Deepak Chopra

I was out for lunch the other day at a place called Kaffa's in Marda Loop here in Calgary. A cute place from the outside with patios and decks and the restaurant in a little old house. This was the first time I was in there and it was as cute inside as it was outside. Mostly Mexican cuisine and it's obvious that they are more of a coffee house than a restaurant, but it was still a nice place to sit down and eat. In the foyer, they had some local newspapers and postings of upcoming events in Calgary. One of them was as flyer for Deepak Chopra. He's coming to the Jubilee Auditorium here in Calgary on Feb 18, 2010!!! Wow... I, of course, have to quickly scan my mental calendar and figure out if I am at a workshop or not... This date is great because I'll be in between workshops. The topic of his talk is Reinventing the Body-Resurrecting the Soul. I've read quite a few of his books and he is part of this new consciousness movement... the one that blends quantum physics with spirituality into something that is very compelling and makes perfect sense. I figure it won't be all that often that I will get to see him... so after a bit of dithering... decided to get tickets. Having just been to the Jubilee Auditorium to see Jesus Christ Superstar... I know that the odds of getting a seat where you can see anything are small... so got seats up in the Second Balcony for $50 each! Not bad... I am looking forward to this... something to enliven the spirit and spread my consciousness wide open!

Shaggy Hair

Have you ever noticed how your hair can go from being fine one day to way too long the next day? It happens overnight it seems! And then it is way too long and getting longer and I keep putting off a haircut because it hasn't reached the point of being unbearable. But in the meantime I am getting longer and shaggier! And there always seems to be some excuse as to why I don't have the time to go and get a haircut or do what needs to be done. I am a great procrastinator and it shows up in my hair! Part of it is that I haven't found a great hair place here in Calgary. Mind you... in PG I just went to Zellers and the Magic Cuts there. Depending on who was working on the day I went in, I could walk out with a half decent haircut or I could walk out with a rather poor cut... uneven on the sides or way too short or just looking goofy... But it was cheap and I knew I could just walk in most times and get my hair cut! Ah well... I wonder at that... the propensity we have to push things ahead of us if they seem too difficuult or time-consuming. And, just like my hair, the things get longer... or wider and deeper or more involved. It would be far better to just handle things as they come up. Somehow though, we think that putting things off will make them easier or something. Truth is... they don't get easier and we just feel more guilty or put upon as they pile up ahead of us. To take a line from Nike... far better to "Just Do It!"...

Cooking up a Storm

Over Christmas, we had quite a few people over for dinner... the full meal deal. Complete with appetizers, main course and dessert. And because I was the stay-at-home one... and because I had the time and the inclination... I got to do the cooking!!! Now, I've had a story going on for a long time, based primarily on my mother's experience, that cooking is a drag! It takes a long time, it's an effort to get everything together and done at the same time and people won't really enjoy it anyhow, so what's the point! I've held onto that story for a long time... but what I discovered this Christmas season is that I do like cooking! And in fact, entertaining is not that hard after all! Some people were 1/2 hour late... and it didnt' really phase me at all, it was OK!! Surprise!!! And I tried out a few new things, like baked brie... and boiling a ham, that I had never done before... and it worked out very well. Thank God for Google and the ability to consult a gazillion recipe options and find something that can be modified to work and produce a yummy result... So now... it is the New Year, and I am actually thinking of taking a cooking class... just for the fun of it! The last cooking class I took was in Grade 8... and it was not all that much fun... I remember being mostly frustrated and not really learning a lot... But, I am open to a different experience... and who knows where it might lead!!

New Year Yoga

Yup... it's a new year offiically... January 4 and a Monday... a new work week... a new year... a new leaf to turn over. I have made the committment with myself that I am going to do yoga every morning... I find that the stretches and the moves are really helping my hips and it is so much more fulfilling to go through life without pain than groaning everytime I bend over. So... there is the yoga... which is really quite simple and basic... maybe I'll even go out and take a course or something. Right now, it's just the yoga cards and me... and doign the moves as best I can do them... A few years ago, I probably would have run screaming in the other direction from the idea of doing yoga... Yoga is bad you know... one of those New Age things! I remember in BC, one school district wanted the kids to all learn yoga and there was a huge uproar from concerned parents who thought this meant that their kids would be learning buddhism and doing "om" things and getting led down the garden path. Myself, I think kids doing yoga could be the best things going for them! They are extremely flexible to begin with, and doing yoga does help to keep you flexible! By the time you reach my age, the flexibility of youth is gone and it's a lot of groaning and disbelief at how tight the muscles are and how stiff I am in the mornings... So, yoga could help with that! I notice a difference already. Early on I had given up hope of every mastering the Spinal Twist move... at least on my left side. The right side wasn't too bad, but if I tried it on the left side I just fell over. My body would not move/bend that way!! And now... I can do it!! Mind you, the Hero move is still an impossibility for me... but I do have hope that one day I will master it. So... I am opening myself up to other spiritual and physical practices... learning that I don't have to be scared of things that I don't understand or don't know about!

Musings on Chocolate

I've begun to wonder why we sabotage ourselves with chocolate... correction... why I sabotage myself with chocolate! I'm not sure about you guys out there... but maybe you do too... Here we are a few days after New Year's Day... a day when many of us make resolute resolutions about the New Year... losing weight, cutting the chocolate, exercising more... communicating more with friends and family... all those good things... And yet, it is a scant week after Christmas that we dare to make those resolutions... Christmas, when many of us get chocolates and cookies and who knows what else...So... what to do with all that chocolate??? Eat it all before New Year's Day??? Total pig out on chocolate??? Or save it and then have it carry forward into our New Year... guaranteed to sabotage our resolutions?? I know... I should be able to have chocolate in the house and be able to pace myself with it... but I don't... or I can't... or I choose not to... And some of this stuff is very yummy... So maybe it's time to give it away?? Nope... can't do that!!! Some of it is already openned and we can't give that away, now can we?? Sigh... I think chocolate should be saved for St. Nicolaus... December 6... we can get all the chocolate we want then... and have a few weeks to get it out of our system, or through our system and can then enter the New Year with a new found resolve to ignore the chocolate monster!! Mind you... I am doing well with no Coca Cola... so there is hope for me yet!!

Divinity or Humanity

10. Am I choosing from my divinity OR am I choosing from my humanity?

Another great question... In this instance, in this moment, am I choosing the high road or the low road? Am I choosing from my humanity with all of its fears and insecurities... or am I choosing from my divinity? In the book, Debbie talks about choosing from my humanity as leading to outer success but inner mess! Feeling empty and exhausted and ultimately unfulfilled. It's the difference between seeing the small picture (from our humanity) and the big picture (from our divinity). Our humanity has many of our gifts and talents to share, but it is also where our fears and limitations show up. What would my life look like today if I were to stop surviving and to really start thriving? What is my vision for me life... the vision that inspired me as a younger person, the vision that somehow got lost in the hustle and bustle of surviving life??

In all of this... in these 10 questions, we can't go it alone. It always helps to have a coach, someone who encourages us when we are faltering, keeps our vision before us and cheers us when we are on track. Someone who calls on our greatness when we would be content to stay in our smallness. Who is your coach? Could be a friend or co-worker...

This is a great little book! And I think I'm going to have sticky notes posted around the office and at home with the different questions... calling me to choose the higher path... The author says there are no extraordinary people... only ordinary people who make extraordinary choices. People who wake up from their routine and who choose something different other than the same old same old...

A New Year

Well... this is highly civilized... I am sitting in Starbucks (it is not January 1... a few days before actually), and I am typing this on my new laptop (a Christmas present from my GEM!)... sipping a hot chocolate and amazed at the fun that this is creating! I am writing for my blog while sitting in a coffee shop. Somehow this ties into my story/vision/whatever of what writers do... so maybe I'm a writer?? Yeah... yeah... this is the year of the Writer in my books! This laptop thing is to support me in being able to write wherever and whenever... so, it is working out well... I wasn't sure about wireless access but Starbucks (bless their hearts) has a deal with Bell wireless where customers with a Starbucks account can sit in a Starbucks, log in using their account and get 2 whole hours of FREE wireless access!!! Very cool!!! I may have to create another account with another id for another 2 hours... so we will see... And now i see that it has an error while saving so I might have to check connectivity... ah we're back... that's good! I would hate to type all this stuff in and then find that I had lost it all!!! Anyhow... I am enjoying myself immensely... So... just thought I'd put that our there... I am looking forward to sitting in the backyard during the summer and typing away... Taking my laptop on a bike ride and typing away at a picnic table somewhere... or sitting on a beach... not necessarily connected to wireless... but still... I have projects I can work on! And I am bouncing up and down with excitement at this idea of being able to write whenever and wherever I am!!! Very way cool... have I mentioned that yet???