From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – We had a meeting recently at the library in Lindsay, and in their bathroom was a strange mark on the floor. The mark caught my eye because it was not located where there might be wear and tear – by the sink or the door. Instead, the mark was in the middle of the room away from any real traffic areas. The dark, dirty patch contrasted with the light clean tile everywhere else.

A few seconds of investigation alerted me to the placement of the air freshener spritzer on the wall near the ceiling and, using Columbo-like deduction, I figured out that this patch in the floor was marked where the mist from air freshener landed.

Now when the mist is sprayed, you don’t really see it; it is a microscopic amount of air freshener and I am sure most of us were not aware that it really landed anywhere. Here was the proof though, that over time – days, weeks, years – it had built up and now could not be eradicated from the floor with regular mopping.

This experience made me think of the microscopic words that we spray around, that we sometimes vent, even alone in our cars or homes.  These words don’t appear to land either – in fact sometimes a good rant seems to make the air smell better or us feel better.  But what if that too is landing somewhere, building up, getting yuckier and yuckier until somehow there is muck spoiling an otherwise bright and light life?

Maya Angelou often talked about the weight of words and would ask people to leave her home if she thought they were being too negative. I guess she knew too that soon the mop would not be able to tackle the build up if allowed to pile and pile. Fresh air would never leave a stain and smells better.

Photo by PS Photography on Pexels.com

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – I can feel intimidated, especially in a meeting at which people say smart things, demonstrate great knowledge and have an eloquent way of saying what needs to be said. I am in awe of strong, succinct speakers in a heated debate.

I felt this way recently when the person who sat next to me was well dressed, well educated, highly intelligent and bang on in his delivery of essential comments. Actually, I was both intimidated and inspired. Afterwards, as we were leaving the meeting, his terrific tie caught my attention and for a moment, I went against my natural tendency to speak. But then I gave myself a shake – even in the face of someone so genuinely amazing, I must be me.

So, I commented on the great tie and the very polished outfit altogether – he was pushing the limit of business casual all the way to business formal with the whole fabulous ensemble. He thanked me and then took the time to show me that his tie was a “Giorgio Armani.” Of course, this made sense to me – well educated, executive job, more than capable of great things – and now giving me knowledge of designer clothes.

There it was again – I was intimidated, I was less than – big time. Until he added: “I bought it second-hand for $4.”  In a flash he went from superior-bourgeois-intimidating to one of my tribe. Never assume, never shrink in the face of perceived greatness. Instead, rise – we are all good at some things, less at others – and a little thrifty when we need to be.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – I read an article about Terry Fox for which someone asked him how he could keep going on his marathon miles of running each day, how did he not get completely overwhelmed by the road ahead, the endless journey, the challenge? Terry’s response was: “I just focus on running to the next telephone pole.”

Sometimes we are faced with challenges so big that they can overwhelm us. The end goal seems so far off and the change so big that we get discouraged or, even worse, quit all together. The wisdom of the “next telephone pole” approach is that within every humongous goal there are little steps, quick wins, achievable landmarks that we can celebrate along the way.

This fast-paced world, with all of its technological wonders, sometimes gives us a million distractions to keep us from focusing on the positive change we want to make, like a healthier body, meditation, a change for the better at work, a renewed relationship.  Sometimes we can lose focus all together if we happen to have a few good Facebook friends who send awesome jokes and videos to pass the time. 🙂

Maybe we would be less lost if we were to bring it in, make it small, focus on the “next telephone pole” – the task at hand tonight, the walk after supper tonight, the few minutes of mindfulness I can do this morning, the first step of development that I can pen today, the box of Timbits in the lunch room that I can walk by right now.

One step at a time is, after all, how a marathon is run; we can do big things a chunk at a time.

Photo by Michael Foster on Pexels.com

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – The idea of a remote car starter is that, from the heated comfort of your home or office, you can point and click at your vehicle and have it start and get warm as you pack up to go out. When you are ready to leave, your vehicle is cozy warm and de-iced, prepared for departure. What remote car starting practices can you get started in this fresh new year? What do you need to point at – to start up – so that you can be ready for the next step?

For my birthday I received a great gift – a do-it-yourself memoir. The memoir includes hundreds of guiding questions to reflect on and space record the stories; these weave together to make a life, and doing the memoir has me thinking about things long forgotten.

Last night the memoir asked what I envied about others in high school. This question was easy to answer – I did not want to be tall, I wanted to be tiny in stature and frame. This, I had not thought about that in a long time, and now think it rather ridiculous since I am so comfortable in my own skin. If I think about how this shift happened over the years, I think about the gifts that I have allowed the opportunity to grow, and how over time I knew my strengths and weaknesses and tried to work on both.

I got things started long ago that have led to good habits and just plain contentment and, I guess, a healthy dollop of perspective that the grass is greener because it is fake reality.  Point and click at some of your greatest insecurities and start a new idea that you are the single greatest version of yourself ever.

Photo by Bich Tran on Pexels.com

From the desk of Teresa Jordan – Here we are less than a week into a fresh new year and the days are getting longer. It is the winter, it is a fresh beginning and it is a brand new year with no mistakes in it.  Fresh starts are always possible – a new week, a new day, a new hour – but there is something super special about a new year, a new decade in fact.  What opportunity will you take, what change could you make, what will you leave behind?

Leaps of faith usually involve jumping into something when you don’t really have all of the facts or assurances of success. I challenge with a different thought – what if the leap is to leave something behind?

What will you leave in the old year, what did you have in the old decade that you don’t need anymore?  Maybe a belief that you did not measure up, a guilt about a long-past mistake, a grudge about a far-off hurt? What no longer serves you and might be weighing you down? Can you leave it behind?

Many years ago, I bought a wonderful metal trunk that has served as great storage for my entire adult life. Painted on the lid were the words “not needed on voyage.” It’s a fresh start, let’s have a think about what we no longer need. In 2020, let’s put some what could be holding us back to the side, set them down, box them up – let’s figure out what is no longer needed on this wonderful voyage and throw it overboard.

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – Days from now a new year will be upon us, a fresh beginning because of which stores will be marketing exercise equipment and storage components knowing on both fronts that there is a renewed commitment to downsize.

I love New Year celebrations, which for my family involve reviewing the “joy jar,” snippets of joyful moments inserted on scraps of paper throughout the year. We read them over, we remember, we laugh, we sometimes cry. We partake in a family feast with others, make a midnight toast, savour the feeling of a fresh start.

On the Dutch side of my family celebrations involve the traditional drop donuts on New Year’s Eve – oliebollen. Here is the thing about this delicious tradition, they are wonderful right out of the fryer, delicious to have warm on New Year’s Eve, but (in my opinion) the next day they are like hockey pucks with some raisins. They simply must be enjoyed in the moment.

The new year is almost upon us. There will be a lot of noise about what to do to make yourself better, so here is my advice … and it involves sweet treats.  Enjoy your oliebollen, right when it is fresh, right when it is happening, in the moment. Sure, we plan, save, stockpile and make adjustments, but the powdered-sugar-sprinkled oliebollen is the best in the minute it is served – savour every one and the entire year will be sweeter for it.

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar (Happy New Year)!

Photo: Google image search

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – This is a season of extremes, countless moments of joy mixed with overwhelmed to do list writing, wonderful lights and decorations mixed with late night wrapping and feasting mixed with heavy reliance on antacids.  This is a time during which we are all striving for that perfect moment (or moments) that mean we nailed it, we did Christmas well, we had a Hallmark moment.

So, here is what I have learned – Hallmark movies are a wonderful addition to the season as an escape from the busy, but they are not a guide or manual for the perfect Christmas.  I think the perfect thing is impossible, the almost perfect thing might also be fictional.  However, the we are all in this together, we have some food and some gifts, and we are smiling some of the time – totally achievable and probably the stuff of magic anyway.

One of the greatest Christmas memories of my childhood was my Barbie motor home that came in a box about the size of the toy; however, when my parents opened the box late on Christmas Eve they found the IKEA nightmare of a zillion tiny pieces waiting for assembly – they were up until 5 am. My Barbie motor home is a thing of legend, my favourite childhood present, and my parents greatest challenge.

Make Barbie motor home moments this year and relish them. Have a messy, joy-filled, burnt-turkey, delicious, lights-not-twinkling, wonder-filled holiday with family and friends and fun.

Merry Christmas!

Photo credit: Denise Johnson on Unsplash

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – I was struck this week by a lyric in one of the millions of Christmas tunes I have been enjoying – “There is rejoicing in silence.”

I find this to be a bit of a startling idea, since I thought the foundation of the word rejoice was to shout it out loud, make some noise, put your hands together, I can’t hear you kind of term. Yet, here it is, the idea that there is rejoicing in silence.

I also read that snow actually absorbs sound. So not only is winter quiet because no insects sing and there are few birds, but literally all that traffic noise, hustle, bustle and traditionally rejoicing is muffled by the air pockets in the snow, creating the winter quiet.

There is rejoicing in the quiet.

There is a kind of joy that is only found in a quiet moment in the winter heading into Christmas. I think there is great reward in letting a silence fill you up, to not be distracted for just a little while – just breathe and radiate the joy that is in this moment.

I think that the quiet moments can be found even in the busy ramp up to the season. Let’s not miss them, and let’s rejoice.

Photo by Oleg Magni on Pexels.com

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director  – “… with his Grinch feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could this be so?” Dr. Seuss

I have a bad habit, I walk short distances in the snow with my bare feet. Walking in the snow like this is not a Yukon survivalist thing, it is simply a matter of there never being slip-on shoes nearby when I want to quickly get my dog’s attention, or make the short trip to the car, or take out some last minute recycling – and all of these things need doing when I am in my jammies. So, it’s cold, it’s a freezing feeling, but I know that as soon as I leap back through the door, I will wipe my feet on the mat and all will be warm.

For some reason when I watched the Grinch this week for the 56,789th time in my lifetime, his cold feet stood out to me just before he makes his grand revelation that “Christmas is something more.” I know that feeling of freezing feet, was that part of his puzzling success?

The big ideas, changes, insights often are uncomfortable at first. There is often a time of puzzling until our puzzlers are sore, as we wade deeper and deeper into complexities. Freezing feet, discomfort in our age-old beliefs, a questioning of what we thought we knew, or yet another perspective in something we thought we knew for sure – these are all part of the passage through as we lean in and learn.

I know what it is for my feet to feel cold, for a really short time, and I know the warm mat is nearby. So jump into the puzzling, the warmth of a new you, new idea, new perspective – a revelation, a puzzle solution is close at hand.

Photo by Simon Matzinger on Pexels.com

 

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – I just finished a report and had to double check the date. December? Already? Now, I know what you’re thinking … the Christmas decorations all over the place, including my own house, should have been a clue but, really, how did this year pass by so fast?

I read once, probably in my women’s studies classes, that holidays are part of the oppression of women in that they box you in and keep you driven to decorate and host parties at regular intervals, rather than making lofty plans and aspirations.

There may be some truth to the grind of holidays in that way for all of us, but for me they are key markers in time. Back to school and Christmas are the biggies for me. I suddenly realize that my kids are a year older, my husband is a year older, everyone is aging except for me – how strange?

For me, these are two times that I take stock – what am I doing, what am I dreaming, where do I want to go and how should I adjust the sails? I make lists, I think, I marvel at how another year has passed and then I get started chipping away at where I want to be next. These goals are big and small … guide great quality tools at work, learn to play the trumpet, finally clean my closet … all kinds of goals. This goal-setting is an exercise not of feeling overwhelmed of giving me a little reset and a time to reflect on what is important for right now.

December … the season of food and parties and, in those long dark evenings, a little check-in on direction and the settings of the sails.