Taking turns... getting personal

Taking turns... getting personal

Take Your Turn

Take Your Turn

Rule #1: You Show Up

Last week we attended the KS April Event: Taste the World Calgary,a fundraiser for the Angkor Hospital for Children. Karmasisters were out in full force enjoying the libations and mingling with the large group that gathered. As I roamed around the room bumping into old and new friends, I asked how they  heard about TTW and I heard the same theme over and over: they came for Dr. Matt. As I mentioned inthis post, Matt is always generous with his time and freely shares emergency room advice when anyone has a sick child or medical dilemma. No one could turn down the request for help on his project. Yes, it was a fantastic cause, but the bigger draw was supporting someone who knows how to be a good friend.

The girls and I have been discussing what it takes to nurture truly great friendships and what the karmasister rules of friendship are. My #1 rule for friendship is: you show up. I looked around and felt the love of so many of my friends who came out to this event to support Karmasisters, even those who aren’t tied to Dr. Matt or this particular cause. Matt and Kim put the request out to their circle, I spread it to mine, and they came. That’s friendship, and I am fortunate. This fundraiser was held on a Wednesday night, and many of us could have found very valid reasons not to attend. Life is busy. But when girls make a friend's moment a priority in their busy week, I know they are following the rule: you show up for a friend.

Janet 

KS Event Fallout: A True Story

KS Event Fallout: A True Story

Bare Trees

It's January. As if to counteract the scant daylight and barren landscape, we're bombarded each year by peppy phrases:

New beginnings! Fresh starts! Cleansing and purging to reveal the sparkliest version of myself!

Sometimes that all feels inspirational; the push we need to make a change.

But yesterday when the three of us sat down for our first KS meeting of the new year, the mood was different. Talk of new! and bright! andfresh! applies to laundry soap, not our current state of mind. In our circle of friends, we are looking into too many faces of grief today. This is a week of funerals and anniversaries for lives ended much too soon. A nine year old girl. A five year old boy. A beloved husband. A brother. Our hearts are heavy.

So what do we do with our bundle of sadness? How do we actually change the energy into something good? Well truthfully, I don't know any more than you do. But what I have learned from Janet and her yogi brain is that if we draw from something great (that would be...ourselves), we can sometimes branch out from there to those around us, redirecting and building good energy and... yes, karma.

So this week Janet's homework for the three of us is to come back to her with words, sayings, people, ideas, whatever - that just give us pause. Perhaps even give us chills. Because she has a big idea brewing. Huge. As we continue to work on the ever-evolving face of Karmasisters, you'll see what we are working on in 2013. We do hope you like it.

Do something crazy today: add your voice too. What word or phrase resonates with you, right now?

I'll share mine first. As we are starved for light and lightness, I retreat to my favourite lines from Anthem, a Leonard Cohen poem that hangs in my hallway:

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in.

Here we go. Come along. Our winter tree is bare and we need your energy for it to grow into spring.

Penny

First-World Problems in a Third-World Country

                                                

I just returned home from Nicaragua and I'm immediately feeling like I want to go back to my quiet fishing village. The greatest pleasure in traveling to other countries is embracing the way other people live. Here is what I learned...

Roads: Unless you have a truck, motorcycle or a horse don't bother heading onto the road. The bigger vehicle owns the road, and motorcycles are the most efficient form of transportation. If you own a truck, be prepared for unexpected passengers. An open truck bed is an invitation to a free ride.

Power & water: Sometimes there is no power. You get up with the sun and go to bed with the moon. A hot shower is like a gift from God; be thankful the water is clean.

Food: Variety is not important. You eat what is local and fresh. If you are looking for a culinary experience with an iron chef, the end of a dirt road is not where you are going to find it.

Efficiency: When I first arrived I was always processing how staff could be serving my needs more efficiently. I had questions like why are they not multi-tasking? They don't cause they don't have to. This lesson I should take home.

Housing: We were in a small fishing village on a dead end road. Until 5 years ago the residents never saw a tourist. Nicaraguans fish in the morning and find a hammock in the afternoon out of the hot sun. A simple life that that makes our work/life balance seem completely ridiculous. Westerners are starting to buy property around the area and building million-dollar homes. They all sit empty. They are back here, working to pay for their beachfront homes to get 14 days of relaxation a year. When this is explained to the fisherman on the hammock he thinks we are all loco.

Bugs: A conversation started with our favorite Nicarguan, Juan Carlos, about the bugs. He only had one comment. "You do know you are in the jungle?" End of conversation.

I spent one day living in a hammock by the sea looking at the sky. Not one plane flew over, no cruise ships or ski boats in the water. There is nowhere to go, nothing to buy and the only sight to see was the beach. We have much to learn back here in our first-world nation; this corner of the world is doing something right.

It was me. I stole it.

                                      

I stole something last week. Yes, I admit it. I am accepting my karma. Now before you get all judgy on me (please refer to the KS pledge), let me explain.

I stole a day. I know, it sounds crazy to steal a day but last Tuesday I just took off West to the mountains with my dog. I cancelled all of my appointments (with full disclosure about my irresponsible behavior) and blew off two webinars (which I later found out that I can watch at my leisure). The forecast was for a temp of 27c.  It's the start of fall in the mountains. Gorgeous.

I needed this day. I looked around my room, covered in books on social media, business and self help. How could I be taking myself so seriously? I am always preaching about living life, being in the moment and living with passion. So, I called my own bluff. Leaving the city felt like I was skipping school. Tuesday morning and here I was, playing hooky. The weather was spectacular, the foliage in the woods was breathtaking and I was free from WiFi.

Now, looking back on any given weekday I can't remember what I did unless I peek at my calendar. But Tuesday, September 18th I will always remember: a perfect fall day.