Being Canadian

So I was listening to CBC Radio again while I was driving all over the city today and they had this show come on about 'What it Means to be Canadian' they were interviewing 'new' canadians and it really made me appreciate how great it is to live here and be Canadian.   The show is on cbc.ca/now or never.   We take so much for granted;
We can speak our mind
We can protest against things we don't like
We can vote
We can travel safely
We can walk down the streets and not worry about gunfire
We can get married or not if we choose
We can practice any religion
We live in a beautiful, healthy country
We can experience different cultures in our Canadian 'salad bowl'
We can be who we want to be!
I would recommend that everyone listen to this show on Canada Day it will help you appreciate being Canadian.

Brain Freeze

I have been struggling with the tai chi sword form I am learning.  My brain is full and I can't see to successfully move forward with additional moves ... adding anything seems overwhelming and I just don't retain it.  I have tried tricking myself by saying ... hey brain that was part 1 and now we are going to learn part 2 but its not cooperating. So I have changed my focus to improving the performance of what I know (part 1) and giving myself a bit of a rest on adding new moves.  Its frustrating for me, I do not remember things as well as I would like and its frustrating for Sifu Beckett as she keeps showing me the same stuff over and over.  In my hand form I have been working on using my waist more in my Tai Hua form as Sifu suggested and it feels better, if I remember to move my feet as required by the Wudang style it is better balanced and flows nice.

The name of the book is 'Collaborating with the Enemy' tried chapters/indigo none of the stores in the area have it so I will ordered it on Amazon.ca.  I have to WAIT like 2 weeks!! 

Getting it Done!

So my daughter Melanie pointed out something about my behaviour that I was unaware of.  She told me that I am all about the task, getting it done, and I am not appreciating the fun/joyful aspects of the task ... just get the task done, tick it off the list.

Yes I am a type A get things done type of person.  However I did not realize that I was not participating very well in the sharing, visiting, quality time with people part of things, like I Ho Chuan events,  things around the house, work, and work events.  I go ... I do what I got to do ... mentally check it off the list and I am ready to move on to the next one.  Mel said she thinks I am addicted to the rush you get when you have completed a task (apparently there is such a thing, who knew) and I am not taking time to be in the moment, with the people, sharing the experience. 

I have spent the last month studying how I approach and do these types of things.  At the pandamonium in the morning I must admit I was all about the task, setting things up, making sure the things that needed to happen and get done did.  Did I have fun? I made myself take a deep breath and enjoyed my time on the mats at the kwoon, doing the dragon dances and hanging out with people.  But she does have a point, I am about completing the tasks,  the fundraising is a list of things to do with the money as a reward, did I take time to share/connect with people? Not really. 

At work this is my mode, lots of things to get done and check off the list because if you procrastinate it will come back to bite you. 

I think I have designated things like, gardening, vacations and some family get togethers (depends on the family members) as things that I am allowed to linger over and enjoy. If there is a goal or a deadline I am focused only on that and not enough on the journey/experience of getting there.  I have been working on being in the moment a lot more this past month but I keep getting distracted by the next thing on the mental lists that I keep that need to get done.  TV & books allow me to escape my busyness for awhile but again I am inside my head and not interacting with people and being in the moment with them as much as I probably should. 

This was kind of depressing revelation and I am not sure I am even evaluating this correctly.  I will continue to keep this in mind as I move forward. 

Pandamonium - Plants for Sale

So as most of you probably have realized based on my last blog I like to garden and be outdoors.  So after a few years of inattention to my yard, due to Mel being sick, and then my Mom having surgery, and the moles wreaking havoc in the yard, well lets just say the yard and garden were seriously damaged and overgrown.  So this year was the clean up and as a result I have many extra plants that I am planning to sell at the pandemonium as part of my fundraising.  So the list includes but is not limited to Delphiniums (blue), a mystery plant that has a tall spike with white flowers (can't remember the name), lots of strawberry plants, mini pansies (johnny jump ups) and then the extra veggies that we started from seed, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, collards,  thai basil, borage, cucumbers and so on ...   If this is successful then next year I will start lots of seeds in my new greenhouse (we just finished it on the long weekend) and I can have a greater selection / quantity for next year.  

Quack Grass 742

For the past couple of weeks I have been working diligently on getting my garden going and quack grass has been my biggest challenge.  It looked like a million were coming up all over the garden however it was only 742 so far that I have pulled or broken off ... I'm counting everything these days.  Maybe we could do a fundraiser based on the number of weeds we pull out of a garden or flower bed 😓.    

One thing I admire about the darn stuff is how it grows ... wow you want to see a root system these plants have it in spades.  So while I am out there yanking out roots and plants it made me realize how a strong root system can make you indestructible.  No matter what it ... always comes up again!
there is a life lesson in this ... things like
having a good support (root) system, 
how a lot of what goes on with a person is hidden underground
under difficult conditions you can still see growth
it never quits


Not bad characteristics ... I just can't appreciate them right now.

Fundraising

So of course I asked some of the guys at work to sponsor me in my acts of kindness fund raising and several times I have gotten the following response ....

"so if I sponsor you can I get 'credit' for future acts of kindness?" 

And I am confused 😕 and ask 'what do you mean?'

and the response is "so like if in the future I do something that ticks you off, well then you will have to be kind to me and not chew me out".

Now how do I respond to that! 😮  And what does that say about my supervisory/communication skills?  😳

I know that I am blunt in my approach to things,  sometimes lacking in diplomacy,  however if the guys are trying to buy future 'acts of kindness' I may have to implement 'kindness/diplomacy/tact' into my future dealings with them.  Looking back through my notes I noticed my dealings with the guys at work are never in the acts of kindness that I record.  😔 So maybe I am NOT being kind to them?

I am going to have to fix this!

Fundraising for Acts of Kindness

So its been interesting with the new 'Acts of Kindness' sponsor sheet.  I talk to people about sponsoring me for this and I get some really baffled looks and questions. 

Like what IS an act of kindness?   Thank god we have talked about this alot at the I Ho Chuan Meetings ...

How many are you going to do in a week?  This is a tough one ... we record them and try to do at least five a day but it could go higher so its kind of hard to predict ...

Why are you doing this?  I really like this one ... because its so multifaceted. 

I am:
practicing being aware of whats going on around me
making an effort to interact with other people
taking the opportunity to be kind to someone
learning how to talk to people
practicing recording my numbers
practicing self discipline
contributing to the fundraising efforts of the school

sharing the stories about our charities
part of something that changes the world ... one on one, in the community that I live, and across the globe


sharing all of it with the other students at Silent River Kung Fu