tubes, that these things are still newsworthy says that they still shock and upset us. This is a good sign.

And what about the traffic? Lots of news about commuters stuck in traffic jams each morning and evening. Terrible, eh? Just think of all these industrious people in their cars going to and from their jobs each day making a living so that they can raise families, pay taxes and have financial independence. Hmm, not the worst problem to have to deal with.

And think of the great lengths we go to in order to find missing children. And what about all the magazines covered with stories about Brittany Spears and whether or not she is a fit mother for her two little boys? Is it ridiculous and sensational to follow around this poor woman with binoculars and dissect her life with a microscope? Yes. But the fact that her fitness for motherhood is so phenomenally newsworthy, tells us that as a society, we still believe that the welfare of children is important.

And then we get to hear about relationships like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. We hear about their fights (real or not), their break-ups (true or not) and their angry ex-girlfriends (angry or not). Apparently we find couples having issues worth reading about. Or maybe we just like that fact that extremely beautiful, successful people have the same problems that we do. In the end, the fact remains that we still think that relationships matter. Otherwise, no one would care. The general public would just say, “Oh, just break up already and spend your life alone. It’s better that way!”. But we don’t. We want the relationships to work. We want people to be happy. This is a good thing.

It would seem that watching the Six O’clock News shows us that, as a society, we still believe that being good to others, caring for our children, education, peace-keeping, relationships, working hard, and preserving life is important to us.

I think that this is a good sign.

(This column was originally published in the Goderich Signal Star in September, 2008)