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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – On my drive to work one morning I noticed that fog and low clouds had blocked the view of almost all of the wind turbine down the road from my home. Through the mist only one blade could be seen turning and then replaced by the next in the window in the cloud. It created a grand optical illusion of a single blade whirling around mid air.

This sight made me think about the common illustration of the iceberg – there is so much that we do not see. Down my road I know that there is a great big pillar holding up the three spinning blades, and that all together with a handful more, these turbines make up a renewable power source that most locals hate.  In this of time though it was just one blade moving. One blade visible and whirling.

Beyond the iceberg analogy – about understanding that there is way more happening in a story than we can see – I was thinking about how to face problems sometimes. There are times when you need to see the whole picture; however other times the way to survive, sleep, keep on moving is focus. One blade spinning, that could be our agency, our individual role, one day, one task, one phone call.

The one blade in the right now is what we can control, what we can do well, what we know for sure.  Yes, there is a huge turbine of a change perhaps facing our sector and a lot of other parts of the day’s worries, but right here, one blade we can handle, we can do well. We can make a positive change one blade at a time.

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From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – I recently attended a Remembrance Day service in a rural location. The local legion was there with flags, there were two ministers ready with speeches, and the local volunteer firefighters had their truck and many of their crew on hand. However, the person in charge of the sound system was late … then later … and then actually did not arrive.

As a crowd member, I knew something was wrong since the ceremony was late and there was a scramble among the volunteers to get things sorted. In the end, the firefighters rigged the sound system in their truck to work from the receiver that the ministers then held. Next, the firefighters found the needed music on one of their phones and piped the trumpet tribute through the truck’s sound system.

This was far from the perfect solution and it was hard to hear at many times, but what I love is that everyone worked to come up with a solution. I think plenty of “sound guys” fail to show up when we need them… someone that we were counting on let us down, a plan that did not work out as expected, a crisis arrived on a Tuesday morning that completely decimates the well made plans.

Sometimes, we just need to scan the landscape, think about wild possible solutions, look for the nearest firetruck, regroup and ask for help … take the creative, seemingly wacky, suggestions and then just go with it. Perfect the ceremony was not, but it was still a few moments in time during which a group of people joined together to remember their local heroes – and it worked.

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From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – I have been working on a speech for an upcoming event and thinking of calling the speech, “Bring it.”

I have been pondering how each of us has an unique perspective, which I have written about countess times. We are hot mess of the influences of our childhood experiences, our heroes, our families, our education, books we read, what makes an impact on us.

When I say “bring it” I mean do not be afraid to ask, to suggest, to recognize something important from your unique vantage point.

Only you may see the situation at hand in a way that points directly to a solution.  However, we are often afraid or hesitant to speak up because maybe everyone in the room has been doing this longer that we have, or don’t seem open to a new idea.

I once heard a story of a long-term care home in which a resident with dementia was “attacking” people walking past his room by running at them and slamming them into the opposite wall.  A brand-new staff member on orientation observed this, read the person’s file and thought about it from his own viewpoint. The resident played professional hockey and the hall was painted and lit in a way that the new staff recognized – the hallway looked the like the boards of an ice rink.  The resident was body checking in the hallway just as he did in his hockey days. The new staff dared to speak out and share this observation – and probably sounded nuts – but a new paint job stopped the “attacks.”

Bring it, all of it, test things out as only you can uniquely do.

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From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – Wow, is it ever getting dark early! I noticed last week driving home at 6:48 that it was almost completely dark. Then I remembered that the time change was coming and so soon the darkness would be arriving an hour earlier.

Positives of shorter days … there is no drive to do yard work after work (too dark), cozying up with a book is socially acceptable at any hour of the evening and lastly, Christmas must be around the corner.

I think, as humans, we are drawn to the light … we naturally face into the sunshine and soak up positive rays. I guess that is why the vacation companies advertise so heavily in the winter … we are craving the sun.

There is some comfort in the darkness … comfort food, fireside chats and throw-blankets all of the sudden, have some utility. There is time and space in the darker evening to be still and maybe listen to our hearts, to focus on how, if allowed, one candle can fill a room with light.

Take some time to soak up the darkness, the comfort of a snuggly blanket and a cuppa. The sun will be back in its time, the spring yard work will be waiting, and the days will begin to get longer again in just a few weeks.

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From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – I think most people who know me would say that I drive a lot for work – and yes, my record is over 1000 km in a week – but I drive to Haliburton, Belleville, Kingston and other destinations in my region with ease. The 90 kms to Toronto is a different story.  I am fine until I turn off the DVP and enter the city – streets couched by sky high buildings, pedestrians, bicycles, unpredictable taxis and me.

Even when the driving is not so bad, however, I am always out of my mind with worry if I am unsure of where to park or how to enter the car park at my destination. I fret and grump and moan. This week I tried something different – I forced myself to smile when I turned onto Bloor street. I looked at the CN tower in the setting sun and took a breath to recognize its beauty. I purposely tried to calm my own nerves and enjoy the fact that I have a chance to go to this great city of millions of people and events and culture.

I would love to now say that everything happened with great ease, but no. I entered the hotel in valet part, had to cut through a building to find parking and circled for a full 20 minutes in a dank garage to find a cramped spot to park. What was different however, was in fact me – I was not gnashing my teeth, I was just working to enjoy the ride. I guess  that’s the choice that we have before us in all things – find the view, smile, take a deep breath and recognize the opportunity of the present.

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From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – Up until a few days ago, I could have been heard saying that winter tent camping seems like a doable thing as long as you have a super warm sleeping bag. Now, however, I have experienced a camper with no heat when the night temperature dipped to -2.5 Celsius … nowhere near a wintry night … and I froze.

I had a great sleeping bag, wool blankets, wool socks and a toque, but I was still so cold. One of the problems was that I sat too long by a cozy fire and got a chill walking back to my campsite and then, with no heat in the camper, I did not recover.

Two take-aways … first, it often takes a firsthand experience to really have a solid opinion. Second, I think I may have been warm enough if not for that chill.

So, in all, things I would guess that if we can keep ourselves from a deficit … in warmth, in positivity, in rest, in joy, in wonder and in gratitude … even the coldest storms of trouble could not throw us off our game.

A third take-away that just occurred to me is that, after my cold night, my brother came to the rescue with an extra heater. If only I had asked around as I went to bed in the first place, I could have been warm!

Ask around for help and support, get warmer based on someone else’s strengths and you are even further ahead. If, after all of this, you still enjoy winter tent camping, you are superhuman in my opinion.

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