Greetings! Isn't it funny how life changes as fast as it does. I remember when my son was born back in 1998. When I think about it I can remember every detail and that was over 15 years ago. The fact that the last 3 years my life has been a blur is an understatement. I have done so many different things during this time that my friends constantly remind me of all the things that I have accomplished. To me, they are just things I do that make me happy. As always, I am constantly pushing the limits, doing new things, advancing my film career knowing that I need to learn more. Its mind boggling to think about all the lessons and realizations I have gone through. The evidence is in the type of acting roles I get or how my scripts unfold when I am writing. Things are definitely advancing and life is on the brink of getting even more exciting.
So I have wonderful news. There was a group of Saskatchewan film makers that entered a film competition called the Cinecoup Accelerator. 90 film projects in total competed with Wolf Cop. It was written by Saskatchewan artist, Writer/Director Lowell Dean. He is a well known director here in Saskatchewan and I have had the pleasure of working with him on a couple of projects a year or so ago. To make a long story short, the group that ran the Wolf Cop project won the competition which meant that they now have a million dollar production budget and guaranteed screenings on 2600 Cineplex screens (don't quote me on this as it could be more...) across Canada. Well Wolf Cop won the completion and I am pleased to announce that I will be appearing in this movie. Its a small role but I have lines in the film. And the fact that I play a tough thug in this movie is also pretty cool too. Playing a bad guy role seems to be very typical for me. I've played a meth addict, a futuristic drug addict, and a killer in the movies I have acted in. I took a workshop with a very good acting coach back in Feb and he taught me that as an actor, I needed to sell my brand or in other words what I was really good at. My brand is bad guy. I play thug very well apparently according to the students at the Saskatchewan Police College. The various scenarios and the students expectation that when they are in my scenario that they have to bring their A game....otherwise the actor in me has fun. Maybe that's why I am playing a thug role in Wolf Cop. The many scenarios I have acted in have prepared me for this moment.
I am very excited about this chance for many reasons. Its my first chance of being in a big budget film with lines. And even though its a small role, it helps with the bigger pictures. And there is always a chance that my look or the way I act out my character may attract the attention of another director or producer. Its definitely another credit to add to my list of accomplishments. This is going to be a fun shoot!
Now to some people, the small role may not seem like much, but to me it is. I earned that spot. Its another learning experience and one more step closer to doing what I love. Its a good way to gauge if I am going in the right direction. I wouldn't want to make the mistake of pursuing something that perhaps I was shouldn't be doing. Landing this role showed me that the learning I did to prepare for auditions had sunk in. This is now the second feature movie that I have been cast in the last 2 years. A year ago it was Bread Thieves (www.breadthievesthemovie.com). The stuff I learned from doing that movie definitely helped me land the role for Wolf Cop. I am totally honored to have been chosen for this role. I really look forward to telling you about my experience on set. If you would like to find out more about Wolf Cop and the journey the production as taken to get to this point, please go to http://archive.cinecoup.com/wolfcop.html and see how the concept went through the competition. To follow the progress of production as the movie is being filmed go to the official site at http://wolfcop.com/ Filming starts tomorrow Oct 27th.
My other feature film Bread Thieves is scheduled to be out soon. Stay tuned for more information about that film as well.
Have a great week!
G.
Saturday 26 October 2013
Monday 14 October 2013
Health Crisis 2013: Bacteria...the scourge of humanity
Greetings everyone. I hope this posting finds you in great spirits as well as health.
Health. We take it for granted sometimes. I mean, if we see a speeding truck we instinctually take the initial action of jumping out of the way. I'm talking about how we take for granted we will not get sick until we get sick. We go throughout our day not even thinking about what is out there that could harm us. I can't say I blame humans for being this way. When we feel good we just go about our lives. Three weeks ago I had one of those health scares that knocked me on my butt and made me slow my life down to a halt.
It started out on a Saturday. I woke up, had breakfast, went and worked out. Just a normal Saturday. After working out I came home, ate lunch and decided to have an afternoon nap. When I woke up I felt achy, almost like I was being hit by the flu. I forced myself to eat later that night and that was when it hit me like a ton of bricks. I went to bed early and didn't get out of bed all day the next day. It wasn't until later that Sunday night that I showed my mom my leg. She's a nurse and when she looked at my leg, which was getting extremely red and puffy, she and immediately said I should go to the hospital. So I went.
I am grateful for the health care system we have in Canada. The downside to it is the long waits in hospital emergency rooms. This particular night was very busy for this particular ER. I was there for 3 1/2 hours, feeling totally ill with a sore lower right leg. To me it looked like an allergic reaction. That being said that I must note that I don't have any allergies. So I was very nervous to say the least. After that 3 hour wait I then decided to just go home and see a doctor the next day.
The next day, I saw the doctor. This MD looked at my leg, said it was an infection called "cellulitis," and she immediately put my on some powerful antibiotics. I went home, took my medicine like a good boy until I realized the next day that this so called bacteria was now tracking up my leg. I then went to a different hospital hoping the wait was less. My leg was a real mess. Red, swollen, and excruciatingly painful. Every time I went from laying down to sitting/standing up made my leg feel like a million spikes were being driven down through my leg towards my foot. No word of a lie, it was the most severe pain I have ever felt in my entire life.
The doctor I saw in the hospital ER (I was seen almost immediately) immediately changed my meds and ordered an ultrasound to make sure I didn't have any clots. My leg was very swollen. As you can see this was turning into quite the nightmare. I had my ultrasound, no clots but they immediately put me on an IV antibiotic that I had to go back and get administered once a day for 6 days.
This was the most sick I have ever been in my life. I really did feel like dying. It was so debilitating. It turned my life upside down and slowed it to a halt. But then, like everything else that ever happens to me, I started thinking to myself at how grateful I was to have all the things I have going for me. I have a job at a company that allows me to take the time to heal myself. I also have a phenomenal group of friends that worried about me and are cheering me on to recovery. I'm being told by the doctors that it will take me up to 3 months to fully recover from what it took this bacteria 3 days to damage. So now I have to endure leg wraps every three days for 2 weeks and then special pressure stockings for 2 months after that. I never once thought that I would have been effected in this way by anything. Its all because I was feeling good. I worked out 4 days a week, I didn't smoke, I ate well, I didn't have any major stresses to bog me down. To go from that to having to prioritize creditors because now I have an illness and have more expenses...you get the picture.
This brings me to the second part of my post. The more I talked about my illness, which I had to explain it to people because I was cancelling out on acting engagements and having time all this time off from work, the more I found out that more people I knew have had this illness. It was more common than a cold in some instances. But why don't people talk about it? I mean, here I was in the midst of a health crisis where, from the research I did, could turn into meningitis, flesh eating disease, coma inducing infections. I could have even lost my leg! It was like 6 degrees of separation through illness. I was shocked that I never heard of any of my friends actually getting this awful sickness until I talked about it. I was expecting shocked looks when I was actually seeing heads nod with understanding.
I am grateful that the survival rate of this illness is high. It knocks us down, expects us to neglect what is happening while making us seriously sick. One thing I can personally say is that it didn't break my spirit. When I was in the midst of feeling ill, I kept on thinking about everything that made me feel good. My son, my family, my friends, my job, my acting, my writing....and the list goes on. Thinking about having all these positives in my life made me put a sense of urgency into making sure I was getting the care I needed. I have lots to live for and I have had a lot of people tell me they were worried. How can I not get better with that kind of support?
I'm on the mend now. 2 weeks of special compression leg wraps and then 2 months of the "special stocking" It would be hoped that I should be back to normal after all that. This whole situation has left me with a sense of being thankful I have had the ability to do all the things I do. It made me appreciate that I have been feeling good enough to do all these things as well it humbled me to know it can be taken away at a moments notice.
That's the underlining moral of this story. Never take for granted all that is positive that you have surrounded yourself with. Support the people that support you and embrace the things that you cherish. Life is very fragile.
Have a great week everyone and Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!
G.
Health. We take it for granted sometimes. I mean, if we see a speeding truck we instinctually take the initial action of jumping out of the way. I'm talking about how we take for granted we will not get sick until we get sick. We go throughout our day not even thinking about what is out there that could harm us. I can't say I blame humans for being this way. When we feel good we just go about our lives. Three weeks ago I had one of those health scares that knocked me on my butt and made me slow my life down to a halt.
It started out on a Saturday. I woke up, had breakfast, went and worked out. Just a normal Saturday. After working out I came home, ate lunch and decided to have an afternoon nap. When I woke up I felt achy, almost like I was being hit by the flu. I forced myself to eat later that night and that was when it hit me like a ton of bricks. I went to bed early and didn't get out of bed all day the next day. It wasn't until later that Sunday night that I showed my mom my leg. She's a nurse and when she looked at my leg, which was getting extremely red and puffy, she and immediately said I should go to the hospital. So I went.
I am grateful for the health care system we have in Canada. The downside to it is the long waits in hospital emergency rooms. This particular night was very busy for this particular ER. I was there for 3 1/2 hours, feeling totally ill with a sore lower right leg. To me it looked like an allergic reaction. That being said that I must note that I don't have any allergies. So I was very nervous to say the least. After that 3 hour wait I then decided to just go home and see a doctor the next day.
The next day, I saw the doctor. This MD looked at my leg, said it was an infection called "cellulitis," and she immediately put my on some powerful antibiotics. I went home, took my medicine like a good boy until I realized the next day that this so called bacteria was now tracking up my leg. I then went to a different hospital hoping the wait was less. My leg was a real mess. Red, swollen, and excruciatingly painful. Every time I went from laying down to sitting/standing up made my leg feel like a million spikes were being driven down through my leg towards my foot. No word of a lie, it was the most severe pain I have ever felt in my entire life.
The doctor I saw in the hospital ER (I was seen almost immediately) immediately changed my meds and ordered an ultrasound to make sure I didn't have any clots. My leg was very swollen. As you can see this was turning into quite the nightmare. I had my ultrasound, no clots but they immediately put me on an IV antibiotic that I had to go back and get administered once a day for 6 days.
This was the most sick I have ever been in my life. I really did feel like dying. It was so debilitating. It turned my life upside down and slowed it to a halt. But then, like everything else that ever happens to me, I started thinking to myself at how grateful I was to have all the things I have going for me. I have a job at a company that allows me to take the time to heal myself. I also have a phenomenal group of friends that worried about me and are cheering me on to recovery. I'm being told by the doctors that it will take me up to 3 months to fully recover from what it took this bacteria 3 days to damage. So now I have to endure leg wraps every three days for 2 weeks and then special pressure stockings for 2 months after that. I never once thought that I would have been effected in this way by anything. Its all because I was feeling good. I worked out 4 days a week, I didn't smoke, I ate well, I didn't have any major stresses to bog me down. To go from that to having to prioritize creditors because now I have an illness and have more expenses...you get the picture.
This brings me to the second part of my post. The more I talked about my illness, which I had to explain it to people because I was cancelling out on acting engagements and having time all this time off from work, the more I found out that more people I knew have had this illness. It was more common than a cold in some instances. But why don't people talk about it? I mean, here I was in the midst of a health crisis where, from the research I did, could turn into meningitis, flesh eating disease, coma inducing infections. I could have even lost my leg! It was like 6 degrees of separation through illness. I was shocked that I never heard of any of my friends actually getting this awful sickness until I talked about it. I was expecting shocked looks when I was actually seeing heads nod with understanding.
I am grateful that the survival rate of this illness is high. It knocks us down, expects us to neglect what is happening while making us seriously sick. One thing I can personally say is that it didn't break my spirit. When I was in the midst of feeling ill, I kept on thinking about everything that made me feel good. My son, my family, my friends, my job, my acting, my writing....and the list goes on. Thinking about having all these positives in my life made me put a sense of urgency into making sure I was getting the care I needed. I have lots to live for and I have had a lot of people tell me they were worried. How can I not get better with that kind of support?
I'm on the mend now. 2 weeks of special compression leg wraps and then 2 months of the "special stocking" It would be hoped that I should be back to normal after all that. This whole situation has left me with a sense of being thankful I have had the ability to do all the things I do. It made me appreciate that I have been feeling good enough to do all these things as well it humbled me to know it can be taken away at a moments notice.
That's the underlining moral of this story. Never take for granted all that is positive that you have surrounded yourself with. Support the people that support you and embrace the things that you cherish. Life is very fragile.
Have a great week everyone and Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!
G.
Saturday 28 September 2013
The law of attraction, fate, and the life pendulum curve ball
Greetings everyone! I hope you are reading this post with a smile in your heart.
Life is funny. We all have hopes and dreams. Goals and aspirations. We grow up wanting to be doctors, lawyers, astronauts. We dream about it. Sometimes we eat and sleep these aspirations. But as humans are programmed to be this way, it seems that we almost always tend to overlook the one thing that controls our destiny.....Fate. Some people believe in Fate exclusively. They think it controls everything. My take on it is that fate feeds off of the energy we send out. If you are in a dark place emotionally, negative things get thrown our way. If we are in a good place great things come our way...or so it seems. That's where the pendulum wreaks havoc and sometimes throws fate a curve ball.
There are a lot of things we have yet to understand about our existence. Centuries ago, we used to think that everything revolved around the Earth and that it was flat and that we would fall off the edge if we went too far. We now know that is not science fact. We now know our universe is a vast expanse populated with a whole bunch of questions marks. We are just starting to learn our potential and how it pertains to this universe as a whole. Its very mind boggling to think of how complex our reality is. I really feel our life is controlled by three elements. 1) The energy we put out, 2) Fate, 3) The "Life Pendulum.
I think, for the most part, that most people know about how the power of attraction uses the energy we pipe out into the world to determine what gets thrown back. I can attest to that. I practice daily on how to turn my negative situations into ones that I direct into positive outcomes. I never swear at that @&%!ing "you-know-who" that just cut me off on the road. The Fate element deals primarily on how, through a series of events, we meet people or how certain situations manifest themselves in our life. Its the life pendulum that is the element that is often over looked. It has two parts: The negative backswing and the Positive upswing.
When I look back over the years I can see how my life has taken turns for the worse as well as the good. I ignored these cycles swings. Because we are a "fast food" society where everything seems to be better when its faster, we tend to get impatient when the "life pendulum" doesn't keep up. My life experience and how I have lived it is a prime example. The fact is it will never keep up with what society wants. Its controlled by fate and by the energy we send out. My pendulum swings very slowly and I am very thankful for that because it makes me the person I am today. We need to accept the negative backswings as a means to learn who we are and what we are capable of. We all have the ability to make things right in our world through perseverance and the drive to make things better. But because the pendulum moves slowly, we tend to ignore it and focus on the bad things that happen to us. I was in that frame of mind for most of my life until I finally figured out that in the order for me to have a positive life I had to change my frame of mind as well recognize that patience was needed to deal with the pendulum.
I can totally see when my life started its upswing. It was in 2000. My grandma had just passed away, my wife had left me and had taken my son with her the next day. Seems pretty negative. My son also had an eating disorder that we were dealing with.....and I also didn't have a car. Sounds like a country song waiting to happen doesn't it? We walked or took the bus everywhere. I had a landlord that moved us around 3 times in one month. It was a very hard time indeed. But something was different when I look back at those dark times. I didn't see it at the time but deep down inside something was stirring inside of me. It was the drive for a better outcome to my life. I focused on my son's feeding issues. Once positive progress had been made with him, then a car manifested itself into my life which opened the door to better employment. I had a few lapses where my positive outcome goals were overwhelmed with people and situations that had negativity attached to them. I worked through all that and basically started purging people that had been trying to manipulate me through their negative influences. I avoided the negative situations that would sometimes pull me in. My son thrived, my employment opportunities got better, and my life lessons started sticking. Four years ago it all came to a head where I made the decision to start making my life better because I wanted to. I got into acting, which lead to writing...which lead to stand up comedy...which lead to a new car...which lead to....get the picture? The fact is, that when the upswing starts things really start happening. I feel now that my life is full of positive energy that is slowing down the pendulum upswing so that I can savor it...allow it to "catch up" and get me to where I want to be in my life. Currently fate is also acting in a positive way in my life. Now its putting the people I need to help me get to the next level into my life. I am making new and strong friendships. My film contacts are there....my script writing is now being recognized (more announcements about that next week....). Life is awesome for me!
I want to encourage all who read my blog regularly to try and recognize and change all that influences your life in a negative way. Your frame of mind is paramount to bringing in the right elements that make life fulfilling. Once you start forcing that change in mindset, it allows that pendulum to start its upswing. And from there, the sky is the limit....or so it seems!
Have a great week everyone! Cheers!
G.
Life is funny. We all have hopes and dreams. Goals and aspirations. We grow up wanting to be doctors, lawyers, astronauts. We dream about it. Sometimes we eat and sleep these aspirations. But as humans are programmed to be this way, it seems that we almost always tend to overlook the one thing that controls our destiny.....Fate. Some people believe in Fate exclusively. They think it controls everything. My take on it is that fate feeds off of the energy we send out. If you are in a dark place emotionally, negative things get thrown our way. If we are in a good place great things come our way...or so it seems. That's where the pendulum wreaks havoc and sometimes throws fate a curve ball.
There are a lot of things we have yet to understand about our existence. Centuries ago, we used to think that everything revolved around the Earth and that it was flat and that we would fall off the edge if we went too far. We now know that is not science fact. We now know our universe is a vast expanse populated with a whole bunch of questions marks. We are just starting to learn our potential and how it pertains to this universe as a whole. Its very mind boggling to think of how complex our reality is. I really feel our life is controlled by three elements. 1) The energy we put out, 2) Fate, 3) The "Life Pendulum.
I think, for the most part, that most people know about how the power of attraction uses the energy we pipe out into the world to determine what gets thrown back. I can attest to that. I practice daily on how to turn my negative situations into ones that I direct into positive outcomes. I never swear at that @&%!ing "you-know-who" that just cut me off on the road. The Fate element deals primarily on how, through a series of events, we meet people or how certain situations manifest themselves in our life. Its the life pendulum that is the element that is often over looked. It has two parts: The negative backswing and the Positive upswing.
When I look back over the years I can see how my life has taken turns for the worse as well as the good. I ignored these cycles swings. Because we are a "fast food" society where everything seems to be better when its faster, we tend to get impatient when the "life pendulum" doesn't keep up. My life experience and how I have lived it is a prime example. The fact is it will never keep up with what society wants. Its controlled by fate and by the energy we send out. My pendulum swings very slowly and I am very thankful for that because it makes me the person I am today. We need to accept the negative backswings as a means to learn who we are and what we are capable of. We all have the ability to make things right in our world through perseverance and the drive to make things better. But because the pendulum moves slowly, we tend to ignore it and focus on the bad things that happen to us. I was in that frame of mind for most of my life until I finally figured out that in the order for me to have a positive life I had to change my frame of mind as well recognize that patience was needed to deal with the pendulum.
I can totally see when my life started its upswing. It was in 2000. My grandma had just passed away, my wife had left me and had taken my son with her the next day. Seems pretty negative. My son also had an eating disorder that we were dealing with.....and I also didn't have a car. Sounds like a country song waiting to happen doesn't it? We walked or took the bus everywhere. I had a landlord that moved us around 3 times in one month. It was a very hard time indeed. But something was different when I look back at those dark times. I didn't see it at the time but deep down inside something was stirring inside of me. It was the drive for a better outcome to my life. I focused on my son's feeding issues. Once positive progress had been made with him, then a car manifested itself into my life which opened the door to better employment. I had a few lapses where my positive outcome goals were overwhelmed with people and situations that had negativity attached to them. I worked through all that and basically started purging people that had been trying to manipulate me through their negative influences. I avoided the negative situations that would sometimes pull me in. My son thrived, my employment opportunities got better, and my life lessons started sticking. Four years ago it all came to a head where I made the decision to start making my life better because I wanted to. I got into acting, which lead to writing...which lead to stand up comedy...which lead to a new car...which lead to....get the picture? The fact is, that when the upswing starts things really start happening. I feel now that my life is full of positive energy that is slowing down the pendulum upswing so that I can savor it...allow it to "catch up" and get me to where I want to be in my life. Currently fate is also acting in a positive way in my life. Now its putting the people I need to help me get to the next level into my life. I am making new and strong friendships. My film contacts are there....my script writing is now being recognized (more announcements about that next week....). Life is awesome for me!
I want to encourage all who read my blog regularly to try and recognize and change all that influences your life in a negative way. Your frame of mind is paramount to bringing in the right elements that make life fulfilling. Once you start forcing that change in mindset, it allows that pendulum to start its upswing. And from there, the sky is the limit....or so it seems!
Have a great week everyone! Cheers!
G.
Monday 2 September 2013
Guest Blog: Empowerment: Choosing Happiness
Greetings everyone! I know, I know, this is quite unorthodox. Two posts in three days? There is a good reason for this. This post was written by a very dear friend of mine that is one of the most amazing people I know. Believe me, she says I am brave from all the things I do...but to know my dear friend Red Bird is to know exactly what courage and bravery really means. We met in highschool and became the best of friends instantly. She was the first school friend to ever remember my birthday and she even gave me a present. I still have the book....Stephen King's Eye of the Dragon. Its these little gestures that she is known for that go along with that contagious smile of hers. Other than the fact that she said I had an "apple ass" in school (I still don't get it...its more ass shaped if you assk me) I trust this woman. She really gets life and has a very unique way of explaining it. She references her blog in this post....please read it. Its has been an amazing journey my dear friend has been on and it really brings home the human condition. But enough of the mushy stuff.....I give you my dear friend Red Bird from the blog Am I lost:
Empowerment: Choosing Happiness
Empowerment: Choosing Happiness
I’m a blogger. I blog. It’s what I do.
I’m a talker. I talk. It’s what I do.
Basically, I communicate. It’s what I’m good at, but, with that said, this funny thing has happened lately; while I talk incessantly, and I communicate ad nauseum, I don’t blog anymore. It seems that I have lost the “Je ne sais quoi” that led me to an almost exasperating need to document, to legitimize my every feeling via my laptop keyboard. I have lost my writing Mojo.
So, dear friend, when you asked me to guest blog for you, it took me FOREVER to get around to doing it, didn’t it?! You did, after all, first shoot out the idea months ago. Despite the fact that you wrote a guest piece for my blog ( http://birdieandsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/11/life-happens-wear-helmet.html ), I still failed to come up with a piece for you in return. Finally, out of shame in response to your most recent request for me to get a move on it(though you termed it more politely!), I pulled out the lap top, fired it up, and did more than just stare at my word processor and then switch to Netflix - I started writing!
Why have I stopped writing? There are several reasons, I suspect: lack of interest, pure laziness and overwork among a few, yes, but, more importantly because…and get ready for this because this might be an odd answer…because I’m HAPPY!
When you take a creative writing class, the first, and perhaps most obvious, lesson you learn is to “write what you know about”. With that in mind, my blog is an outlet for my “knowledge”. As a Mom of an Autistic child, I write about pain, indecision, loss, fear. I write about my struggles, her struggles, and the struggles of my family. Basically, I bounce my thoughts off of my readers in the hopes that what will bounce back will be understanding, empathy and encouragement.
…because I’m HAPPY
When I was younger - a wild and crazy teen and young adult - I thought happy meant laughing, partying, being the centre of attention. As an adult, I thought it was something I should aspire to and strive for, something I should find the meaning of, something everyone, but me, had.
Then, one day recently, I was sitting on the couch, snuggling my puppy, drinking coffee, watching a movie, and it came to me; I’m happy. That one moment in time, snuggling with the puppy left me feeling peaceful and content - like all was “right” in my world. I discovered, in that moment, that happiness is a moment where you’re not striving, when you are content in your skin and in your reality.
How could I be “happy” when nothing had changed in my life? My child was still Autistic and I was still an overtired, overworked single mother trying to make my way in the world without being dependant on people around me. What can be good about those circumstances? What had changed, interestingly, was my bullshit attitude that happiness is an abstract concept, and not my situation. I realized, finally, that happiness is a state of mind. It is not an absence of sadness, as I misguidedly thought, but rather, an acceptance of sadness and hardship and an agreement with yourself to still be grateful for your life, and your blessings.
“It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.”
-Lucille Ball
My world, for all its flaws and pain and heartache was going to be alright, I realized, because I’m capable of making it alright and in that moment, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon filled with the scent of freshly brewed coffee and puppy kisses I understood:” happy” is realizing, and accepting, and feeling gratitude for yourself and all that you can do and be. It’s not laughter or the absence of pain; it’s the beauty of moments that fill you with peace.
Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.
-Carl Jung
I’d discovered peace that day.
This discovery left me so wide open that I felt empowered and, I suspect, because of that revelation, left me capable of handling what was going to come next…a beautiful man who was about to knock me off of my feet and make me feel something I had never felt before: unabashed contentment. In return, in my revelation, I know I can give him the same.
In the end, we need to challenge what we think “happy” means. We need to challenge how we find it, where we find it and what we think it should look like. Most importantly, I think we have to stop looking for it. “Happiness” is not a hunt; it’s not a journey, but a state of being. I’m going to kiss each of my beautiful children, I’m going to smile at my ex-husband and let him off of the hook for being human and I’m going to ask nothing more of my new love than that he be as content, and as giving and honest, with me as I am going to be with him. You Glenn, I’m going to continue to remind on a regular basis that I love you because you figuratively held my hand through some very painful moments, old friend. Together, we shall revel in “happy” and I look forward to being interested in writing for my own blog again someday soon.
I’m a talker. I talk. It’s what I do.
Basically, I communicate. It’s what I’m good at, but, with that said, this funny thing has happened lately; while I talk incessantly, and I communicate ad nauseum, I don’t blog anymore. It seems that I have lost the “Je ne sais quoi” that led me to an almost exasperating need to document, to legitimize my every feeling via my laptop keyboard. I have lost my writing Mojo.
So, dear friend, when you asked me to guest blog for you, it took me FOREVER to get around to doing it, didn’t it?! You did, after all, first shoot out the idea months ago. Despite the fact that you wrote a guest piece for my blog ( http://birdieandsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/11/life-happens-wear-helmet.html ), I still failed to come up with a piece for you in return. Finally, out of shame in response to your most recent request for me to get a move on it(though you termed it more politely!), I pulled out the lap top, fired it up, and did more than just stare at my word processor and then switch to Netflix - I started writing!
Why have I stopped writing? There are several reasons, I suspect: lack of interest, pure laziness and overwork among a few, yes, but, more importantly because…and get ready for this because this might be an odd answer…because I’m HAPPY!
When you take a creative writing class, the first, and perhaps most obvious, lesson you learn is to “write what you know about”. With that in mind, my blog is an outlet for my “knowledge”. As a Mom of an Autistic child, I write about pain, indecision, loss, fear. I write about my struggles, her struggles, and the struggles of my family. Basically, I bounce my thoughts off of my readers in the hopes that what will bounce back will be understanding, empathy and encouragement.
…because I’m HAPPY
hap·py
/ˈhapē/
Adjective
| |
Synonyms
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When I was younger - a wild and crazy teen and young adult - I thought happy meant laughing, partying, being the centre of attention. As an adult, I thought it was something I should aspire to and strive for, something I should find the meaning of, something everyone, but me, had.
Then, one day recently, I was sitting on the couch, snuggling my puppy, drinking coffee, watching a movie, and it came to me; I’m happy. That one moment in time, snuggling with the puppy left me feeling peaceful and content - like all was “right” in my world. I discovered, in that moment, that happiness is a moment where you’re not striving, when you are content in your skin and in your reality.
How could I be “happy” when nothing had changed in my life? My child was still Autistic and I was still an overtired, overworked single mother trying to make my way in the world without being dependant on people around me. What can be good about those circumstances? What had changed, interestingly, was my bullshit attitude that happiness is an abstract concept, and not my situation. I realized, finally, that happiness is a state of mind. It is not an absence of sadness, as I misguidedly thought, but rather, an acceptance of sadness and hardship and an agreement with yourself to still be grateful for your life, and your blessings.
“It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.”
-Lucille Ball
My world, for all its flaws and pain and heartache was going to be alright, I realized, because I’m capable of making it alright and in that moment, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon filled with the scent of freshly brewed coffee and puppy kisses I understood:” happy” is realizing, and accepting, and feeling gratitude for yourself and all that you can do and be. It’s not laughter or the absence of pain; it’s the beauty of moments that fill you with peace.
Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.
-Carl Jung
I’d discovered peace that day.
This discovery left me so wide open that I felt empowered and, I suspect, because of that revelation, left me capable of handling what was going to come next…a beautiful man who was about to knock me off of my feet and make me feel something I had never felt before: unabashed contentment. In return, in my revelation, I know I can give him the same.
In the end, we need to challenge what we think “happy” means. We need to challenge how we find it, where we find it and what we think it should look like. Most importantly, I think we have to stop looking for it. “Happiness” is not a hunt; it’s not a journey, but a state of being. I’m going to kiss each of my beautiful children, I’m going to smile at my ex-husband and let him off of the hook for being human and I’m going to ask nothing more of my new love than that he be as content, and as giving and honest, with me as I am going to be with him. You Glenn, I’m going to continue to remind on a regular basis that I love you because you figuratively held my hand through some very painful moments, old friend. Together, we shall revel in “happy” and I look forward to being interested in writing for my own blog again someday soon.
Saturday 31 August 2013
Cigarettes are killers that travel in packs
Greetings everyone! I hope your weekend is going well! I just finished moving so to say I am very relaxed right now is an understatement. With coffee in hand, I shall begin this week's blog.
We, as humans, all have milestones in our lives that we like to mark. Some of them are happy ones like birthdays and wedding anniversaries, the date we first kissed the love of our life. Even the passing of a loved one is part of that mix because of how it strikes us emotionally. Milestones are what we also gauge our success by. I have had a few of those over the last 4 years since I started this journey but none of those milestones can compare to the date that I went smoke free. It was one 26 years in the making and it saved my life...literally and figuratively. It was the catalyst that really started this whole journey of self discovery and fulfillment.
I started smoking when I was 14 in July of 1984. To say that at 14 that I was a rebellious teen would be an understatement. My parents were separated so the fact that single parent kids have lots of time on their hands and have many chances to make wrong decisions based on acceptance is very well known. Two of my friends showed up at my door one night and invited me to go out for a bike ride. So I did. We went to my summer vacated school yard, took out a pack of smokes and handed me a cigarette. I told them I didn't smoke but they said that they did and that chicks think its cool. So, I put that smoke in my mouth and lit it up. My friends were very quick to show me the proper way to inhale. They knew when I faked it because I would cough til my face went red when I did inhale and when I didn't and just let the smoke out of my mouth they called me on it and told me to take another drag. Can't waste a cigarette. Then came the smoke ring lessons. It took me a total of 2 days to become accustomed to inhaling cigarette smoke. I also lived in a time where not only did cigarettes cost $2 a pack but they would also sell them to almost anybody, including 5 year old kids with a note. Its really funny how the attitude was back then. It was cool to smoke. Little did I realize that at the ripe old age of 14 that I was about to embark on a 26 year love-hate full blown addiction to nicotine and that would change the course of my life in many ways.
At 14 I was very involved in music and drama. I sang since I was 8, played piano, and acted in musicals since I was in grade 6. When I started smoking, it made my voice change more dramatic. I sang tenor up until then. It took a whole summer of smoking to change my voice from tenor to base. I had to be reevaluated in my vocal jazz class because of this shift. It was evident that smoking wasn't a good thing. But how could I not continue? My parents both smoked so why can't I? I not only decided to continue smoking, but I also embarked on a journey of covert sneakiness which included hiding the fact that I smoked just because I was too chicken to test out the theory that I could use the "you smoke why can't I" remark to guilt my parents into letting me smoke. I was also starting something that I couldn't afford. So far three marks against smoking and I was already ignoring the little angel on my shoulder telling me not to. Sigh...
The rest of my life, up until three years ago, involved smoking. I would have one when I woke up, one on my way to work, during my coffee breaks, before and after lunch. I'm sure you get the point. Its phenomenal to think about how many ways this nasty habit gets a hold of us. I am sitting here writing this and I just realized that I only dated smokers throughout my adult life. I mean, who else would tolerate the smell of stale smoke in the house and cars, in your hair and clothes. The coughing and that little #&!*ing wheeze you hear when you were trying to go to sleep. There is nothing positive that comes from smoking.
On August 22nd 2010, my girlfriend at the time decided to quit. I told her I would let her quit first and then I would quit when her nicotine rage subsided. It became apparent very quickly that my expertise on this subject was very limited, even nil at best. The plain fact was that I had attempted to quit many times over the preceding 26 years so what made me an expert on the psychology of nicotine addiction? I was a nicotine addict that was in denial and making an excuse not to quit. Throughout my entire smoking life my smokers mentality would always break me down quickly. Every time I wanted to quit, the nicotine addiction put that statement all smokers make when they embark on another quitting journey. "What if I don't have any?" DUH!!! That's why you quit! This question would always pop in my head when I attempted to quit. Yes, all 180 million times and I would answer it with going to buy a pack. So because I smelled of smoke every time I had one it made my girlfriend angry. So in an attempt to not to turn her into the "Estrogen She Hulk," I decided out of fear for my life, that on August 29th I would not smoke either. I used the nicotine patch and would pop a lozenge every time I would feel the urge to smoke. It worked for me from the start.
As life always throws us curve balls, my life is no different. During my journey to being a non smoker my relationship ended. Now we all know how stressful and emotional we get during a break up. Take into account that I still had that smoker's mentality. Smokers are always the first to blame something like stress as a reason to go buy a pack. For some reason this time it was different for me. I decided to work through the stress and keep on with what I was doing. I learned a lot about my personal perseverance. I regained my stubbornness to see things to the end and worked through my addiction. It was very empowering when one day, while at work, I realized that I forgot to put on a patch that morning and had pretty much gone 4 hours without it. I panicked at first but I then realized I had finally won. I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Gone now are the days when I would get up at 3 am and drive to get smokes. Gone were the days of hearing that little wheeze when I was trying to go to sleep. Gone are the days that smoking would control my entire life. I don't know how to put in words how empowered and wonderful I felt.
It was learning about my perseverance and drive to succeed at quitting smoking that made me pursue my acting, writing, stand up comedy, etc. Its the drive to feel alive and excited about life that really makes this accomplishment, or rather milestone, really worthwhile. Its a wonderful feeling to say I'm a non-smoker. I have a new car now, I exercise at a gym 4 times a week. I can now smell the sweet smell of spring. Quitting smoking empowers me to always strive to do more and to never waste time doing things that don't make me happy, healthy, and fulfilled. Quitting smoking saved my life......quitting smoking will save yours too! My milestone is that as of August 29th, I have been a non smoker for 3 years and I am never going back. Sometimes I get a whiff of smoke from a passer by who is smoking. It smells good but I then tell myself that if I take one puff of a cigarette I will go down to day zero and have to start counting again. I'm never going back now and I encourage anyone else who struggles with this to quit as well. Learn about your personal perseverance. Get mad at this addiction for controlling your life and mind. Get mad at how it makes you make excuses to go back to it. Get mad for how it prevents you from being happy and healthy and fulfilled.
Thanks for reading my post! Stay tuned for my next entry which will feature a guest blog post from my dear friend Red Bird. She is a cowriter on the blog Am I lost. I am not sure what she is going to write about, but I am sure its not about how to store fruit cake.
Cheers everyone! Until next time!
G.
We, as humans, all have milestones in our lives that we like to mark. Some of them are happy ones like birthdays and wedding anniversaries, the date we first kissed the love of our life. Even the passing of a loved one is part of that mix because of how it strikes us emotionally. Milestones are what we also gauge our success by. I have had a few of those over the last 4 years since I started this journey but none of those milestones can compare to the date that I went smoke free. It was one 26 years in the making and it saved my life...literally and figuratively. It was the catalyst that really started this whole journey of self discovery and fulfillment.
I started smoking when I was 14 in July of 1984. To say that at 14 that I was a rebellious teen would be an understatement. My parents were separated so the fact that single parent kids have lots of time on their hands and have many chances to make wrong decisions based on acceptance is very well known. Two of my friends showed up at my door one night and invited me to go out for a bike ride. So I did. We went to my summer vacated school yard, took out a pack of smokes and handed me a cigarette. I told them I didn't smoke but they said that they did and that chicks think its cool. So, I put that smoke in my mouth and lit it up. My friends were very quick to show me the proper way to inhale. They knew when I faked it because I would cough til my face went red when I did inhale and when I didn't and just let the smoke out of my mouth they called me on it and told me to take another drag. Can't waste a cigarette. Then came the smoke ring lessons. It took me a total of 2 days to become accustomed to inhaling cigarette smoke. I also lived in a time where not only did cigarettes cost $2 a pack but they would also sell them to almost anybody, including 5 year old kids with a note. Its really funny how the attitude was back then. It was cool to smoke. Little did I realize that at the ripe old age of 14 that I was about to embark on a 26 year love-hate full blown addiction to nicotine and that would change the course of my life in many ways.
At 14 I was very involved in music and drama. I sang since I was 8, played piano, and acted in musicals since I was in grade 6. When I started smoking, it made my voice change more dramatic. I sang tenor up until then. It took a whole summer of smoking to change my voice from tenor to base. I had to be reevaluated in my vocal jazz class because of this shift. It was evident that smoking wasn't a good thing. But how could I not continue? My parents both smoked so why can't I? I not only decided to continue smoking, but I also embarked on a journey of covert sneakiness which included hiding the fact that I smoked just because I was too chicken to test out the theory that I could use the "you smoke why can't I" remark to guilt my parents into letting me smoke. I was also starting something that I couldn't afford. So far three marks against smoking and I was already ignoring the little angel on my shoulder telling me not to. Sigh...
The rest of my life, up until three years ago, involved smoking. I would have one when I woke up, one on my way to work, during my coffee breaks, before and after lunch. I'm sure you get the point. Its phenomenal to think about how many ways this nasty habit gets a hold of us. I am sitting here writing this and I just realized that I only dated smokers throughout my adult life. I mean, who else would tolerate the smell of stale smoke in the house and cars, in your hair and clothes. The coughing and that little #&!*ing wheeze you hear when you were trying to go to sleep. There is nothing positive that comes from smoking.
On August 22nd 2010, my girlfriend at the time decided to quit. I told her I would let her quit first and then I would quit when her nicotine rage subsided. It became apparent very quickly that my expertise on this subject was very limited, even nil at best. The plain fact was that I had attempted to quit many times over the preceding 26 years so what made me an expert on the psychology of nicotine addiction? I was a nicotine addict that was in denial and making an excuse not to quit. Throughout my entire smoking life my smokers mentality would always break me down quickly. Every time I wanted to quit, the nicotine addiction put that statement all smokers make when they embark on another quitting journey. "What if I don't have any?" DUH!!! That's why you quit! This question would always pop in my head when I attempted to quit. Yes, all 180 million times and I would answer it with going to buy a pack. So because I smelled of smoke every time I had one it made my girlfriend angry. So in an attempt to not to turn her into the "Estrogen She Hulk," I decided out of fear for my life, that on August 29th I would not smoke either. I used the nicotine patch and would pop a lozenge every time I would feel the urge to smoke. It worked for me from the start.
As life always throws us curve balls, my life is no different. During my journey to being a non smoker my relationship ended. Now we all know how stressful and emotional we get during a break up. Take into account that I still had that smoker's mentality. Smokers are always the first to blame something like stress as a reason to go buy a pack. For some reason this time it was different for me. I decided to work through the stress and keep on with what I was doing. I learned a lot about my personal perseverance. I regained my stubbornness to see things to the end and worked through my addiction. It was very empowering when one day, while at work, I realized that I forgot to put on a patch that morning and had pretty much gone 4 hours without it. I panicked at first but I then realized I had finally won. I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Gone now are the days when I would get up at 3 am and drive to get smokes. Gone were the days of hearing that little wheeze when I was trying to go to sleep. Gone are the days that smoking would control my entire life. I don't know how to put in words how empowered and wonderful I felt.
It was learning about my perseverance and drive to succeed at quitting smoking that made me pursue my acting, writing, stand up comedy, etc. Its the drive to feel alive and excited about life that really makes this accomplishment, or rather milestone, really worthwhile. Its a wonderful feeling to say I'm a non-smoker. I have a new car now, I exercise at a gym 4 times a week. I can now smell the sweet smell of spring. Quitting smoking empowers me to always strive to do more and to never waste time doing things that don't make me happy, healthy, and fulfilled. Quitting smoking saved my life......quitting smoking will save yours too! My milestone is that as of August 29th, I have been a non smoker for 3 years and I am never going back. Sometimes I get a whiff of smoke from a passer by who is smoking. It smells good but I then tell myself that if I take one puff of a cigarette I will go down to day zero and have to start counting again. I'm never going back now and I encourage anyone else who struggles with this to quit as well. Learn about your personal perseverance. Get mad at this addiction for controlling your life and mind. Get mad at how it makes you make excuses to go back to it. Get mad for how it prevents you from being happy and healthy and fulfilled.
Thanks for reading my post! Stay tuned for my next entry which will feature a guest blog post from my dear friend Red Bird. She is a cowriter on the blog Am I lost. I am not sure what she is going to write about, but I am sure its not about how to store fruit cake.
Cheers everyone! Until next time!
G.
Saturday 24 August 2013
Life in the coffee line and the art of paying it forward
Greetings! As I reach the end of my vacation, I can't help reflect about everything that has transpired over this short period of time in my life. I think about how energized I now feel after going through the 9 days that I just did. And on top of it all, to see myself grow as a person amidst all this....words can't describe how grateful I am to have all the wonderful friends I have. And to think how my Facebook friend list grew as well seeing as how I made a whole pile of new ones.
This has been a busy week for me. I just wrapped shooting a film produced through Mental Health and a program called Healing through humor (www.healingthroughhumour.com/). It was a fun shoot indeed. I think there were lots of new talent discovered and definitely new film connections made. My friend, Lindi Edge, got to showcase her wonderful special effects talents which only served to get me anxious to start the filming of the trailer to my story called Oblivious. She's also my special effects guru so I definitely look forward to working with her on this project.
I also bumped into the writer Rick Anthony. He was the author who wrote the script for my upcoming feature movie Bread Thieves. He was very excited about what direction the movie has taken in the post production process. We are looking at the movie finally being completed in 8 weeks. Please have a look at our website and trailer at http://www.breadthievesthemovie.com And please share it with your friends! And yes, even though I do play a meth addict in this movie I want to clarify that I do clean up well. Stay tuned for more details as they unfold.
Its really funny that life has a way of throwing in little litmus tests for us to gauge our moral compass. It could range from things like opening the door for an old lady, helping an old lady with her grocery bags, or even helping an old lady across the street. But sometimes that proverbial old lady does something for you which then tests your ability to show your thanks....and not just with a Werther's Original.
Anyone from Canada knows how stressful it can be to stand in a Tim Horton's coffee line. Most of the bitterness comes from having the new people who newly join the line not follow the unwritten rules of the line...such as not allowing a group of your friends to join your place line thus making me wait for my coffee longer just because so and so doesn't know what the $&*# he/she wants......breath Glenn...breath. I won't even go over what people do when someone cuts into the drive thru line. How can that even happen Glenn you ask? It does...they slowly drive into the parking lot and then turn into the line. And then to have that person look at you and just shrug their shoulders at you knowing full right that they knew you were waiting there in your Sonic Blue 2012 Ford Focus hatch back... I'd rather go into the &#*@ing store!! Breathe Glenn breathe.....I think you get what I'm talking about right? I mean come on! Anger issues aside, the most stressful place in Canada is the Tim Horton's coffee line. Well, that was until I experienced something that totally changed my perspective on what the Tim Horton's coffee line was all about.
And so I shall explain. I was in my local WalMart buying some sustenance products and had walked over to the Tim Horton's in this particular WalMart with 5 bags of groceries in hand. While standing in line, I turned to the old ladies that were standing behind me and made a joke that caused them to laugh little. I typically engage random strangers in stores but making jokes. Just smile and nod...its just my nature. All of a sudden one of the old ladies says to me "You need a cart for all those bags," and then ran across to a cart that was just sitting there about 20 feet away. As she ran to the cart I looked at the people standing in line behind us and I just smiled. The lady came back with this cart and said here, put your bags in their. Because of the effort she made to get the cart, I placed my bags into the car and looked at her and said "You know, seeing as how you made all that effort to make me comfortable please take my spot in line." It was only one spot in the line...but it would make her "next" before me. This is very important seeing as how being "next" is my favorite part of the line. After that its pretty much downhill and anti climatic. So, at first the lady said no. I insisted so she gracefully traded places with me. When I later thought about how much that made me smile, a real sense of joy washed over me. Not only had she made my day, but I made hers as well. It was a very neat moment.
The moral compass lesson learned from all this is that we should always strive to touch people's lives in a positive way. Doing things like random acts of kindness, or even common sense stuff like honesty can go a long way to ensuring positive energy flows in your life and also in the lives of those around you. Never be bitter and always see the value that true and honest friendships can bring to your life.
Have a great week!
G.
This has been a busy week for me. I just wrapped shooting a film produced through Mental Health and a program called Healing through humor (www.healingthroughhumour.com/). It was a fun shoot indeed. I think there were lots of new talent discovered and definitely new film connections made. My friend, Lindi Edge, got to showcase her wonderful special effects talents which only served to get me anxious to start the filming of the trailer to my story called Oblivious. She's also my special effects guru so I definitely look forward to working with her on this project.
I also bumped into the writer Rick Anthony. He was the author who wrote the script for my upcoming feature movie Bread Thieves. He was very excited about what direction the movie has taken in the post production process. We are looking at the movie finally being completed in 8 weeks. Please have a look at our website and trailer at http://www.breadthievesthemovie.com And please share it with your friends! And yes, even though I do play a meth addict in this movie I want to clarify that I do clean up well. Stay tuned for more details as they unfold.
Its really funny that life has a way of throwing in little litmus tests for us to gauge our moral compass. It could range from things like opening the door for an old lady, helping an old lady with her grocery bags, or even helping an old lady across the street. But sometimes that proverbial old lady does something for you which then tests your ability to show your thanks....and not just with a Werther's Original.
Anyone from Canada knows how stressful it can be to stand in a Tim Horton's coffee line. Most of the bitterness comes from having the new people who newly join the line not follow the unwritten rules of the line...such as not allowing a group of your friends to join your place line thus making me wait for my coffee longer just because so and so doesn't know what the $&*# he/she wants......breath Glenn...breath. I won't even go over what people do when someone cuts into the drive thru line. How can that even happen Glenn you ask? It does...they slowly drive into the parking lot and then turn into the line. And then to have that person look at you and just shrug their shoulders at you knowing full right that they knew you were waiting there in your Sonic Blue 2012 Ford Focus hatch back... I'd rather go into the &#*@ing store!! Breathe Glenn breathe.....I think you get what I'm talking about right? I mean come on! Anger issues aside, the most stressful place in Canada is the Tim Horton's coffee line. Well, that was until I experienced something that totally changed my perspective on what the Tim Horton's coffee line was all about.
And so I shall explain. I was in my local WalMart buying some sustenance products and had walked over to the Tim Horton's in this particular WalMart with 5 bags of groceries in hand. While standing in line, I turned to the old ladies that were standing behind me and made a joke that caused them to laugh little. I typically engage random strangers in stores but making jokes. Just smile and nod...its just my nature. All of a sudden one of the old ladies says to me "You need a cart for all those bags," and then ran across to a cart that was just sitting there about 20 feet away. As she ran to the cart I looked at the people standing in line behind us and I just smiled. The lady came back with this cart and said here, put your bags in their. Because of the effort she made to get the cart, I placed my bags into the car and looked at her and said "You know, seeing as how you made all that effort to make me comfortable please take my spot in line." It was only one spot in the line...but it would make her "next" before me. This is very important seeing as how being "next" is my favorite part of the line. After that its pretty much downhill and anti climatic. So, at first the lady said no. I insisted so she gracefully traded places with me. When I later thought about how much that made me smile, a real sense of joy washed over me. Not only had she made my day, but I made hers as well. It was a very neat moment.
The moral compass lesson learned from all this is that we should always strive to touch people's lives in a positive way. Doing things like random acts of kindness, or even common sense stuff like honesty can go a long way to ensuring positive energy flows in your life and also in the lives of those around you. Never be bitter and always see the value that true and honest friendships can bring to your life.
Have a great week!
G.
Saturday 17 August 2013
A tale of two friendships: Part deux
Greetings everyone! I am on vacation today so took my show on the road. I am writing this blog whilst preparing to officiate a ceremony where a very good and longtime friend of mine shall renew his vows with his fabulous and totally devoted wife. There is a catch to this however.....he has no idea I am going to be here today. I am in Edmonton and hiding out with Kat, her husband Ibby and their 3 wonderful kids. One comment about this family.....we should all aspire to feel and share the same love they give each other.
My friend Dennis and I were in the navy together back in the late 80's early 90's. And I can't go on with this part of the blog without mentioning my other buddy Ron. This completes the 3 Amigos. Ron also lives in Edmonton but unfortunately could not attend. All three of us misfits had a close bond. Not just because we were soldiers. We pretty much got into trouble together during our time on the coast. Hey, we were young and stupid and that's the only excuse I am going to provide without the presence of a lawyer. Just kidding of course.
The horse incident of 1990 aside (don't ask) I am here at the request of my friend's wife Val. She approached me a few months ago and asked if I wouldn't mind coming down for this day and surprising Dennis. I said yes right away. She kept me in the loop right down to when she asked him to renew their vows on the top of a mountain with a candy ring...I heard everything. Then he messages me and said it would be an honor if I came down to watch them do this. I snickered and told him that unfortunately I couldn't because I was filming a movie. That was partially true actually but I asked to have my scenes shot around these dates. I guess I selectively "forgot" to tell him this. Oh well, what can I say? Then yesterday, I sent his wife a text message telling her to tell him that I am sorry I wasn't able to attend and that I was wishing them the best....yup! Another part of the veil of secrecy.
So right now, as I sit and write this blog post, Dennis is outside, taking it all in....happy that everyone could attend....the knowing that the eating of burgers was just around the corner.....and I know he is wondering about the football game currently playing out in Regina. I'm in the basement waiting for the big reveal! What a sucker!! :)
The reason why I like doing things like this for a friend is because of the life long friendship I have with my two friends Dennis and Ron. I got out of the military before these two did and we didn't see each other for 20 years. But when we had a reunion a few years back (another surprise for my buddies) it was like we just picked up where we left off...except our bellies were bigger. The fact is, I had no issues coming to visit over a long distance because the friendships I created with these two guys were positive. The memories I had with there were full of laughter, funny situations and drunken escapades only young men go on....well, the ones where you have a falling out with your buds where you decided that walking back to base was the right thing to do and that will show me.....right? Most of all we were all equals. No one was better than the other. That's the way it is with all my true friendships. True and positive friends will never sarcastically say things like "see you in 20 years." Unlike the so called friend I talked about in a previous post who had used the "see you in 5 years" comment to make me feel bad, my true and positive friends actually say "See you next time." They would also say, lets not make it another 20 years.
I sometimes regret not visiting often with all these wonderful people that have touched my life. But I truly know that they all care about me. They know I am a stand up guy. They know I would never do anything to turn their worlds upside down. They treat me like family and are always excited to see me no matter how much time has elapsed since our last visit. They are the ones that cheer me on with my acting and writing endeavors. They are fans of me....and I am fans of them. If I could sum it up I would tell them all that admiration is a two way street.
Stay tuned everyone! More exciting announcements on the horizon. I gotta run as I am just about ready to join my friends for a celebration! Happy 15th anniversary Dennis and Val! Your devotion to each other should serve as something we should always aspire to in our own.
Cheers!
G.
My friend Dennis and I were in the navy together back in the late 80's early 90's. And I can't go on with this part of the blog without mentioning my other buddy Ron. This completes the 3 Amigos. Ron also lives in Edmonton but unfortunately could not attend. All three of us misfits had a close bond. Not just because we were soldiers. We pretty much got into trouble together during our time on the coast. Hey, we were young and stupid and that's the only excuse I am going to provide without the presence of a lawyer. Just kidding of course.
The horse incident of 1990 aside (don't ask) I am here at the request of my friend's wife Val. She approached me a few months ago and asked if I wouldn't mind coming down for this day and surprising Dennis. I said yes right away. She kept me in the loop right down to when she asked him to renew their vows on the top of a mountain with a candy ring...I heard everything. Then he messages me and said it would be an honor if I came down to watch them do this. I snickered and told him that unfortunately I couldn't because I was filming a movie. That was partially true actually but I asked to have my scenes shot around these dates. I guess I selectively "forgot" to tell him this. Oh well, what can I say? Then yesterday, I sent his wife a text message telling her to tell him that I am sorry I wasn't able to attend and that I was wishing them the best....yup! Another part of the veil of secrecy.
So right now, as I sit and write this blog post, Dennis is outside, taking it all in....happy that everyone could attend....the knowing that the eating of burgers was just around the corner.....and I know he is wondering about the football game currently playing out in Regina. I'm in the basement waiting for the big reveal! What a sucker!! :)
The reason why I like doing things like this for a friend is because of the life long friendship I have with my two friends Dennis and Ron. I got out of the military before these two did and we didn't see each other for 20 years. But when we had a reunion a few years back (another surprise for my buddies) it was like we just picked up where we left off...except our bellies were bigger. The fact is, I had no issues coming to visit over a long distance because the friendships I created with these two guys were positive. The memories I had with there were full of laughter, funny situations and drunken escapades only young men go on....well, the ones where you have a falling out with your buds where you decided that walking back to base was the right thing to do and that will show me.....right? Most of all we were all equals. No one was better than the other. That's the way it is with all my true friendships. True and positive friends will never sarcastically say things like "see you in 20 years." Unlike the so called friend I talked about in a previous post who had used the "see you in 5 years" comment to make me feel bad, my true and positive friends actually say "See you next time." They would also say, lets not make it another 20 years.
I sometimes regret not visiting often with all these wonderful people that have touched my life. But I truly know that they all care about me. They know I am a stand up guy. They know I would never do anything to turn their worlds upside down. They treat me like family and are always excited to see me no matter how much time has elapsed since our last visit. They are the ones that cheer me on with my acting and writing endeavors. They are fans of me....and I am fans of them. If I could sum it up I would tell them all that admiration is a two way street.
Stay tuned everyone! More exciting announcements on the horizon. I gotta run as I am just about ready to join my friends for a celebration! Happy 15th anniversary Dennis and Val! Your devotion to each other should serve as something we should always aspire to in our own.
Cheers!
G.
Sunday 4 August 2013
Singularity: The ups and downs of dating in your 40's....
First off, I would like to announce a milestone in my blog history....over 1100 hits! My last posting was my most popular. The cool thing is that "Life happens...wear a helmet" has also been read in over 10 countries. I thank everyone who has gotten something out of what I have written. It if touches you please share it with others.
So I am 43 and have been single for over 3 1/2 years (feeling like eons). Now I would be lying if I said it was all by choice. There have been times where settling would have been the easy choice. Its not because I am desperate but rather more from a human desire to connect and be affectionate with another human being on a more personal level. I would actually find myself contemplating setting. It is human nature to show affection to someone we are attracted and connected to. Cuddling on the couch, cooking dinner, walking at the fair hand in hand, arguing at the grocery store. I could go on an on but eventually I really need to go work out today. Settling really wasn't an option because at the end of the day, I like what I like. Pure and simple
I really do miss mutual affection b what evolution didn't take into account is that one day humans would invent the internet and eventually dating websites would be created where inferior and tortured personalities could create a persona for themselves where they could hide their true intentions. Now we have a more anonymous way to select a mate. Gone are the days where random fate would bring someone into your life and you would be interested and not interested based on chemistry. In this day and age, hunting for that special person is filtered by height, race, body type (yes this is a category), hair color, and geography. You get the picture? Gone are the days of actually randomly meeting someone and having the attraction and whatnot be the decider. Nowadays, we let these filters and the messaging back and forth decide if we meet someone in person. It definitely goes against the grain of human nature. Just like sitting at a computer desk and typing messages. Case in point right? So if humans were designed to be something other than internet web stalkers, why are we on the internet being web stalkers?
Now when you are in your 20's and 30's its a lot easier to use that random fate meet thing. As a matter of fact I am very surprised to see anyone 25 years old and on a dating website. Well, unless they were conjoined twins, but that's a whole other story. What I am saying that the younger crowds have bars and concerts and more options. Lets say I were to go to the dance bars to find someone. Just by being a man in my 40's and in a dance bar brings creepy to a whole new level. That's not my intention. I really don't find myself that creepy. I am really nice and I really do try to make sure I don't leave a wake of burned bridges. But now the curve ball is I am a man in my 40's and I am forced to wait in this very long line up of web stalker dating where the ratio of men to woman on these sites are 10 men to every woman. And the sad part is I have met some duds during this process. I had one woman tell me at a "meet up" that she felt very comfortable and felt she could be honest with me. She went on to tell me about how two weeks prior to our meeting she had ended a 4 month long crack binge and that as long as she stayed away from the pipe she would be fine. Now when we first met I knew the chemistry wasn't there. I like what I like. But now armed with the new information I almost felt compelled to place a restraining order against this person. Another woman I met wanted me to meet her at the local bar she went to everyday. Now alarm bells should have been ringing but I went with it. I mean, did this mean she worked in a bar or did she even have a job? I walked into the bar and met her. She was totally drunk on beer with her mom who was also totally drunk on beer. They needed a ride home but had to wait until the meat draw was made and then we could go. I drove them home and didn't spend more than 20 minutes there. Don't get me started on her living situation. Needless to say I shook my head a lot that night and almost like I had to fake an "OMG! My probation officer is going call soon!" I backed out of using that one when I realized she might say "Oh cool! Whats his name? I might know him!"
On top of having a shallow pool to choose from, I have a new part of my life that I never had before that would definitely effect a relationship. I am now an artist. Acting, writing, and stand up. Besides the astronomy hobby and the competitive 10 pin bowling thing, that's what I do. Imagine putting all that stuff up on my dating website profile? It would definitely has the potential of making me look like an embellisher. If they met me in person they would see I do in fact do all that stuff. So now my life has added yet another filter. Now its going to be up to that special girl who will take that chance and want to see for herself. She will see that I am not a crack addicted transvestite that wants to marry his grandmother in a satanic cult ceremony (sorry if you are one). What I am trying to say is that even though this wonderful invention called the internet exists, I really feel at odds with this internet dating thing. I feel like I should be out there in this world doing what makes me happy and meeting new people instead of waiting for that #*&%ing message of interest pop up on that dating site I am on. You know, I just might go out and do that. Right after I finish my blog, check my email, and review my Facebook news feed. Oh! Just got a text!
Before I go I have an update to share with you in regards to a film I acted in last fall called Bread Thieves. I got asked to film an extra scene the other day so I went and once again donned my character's persona and had a blast filming. I am happy to say that the movie is now complete and will be going through its final stages of post production. I saw some of the actor's cut, namely the scenes I appeared in of course, and have to say that its looking incredible! I am very proud of it and can't wait to share it with the world. Two more months and it will be ready. If you haven't seen the trailer feel free to view it on our website at www.breadthievesthemovie.com.
Cheers everyone and have an outstanding week!!
G.
So I am 43 and have been single for over 3 1/2 years (feeling like eons). Now I would be lying if I said it was all by choice. There have been times where settling would have been the easy choice. Its not because I am desperate but rather more from a human desire to connect and be affectionate with another human being on a more personal level. I would actually find myself contemplating setting. It is human nature to show affection to someone we are attracted and connected to. Cuddling on the couch, cooking dinner, walking at the fair hand in hand, arguing at the grocery store. I could go on an on but eventually I really need to go work out today. Settling really wasn't an option because at the end of the day, I like what I like. Pure and simple
I really do miss mutual affection b what evolution didn't take into account is that one day humans would invent the internet and eventually dating websites would be created where inferior and tortured personalities could create a persona for themselves where they could hide their true intentions. Now we have a more anonymous way to select a mate. Gone are the days where random fate would bring someone into your life and you would be interested and not interested based on chemistry. In this day and age, hunting for that special person is filtered by height, race, body type (yes this is a category), hair color, and geography. You get the picture? Gone are the days of actually randomly meeting someone and having the attraction and whatnot be the decider. Nowadays, we let these filters and the messaging back and forth decide if we meet someone in person. It definitely goes against the grain of human nature. Just like sitting at a computer desk and typing messages. Case in point right? So if humans were designed to be something other than internet web stalkers, why are we on the internet being web stalkers?
Now when you are in your 20's and 30's its a lot easier to use that random fate meet thing. As a matter of fact I am very surprised to see anyone 25 years old and on a dating website. Well, unless they were conjoined twins, but that's a whole other story. What I am saying that the younger crowds have bars and concerts and more options. Lets say I were to go to the dance bars to find someone. Just by being a man in my 40's and in a dance bar brings creepy to a whole new level. That's not my intention. I really don't find myself that creepy. I am really nice and I really do try to make sure I don't leave a wake of burned bridges. But now the curve ball is I am a man in my 40's and I am forced to wait in this very long line up of web stalker dating where the ratio of men to woman on these sites are 10 men to every woman. And the sad part is I have met some duds during this process. I had one woman tell me at a "meet up" that she felt very comfortable and felt she could be honest with me. She went on to tell me about how two weeks prior to our meeting she had ended a 4 month long crack binge and that as long as she stayed away from the pipe she would be fine. Now when we first met I knew the chemistry wasn't there. I like what I like. But now armed with the new information I almost felt compelled to place a restraining order against this person. Another woman I met wanted me to meet her at the local bar she went to everyday. Now alarm bells should have been ringing but I went with it. I mean, did this mean she worked in a bar or did she even have a job? I walked into the bar and met her. She was totally drunk on beer with her mom who was also totally drunk on beer. They needed a ride home but had to wait until the meat draw was made and then we could go. I drove them home and didn't spend more than 20 minutes there. Don't get me started on her living situation. Needless to say I shook my head a lot that night and almost like I had to fake an "OMG! My probation officer is going call soon!" I backed out of using that one when I realized she might say "Oh cool! Whats his name? I might know him!"
On top of having a shallow pool to choose from, I have a new part of my life that I never had before that would definitely effect a relationship. I am now an artist. Acting, writing, and stand up. Besides the astronomy hobby and the competitive 10 pin bowling thing, that's what I do. Imagine putting all that stuff up on my dating website profile? It would definitely has the potential of making me look like an embellisher. If they met me in person they would see I do in fact do all that stuff. So now my life has added yet another filter. Now its going to be up to that special girl who will take that chance and want to see for herself. She will see that I am not a crack addicted transvestite that wants to marry his grandmother in a satanic cult ceremony (sorry if you are one). What I am trying to say is that even though this wonderful invention called the internet exists, I really feel at odds with this internet dating thing. I feel like I should be out there in this world doing what makes me happy and meeting new people instead of waiting for that #*&%ing message of interest pop up on that dating site I am on. You know, I just might go out and do that. Right after I finish my blog, check my email, and review my Facebook news feed. Oh! Just got a text!
Before I go I have an update to share with you in regards to a film I acted in last fall called Bread Thieves. I got asked to film an extra scene the other day so I went and once again donned my character's persona and had a blast filming. I am happy to say that the movie is now complete and will be going through its final stages of post production. I saw some of the actor's cut, namely the scenes I appeared in of course, and have to say that its looking incredible! I am very proud of it and can't wait to share it with the world. Two more months and it will be ready. If you haven't seen the trailer feel free to view it on our website at www.breadthievesthemovie.com.
Cheers everyone and have an outstanding week!!
G.
Wednesday 17 July 2013
A tale of two friendships and how perspective is everything...
I want to extend a warm thanks to my friend Red Bird and her co-blogger Sparrow. Your journey has been a great read. They are retiring from their blog and I totally recommend you view their stories for they are a must read. Their blog goes under the title "Am I lost."
Now that we are on the topic of Red Bird, I have to say that a lot can be said about this dear person I call a friend. She is such a supportive person and cheers me on in all of the many things I do. She encouraged me to write this blog so to say that she knows the type of person I am is a total understatement. This blog has been a great outlet.
Red Bird and I had an unintentional absence from each other's lives that lasted for over 20 years. But when we visited each other last fall the feeling of our friendship allowed us to deduce that nothing had changed on how we viewed each other. A few days ago I was thinking about my visit with Red Bird and I started thinking about some of my other friends that I haven't visited with for awhile, and figured it would be worth it just to see what they might be up to now. So I went and stopped by a friend's business just to say hello. And boy, was that ever an eye opener.
This friend of mine is one of those people that have had everything handed to them since they were young. His parents were successful business people and naturally got him working in their very successful family business. It was about 16 years ago when I first started hanging out with this person. Back then he was a drunk, a philanderer, and took every chance he got to ridicule his friends just based on the fact he was wealthy. And why would he do that? He had everything. He had money, a career, a fast car, lots of women....everything came pretty easy to him. That being said, he was also a cancer survivor and I really wanted to make a point to stop by and see how he was doing.
So I went and visited this person. The only things he could talk about was how much beer he could still drink and all the sexy women he had been with. When I started to share all the awesome things that were happening in my life, he started to laugh at me and in front of everyone that was in there. He started to ridicule me to the customer he was servicing, and put me on the spot by trying to get me to do my stand up comedy routine knowing that some of my jokes are not really workplace appropriate and that I would probably refuse. There is a time and a place for everything. He laughed at me some more and made some more jokes....it was really quite pathetic. But his reaction to me pointed out something that really brought everything into perspective. He wasn't listening to what I was saying. This was evident when I told him that I had a movie coming out this fall but he reacted to what I said by yelling out loud "Awesome man! Now that you have all that money you can go buy a few rounds of beer for everyone here!" When he made that comment, it really confused me. I never told him I was rich or making tons of money. I only told him that I was busy writing, acting and had a film coming out. I was telling him how much fun life was now and he was telling his customer that my ex wife had left me because I was lame. This was 13 years ago and really had nothing to do with what was happening now. He never really told his customer that I was a single parent for 12 years and that the first three years of my son's life was spent dealing with an eating disorder. I was really shocked to get that kind of reaction from him. I never did anything to even warrant that kind of treatment. There was no really easy way out this situation with a few sets of eyes watching for what I was going to do next. I knew that his intent was meant to show everyone in his business how awful of a person I was. I didn't react to his words. I said to myself, "Glenn, do you really think that you should tell him that the only reason why you never stopped by all these years was because he was such an a&$^#@e back in the day? And on top of that he had not even changed his immature attitude, not even one bit, after all these years!" I'm really not like that but in the end I did get to say something to him as a intended reaction to his behavior. To find out what I said please read on as my response to him will be revealed at the end of this post.
I walked out to my car mad and grumbling. I saw the same insecure idiotic behavior that he had portrayed all those years ago. That is when it dawned at me. He had to demean me to others just to make himself look adequate. He saw that I was doing what I enjoyed to do and that I was reaching out to the world and embracing life. In comparison to my life he hadn't done a thing that made his life fulfilling. He still worked at his parent's business being the same guy he had always been while doing the same thing he had always done, all the while having the same dismal disposition he had always had. He was simply in a long term life rut and really looked quite happy being there. Poor him I suppose.
After I thought about the whole situation, I started to have feelings of negativity. I had to force myself to start thinking positively about this situation and see the silver lining. What came to me suddenly was the other side of this equation and I vowed to not stoop to his level. Honestly, this post should really be a tale of many friendships because I have so many people that cheer me on and are excited about all the different things I do....I don't have enough time to even scratch the surface on that topic. When I think about my really close friendships, I always think of the honesty and trust I share in these connections. Even if there is a long time between visits nothing compromises these fundamentals. If I don't see Red Bird for 5 years she might tell me to not make it such a long time between visits, but she will still love her awesome friend Glenn. I never have to wonder. My integrity speaks for itself. We should not be measured by the possessions we have or the accolades we acquire. We should enrich each other's lives by always doing what is right and what is honest Good people do good things.
Life perspective is everything when it comes to the type of friendships that you keep and the environments that you find yourself in. I know about what perspective does. It allows you to see both side of the fence....if you are negative it will be dark and murky. If it is positive it will be bright and happy. I see how perspective challenges me and shows me where I should be. Its a litmus test that I use to gauge on whether or not I am doing the right thing and keeping the right people in my life. These days the negative people and situations that involved them are a distant image in my mind. These days I know that I truly have great friends....I have two awesome careers.....and my creativity allows me to set goals for myself for the first time in my life. All I can say is that life is great and that it can only get better.
When I left my so called friend's shop, I replied to his comment by saying "Not likely."
Have a great week!
G.
Now that we are on the topic of Red Bird, I have to say that a lot can be said about this dear person I call a friend. She is such a supportive person and cheers me on in all of the many things I do. She encouraged me to write this blog so to say that she knows the type of person I am is a total understatement. This blog has been a great outlet.
Red Bird and I had an unintentional absence from each other's lives that lasted for over 20 years. But when we visited each other last fall the feeling of our friendship allowed us to deduce that nothing had changed on how we viewed each other. A few days ago I was thinking about my visit with Red Bird and I started thinking about some of my other friends that I haven't visited with for awhile, and figured it would be worth it just to see what they might be up to now. So I went and stopped by a friend's business just to say hello. And boy, was that ever an eye opener.
This friend of mine is one of those people that have had everything handed to them since they were young. His parents were successful business people and naturally got him working in their very successful family business. It was about 16 years ago when I first started hanging out with this person. Back then he was a drunk, a philanderer, and took every chance he got to ridicule his friends just based on the fact he was wealthy. And why would he do that? He had everything. He had money, a career, a fast car, lots of women....everything came pretty easy to him. That being said, he was also a cancer survivor and I really wanted to make a point to stop by and see how he was doing.
So I went and visited this person. The only things he could talk about was how much beer he could still drink and all the sexy women he had been with. When I started to share all the awesome things that were happening in my life, he started to laugh at me and in front of everyone that was in there. He started to ridicule me to the customer he was servicing, and put me on the spot by trying to get me to do my stand up comedy routine knowing that some of my jokes are not really workplace appropriate and that I would probably refuse. There is a time and a place for everything. He laughed at me some more and made some more jokes....it was really quite pathetic. But his reaction to me pointed out something that really brought everything into perspective. He wasn't listening to what I was saying. This was evident when I told him that I had a movie coming out this fall but he reacted to what I said by yelling out loud "Awesome man! Now that you have all that money you can go buy a few rounds of beer for everyone here!" When he made that comment, it really confused me. I never told him I was rich or making tons of money. I only told him that I was busy writing, acting and had a film coming out. I was telling him how much fun life was now and he was telling his customer that my ex wife had left me because I was lame. This was 13 years ago and really had nothing to do with what was happening now. He never really told his customer that I was a single parent for 12 years and that the first three years of my son's life was spent dealing with an eating disorder. I was really shocked to get that kind of reaction from him. I never did anything to even warrant that kind of treatment. There was no really easy way out this situation with a few sets of eyes watching for what I was going to do next. I knew that his intent was meant to show everyone in his business how awful of a person I was. I didn't react to his words. I said to myself, "Glenn, do you really think that you should tell him that the only reason why you never stopped by all these years was because he was such an a&$^#@e back in the day? And on top of that he had not even changed his immature attitude, not even one bit, after all these years!" I'm really not like that but in the end I did get to say something to him as a intended reaction to his behavior. To find out what I said please read on as my response to him will be revealed at the end of this post.
I walked out to my car mad and grumbling. I saw the same insecure idiotic behavior that he had portrayed all those years ago. That is when it dawned at me. He had to demean me to others just to make himself look adequate. He saw that I was doing what I enjoyed to do and that I was reaching out to the world and embracing life. In comparison to my life he hadn't done a thing that made his life fulfilling. He still worked at his parent's business being the same guy he had always been while doing the same thing he had always done, all the while having the same dismal disposition he had always had. He was simply in a long term life rut and really looked quite happy being there. Poor him I suppose.
After I thought about the whole situation, I started to have feelings of negativity. I had to force myself to start thinking positively about this situation and see the silver lining. What came to me suddenly was the other side of this equation and I vowed to not stoop to his level. Honestly, this post should really be a tale of many friendships because I have so many people that cheer me on and are excited about all the different things I do....I don't have enough time to even scratch the surface on that topic. When I think about my really close friendships, I always think of the honesty and trust I share in these connections. Even if there is a long time between visits nothing compromises these fundamentals. If I don't see Red Bird for 5 years she might tell me to not make it such a long time between visits, but she will still love her awesome friend Glenn. I never have to wonder. My integrity speaks for itself. We should not be measured by the possessions we have or the accolades we acquire. We should enrich each other's lives by always doing what is right and what is honest Good people do good things.
Life perspective is everything when it comes to the type of friendships that you keep and the environments that you find yourself in. I know about what perspective does. It allows you to see both side of the fence....if you are negative it will be dark and murky. If it is positive it will be bright and happy. I see how perspective challenges me and shows me where I should be. Its a litmus test that I use to gauge on whether or not I am doing the right thing and keeping the right people in my life. These days the negative people and situations that involved them are a distant image in my mind. These days I know that I truly have great friends....I have two awesome careers.....and my creativity allows me to set goals for myself for the first time in my life. All I can say is that life is great and that it can only get better.
When I left my so called friend's shop, I replied to his comment by saying "Not likely."
Have a great week!
G.
Sunday 30 June 2013
Hard decisions and tough love...oh yeah and how it relates to guacamole
Greetings everyone! I apologize for the silence but life has indeed been busy but I am sure you understand....right? Thought so....
Well, for starters, I am writing this post with the utmost joy in my heart. About a year ago, I made a very hard decision that impacted me on many levels. I'll simplify it but just saying that a negative situation arose out of a hard decision that in the end made everyone involve grow as people and reinforced a bond that was made the moment I was knighted the title "Dad."
A year ago my son came up to me and said that he wanted to connect more with his mom and move in with her. At this point in time, he had been with me full time since he was 4. My son and I went through many situations together. Its not easy being a single parent and sometimes when things happen you get judged for it wrongly. There was a time when my son and I had to move three times in a month because a landlord couldn't provide a safe place for us to live. My son, who was 5 at the time, never once complained. We had to stay in an old Jewish funeral home, a house that had broken windows in it and no hot water. I had to boil water on the stove for over an hour just to make sure there was enough warm water in the tub for a bath. After finally getting into a new place and away from this landlord, the boyfriend of my ex started making comments on how I was such a bad parent because of how much I moved around. I mean come on! It was a character builder and we grew even closer as father and son because of the adversity.
Anyways, my son decided to move 2 hours away.....and after hearing his reasons behind it I finally said ok.
So lets rewind this a bit because there is a huge parallel that really drove home a "dad" lesson. We are not perfect creatures, but our flaws make us the men we are. My dad and I get along very well. He lives on the other side of the country so it has been very hard for me to get back for visits. A few years ago, while I was living the role of a struggling single parent, I was getting emails from him about his travels throughout the US in his Airstream motor home. It upset me because I was a struggling single parent. Just to put this into perspective, when I saw the movie Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith, it brought tears to my eyes because I too have lived that struggle of having my son with me while going through a housing and job crisis. I too had to make due with what I had around me.....I know the struggle. It made me a very strong man when it comes to matters of the heart. And, like what eventually happened between my dad and I, my son and I all of a sudden were not on speaking terms. I felt devastated when talking to him because as he was reacting to me negatively. All the struggles we persevered through were flashing before me and I couldn't remind him of this stuff because then I would be trying to guilt him and that is a line I would never cross. I don't guilt anyone into loving me.
Its really funny how fate reconnects you with people that have always been important to you. Right after this all happened I went on a trip to where I graduated high school. My dear friend Red Bird (read her blog Am I lost) and I spent some time talking during this trip and what she said really molded my thinking about what to do. Red Bird and I went to high school together and were, and still are, the best of friends. She really understood what I was going through. After explaining my confusion about this struggle, she said to me to just be there for him. It was an extremely profound yet simple answer really. And it said a lot to me. It suddenly dawned on me that what was happening to my son and I had also happened to my dad and I. The lesson he taught suddenly slapped me in the face. What I just learned from my dad now was exactly what Red Bird had told me. My dad was just there for me. My dad endured the silence. My dad sometimes sent me a message just to let me know he was thinking about me. He did this until I just...came around. Well, to make a very long story short, my son is now here for a month with his 5 old month lab cross puppy. You see I too did the same thing for my son as my dad did for me. I endured the silence...I sent messages to him just to let him know I was there. And, just as my dad did for me, picked up where I left off and just became dad. Hearing him call me "dad" after not seeing him for almost a year....absolutely priceless.
Oh yeah, almost forgot the guacamole part. My son still trusts my judgment on food (I love to cook) and so I introduced him to guacamole for the first time and he really liked it. So guacamole really pointed out that we were still two peas in a pod.
Now for other news. Just a really quick note that in about 2 1/2 months, I will be filming a pitching trailer for a feature movie I wrote called Oblivious. I have put together a crew and negotiated some locations and will be shooting around the middle of Sept. Stay tuned for more news as this experience progresses.
Have a great week everyone!!
G.
Well, for starters, I am writing this post with the utmost joy in my heart. About a year ago, I made a very hard decision that impacted me on many levels. I'll simplify it but just saying that a negative situation arose out of a hard decision that in the end made everyone involve grow as people and reinforced a bond that was made the moment I was knighted the title "Dad."
A year ago my son came up to me and said that he wanted to connect more with his mom and move in with her. At this point in time, he had been with me full time since he was 4. My son and I went through many situations together. Its not easy being a single parent and sometimes when things happen you get judged for it wrongly. There was a time when my son and I had to move three times in a month because a landlord couldn't provide a safe place for us to live. My son, who was 5 at the time, never once complained. We had to stay in an old Jewish funeral home, a house that had broken windows in it and no hot water. I had to boil water on the stove for over an hour just to make sure there was enough warm water in the tub for a bath. After finally getting into a new place and away from this landlord, the boyfriend of my ex started making comments on how I was such a bad parent because of how much I moved around. I mean come on! It was a character builder and we grew even closer as father and son because of the adversity.
Anyways, my son decided to move 2 hours away.....and after hearing his reasons behind it I finally said ok.
So lets rewind this a bit because there is a huge parallel that really drove home a "dad" lesson. We are not perfect creatures, but our flaws make us the men we are. My dad and I get along very well. He lives on the other side of the country so it has been very hard for me to get back for visits. A few years ago, while I was living the role of a struggling single parent, I was getting emails from him about his travels throughout the US in his Airstream motor home. It upset me because I was a struggling single parent. Just to put this into perspective, when I saw the movie Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith, it brought tears to my eyes because I too have lived that struggle of having my son with me while going through a housing and job crisis. I too had to make due with what I had around me.....I know the struggle. It made me a very strong man when it comes to matters of the heart. And, like what eventually happened between my dad and I, my son and I all of a sudden were not on speaking terms. I felt devastated when talking to him because as he was reacting to me negatively. All the struggles we persevered through were flashing before me and I couldn't remind him of this stuff because then I would be trying to guilt him and that is a line I would never cross. I don't guilt anyone into loving me.
Its really funny how fate reconnects you with people that have always been important to you. Right after this all happened I went on a trip to where I graduated high school. My dear friend Red Bird (read her blog Am I lost) and I spent some time talking during this trip and what she said really molded my thinking about what to do. Red Bird and I went to high school together and were, and still are, the best of friends. She really understood what I was going through. After explaining my confusion about this struggle, she said to me to just be there for him. It was an extremely profound yet simple answer really. And it said a lot to me. It suddenly dawned on me that what was happening to my son and I had also happened to my dad and I. The lesson he taught suddenly slapped me in the face. What I just learned from my dad now was exactly what Red Bird had told me. My dad was just there for me. My dad endured the silence. My dad sometimes sent me a message just to let me know he was thinking about me. He did this until I just...came around. Well, to make a very long story short, my son is now here for a month with his 5 old month lab cross puppy. You see I too did the same thing for my son as my dad did for me. I endured the silence...I sent messages to him just to let him know I was there. And, just as my dad did for me, picked up where I left off and just became dad. Hearing him call me "dad" after not seeing him for almost a year....absolutely priceless.
Oh yeah, almost forgot the guacamole part. My son still trusts my judgment on food (I love to cook) and so I introduced him to guacamole for the first time and he really liked it. So guacamole really pointed out that we were still two peas in a pod.
Now for other news. Just a really quick note that in about 2 1/2 months, I will be filming a pitching trailer for a feature movie I wrote called Oblivious. I have put together a crew and negotiated some locations and will be shooting around the middle of Sept. Stay tuned for more news as this experience progresses.
Have a great week everyone!!
G.
Saturday 11 May 2013
Hey Fox news! Whats that over there?
Hello everyone. I just want to start off by saying how totally glad I am for the three women and little girl that gained their freedom this week after being deprived of it for so long. That sick SOB really does need to pay! I can only imagine what those poor parents had to go through with their babies going missing like that. Imagine how surreal it would have been to get that call saying your child was found after 10 years? My goodness...words cannot even begin to describe how that would feel. To infinite plus one I tell you!
Now, I'm a parent too. And when I heard those moms and dads publicly talk about how they knew, deep down inside all those years, that their child was still alive.... lets just say it really struck a huge chord in me. And when I say struck a huge chord, its definitely an understatement. You see, I am a thinker. I totally see that in my abilities to conceive and write stories. I am also a thinker as a parent. And as any caring parent can attest, we sometimes test our emotional compass just to see what our feeling and response to something like would be. We think of it as a test of the "Emergency Reaction" system we have. Believe me, its not a hard test and it doesn't take long to complete (milliseconds). I totally feel that it would be very scary to experience that kind tragedy and I really do feel for parents that have had to go through this. Its a more than extreme event that rips your heart right out of your chest. Honestly, I would be in the same frame of mind as those parents. I would always want to hang on to that hope that my baby was going to be home soon. What caring parent wouldn't think that? And after 10 years I'd still be there holding onto hope.
Its very sad how a man like that could even fathom that it was really cool to kidnap 3 young girls and keep them prisoner. And then to rape and torture them and father a child with one of them. And then to go and hang out with one of the victim's parents. Sharing their grief and even joining in the search for the girl all the while knowing exactly where she was. WOW! When I heard that I was just thrown at the thought of how the human condition could include a monster like that. And then to find out that he drove a school bus. How does that make all the other parents whose lives he inadvertently touched feel? No one even had a clue. None of his family members, neighbors, mail delivery personnel, meter readers, feral cats....get the point? He fooled everyone!
Now to make the point from my blog title. Really, I am somewhat glad that we have the news carriers to bring events like this to our attention. As human beings, we really need to have that connection our world. But the thing that really gets my goat is how the common sense stuff is always overlooked by most of the mainstream media outlets. Now I am not going to mention any names like CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC...did I leave anyone out? If so please leave a comment on my blog and I'll add you. My point is this.....LEAVE THOSE GIRLS AND THEIR FAMILIES ALONE AND GIVE THEM SPACE!!!! Now that I gotten that off my chest can I please ask that you share this blog with others in the hope that perhaps these media outlets will hear this and get the point? The other day I actually saw Anderson Cooper talking with a couple of the family members of one of the victims. You really don't have to be a rocket scientist to hear that the family members kept on repeating about how the helicopters and media trucks parked outside the house really ruined the chance of one of the young women to go outside, in the back yard of all places, and experience the sun and breeze for the first time in 10 years. There is other news going on folks! Go keep tabs on everything else that is going in the world on as well! Please don't hang out for 24 hours a day near the victim's house before the next big news thing happens. Better yet, why don't you take all the production money you would have spent on the coverage and give it to those girls to help them out regaining their shattered lives? I am sure your sponsors would be ok with that. How about that? How many millions are being spent on saying the same thing over and over again? Give them space to breathe!
Anyways, I really hope that everyone enjoys this weekend and every other weekend! Parents, please hold your kids tight. Life can really throw us some curveballs.
Cheers everyone!
G.
Now, I'm a parent too. And when I heard those moms and dads publicly talk about how they knew, deep down inside all those years, that their child was still alive.... lets just say it really struck a huge chord in me. And when I say struck a huge chord, its definitely an understatement. You see, I am a thinker. I totally see that in my abilities to conceive and write stories. I am also a thinker as a parent. And as any caring parent can attest, we sometimes test our emotional compass just to see what our feeling and response to something like would be. We think of it as a test of the "Emergency Reaction" system we have. Believe me, its not a hard test and it doesn't take long to complete (milliseconds). I totally feel that it would be very scary to experience that kind tragedy and I really do feel for parents that have had to go through this. Its a more than extreme event that rips your heart right out of your chest. Honestly, I would be in the same frame of mind as those parents. I would always want to hang on to that hope that my baby was going to be home soon. What caring parent wouldn't think that? And after 10 years I'd still be there holding onto hope.
Its very sad how a man like that could even fathom that it was really cool to kidnap 3 young girls and keep them prisoner. And then to rape and torture them and father a child with one of them. And then to go and hang out with one of the victim's parents. Sharing their grief and even joining in the search for the girl all the while knowing exactly where she was. WOW! When I heard that I was just thrown at the thought of how the human condition could include a monster like that. And then to find out that he drove a school bus. How does that make all the other parents whose lives he inadvertently touched feel? No one even had a clue. None of his family members, neighbors, mail delivery personnel, meter readers, feral cats....get the point? He fooled everyone!
Now to make the point from my blog title. Really, I am somewhat glad that we have the news carriers to bring events like this to our attention. As human beings, we really need to have that connection our world. But the thing that really gets my goat is how the common sense stuff is always overlooked by most of the mainstream media outlets. Now I am not going to mention any names like CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC...did I leave anyone out? If so please leave a comment on my blog and I'll add you. My point is this.....LEAVE THOSE GIRLS AND THEIR FAMILIES ALONE AND GIVE THEM SPACE!!!! Now that I gotten that off my chest can I please ask that you share this blog with others in the hope that perhaps these media outlets will hear this and get the point? The other day I actually saw Anderson Cooper talking with a couple of the family members of one of the victims. You really don't have to be a rocket scientist to hear that the family members kept on repeating about how the helicopters and media trucks parked outside the house really ruined the chance of one of the young women to go outside, in the back yard of all places, and experience the sun and breeze for the first time in 10 years. There is other news going on folks! Go keep tabs on everything else that is going in the world on as well! Please don't hang out for 24 hours a day near the victim's house before the next big news thing happens. Better yet, why don't you take all the production money you would have spent on the coverage and give it to those girls to help them out regaining their shattered lives? I am sure your sponsors would be ok with that. How about that? How many millions are being spent on saying the same thing over and over again? Give them space to breathe!
Anyways, I really hope that everyone enjoys this weekend and every other weekend! Parents, please hold your kids tight. Life can really throw us some curveballs.
Cheers everyone!
G.
Sunday 5 May 2013
Insert Blog title here <------- A story about a boy and his puppy....and the name Sarah
Greetings! I want to start out by saying congratulations to my son on acquiring his first puppy! One night he messaged me on Facebook telling me that he had bad news and good news....and they both didn't involve me. Now as a parent, you just have to ask "What is the bad news?" Its because, as parents, when we hear the words "Bad News" and it involves our children, it makes us cringe. I mean, I was driving out of a parking lot and had to pull over because I didn't want to miss whatever "controversy bomb" he was about to drop.
Now if anyone reading this blog really knows who I am, the first thought that would pop in your head is that anything that involves me is very possible. My mom still cringes when all the stories come out about what I did as a teen. Lets just say I should write a story about that. Anyways, getting off topic here Glenn....focus...FOCUS! I own a Ford Focus....what? Get on with the story? FINE!
Now when my son threw out the Bad News/Good News scenario, my first thought was "He got a girl pregnant." Now, why that popped in my head I have no idea. Lets just say that the bad news really didn't involve me and it didn't involve him saying "Wanna be a Grandpa?" Being its a private matter involving someone else I'll just leave it at that. Now for the good news.....HE IS GETTING A PUPPY!!
My family is a dog loving family....actually we love animals period. To hear that he was getting his first puppy was a thrill for me. I've had many of those firsts in my life....but the first puppy that was mine will always stick with me. I got a pug and I promptly called her Sarah. She was an awesome dog and my pride and joy. At 14, I figured she was gonna be a chick magnet....and she was. Well, she attracted girls well below the age of 14. I still loved my dog and to this day I still miss her dearly. I could tell you a story about how I sneaked out my bedroom window one night while Sarah was sleeping in my room. Two hours later I came home and was surprised to see the glowing cherry of my mom's cigarette in the dark and then the light of the living room lamp coming on with my mom sitting there with Sarah on her lap, tail wagging because she was happy to see me....sigh....those were the days.
My son's excited Facebook messages to me told me how he was going to buy her a collar and a leash. He even asked me what kind of dog food he should get. It was neat to see that he was taking on the responsibility of taking care of this dog. Its like parenting and I get to see him do this. The fun part is acquiring the puppy.....the hard part is paper training them. Now, being I know he will sooner or later read this blog, I am not going to say anything too embarrassing about the "potty training" era of his life. I mean, he didn't really take to the "rubbing his nose in it" style of training. He never stayed on the paper when told and he really hated staying in his kennel. So, I had to resort to allowing him to use the toilet and reward him with candies. And being he was my kid, I had to make sure he was doing the right thing by having him show me the good job(s) he was doing. We went through a lot of Smarties before I caught on to the fact that sometimes he would just flush the toilet for a candy.
Anyways, enough about that...I am sure I am going to get a comment soon from my child, so I will wrap this thing up now. My son is now the new owner of a 2 month old puppy named Sarah. I can't wait to meet her!
Have a great week everyone! Cheers!
G.
Now if anyone reading this blog really knows who I am, the first thought that would pop in your head is that anything that involves me is very possible. My mom still cringes when all the stories come out about what I did as a teen. Lets just say I should write a story about that. Anyways, getting off topic here Glenn....focus...FOCUS! I own a Ford Focus....what? Get on with the story? FINE!
Now when my son threw out the Bad News/Good News scenario, my first thought was "He got a girl pregnant." Now, why that popped in my head I have no idea. Lets just say that the bad news really didn't involve me and it didn't involve him saying "Wanna be a Grandpa?" Being its a private matter involving someone else I'll just leave it at that. Now for the good news.....HE IS GETTING A PUPPY!!
My family is a dog loving family....actually we love animals period. To hear that he was getting his first puppy was a thrill for me. I've had many of those firsts in my life....but the first puppy that was mine will always stick with me. I got a pug and I promptly called her Sarah. She was an awesome dog and my pride and joy. At 14, I figured she was gonna be a chick magnet....and she was. Well, she attracted girls well below the age of 14. I still loved my dog and to this day I still miss her dearly. I could tell you a story about how I sneaked out my bedroom window one night while Sarah was sleeping in my room. Two hours later I came home and was surprised to see the glowing cherry of my mom's cigarette in the dark and then the light of the living room lamp coming on with my mom sitting there with Sarah on her lap, tail wagging because she was happy to see me....sigh....those were the days.
My son's excited Facebook messages to me told me how he was going to buy her a collar and a leash. He even asked me what kind of dog food he should get. It was neat to see that he was taking on the responsibility of taking care of this dog. Its like parenting and I get to see him do this. The fun part is acquiring the puppy.....the hard part is paper training them. Now, being I know he will sooner or later read this blog, I am not going to say anything too embarrassing about the "potty training" era of his life. I mean, he didn't really take to the "rubbing his nose in it" style of training. He never stayed on the paper when told and he really hated staying in his kennel. So, I had to resort to allowing him to use the toilet and reward him with candies. And being he was my kid, I had to make sure he was doing the right thing by having him show me the good job(s) he was doing. We went through a lot of Smarties before I caught on to the fact that sometimes he would just flush the toilet for a candy.
Anyways, enough about that...I am sure I am going to get a comment soon from my child, so I will wrap this thing up now. My son is now the new owner of a 2 month old puppy named Sarah. I can't wait to meet her!
Have a great week everyone! Cheers!
G.
Saturday 13 April 2013
No! Don't you dare read this blog.....No!
Ok. So I guess you didn't listen and now you are reading this blog. And if you aren't...well you are. That's so schizophrenic of you.
Its funny how on a daily basis, we don't follow the status quo. We started defying our parents, some of us spent a good majority of our childhood grounded. Right? As we get older, we still have these traits. They are just more refined. Take the dating game for instance. That's one of the best examples I can bring forward. The "Love Game" is something that not only effects our lives, but our lives effect it as well. When it evolves we have no &*@!ing idea on why we are failing. We aren't failing though. We need to adjust. Synch it up.
At the beginning of our dating lives, defiance is what drives conflicts with our parents. My teenage years were no exception. I had many battles with my mom during those years. "But I love her mom!" That phrase was iterated with each new love interest. And when she would say no to it, I would sneak out and do it anyways. I hope she's not reading this. I'm bound to get a text message after if she is.....love ya mom! :-)
When we reach our twenties, there is a sense of freedom we feel. Yeah, we're broke and not living at home anymore. But now the difference is there is no one putting bars over our windows and locking us in our rooms anymore. That's right! We can do anything we want. The defiance there is how we can't figure out why relationships are not working. Its because we are young. We would break up with someone one day, and the next we would be connecting with another because they are "perfect" and "what I have been waiting for all my life." Those two dream words are what made us defiant in this part of our evolution. And to add to it, we were blind to the certain circumstances that arise from jumping in again head first. Its always in the name of love right?
Our 30's is where those if us who have learned how to evolve actually find stability in this stage of life. This is where they find balance between their professional lives and their dating lives. Those of us that don't are left in the dust and forced to continue on trying to figure out why we can't find what we want even though we are dating lots. Kudos to the stable ones....I feel the pain for the rest of us.
Which now brings me to the next stage of defiance. Thanks to the stable ones, the pickings are now slim. Most of the good ones are now taken. Those of us in our 40's and still dating feel a sense of hopelessness. But here is where we are going wrong. And really, its one of the simplest things that if we realized it in our 20's, this stupid subliminal defiance would never be an issue. Defiance you say? Yes. Defiance. Here's my point. Sometimes, we just carry aounnd that idea of what we think would make a perfect mate. What they will look like, smell like. We get defiant because we are using those ideas that now blind us to what we have evolved into. Take me for instance. I was on a dating site for over 2 years before I left the site to take a break. Now I know I am not a homely male, right? But here is where holding out for someone that balances the "current" us really should be the path we should take.
The last time I was in the position where I was looking for someone, I was just a corporate guy. I was at odds with myself because life was stagnant and also I had just got out of a bad relationship 4 months before. Damn rights it was time...right? It took me 3 weeks to find a nice girl. We liked each other a lot but we never went out and did anything. Our fling only lasted 2 months. I wondered why, at the time, but only realized now that she was actually in the same boat as I was. We both just broke up with someone. After her I met someone pretty quick and ended up dating this new girl for 3 1/2 years. We did stuff together but we were quite different in a lot of ways. We rushed things in the beginning which didn't help us in the end.
Now here I am, 3 years later after ground zero of my break up, and I'm still single. But here is what the difference is now. I realize that I have changed, and not just a little. Over the last three years, I became an actor, writer, stand up comedian. Any girl in my life needs to embrace that with me. I am a creative person and I need someone to be open to that. This time around I have been true to who I have become. Yeah, so what if I met a lady that advised me she just came off a 3 month crack binge and that as long as she stays off the pipe she is fine. Or the lady I met who told me she likes to hang out at the local pub with her mom, get drunk and wait for the Friday meat draw. Those girls most certainly wouldn't be what I would call my type of "dating" material. Good for me! No settling!
What I am really getting at is this. Stay true to yourselves. Always hold out for the person makes you happy and balances that happy. If you are in a position where you have someone in your life and you are still doing all the things that make you happy (within the scope of local law of course) then you are definitely living life. That is what the goal is now.
Have a great week!
G.
Saturday 6 April 2013
SEX......come read my blog....
Hey everyone! After a bit of a break it was brought to my attention from a post on one of my blogs that I have a blog.....thanks Miss Money Penny! :-)
Well...I know. What do I have to say for myself. Well, all is well in my world. I think the last time I blogged I was just finishing writing the first draft of a story I had. Well, I am happy to announce that I am now finished the second draft and that I have some interested parties that may want to shoot this thing. The feedback alone motivated me to start writing the sequel and the backstory that will lead to a third story in this series. Wow you say? I know I did! This thought process then got me thinking. Why is it that I needed someone to go nuts over my story to get motivated enough think beyond one installment?
Well, I think it all starts with our nature as humans and that undying need for validation. I mean, its not impossible to motivate yourself to do wonderful things. But still, motivation like that still has to be inspired. The prime example of that kind of motivation was displayed by a man known to Canadians as a hero. Terry Fox. If you don't know who this man was, please use Google now. I truly feel that his picture should be underneath the words motivation, inspiration, and perseverance. There are many inspirational stories out there. Take the subject of the Will Smith movie "The Pursuit of Happiness." The story about how Christopher Gardiner persevered through extremely adverse situations humbles me. I too was a single dad that had to persevere through adverse situations. I had a child that had an eating disorder early in his life. I didn't have a car so we walked and took buses everywhere. I even rode a mountain bike with a child seat on it just to get around. I got moved around by a landlord three times in a month because he couldn't provide the necessities of a safe place to live for my son and I. He even placed us in an abandoned Jewish funeral home that had no hot water. I could tell you how I had to boil water on the stove just so we could have a hot bath. The one thing that inspired me through that whole rough time was my son. He stuck with me even when I hit a low. He was just happy to be around his daddy. I had to be a source of strength for him but he actually became my inspiration (I'm writing this with a tear in my eye). I did this all while maintaining a full time job. I even had my bike stolen along with my lunch all on the same day. It was a very hard time indeed. But guess what? I was inspired and motivated to make life work.
As the years went on, I always made it a point to make sure we progressed to something better each year. We had a few bumps and potholes in our journey, but we had one thing that always kept us motivated. It was our own inspired journey, like all other human beings on this planet, in the pursuit of happiness. I am here to tell you all that you should always motivate yourself with what inspires you. That's what drives me in my creative process. I love the excitement my stories bring to those who get to read them. My friends are my guinea pigs....but their excitement motivates me to create my stories. Their relentless pestering for me to give them more inspires me to finish these stories.
I have to go for now folks. I have a bowling tournament to play in today....and to win is what is motivating me at this moment. Please take the time to be inspired and to strive to push yourself to do things that make you and those around you happy.
Cheers everyone! And always remember, Life Happens.....wear a helmet! See you next week!
G.
Well...I know. What do I have to say for myself. Well, all is well in my world. I think the last time I blogged I was just finishing writing the first draft of a story I had. Well, I am happy to announce that I am now finished the second draft and that I have some interested parties that may want to shoot this thing. The feedback alone motivated me to start writing the sequel and the backstory that will lead to a third story in this series. Wow you say? I know I did! This thought process then got me thinking. Why is it that I needed someone to go nuts over my story to get motivated enough think beyond one installment?
Well, I think it all starts with our nature as humans and that undying need for validation. I mean, its not impossible to motivate yourself to do wonderful things. But still, motivation like that still has to be inspired. The prime example of that kind of motivation was displayed by a man known to Canadians as a hero. Terry Fox. If you don't know who this man was, please use Google now. I truly feel that his picture should be underneath the words motivation, inspiration, and perseverance. There are many inspirational stories out there. Take the subject of the Will Smith movie "The Pursuit of Happiness." The story about how Christopher Gardiner persevered through extremely adverse situations humbles me. I too was a single dad that had to persevere through adverse situations. I had a child that had an eating disorder early in his life. I didn't have a car so we walked and took buses everywhere. I even rode a mountain bike with a child seat on it just to get around. I got moved around by a landlord three times in a month because he couldn't provide the necessities of a safe place to live for my son and I. He even placed us in an abandoned Jewish funeral home that had no hot water. I could tell you how I had to boil water on the stove just so we could have a hot bath. The one thing that inspired me through that whole rough time was my son. He stuck with me even when I hit a low. He was just happy to be around his daddy. I had to be a source of strength for him but he actually became my inspiration (I'm writing this with a tear in my eye). I did this all while maintaining a full time job. I even had my bike stolen along with my lunch all on the same day. It was a very hard time indeed. But guess what? I was inspired and motivated to make life work.
As the years went on, I always made it a point to make sure we progressed to something better each year. We had a few bumps and potholes in our journey, but we had one thing that always kept us motivated. It was our own inspired journey, like all other human beings on this planet, in the pursuit of happiness. I am here to tell you all that you should always motivate yourself with what inspires you. That's what drives me in my creative process. I love the excitement my stories bring to those who get to read them. My friends are my guinea pigs....but their excitement motivates me to create my stories. Their relentless pestering for me to give them more inspires me to finish these stories.
I have to go for now folks. I have a bowling tournament to play in today....and to win is what is motivating me at this moment. Please take the time to be inspired and to strive to push yourself to do things that make you and those around you happy.
Cheers everyone! And always remember, Life Happens.....wear a helmet! See you next week!
G.
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