Fearless inspiration
Posted by Barb in Ideas worth sharing, Personal insights on August 20, 2010
My greatest fear in life is not dying… but rather not living while I’m alive. In other words, not living up to my full potential. That’s far more scary for me than death. I’ve looked fear in the face, a few times, stared it down and won. But now as I’m taking a new direction in my career and life paths it returns, uninvited, like an unwanted house guest — manageable but inconvenient.
Fear often gets in the way of our creativity, relationships and pursuit of happiness, so I was delighted to discover a free online magazine, aptly named fearlessstories.com that puts it all in perspective and delivers brave new stories by courageous people. The latest issue covers everything from the biology of fear (who knew our brain’s response to fear is biological not just psychological?) to stories about taking big scary career risks to achieve big amazing results, to articles about taming fear through mindfulness and bringing any painful crisis to its knees through compassion– for ourselves and others.
The difference between success and failure is often not because of better talent, ideas or skills, it’s courage to act… to show Fear the door and invite Boldness, Gutsy and Moxie to the party.
So if fear is blocking your potential, creativity or ability to rock this life, check out fearlessstories.com for some worthy inspiration. And if you’d like to read my own story and biggest life lesson in overcoming fear –and I mean that life-altering kind of fear– that changes you at a cellular level, and reminds you not to wait until fear subsides before you decide to live fully and freely, refer to my blog post of Oct. 2, 2009, archived under Personal Insights, entitled ‘Someday is not on the calendar.’
Thanks for being here. Stay fearless.
The elegance of powerful words
Posted by Barb in Ideas worth sharing, Personal insights on August 13, 2010
It’s been awhile since a novel has touched me deeply, inspired me to look at life (and death), art and beauty in a new light… and actually moved me to take action in my own life. But that’s what happened when I read “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” a brilliant book by a French philosophy professor, which delivers far more truth than fiction.
It’s a series of eloquent little essays– on time, beauty and the meaning of life– delivered by two unlikely protagonists who live in a posh Parisian apartment block. Renee Michel is a 54 year-old frumpy concierge, who devours philosophy, music and art; the other, Paloma, is a smart-ass, highly intelligent 12 year-old daughter of one of the tenants. Both are old souls and true intellectuals whose true talents and brilliance are disguised behind ordinary appearances.
They become friends and discover that intelligence and beauty can radiate from the most unexpected places, and people, when we look past the exterior and truly ’see’ a person. As Paloma says: ”Madame Michel has the elegance of a hedgehog: on the outside, she’s covered in quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside, she has the same simple refinement of a hedgehog: a deceptively indolent little creative, fiercely solitary–and terribly elegant.”
We all have our ‘quills,’ yet in today’s society so many people are readily dismissed before the beauty beneath has a chance to be revealed. That’s just one of the novel’s many insights. At one point Paloma is reflecting on life’s fragility and death’s inevitability and makes a new commitment: ”I’m going to stop undoing, deconstructing, I’m going to start building. What matters is what you are doing when you die and… I want to be building.”
Well said. I’ve decided from here on in my life I plan to be building. I am done with negativity, complaining and those who are always “deconstructing.”
And Renee, too, has something to teach us. At 54, after years of emotional solitary confinement, she had met someone and was prepared to love again. A good friend of mine was so moved by this that she decided, at age 58, to take a chance in her own life. Within days of reading the book, she went online, connected with a nice guy, and just returned from a weekend in Denver with who just might be the man of her dreams. Fantastic.
Within life’s despair there are those moments of beauty, where time is no longer the same–what Paloma describes as “an always within never.”
I, like Paloma, am going to search for those moments of always within never, the unexpected beauty and wisdom in this world, even when it comes disguised as a hedgehog.
I highly recommend this powerful, elegant story that reminds us of what matters.
Does the venue make the experience?
Posted by Barb in Arts and Culture, Ideas worth sharing, Personal insights on July 16, 2010
Lately I’ve been thinking about how we experience things – art, architecture, music, people – in different ways depending on the space were in. I’m reading “The Architecture of Happiness,” by Alain de Botton, who explores how our surroundings (specifically buildings) affect our moods, sense of beauty, and even our identity. Put simply, we are different people in different places.
And this also applies to music—from arena rock, to Italian opera, to a concert in someone’s living room—the space affects the acoustics, the audience and the atmosphere. For example, a few years ago I hosted a fundraiser for The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra in my big cedar house on the Red River. Guests moved with their wine and cheese through multi-levels of the home – inside and out – with the sounds of sax, bass and trombones wafting throughout the space and across the river. It was an intimate evening, with a cool crowd and a good vibe. And I have to admit I now prefer my jazz with a view.
On that note, in a recent TED Talk, David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame) asks: does the venue make the music? As a musician who’s done everything from drumming with African tribes to playing Carnegie Hall, he explores how context has pushed musical innovation. In other words, different spaces affect not only how music is experienced but also how it is composed. Check out his video here.
How does the space you’re in affect you, or your experience of music, art or life?
From beer to eternity
Posted by Barb in Ideas worth sharing, Random on July 5, 2010
As the editor of The Cottager, a magazine about lakeside living, I get to mix a lot of business with pleasure, especially in the summer. In the line of duty for our July/August issue (now out on Manitoba and Northwest Ontario newsstands) I attended a seminar given by a self-described “beer evangelist” who brought me up-to-speed on what’s new in brews.
I had no idea beer could be such a complicated and sophisticated beverage of choice.
Apparently, beer is the new wine.
Beer has its own aromas, fullness, traits and style… and one person’s lager is not another’s pale ale. In other words, a six-pack of one is not a half-dozen of the other. Beer is a fermented mix of water, grains and hops, and different brewing processes create unique characteristics, flavour, strength and taste.
At the beer seminar, I learned that there are two basic types of beer: ale (including porter and stout) and lager (including pilsners). Ale is brewed with top-fermenting yeasts, which produce fruity, flowery aromas and a sweet taste; and lagers use bottom-fermenting yeasts that are brewed longer in cooler temperatures. The result is a cleaner, crisper tasting beer. I’ve always preferred ale, but never knew why. Hmm.
And here’s what else I learned. Like wine, beer tastes better from a glass than a bottle (or can) and the ’style’ of brew dictates the glassware as the size and shape of the glass impacts the flavour. A proper glass enhances ‘volatiles’ and improves aroma. To learn more about what mug, stein or flute to sip your beer from, visit http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101
Again like wine, beer can be served with all types of food – even dessert! Here are a few tips to help you savour the flavour of your next outdoor feast by knowing what brew best accompanies the menu. Lagers (North American or international ones) go well with barbequed meats, and pilsners or Japanese lagers pair well with cooked fish. Serve red beers (e.g., Rickers Red or Alexander Keith’s) with chicken and pork; offer English ales with shellfish; and a nice ale, porter or stout complements cheese. Amber light beers or light lagers are best with Thai and Mexican food. Oh, and here’s a news flash — ANY beer can be paired with pizza! And for dessert, try a nice Belgian Framboise or cherry beer.
For more beer and food pairings pick up the July/August issue of The Cottager and read the article entitled Hoppy Hour, or visit http://beer.about.com/od/cooking with beer
The Cottager July/Aug. 2010
Summer is all about kicking back, relaxing and maybe doing a little entertaining. But as you pour what may be good for what “ales” you, and quaff a few cold ones, please remember to drive your vehicles, boats or motor bikes responsibly.
Cheers!
Let me know if you’ve discovered a fine new beer to try — especially from local micro-breweries.
Australia’s Island Outpost
Many travellers to Australia miss Tasmania – the little island off the big island – but this year I made a point of venturing over the Bass Strait to check it out. What urbanites may consider a ‘remote’ destination, as one Aussie friend said to me, Tasmania has everything the mainland has on a smaller scale – harbour cities, stunning beaches and coastline, rainforest and mountains, without the vast outback and long stretches of desert.
So, if jagged mountains, rugged coastline and secluded beach walks are your thing, and mainland Australia is too overwhelming, Tassie has a few jaw-dropping national parks in a compact island package.
In the magnificent Freycinet National Park, I took an 11-kilometre hike on winding trails through pink granite mountains, including the dramatic peaks of The Hazards, around aqua blue bays and across deserted white beaches. A gorgeous feast of natural beauty on Tasmania’s east coast.
Cradle Mountain
For a change of pace, and scenery, Cradle Mountain-Lake Sinclair National Park offers prehistoric-looking mountains, glacial lakes and pockets of rainforest. For the adventurous, fit, thrill-seeking types the park offers an 80-kilometre Overland Track, a five- to six-day trek that snakes between Cradle Mountain and Lake St. Clair. I didn’t have time to do that one, but a few shorter walks offered a taste of the park’s rugged splendour and Tasmanian wilderness.
Cradle Mountain-Lake Sinclair National Park is also a World Heritage Site.
For hardcore naturalists and whitewater rafters the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park comes highly recommended. In the summer season (December to March in Australia) rafters can take on the treacherous Franklin River rapids, in which a full descent takes about a week. Not sure if I’m up for the full whitewater-thriller, but plan to visit this park on my next trip to Tas.
So if you’re planning a trip to Australia, its often-forgotten isle is a nature lover’s playground and well worth the detour.
The gift of generosity
Posted by Barb in Ideas worth sharing, Personal insights, Random on June 25, 2010
Caps, gowns and loads of promise. That’s what I witnessed today, as I have at more than 20 convocations of Springfield Collegiate Institute, my old high school.
I’m there every June, not to relive my teenage years (they were hard enough the first time) but to present an annual award that is very dear to my family’s heart – The Grace Edie Memorial Scholarship. The award honours my sister, who was killed in car accident at the hands of a drunk driver in 1988. That year, my family not only lost someone beautiful but, as a friend said to me, my sister’s death was a loss to the whole community.
So to heal both a family and a community, we created a gift that continues to gives back, a $1000-scholarship to young graduates, who like my sister, achieve academic success but also give their energy, enthusiasm and encouragement to make a palpable difference in the lives of their friends, peers and fellow students.
This year’s recipient is a young woman who received the highest marks in accounting and marketing, was a peer tutor, and plans to pursue a career in medicine. And her mom went to school with my older brother.
There are many things I love about this day: the opportunity to remember my sister as the light in others’ lives that she was; the delight on the face of the award winner and his or her parents; and the promise of possibility that exists when we choose to look for the gifts that can arise even in tragedy.
I also love the example of generosity it sets for future generations. This year, my nephew Chad Edie (who was 6 months old when Grace died) flew in from Edmonton to present the 22nd Grace Edie Memorial Scholarship.
Fire starter for your business and genius
Posted by Barb in Ideas worth sharing on May 31, 2010
I recently discovered The Fire Starter Sessions: A digital experience for entrepreneurs, written by Danielle Laporte.
In this incredible “e-book meets video transmission of business acumen and love,” there is a whole lot of mojo + logic + links/sites/interviews with amazing experts and resources that can help spark your genius and light a fire under your business (and other parts).
The Fire Starter Sessions include 19 actual Sessions, about 13 videos + 22 worksheets.
Some of the Sessions are:
True Strengths + The Metrics of Ease
Branding: Clarifying the Diamond of You
Products + Services:
Making Stuff That Feels Good to Make
Money: More is More, Enough is Plenty
Web Design + Traffic
Your Virtual Real-Estate
Stamina + Losses
Time + Fear Management
Visioning: Authentic Dreaming
Collaboration: Supporting Characters
… and more.
Danielle has been called a high-priestess of practicality, and as she shares her wisdom and (vast) experience aims high but stays grounded. As I work through the Fire Starter Sessions I am inspired, and “ignited” to expand my own vision, business and life.
If you’re looking to build a vision, a dream business or just light a fire under what you’re already doing, I highly recommend the Fire Starter Sessions. And if you aren’t in love with what you’re doing… this may also help you light up a different, more authentic and hot and happy path. Check it out. Watch the video, then click on the “get stoked” button below.
Here’s to igniting your passion and fuelling your business.
Where is home?
This past winter I had the fortuitous opportunity for a five-week sojourn in the other hemisphere, more specifically, Australia. In February and March it’s 25C to 30C there (i.e., a Down Under summer) and after my first week of outdoor living, mostly in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, it was a place I could easily call home.
So, while sipping my daily cup of java in a gentle breeze with an ocean view, I began to think about “where is home?” And once we find it, what makes it “home?” Our roots, our memories, our sense of belonging?
This time of year many Canadians, especially Manitobans are “going to the lake” in that annual pilgrimage that begins in May and ends in October, except for those who live lakeside year-round.
So what makes us feel so at home at the lake or in warmer climes?
For a lot of people, I think it’s the call of the mild, a peaceful wilderness slightly wilder than our urban jungles but far from anywhere remote or truly dangerous. A home at the lake, beach or in the woods offers a place to settle down, and settle in, if only for a few weeks.
For me, I’m easily taken in by a place’s natural beauty and elemental design and feel immediately at ease in the great outdoors – in any country – but especially in Canada’s lake country. Water, rocks and trees just make me feel good. (I experienced the same thing in Australia, but the bodies of water, trees and cliffs were generally bigger than those here.)
As the editor of The Cottager magazine, I get to spend a lot of time in lake country, and visit people at their full-time waterfront homes or seasonal abodes.
As people head en masse to the lake under warm summer skies—to retreat, revisit or reconnect— I wonder if it feels like they’re returning home?
Perhaps in our super-mobile world we now have many places that we call “home.”
Maybe home is wherever you hang your hat… or your bikini.
Where is home for you?
Beauty Therapy
Posted by Barb in Personal insights on May 5, 2010
Smooth, sensual, casting a warm golden glow… who knew that bamboo floors could be so exciting? I, like many of my home owner friends, have completed a few renovations – new wood floors, gleaming quartz countertops and fresh white paint. Already a beautiful space, enhanced by its riverside location, my house feels reenergized… and so do I. I’ve discovered that beauty is its own kind of therapy. Beauty makes us feel good; it gives us energy and often a sense of calm. I’ve never understood people who think that flowers, artwork or even just a clean, well put together room are not worth spending time or money on.
Doing away with disorder and adding a touch of beauty to your space alleviates stress. “Beauty and a sense of order in your home are functional. They have a purpose and are not unnecessary luxuries. Creating beauty around us gives us a sense of accomplishment, charges us with energy, and reduces tension,” writes Jean Lush, author of Women and Stress.
One of the world’s most famous and celebrated architects, Frank Lloyd Wright taught his students that beauty dissolves conflicts, inspires people, and creates a sense of happiness and serenity. “Beauty,” he said, “is not unnecessary or impractical.” His creative architectural designs in stunning natural settings certainly affirm that belief.
And a little beauty therapy doesn’t have to be expensive, or involve renovations. Just straightening up a room, rearranging the furniture, or adding some fresh flowers, art or accessories can create an entirely new sense of harmony and peace.
So why not freshen up a little?
What teachers (and others) make…
Posted by Barb in Arts and Culture, Ideas worth sharing on April 19, 2010
I recently came across this video that I heard about a few months ago. It’s about what teachers “make.” It got me thinking about what writers make? Like teachers, they can make people think, laugh or learn. Writers make works of fact, fantasy or fiction that challenge beliefs, ideas and possibilities; they make books, magazines and films that make better (educated) people… and that can make a better world.
That’s what writers make.
We might also ask… what artists make, what good mothers make, or what social activists make? And so on. Sometimes those who make the least amount of money make the biggest difference.
What do you make?
About Babs
Barbara Edie, aka Babs, is a journalist, editor and global citizen who likes to observe the world and share her findings. She is constantly reminded that, as Henry Miller said, "We live on the edge of the miraculous."