Getting to the Other Shore

Too often we find ourselves writing very specific lists of goals and aspirations, some attainable, some absolutely impossible.  Resolutions like....I want to lose 10 pounds, I want to keep my kitchen cleaner, I want to eat more leafy greens, read more, wear clean socks more often, remember the kids' library days, swear less......(those that know me well know I have given up on swearing less....also on remembering library days) I find that beyond the rigid, detailed lists, I personally need a broader, more universal mandate; a blanket to cover all the lists I make for the coming year and all the lists I will continue to obsessively make during the coming year. Honestly, 2016 wasn't the worst year for me; it was another tough one for sure, full of life lessons, stresses, and challenges, but it was also full of lots of good memories, steps forward, revelations, and laughter.  It was a tough year for many, with lost loved ones, personal and professional trials and tribulations...

I have not even finished reading this book yet I feel compelled to urge you to go get it  and read it immediately.   The first thing and really the only other thing I have read by Cheryl Strayed was her epic memoir "Wild."  And while her story was very different from my own what I overwhelmingly appreciated was her emotional journey of healing and the process she went through with time, experience, challenges and solitude to arrive at both an understanding of herself and her circumstances.   I have been picking up and putting down "Tiny Beautiful Things," for some time but the other day I was hit by an intense need to finally get a copy and see what Dear Sugar (Cheryl Strayed) had to say about life and love.    It was not at all what I expected and yet everything I should have expected from her.   The letters between these pages are heartbreaking and profound and on several occasions have moved me to tears.  Cheryl's replies are e...

It's words we may be blessed enough to hear from friends, family and loved ones but the person we don't hear it from enough, is ourselves....so today, right now, this is me, being you, because, you're basically me, and I'm basically you, and we're all going through some of the same shit in different ways on different days but.....YOU ARE AMAZING If everyday you get your butt out of bed and you plod through the day fiercely focused on loving your children and doing everything you can with every resource, whether its financial, mental, emotional or physical, that you have in that given moment (which is the best any of us can ever do) then you are succeeding.  Your success as a parent is not measured by whether or not you get all the laundry folded or hell, if it even makes it into the dryer before it gets what I'm told (cause I have no sense of smell), is that musty stench. It is not measured in the amount of homemade baking you can get done ...

When I was 19 I took part in the Miss Powell River, Youth Ambassador Pageant.   Seems like forever ago, maybe because it was.   It was an amazing experience where I made lifelong friendships, become a Spark Leader as my volunteer service, came in first runner up in a speech competition (which forever cemented my comfort with speaking in public), laughed, danced, adventured….it was amazing.   I owe that experience to Dan and Marian Devita and the Texada Island Inn.     I remember at the end of the final performance night, Dan and Marian came back stage to congratulate me and give me a hug.   Dan said “we’re really proud of you, would you like a job?” I practically burst into tears. And so I ventured into becoming a part of the storied history of that place; a place where you could set your watch by the people who walked through the door.   Ed Johanson, who never said too many words but always had the warmest smile and would stand at the counter for...

We are always looking outside of ourselves for solutions, for a saviour, a hero, a miracle, and on and on. We place so much emphasis on what the world and everyone in it can do to save us that sometimes we forget that we can save ourselves.  Moreover we fill ourselves up with caring for and worrying about and saving everyone else around us that we love that at the end of the day we forget that there is only one soul that you are responsible for....yours. At the end of the day there is only one person responsible for your soul....you.  Once you realize that you and you alone are responsible for your soul and its safe keeping, what will you do about it? Make it a promise.....write it a letter.....write yourself a letter. One night, some time ago,  journal in hand, I wrote this letter to myself.  From time to time I read it. Sometimes I write a new note to myself, a new promise, a new intention, sometimes I just simply say "thank you".   Dear...