Beautiful, Intimidating, Light And Dark...

                                                                 PHOTO CREDIT: GOOGLE IMAGES

Hi!

So I've been watching the Olympics here and there all week. 

Whenever I watch things like this, where humans push themselves to the absolute limits of what is possible, part of me asks, why torture yourself for a game? The other part of me gets it... completely.

You prep and practice and pour your soul into what makes it shine, hold that work up for the world to see, then watch and hope all of your work pays off. 

One moment in time can dictate everything that happens next.

The determination and dedication. The pressure, the stress. The euphoria of victory, the agony of loss.

What it must feel like as they get off the bus at the edge of the Olympic village. The awe that must hit them like a ton of bricks. The realization that everything they have done up to this point has brought to this moment in time, this place, this opportunity. 

This time, this Olympics, after being on again, off again, maybe canceled, then postponed, trying to properly train during a pandemic, eventually competing while the pandemic still strides on... this time it's gotta be harder and stranger than any Olympics in recent history. 

For those of us who watch from the comfort of our cushy couches, these games give us something to cheer for. I, for one, haven't had a good excuse to yell at my tv for a long time. I'm not gonna lie, I missed it more than I thought. 

For those in it, I'm sure it would be very different. If I put myself in their shoes...

Beautiful...

A new city... but you can't really explore it because... frickin' Covid. Meeting new teammates, new friends, getting reacquainted with familiar faces. The opportunity to compete against people who love what you love, and push you to be your best at it. The pomp and circumstance you watched on tv as a kid, now you're here, you're in it, you are it, it is you. Your anthem ringing, echoing through the air as the flag of your country rises. Tears forcing their way through. Overwhelmed by joy, by an incredibly impossible blend of humility and pride. Beautiful.

Intimidating...

You're here. Really here. Sure it may be a different city, a different time, a different world, but it's still the same. The same spirit, the same test of both your physical and mental prowess. These are the same events your heroes competed in. It's their names in the record books. Who are you to think your name belongs on the same pages? The press screams how you should just be able to walk away with the gold, like it's a given. They don't seem to understand how many things have to go right for that to happen and how precious few have to go wrong for it not to happen at all. Intimidating.

Light...

The spectacle of the opening ceremonies, the medals, the personal bests, the time between to relax and goof around with teammates. The chance, though limited at these games, to attend events you aren't in with the sole purpose of cheering your friends on. Being the support you wish for when it's your turn. The incredible stories you'll have to tell when you get home and for the rest of your life. Light.

Dark...

The pressure felt to your core. The weight of your country on your shoulders. You don't want to let anyone down. Your parents who have sacrificed so much to support this dream. Your coaches, your sponsors, the little faces that you know look up to you. All of them. Everyone. The knowledge that all of your training, the years of work, all of your sacrifice, all comes down to a few moments on the field, in the pool, on the pitch. It feels like life or death. Dark.

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Events like the Olympics are a microcosm of life.

Beautiful...

Always new things to explore, people to meet, friends to keep, countless celebrations to take in along the way. Opportunities to do our best at what makes our souls shine, support to and the odd push to do just that. Overwhelmed by joy, by an incredibly impossible blend of humility and pride. Beautiful.

Intimidating...

The moments of questioning who you are to think you can do what you are trying to do. Who are you to think you can do it as well or maybe even better than someone else? Toxic people make a buffet of your self-doubt feeding with gluttonous fervour. Some feel like you should just be able to do it, without issue, like it's nothing. They don't seem to understand how many things have to go right for that to happen and how precious few have to go wrong for it not to happen at all. Intimidating.

Light...

The celebrations. The births and birthdays. The weddings and anniversaries. The family reunions. The backyard shenanigans. The time spent with little purpose but catching our breath. The chance to participate. The chance to cheer on others and support their dreams. The memories we create. The incredible stories you'll own to tell for the rest of your life. Light.

Dark...

The pressure to 'succeed'. The weight of your family on your shoulders. The fear of letting people down. The fear of disappointing those that look up to you. Not living up to others' expectations. Career choices. Life choices. Feeling the pressure to your core. It feels like life or death. Dark.

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I guess it boils down to this.

Without the dark would the light seem as bright, feel as warm?

Without the intimidation, would the victory seem as sweet?

One moment in time can dictate everything that happens next. Yet, no matter how big, it is but a moment. 

The trick is to understand that the moments aren't always big, they aren't always cataclysmic, and almost all of the time it's not life or death. Next can be awesome and it's mostly baby steps that get us there. 

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For the athletes, both armchair and in the games...

May you hear our cheers from thousands of miles away, feel them, have them boost what needs boosting.

May your best be allowed to shine when it's time, with nothing to hinder your stride, with the outcome of your choosing. 

May this experience be everything you hoped for, everything you wished for, everything you wanted it to be.

May you know that everything it took to get where you are was worth it, the marvel of what you can do is an amazing sight to see. 

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A Splash Of Light At The End Of The Bridge...

Hi.

These ramblings are going up a bit early this week. 

The reason isn't a fun one. It's to attend the memorial of an awesome man who just happened to be the Dad of my dearest friend on the planet.

It will be a celebration of his life. A life brought to an abrupt end by Covid. A life that was full of a ton of love, joy, friendships, a fair amount of mischief, a lot of laughs, and its share of heartaches.

I look so forward to seeing my friend for the first time in over a year, I just wish it was under happier circumstances. 

Next time. Ooooooo and there will be many next times.

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Light falls in odd places. Sometimes in places we least expect.

There are times when the hard things seem like the only things. It seems that the joyful, happy things, the good things, get outnumbered, overshadowed, out-sized. It can be easy to become overwhelmed.

No matter how things seem to be falling apart at different degrees, in different aspects of your life, in different parts of the world, for different reasons, it's important to continue to remind ourselves that the hard things are never the only things.

There is always a glimmer of joy. A splash of light at the end of the bridge. It's important to remind ourselves that everything is a bridge, life has no dead ends. There is always a way, around, under, over, or through. You are 100 percent going to get bumped, bruised, and scarred up along the way, but that won't be all of it. You will have belly laughs, people to love, incredible surprises, and moments of unimaginable joy. 

Be greedy. Accumulate as many of the glimmers, splashes, and moments as you can. Create them where you are able, accept and appreciate the ones that fall in your lap. 

If this past year or so has taught us anything, it's not to waste our time on this spinning marble we call home.

Spend your precious time on things that really matter to you, with people who really matter to you, in places that really matter to you.

We all need to make a living. That's a given. But, making your living isn't your life. Better yet, find the thing that lights you up and do your level best to make your living doing that, at least part of it. 

Wait tables between gigs. Clean toilets, while creating and selling your hand-crafted jewelry. Work an assembly line while providing after-school programs for at-risk kids. Work retail while writing your book. Flip burgers while you paint your masterpiece.

Make the jewelry, create the cake, sing the song, do the play, write the book, bring the joy, be open to the unexpected splashes of light. 

The hard things are never the only things. 

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May we find joy, create joy, hoard it, spread it, accept it, build it into our every day.

May we embrace it, hold it, nurture it, bring it in, give it a home, let it stay. 

May we see that the hard things are never the only things, just a fraction of the whole.

May we allow ourselves to sing the song, dance the dance, write the book, do what feeds our soul.

May we all find our splashes of light, in whatever form they take.

May we find a kinder way to live, our humanity is what's at stake.

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Let's Force The Sunset...

 Hi!

As worldwide data about the efficacy of the vaccines becomes more available, we are discovering just how well they are working.

It's awesome!

This makes it even more heartbreaking to find that cases are rising in almost all fifty states in the United States. They have easy access to free shots. They have plenty to go around. They have the manpower to administer them. They have every advantage. Yet, too many simply refuse. 

The United States is, by no means the only place there is hesitancy, there are pockets of it everywhere. It just seems to be where it's more prevalent.

The people who seem to be the most hesitant, or are just flat out refusing, are the ones who have been fed a steady diet of misinformation for so long they can't see or hear anything else. 

Almost all of the new cases are hitting the unvaccinated. The cases are hitting younger people. The variants are harsher than the original, so more and more young people are ending up in the hospital or worse. 

This isn't the beginning. There is s very simple way to stop this. 

I can't help but think of all the littles who are too young to get the shots. They are fully dependent on the big people in their lives to keep them safe. They actually don't have a choice. They actually have no power. They are stuck with whatever decision is made by those who care for them.

Most of us would walk through fire to protect our littles. Why wouldn't we do something as simple as getting a couple of shots in the arm, even if it means you feel a bit crappy for a few days. Hell, even if it makes you feel like hell for a month. As long as it works, does it even matter?

Everything has side effects. Everything has risks. Everything always comes down to a risk vs. reward pros and cons list. But to do a real pros and cons list you have to deal in reality. To do a real pros and cons list you have to set aside misinformation. 

Can you imagine if we let misinformation drive decisions in other aspects of our lives?

If misinformation drove collective decisions in the past, we wouldn't have antibiotics, we wouldn't have seat belts, car seats, airplanes, smartphones. If misinformation still led society, women would still be being burned at the stake for witchcraft.

Misinformation, outside the realm of actual comedy, is incredibly dangerous. 

Are there side effects to the shots? For some, yes. For some, nope. 

Can some of the side effects be severe? From worldwide data, it looks like very few. You are much more likely to get hit by lightning or win a long-shot lottery than having severe side effects.

Does it work? Real-world data shows a resounding YES! After billions of shots given across the world, almost all new cases, especially severe cases are in unvaccinated people. 

For those who have been putting it off to see how it's affecting the majority of people, please go to international medical data put out by reputable, experienced, sources. You will find over and over again that the shots are not only working, but working really well, even against the existing variants.

The thing about viruses, though, is that if they are given room to grow, room to breathe, they will. If the world doesn't get a better handle on this thing, get as many people vaccinated as possible, new variants will continue to pop up. As they do, it is inevitable that one will develop that will be more resistant to our existing vaccines. Then, my friends, we would be back in the deep all over again.

Collectively, we have the power to force the sunset on this nightmare. To put it in the rearview. To show we are smart enough to put this in the history books beside other defeated viruses. 

All we have to do is do it.

Don't let this thing steal any more of our people. Steal any more of our joy. Steal any more of our freedoms. 

I don't understand what drives the misinformation. I can't wrap my head around the lack of logic, the lack of critical thinking. If someone could explain it to me, backed up by actual facts, maybe it would make more sense. 

Time has passed. The proof is, indeed, in the pudding. In parts of the world where a vast majority of people are vaccinated, there are precious few cases. Even fewer cases of severe cases, and even fewer cases of deaths. 

Let's finish this. Let's force the sunset. 

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May we all get behind what has been proven to work.

May we do so, so we can get past this, completely, this duty we can not sherk.

May we do it for the littles, the vulnerable, those who have no choice.

May we be their protector, their champion, their voice.

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Living A Disney Logic Weekend....

 

Hi!

The news these days carries with it things both good and bad. This, in and of itself is life, really. Good, not so good, and downright horrible.

I've decided that this weekend, I'm taking a news holiday, and, instead am going to live the weekend by the Disney laws of logic. 

According to Disney logic, I will spend the weekend frolicking in the forest with my adorable animal friends, singing semi-operatic solos, dancing to the music that magically echoes through the trees, and napping in perfumed beds of wildflowers.

You might ask, where do I find this incredible tome of logic? Where is it housed? The Louvre? The Smithsonian? The Museum of Modern Art?

The answer to these fabulous questions is simple. 

In my overtired, overworked, overstressed, overheated, menopausal mind, that's where.

Hence, the news holiday.

So, using Disney logic, my furry friends will be in charge of vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing toilets, cooking, then, designing and creating a custom ball gown just for me, cuz, you know, why not?

I will then be bestowed with some kind of magical power. Maybe I will shoot icicles from my fingertips, maybe I will turn into a mermaid when my feet get wet, or maybe I'll get a hit of dark magic and be able to turn into a giant dragon. Hell, I'd settle for not trying to spontaneously combust on a regular basis. Freakin' hot flashes.

*Whine warning!*

Hot flashes and heat waves are not a fun combination. DO NOT RECOMMEND!

But I digress...

So if you need me this weekend, join me in the forest... in the shade... singing and dancing with my highly intelligent, talking, furry friends.

Is it just me, or were the creators of these Disney movies high as hell?! I mean...

Or maybe they were just going through different stages of menopause... sweating like a swimming mermaid, cold and prickly at times, feeling completely capable of breathing fire, at times.... hmmmmmmm. It doesn't explain the talking animals, but hell, hallucinations can happen if you go long enough without sleep, right? 

So, off to the woods I go... See you next week. 

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May you find yourself a field of wild flowers in which to take a nap.

May you frolic without hindrance, sing without hesitation, dance without giving a crap.

May you take a day or two, and really allow yourself to breathe.

May you see that it's actually okay to do so, Disney logic, page 52 paragraph three.

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For Us It's Uncomfortable...

                             

Hi!

Okay, so a few things...

First, the thing foremost on my mind. This heat.

Sure, I get whiny about it. Partnered with hot flashes it sucks... a lot. But, for us, it's uncomfortable. We have the means to find air conditioning if need be. I have access to a cool shower whenever I want. I have access to unlimited cold drinking water. For us, it's uncomfortable.

For others, not so much. Some have already perished because of this heat. Fires are being sparked by things like sparks from a train running down the tracks. There are those who don't have decent access to shade, let alone air conditioning. 

For us, it's uncomfortable.

Next...

So July 1 was Canada Day. It was acknowledged in different ways this year. The red of the maple leaf was partially eclipsed by the Orange of the T-shirts that are bringing awareness to the injustices that have happened and continue to happen to our indigenous people, as it should have. More bodies of tortured babies are being discovered almost daily. The sins of these residential "schools" being brought to light leaving fewer places to hide. Yet, the Catholic Church and the Government still cling to the cover-ups, to withholding information, they keep fighting transparency. Just bust open the doors and let it out. Healing can't begin until you do. 

For our First Nations people, this must be excruciating. Picking at the scabs of wounds they thought were healing but upon full exposure were found to be infected. Given nothing but superficial band-aids thus far, how could it be anything else?  

For our First Nations, it's horrific.

For us, it's uncomfortable.

Another thing...

Bill Cosby was released. Released, set free, on a technicality. 

This doesn't make him innocent. It doesn't make him any less guilty. It doesn't erase the trauma he forced upon these women. (more than 50 at last count) All this means is that he has a lot of money to pay lawyers to find an i undotted, a t uncrossed, an unsigned document. Lots of money, lots of lawyers, unlimited time to comb through everything. 

They wonder why so few victims report sexual assault.

His release is going to hit these women like a ton of bricks. They were put through all kinds of hell to see this to the end. They had finally received some kind of justice, even if it was years later, even if it was only 10 years, even if...

And then, just like that, with a stroke of a pen... poof. He's free. Like nothing happened. Back to his cushie life. 

This happens more often than we think. These monsters get set free, or never charged to begin with. For the victims, it's crushing.

For the rest, it's uncomfortable.

One last thing...

Ummmmm, as more information is released, it's looking more and more like the Trump Organization was even more criminal than I, for one, first thought. This is the first domino, it's only going to get more interesting from here. 

None of it is surprising, but it is shocking how long they got away with it.

I can't get over the fact how utterly dumb it was for the Grand Cheeto to run for president.

I mean, they were getting away with a lot of underhanded, illegal crap, coasting by, criming without hindrance for decades. Then, in all of his 'good brain' genius, he decided to shove a microscope up his own butt. I mean, when you run for president, you instigate a colonoscopy of your life. All of it. Why would you volunteer to invite that kind of scrutiny to yourself knowing full well all of the illegal shenanigans had to be discovered. 

For the Trump crime syndicate, it's going to be hilariously well deserved.

For us, it's going to be uncomfortable to watch, who am I kidding, it's going to be freakin' fantastic to watch Karma do her thing! 

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May we wade through our discomfort to be a comfort for those who need it most.

May we push for justice, push for light, push for accountability, remain engrossed.

May those who have forced trauma upon others finally come face to face with their ugliness.

May they finally be exposed for who they really are, for all the world to see, unmasked justice. 

May those in charge of dotting the i's and crossing the t's be diligent, be precise, be perfect in their task.

May no amount of scrutiny free the monsters, allow them to roam, this is all we ask.

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