I found this commercial on Chelsa's blog. It's a great one and explains a little of why Canadians including myself love hockey the way we do...
The countdown is on until the Olympics...Can't wait!
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
My mind is constantly thinking and dreaming about this place. My heart is itching for it; I want to smell the smells, to hear the songs and sounds, to see the children smile, to walk its roads. I am constantly daydreaming about when I will get back there and how great it will feel.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Every thursday I hangout with the greatest kids on the planet. Sometimes they drive me a little nuts but who doesn't. I could go on and on about them for hours and how great they are; half the time I feel like a proud parent with 40 teenagers.
This week they made me prouder than I've ever been of them. We challeneged them to raise money for Haiti and they went above and beyond what we asked of them. Kids who don't have that much to begin with, opening their hearts to people who are in greater need than they are. Realizing that even though they may not be the most well off, they can do something little that will go a long way. They are great!
This week they made me prouder than I've ever been of them. We challeneged them to raise money for Haiti and they went above and beyond what we asked of them. Kids who don't have that much to begin with, opening their hearts to people who are in greater need than they are. Realizing that even though they may not be the most well off, they can do something little that will go a long way. They are great!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Day after day I find myself shaking my head; shaking my head at this society, at everything absurb that surrounds me; seeing it for what it truly is, what we truly have become, and where we will go if we keep on this path. We have become like robots, each the same, supressed by this society, by formalities, pretenses and social conventions and we have lost who we are; lost all real personality, real joy, real love, real everything.
You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. It is that permanent contradiction between your ideas and desires and all the dead formalities and vain pretenses of your civilization which makes you sad, troubled and unbalanced. In that intolerable conflict you lose all joy of life and all feeling of personality, because at every moment they suppress and restrain and check the free play of your powers. That's the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilized world. -Octave Mirbeau
You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. It is that permanent contradiction between your ideas and desires and all the dead formalities and vain pretenses of your civilization which makes you sad, troubled and unbalanced. In that intolerable conflict you lose all joy of life and all feeling of personality, because at every moment they suppress and restrain and check the free play of your powers. That's the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilized world. -Octave Mirbeau
Sunday, January 10, 2010
My heart is itching for an adventure more than ever right now; To leave everything I know behind, to go into the unknown, a place I don't know, with new people, a new culture, new sights and sounds. I wish I could just hop on a plane and see something different.
Monday, January 04, 2010
2010 has not started off the best for me. It started off by being stressed while trying to dance it off to I've got a feeling by the Black Eyed Peas-that could quite possibly be the problem right there, if you asked Nic, he would probably say it is- this was all accompanied by sickness and very little sleep and then followed by a car accident, which equals no car for me. Not a very fun start to 2010 at all.
I've been thinking about it though and have come to some conclusions/made some decisions. I've always wanted to be the person that walked everywhere or rode the bus but I admit I'm a sucker for convenience. If there was a car sitting on my driveway that was in some way considered mine, I would drive it instead of walking/taking the bus. I admit I never had the power or self-restraint to say "Today I'm going to walk instead of driving" or "Today I'm riding the bus". But now I have been forced into it and have no option; and even though this choice has been forced onto me, I'm happy about it; I'm happy I don't have a car, I'm happy I don't have that convenience anymore.
Having no car got me thinking even further though. In the summer I read a book called Sleeping Naked is Green. A journalist from Toronto took on the challenge of making a green change in her life for every day of the year. She blogged about it and then eventually wrote a book about it. When I read this book, I wished I had the power to do what she did and make changes in my own life but I was pretty lazy and selfish and didn't really do anything. After the anger and tears emptied out of me about getting into an accident and not having a car anymore, I came up with a brilliant idea, at least I hope its brilliant. No, I'm not going to make 365 green changes in my life, I admit that might be a little extreme for now, but Yes I am going to try and make whatever changes I can; keyword being try; I may fail but I may as well try. I am going to gradually make changes starting out with walking/riding the bus when I can. No better time then now, the start of a new year to make new changes to live a new life.
Here are some other things that got me thinking. Last night I went to see the movie H2Oil with a friend. It's about the Alberta oilsands and the impact that they have on the environment and on health. After we talked about capitalism and being ethically aware of businesses and what's going on in society. I came to the conclusion that I just want to escape it all by moving to a hut and live there for the rest of my life. I know that's not really a reality, at least for now, and so maybe I should just become more aware. More aware of my environment, more aware of the damage I cause, more aware of everything I do, more aware of everything going on around me, just become more aware of absolutely everything. So that kindof goes hand in hand with my green changes.
Even though I am sucker for shopping and buying things, I am not a fan of consumerism and this society. I would way rather go live in Africa in a hut with nothing, then live in Canada in a big house with 2 cars and a boat and all the extra necessities we tell ourselves we need. While I was in Hungary, I found and read a book called Enough. It is about consumerism in every sense-of material things, entertainment, food, work- and how we have an excess of all these things in western society. The author challenges you to simplify; to take a step back and simplifly your life and to learn how to say enough. Ever since I read this book it has been on mind. When you are free from the conveniences of western society it is easy to say you'll make changes but when you are right in the middle of them it is far to easy to fall victim to them. This book came to mind when I started thinking about green changes. I mean changes like this may not be green in the sense that they impact the environment but they are just good changes to make and changes that I want to make in life and learn to keep. A friend put it well, humans just need to learn how to be humans again, we have become too much like robots. That's exactly what I want to do, I don't want to be a robot, I want to learn how to be human again. I want to quit falling victim to consumerism and the ways of this society.
One last thing that got me thinking was another book that I got last year for Christmas. I put it on my bookshelf and didn't really think about it all year except for the couple times I pulled it out, looked at it and then put it back. It is called Change the World for ten bucks: 50 ways to make a difference. I am all about changing the world and doing whatever I can to make a difference. This book slipped out of my mind though but I was reminded of it when I was going through my bookshelf today. It's not about doing huge things but small things that will ultimately make a difference. So I am going to work on doing small things that will hopefully have a bigger impact on this world and the people around me. Something that is definitely connected to green changes.
So there you have it; my brilliant idea and the inspirations behind it.
So here's to 2010, trying to make green changes, making a difference and changing the world, and hoping that my luck turns around.
I've been thinking about it though and have come to some conclusions/made some decisions. I've always wanted to be the person that walked everywhere or rode the bus but I admit I'm a sucker for convenience. If there was a car sitting on my driveway that was in some way considered mine, I would drive it instead of walking/taking the bus. I admit I never had the power or self-restraint to say "Today I'm going to walk instead of driving" or "Today I'm riding the bus". But now I have been forced into it and have no option; and even though this choice has been forced onto me, I'm happy about it; I'm happy I don't have a car, I'm happy I don't have that convenience anymore.
Having no car got me thinking even further though. In the summer I read a book called Sleeping Naked is Green. A journalist from Toronto took on the challenge of making a green change in her life for every day of the year. She blogged about it and then eventually wrote a book about it. When I read this book, I wished I had the power to do what she did and make changes in my own life but I was pretty lazy and selfish and didn't really do anything. After the anger and tears emptied out of me about getting into an accident and not having a car anymore, I came up with a brilliant idea, at least I hope its brilliant. No, I'm not going to make 365 green changes in my life, I admit that might be a little extreme for now, but Yes I am going to try and make whatever changes I can; keyword being try; I may fail but I may as well try. I am going to gradually make changes starting out with walking/riding the bus when I can. No better time then now, the start of a new year to make new changes to live a new life.
Here are some other things that got me thinking. Last night I went to see the movie H2Oil with a friend. It's about the Alberta oilsands and the impact that they have on the environment and on health. After we talked about capitalism and being ethically aware of businesses and what's going on in society. I came to the conclusion that I just want to escape it all by moving to a hut and live there for the rest of my life. I know that's not really a reality, at least for now, and so maybe I should just become more aware. More aware of my environment, more aware of the damage I cause, more aware of everything I do, more aware of everything going on around me, just become more aware of absolutely everything. So that kindof goes hand in hand with my green changes.
Even though I am sucker for shopping and buying things, I am not a fan of consumerism and this society. I would way rather go live in Africa in a hut with nothing, then live in Canada in a big house with 2 cars and a boat and all the extra necessities we tell ourselves we need. While I was in Hungary, I found and read a book called Enough. It is about consumerism in every sense-of material things, entertainment, food, work- and how we have an excess of all these things in western society. The author challenges you to simplify; to take a step back and simplifly your life and to learn how to say enough. Ever since I read this book it has been on mind. When you are free from the conveniences of western society it is easy to say you'll make changes but when you are right in the middle of them it is far to easy to fall victim to them. This book came to mind when I started thinking about green changes. I mean changes like this may not be green in the sense that they impact the environment but they are just good changes to make and changes that I want to make in life and learn to keep. A friend put it well, humans just need to learn how to be humans again, we have become too much like robots. That's exactly what I want to do, I don't want to be a robot, I want to learn how to be human again. I want to quit falling victim to consumerism and the ways of this society.
One last thing that got me thinking was another book that I got last year for Christmas. I put it on my bookshelf and didn't really think about it all year except for the couple times I pulled it out, looked at it and then put it back. It is called Change the World for ten bucks: 50 ways to make a difference. I am all about changing the world and doing whatever I can to make a difference. This book slipped out of my mind though but I was reminded of it when I was going through my bookshelf today. It's not about doing huge things but small things that will ultimately make a difference. So I am going to work on doing small things that will hopefully have a bigger impact on this world and the people around me. Something that is definitely connected to green changes.
So there you have it; my brilliant idea and the inspirations behind it.
So here's to 2010, trying to make green changes, making a difference and changing the world, and hoping that my luck turns around.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
This world needs more people who are less satisfied. Less satisfied with fitting into boxes and fitting molds. Less satisfied with being defined by what we have instead of who we are. Less satisfied by material gain and consumerism. Less satisfied with conforming and settling. Less satisfied with more and more satisfied with less. This world needs more people who are less satisfied.
This world needs more people who are alive. People who love what they do, who have passion, purpose, drive. People who aren't in it for fame and fortune; genuine people with genuine hearts that have been broken by things of this world and are on fire for what they stand for and what they believe in. There are far too many people who settle; settle for comfort and luxury and worldly things; settle for something they don't love, something they don't have a desire to do just because it's far easier and far more comfortable. This world needs more people who are alive.
This world needs less me and more we. We have become a society that is all about ourselves. All about getting ourselves to the top and we don't care who we step on in the process. It is about OUR time, OUR money, OUR families, OUR lives; what about the rest of the billions of people in the world; what about their time, their money, their families, their lives. We say we want to decrease the gap between the rich and the poor but that gap is still growing; growing as we take everything-everything that we already have- for ourselves and leave the rest with nothing. This world needs less me and more we.
This world needs more hope. Everywhere you look there is death, poverty, despair, depression, a pure emptiness that plagues people. It is enough to get you down, to dig a dark hole and bury you in it; it sits heavy on your shoulders, wears emotions thin. It sucks the love, life and hope out of the light that tries to shine. It is easy to get burnt out, to get bogged down and fall into that despair, to only see negative, to hate this world and what it brings. Amongst all that dark, there is hope though. Light that is shining through despair and depression, something deeper that is filling emptiness, something revolutionary that is changing poverty. There is hope. Hope in small deeds, hope in making a difference, hope in small acts that may change this world. This world needs more hope.
This world needs more people who are alive. People who love what they do, who have passion, purpose, drive. People who aren't in it for fame and fortune; genuine people with genuine hearts that have been broken by things of this world and are on fire for what they stand for and what they believe in. There are far too many people who settle; settle for comfort and luxury and worldly things; settle for something they don't love, something they don't have a desire to do just because it's far easier and far more comfortable. This world needs more people who are alive.
This world needs less me and more we. We have become a society that is all about ourselves. All about getting ourselves to the top and we don't care who we step on in the process. It is about OUR time, OUR money, OUR families, OUR lives; what about the rest of the billions of people in the world; what about their time, their money, their families, their lives. We say we want to decrease the gap between the rich and the poor but that gap is still growing; growing as we take everything-everything that we already have- for ourselves and leave the rest with nothing. This world needs less me and more we.
This world needs more hope. Everywhere you look there is death, poverty, despair, depression, a pure emptiness that plagues people. It is enough to get you down, to dig a dark hole and bury you in it; it sits heavy on your shoulders, wears emotions thin. It sucks the love, life and hope out of the light that tries to shine. It is easy to get burnt out, to get bogged down and fall into that despair, to only see negative, to hate this world and what it brings. Amongst all that dark, there is hope though. Light that is shining through despair and depression, something deeper that is filling emptiness, something revolutionary that is changing poverty. There is hope. Hope in small deeds, hope in making a difference, hope in small acts that may change this world. This world needs more hope.
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