Just want to say…

I just want to say….my life would suck without you. And YOU know who you are.

Ages ago I came across  a really powerful meditation by a contributor to Kris Carr’s book Crazy Sexy Diet that I absolutely love.  Today is THANKSGIVING in Canada and I can’t think of a better day to share it.

Set aside some time, find a comfortable seat, and sit down. Close your eyes and become aware of your breathing, breathing in and breathing out. Silently say the words “Blessings to” as you inhale, and as you exhale say the name of someone you know and love, as it is easier to give a blessing to them. Continue for several minutes, extending your blessings to include your family, friends, etc… You will find that as you say their names, their image will appear to you.

I am not a masterful meditator. It doesn’t come easily to quiet my mind but this “blessings meditation” is actually something I try to practice on my morning commute. Often it is with my eyes wide open looking out the window of the streetcar. I put my ear-buds in, crank up the ocean waves track on my iPhone and say “blessings to” every person I can think of.  I am ever surprised by some of the people who pop into my head. But the first on my list are always my family members (human and canine alike), cherished friends and some remarkable people across the planet who I have never met in person but whose very existence has changed me.

It is true that I love to count my blessings. Yet I think turning my mind away from myself and toward others surprisingly strengthens my sense of belonging.

In addition to being thankful and sending along blessings to others, I am spending the day on several constructive activities. Since statutory holidays do not really apply to entrepreneurs, the Inspired Practice office is open this afternoon so that I can finalize editing of 2 videos, film another and curate content on the building blocks of social ventures.  The other “work”  that is underway is purging, packing, tidying and cleaning. As our closing date approaches, we are excited to celebrate the holiday with preparations for our next adventure.

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians and blessings to all.

#27 Wrap up Project Heart2Heart

#27 Wrap up Project Heart2Heart

In 2008, I was rummaging through a collection of magazine clippings and found an inspiring photo of a wall covered with numerous 6×6 paintings. Having just moved into a new home, I imagined how I could accomplish the result in that photo. I didn’t want to simply buy artwork and put it up in a grid pattern. I wanted to create something meaningful. And so, Project Heart2Heart was born.

The complete details of this project and its participants can be found here.

Three years after it began, I was able to two very important young artists to participate in the final component of this project. My cousins, Laura and Chaise both live in Winnipeg and while there over Thanksgiving Long Weekend, I took advantage of the opportunity to PAINT!

Laura was inspired by Winnipeg and the windy city that it is. (Her painting is on the left.) I was inspired by her choice in paint colour and started with blues, grey and black as the background to my painting (on the right). It was lovely to catch up with her and learn about all of the very creative and expressive interests she has both inside and outside of school.

Chaise and I sat down together on Thanksgiving Monday with bellies full of really yummy food and dessert. Green was common ground for us in our paintings. I really like how our artwork reflects a dichotomy of bold versus subtle. Chaise created a vibrant pattern of shapes on his canvas (pictured on the left) and I was inspired by a pattern also – camouflage. I think the contrast is fantastic.

Reflecting on this and other Heart2Heart experiences, I am somewhat sad to say goodbye. However, next year I expect to find myself in yet another new home and with that will surface so many more possibilities for meaningful art projects.

So for now #27 is done!

They are the best

It is fall. And this year, that has meant a much needed detour. K-dawg and I have just returned from new adventures in Winnipeg. We both made the trip out in time for Thanksgiving.  To connect with family, do a little painting, and get spoiled. Air travel with dogs is not for everyone but Khailee – in the way she does everything – ROCKED it. We commemorated her first outing to Pearson Airport with a little photo session in front of the inukshuks. There was no time for pictures upon her arrival in Winnipeg. She was immediately whisked out of her carrier and doted on.

Little dogs. They are the best. Khailee and Shadoe became fast friends. Despite the fact that Khailee tends to be the littlest dog in her pack, she was happy to have a lightweight playmate  – particularly one with endless energy.  Best friends forever.

We are diving into a new routine. It’s fall and that means time to change things up.  With only two weeks left before Mike joins me in San Francisco for a much-deserved romantic holiday, I am  making every work and life minute count. I see a light at the end of a very long tunnel that has been 2011. And with it, both a sense of accomplishment but also hunger for new challenges.  Three cheers for October!

Don’t stress

(Festive photo and food from La Tartine Gourmande)

So I said I would be post-lite this week but I am making time…when I can. I have been wanting to post on STRESS and came across this article this morning. I totally dig the whole “pets in the workplace” groove and love that Carmen has created an environment for this at Planners Plus. We have done something similar at Options – see here. (Ages need to be updated but you get the point.)

I received a couple of emails in my inbox about this very topic of stress busting. At first, I thought it was a coincidence – you know, magazines and organizations thinking that with winter weather, the seasonal flu and busy schedules, we’re all under a little bit of stress. But wait, that isn’t really it, is it?

Nope. It only took me a couple of days but I realized that this week is Thanksgiving (in the US). (Happy Thanksgiving to our friends south of the border. Especially Kristen and family!) And it is the upcoming holidays that are bringing on all of this stress. Estranged family members in the same room. Toiling  in the kitchen for hours cooking the perfect meal. Unrealistic expectations as to how the whole holiday will turn out. Filling up on fattening food and then feeling guilty about it. Money, money, money being spent like its going out of style. Yep. Stressful.

But I say, “don’t stress”. I am taking the stress out of Christmas this year by doing the family stuff earlier and instead, planning a romantic and low-key affair for two for Christmas eve and day. Nothing I can’t handle and nothing that should cause any stress. No one’s schedule to tend to but ours. No one’s whims to cater to but our own. Sounds heavenly right? If there are a few snafus, no prob. Because so long as we’re together, who cares what happens! And even if it doesn’t snow fluffy white snowflakes just before midnight or our Christmas fettucine sticks to the pot or  if there isn’t a wet-nosed puppy underneath the tree come Christmas morning, it will still be SO wonderful. Don’t stress. I say cut your losses and do what you REALLY wanna do. Better to figure out what that is now than 30 years later (right mom?).

Gratitude as attitude

 (Scrabble Tile Pendant from Gratitude Jewelry)

Saturday morning I made some Tanzanian coffee and devoured a juicy honeycrisp apple and headed off to meet Jen for yoga. I had been looking forward to this time for weeks. Not only because I was craving the warmth and renewal that comes from a hot yoga class but also because I am so grateful for moments with friends.

Upon arrival – and prior to the class – Jen and I excitedly chatted and caught up on life. We weren’t talking too loudly (our collective enthusiasm can often cause the decibels to climb) but nonetheless got scolded by our soon-to-be yoga instructor. We rolled with it and just continued with our smiles and happy talk. We were just thrilled as ever to be TOGETHER. Now that is all that really should ever matter but on this particular day we were both to be challenged in that assumption.

We tip-toed our way into the yoga studio and got ready for a 90 minute workout for our minds and bodies. In most yoga classes, the instructor starts class off with a welcome and a brief note about “intention”. Then we launch into a series of standing poses and it continues from there. This is what I have come to know. On this particular day, I attended a class by an instructor with whom I had no familiarity.  I can’t say whether it was his teaching style or the special holiday weekend but what followed was a 15 minute diatribe on how the purpose of yoga is not to get a tight butt (his words) but rather it is “meditation”. He stepped further up on his soap box and “shoulded” around talking about how we “should” be grateful as members of a tiny, privileged percentage of the world who can waltz into a yoga class on a Saturday morning. (Jen respectfully disagreed with this statement – both as someone who practices yoga but also someone who has travelled to parts of the world in which yoga is arguably a traditional and spiritual practice .)

I enjoy hearing what people have to say about many topics including yoga but not in a class in which etiquette requires that I do not talk and thus am subjected to a lecture  for which I have not signed up. I felt horribly trapped – forced to listen to someone imposing their belief system on me but without the ability to contribute to a dialogue around it. I had no voice and it started to make me feel uncomfortable – to the point where I wanted to leave the room. Instead, I used my best skills to tune out his voice so that I could hear my own. And then finally the instruction began. I have never been so GRATEFUL.

But our troubles didn’t end there. Both Jen and I got chastised for not having proper ALIGNMENT. I was attempting dancer’s pose – one of my favourites. It really tests my balance, core and hips. The yoga instructor came up to me and said, “Your thigh isn’t parallel to the floor so you shouldn’t be bending forward.” What the heck does that mean? My thigh is NEVER parallel to the floor unless I am laying flat on it (which I wasn’t)! My yoga practice is NOT about achieving perfect alignment or a state of nirvana. Neither of which I was ever going to reach in this particular class. At one point, I was certain he was going to start grading everyone’s poses. I was terribly distracted to say the least.

So what’s the point here? I have two things to say about this experience.

1. I enjoy yoga. I attend classes because there is something powerful about the synchronicity of 40 people moving and breathing in unison. I love the warmth of hot yoga studios – it heats me up from my head to my toes. I like the experience of challenging myself – physically and mentally. And yes I do love the fact that I can get a tighter butt and flatter tummy but also stronger legs and healthier heart. Yoga, for me, is also about the positive teacher-student relationship that can result from a philosophy of FUN (yes people FUN!). My instructors have generally been encouraging and positive (with calming “radio” voices) and that empowers me to continue. 
2. I believe that gratitude cannot be derived from guilt or sermon – like most things, by the way. It comes from within and it really is more of an attitude than anything else. No one can truly influence or convince you to be grateful. You either are or you aren’t. We all have moments when we take for granted who we have in our lives or what we are to the world. It’s part of being human. And the potential to recognize our shortcomings and re-adjust is equally human. Gratitude as attitude – is how I like to think about it. This is my perspective and I am clear not to impose it on others. What is your take on gratitude? You may have an alternate perspective and perhaps in this difference is the potential for meaningful dialogue. At least, that is my hope.

On this thanksgiving weekend, I have many blessings to count. Among these are my inspiring family, my loving fiance, my courageous friends, my constant breath and my full heart. I also thank you for reading and sharing your insights and thoughts with me over these 200 or so posts. I greatly value them. 

Wishes for a warm and happy thanksgiving!