Moments D655: Debatable

I've never been good at debates.  Some of those closest to me may disagree.  Come to think of it, they may even vehemently disagree with that point.

So let me clarify.  Organized debates.  Debates with high stakes, be it high emotion, high passion, or simply leading towards an important outcome.  Nerves would get the best of me.

Tonight, I watch part of the Bill Nye and Ken Ham debate.  Science vs. Genesis.  Wow.  Talk about high stakes.

It was fascinating to watch to diametrically opposed positions walk through their points to support their positions.  It was even more fascinating to watch them counter-point their opponents points.

I surprised myself watching this debate.  First and foremost, I found myself open minded enough to really listen and pay attention to Ken Ham's points.  Secondly, I actually found myself giving a few nods to Ken Ham's points than I had ever expected.  He was an eloquent speaker and though he sounded defensive more often than not, he had a true path.

Bill Nye was brilliant.  In front of a room of opponents to his view, he walked through his science of life against the most extraordinary claims made by Ken Ham's model of life.

It's an incredible debate.  Watch it.  Talk about it.  Grow from it.

Moments knowing you've grown by experiencing something new.

Moments knowing you should share this experience to help others to grow too.

Moments D654: Bookend

This evening EQ and I went to our first concert together and what an incredible first concert it was.  As everything we do, do don't start small.

We went to see Elton John. A musical legend. A proper knight, knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1998 for his services to music and charitable services. And frankly a man who had great presence on stage without all the crazy costumes he's known for.

Elton John may be a whole lot more tame at 66 than he was at 29, but his talent and passion shone brightly for nearly 3 hours while he was on stage.  He even stopped to do autographs for those in the front row before his encore.  He was more gracious to his devoted fans than I've ever seen a performer be.  Elton John felt bigger than life and I now know, I really know, why he's a legend.

For me, it was a first.  I've never seen Elton John before in concert.  I've always loved some of his music, but I've not really followed him over the years.  My perspective:  A brilliant piano player, with incredibly fun music, married to a fellow Canadian David Furnish.  Yes.  Pretty limited.  I know.  As much as I love music, it's not something that I've invested a lot of time into.

On the flip side, EQ has a deep passion for music.  In many ways, EQ sees (feels?) music in nearly everything around him.  From the sound of my voice to the whisper of a snowfall and everything in between.  Music lives not only around him, but within him.

For EQ, this was the second viewing of Elton John in concert.  EQ's first concert was when he was but a pup.  At the ripe age of 14, EQ watched Elton John perform on his Goodbye Yellowbrick Road Tour.  As a teenager, the concert was, no doubt, awe inspiring to a young man.  This young man, filled with a passion for music, was himself on a path within the world of music.  For years he found deep satisfaction in the industry and music has offered him many extraordinary experiences.

Bookends.  That's what came to mind when I heard the story of Elton John being EQ's first big concert.  A bookend at the start of his musical career.   And then to realize that our first concert was to be Elton John.  Another bookend.  Another marker of a shift in perspective and a future of many extraordinary experiences.
A stretch?  Yes perhaps.  But I do like the serendipity and I'm going to enjoy the flush of excitement that comes with the dream of the extraordinary experiences to come for EQ & I.

Moments of firsts.

Moments of dreaming bigger.

Moments D653: Snow day!

Today a snow storm passed through Toronto.  It wasn't a blizzard, but a lot of snow dropped this morning. Driving was slow.  TTC was slower.  Sidewalks were not yet cleared.   Many complained.  Most grumbled.

For me, I smiled.  I love a pretty snowfall and today's snowfall was big fluffy flakes. A lot of them.  It was like being inside a snow globe.

Sure, the drive to work was slow.  But sometimes slow is better.  During the slow drive, I had time to appreciate the snow dusting the barren trees, the kids all bundled up and tromping through the snow-filled sidewalks and the white sparkly blanket being laid over the city.  It was simply beautiful.



















And then the best part of my day, today's moment, happened.  I received an email from my professor:  class was cancelled tonight!


WOOT!  Snow day!  I haven't had a snow day in years!

So, instead of making my way to class after work, I made my way home.  I turned off my work/school brain and focused on this bonus time with my love.  It was just the two of us.  Picking up groceries, making dinner enjoying a movie and having a very deep conversation.  All moments that I wouldn't have had, had there not been a snow day.

Grateful for the snow.

For its beauty.

For the forced slowdown.

For the time gained with my love.






Moments deeply enjoying winter.

Moments deeply appreciating bonus quality time because of winter.

Moments D652: Flight and Luffy

I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but for me, there are days when I tend to have difficulty speaking.  Forgotten words, words that come out garbled or mumbled and worse yet, words that get all tangled up in themselves.

Today was one of those days for me.  I don't what was with me!  For the life of me, I just couldn't speak properly.

The best garble of the day:  "Flight and Luffy"

Of course, I meant to say:  "Light and Fluffy".

But I couldn't.  Believe me.  I tried.  During the conversation I was having, not only did I say it once, twice, but three times.  After a full-on belly laughter moment for messing up those words, we tried to continue the conversation.

And I did it again.  Twice.  Flight and Luffy.

I gave in to another round of giggles.  Hard not to really.  I figure, in the end, the message of light and fluffy still comes across, right?

But out of curiosity, I looked up Luffy online.  "A half minded hero....a rubber man that uses really cool moves."

Perfect.  Flight & Luffy.

Moments lost in your words.

Moments lost in silliness.

Moments D651: White Daemons

Today I created my own mythical creature. White daemons.   Why not?  I'm creative.  I like to think out of the box from time-to-time and today I needed some help.

Now, I know most think of angels fighting demons.  Partially to be different (and admittedly less religious, though I suppose that could be debated) and partially to have a mythical creature that had a lot more positive oomph, I created white daemons.  

Without further adieu, please allow me to introduce you to white daemons:

a divinity or supernatural being filled with the power of light and love.  A creature borne with the essence of spirit and human with the ability to fight their dark daemon/demon cousins with the positive power of their light and love.  

The way I see it, these light filled white daemons are much better able to fight the darkness of their cousins (demons) than angels. Borne from the same family, the yang to the yin, white daemons know the intimate secrets and fears of dark demons.  Oh yes, demons do indeed have fears!  This is a white daemon's secret weapon along with the fact that white daemons will grow stronger the more you feed them.  Their nourishment comes from you - your positive energy.  The more strength they have, the better able they are to shield you from the torment of your dark demons.  Not only will your white daemon act as protector to you from the very beginning, your white daemon will grow ever stronger as you continue feed it your confidence in its ability to torment your tormentor.  Circular? You bet.  The inverse is true as well.  (let's not invoke that!)  Feel it.  Feed it.  Believe it.  

Simple, right?

From that perspective, today I decided that the key is to consciously create a white daemon for every dark demon encountered within.  I liked the visual of my white daemons kicking some serious ass of my dark demons.  And, you know what else?  It is actually quite simple to create a white daemon.  All it requires is awareness and a moment to stop and create a positive energy to counter whatever negative energy torments you.

Many people do this naturally.  Others, at times, struggle to do so.  Others yet fail to ever protect themselves from negative energy. Today, I was inspired to create a manifestation of this process because sometimes seeing your light fight your darkness can be as powerful as other visualization techniques.  Why not visualize my light (white daemons) beating out the dark (demons)?  

Here's my example:  

Fear of abandonment.  Oh, dark demon of mine, I will not purposefully feed you any more negative energy.  No, no!  I may fear you and be tormented by you, but watch out!  Today, today, I create my white daemon to counter you:  I will not be abandoned.  I am surrounded by love and light.  The love and light of my family.  The love and light of my dearest and truest friends.   In times of this fear being activated, dear white daemon, I will look to you to shield me from this tormentor and his pull.  White daemon, I fill you with light and love to protect me from this fear and allow me to grow away from this old demon. 

In my opinion, if you need to build a little white daemon army to fight your dark demons, so be it.  Let them help you fight your dark demons.  Visualize your white daemons winning.  Feed them.  Believe in them.  

You are not alone.  You are never alone.  

Moments being (crazy) creative.

Moments realizing just how deep this could go.

Moments D650: One more episode

If only life were like that.  One more episode.  One more chance to see you favourite characters again.  Oh what many of us would do to have one last episode in life.

Today was a quiet reflection of that idea.  Today EQ and I met up with my parents post their recent Disney cruise with my brother and his family.  It was so very good to see them and to catch up.  There never really seems to be enough time though.  The afternoon flew by and before I knew it EQ and I were back on the highway heading home.

During that short 45 minute drive home, I was supposed to be reading my textbook.  Instead, blaming the dwindling light of the early evening sky, I suggested that we spend the time talking.  Okay, okay.  I lied.  I didn't suggest anything, I actually insisted that we talk instead of us sitting together in silence for the drive.  (Is that bad?)  I could see and feel that something was on EQ's mind.  The energy was pouring off him.

And so we dove in, as we normally do, and before long we were at the heart of it.  Without going into the intimate details, the heart of it was:  fear of change.  When you think about it, we're all afraid of change on some level.  If only we could take some of those fears of change and spin it into a new perspective.  That said, today's fears were a little more primal and deep and it wasn't until much later that I realized this.

We had been home, I had done some reading for class and we were about to snuggle in for the rest of the evening when today's moment hit me.  It happened just as EQ and I realized we had one more episode of Sons of Anarchy to watch for the season's finale.  It was silly, but we had a mini-celebration over the news.  Just when we thought we would have to find something else to watch we were instead able to dive into one more storyline with our favourite characters.  Woot!

Silly, right?  And that's when it hit me.  It's a silly comparison, but one that I think many can appreciate.  The fear of change is like reaching that last episode.  It's the uncertainty of a new chapter (or novel).  It's leaving the past behind with only the future ahead.  Will the next season be as good?  Will you like the characters that remain?  Will you grieve the loss of characters from the last season?  So much uncertainty.  Often, with a good story line, we the audience want one more episode to luxuriate in.

I think we do that in real life too.  One more moment.  That night that you never want to end.  That morning you slap snooze on your alarm clock for just a few more minutes of sleep.  Those last moments with a loved leaving to head home to the other side of the country.  Those moments telling a loved one that it's okay to let go, that those behind will always remember them.

One more moment.  Without really acknowledging it, we have mini-celebrations all the time for finding one more moment.

Today, I acknowledge it aloud:   I am going to celebrate the episode(s) that I'm in because I am simply not ready for the last episode.  I know it will come, in one area of my life or another.  Right now however, I am going to be more present and enjoy and celebrate the episode that I'm in.  I know when the change comes (and it will) I know I will be looking for one more episode, one more moment to celebrate.  I won't be able to stop that natural wish, but I do know I can celebrate a little sooner and be present today.

Moments connecting strange dots together.

Moments reflecting upon the amazing circle of love and light I find myself enveloped in.

Moments D649: February Parties

Holy smokes.  It's February.  Already.  Where the heck does the time go?

Tonight was my 13th work appreciation party.  Thirteen years.  Incredible.

Seriously.  Where does the time go?

It is always a treat to see your fellow co-workers all dressed up for the occasion.  So many smiling faces.  So much joy and laughter.  It's always a pleasure to spend an evening with my co-workers.

Every year there are new faces, new stories to share and a few traditions.  One of my favourite traditions are the selfies that a co-worker and I always do.  But my favourite tradition:  dancing until my feet hurt in those darn pretty shoes.  Oh how I love to dance!  This year was no exception.  The usual suspects were on the dance floor and we danced the night away.

The best part was the moment I realized that I had the perfect date.  That's a new tradition that I look forward to enjoying for the rest of my life.

I've never had a perfect date before.  EQ was the perfect gentleman.  He not only did all the gentlemanly things (you know, like opening doors and such), he was also perfect in the sense that he not only enjoyed time with me, he enjoyed time with my co-workers.  It felt like he actually wanted to be there.  EQ didn't need me to be with him the entire time, he was confident and comfortable meeting my co-workers and making conversation with them.  He was as comfortable dancing with me as he was sitting with my co-workers, talking and watching me dance up a storm with my friends.  What a treat it was to find him across the dance floor, share a smile and then go into another dancing frenzy!

So much fun.  It was so darn easy.

I like easy.  It's a new thing for me.  I could get used to this!

Moments enjoying a loud and noisy celebration with your co-workers.

Moments enjoying quiet reflection of my perfect date.

And, just because, here's a picture of our dessert.  YUM!