WRITING FOR CHANGE

I have been a tad negligent with this blog as I have been spending upwards of four hours a day writing two scripts which I will direct in January. The topic is cyberbullying and the students I'm working with are from a local high school.  The plays will be touring elementary and highschools - to evoke awareness, responsibility, and change regarding young people's practices online. Okay, I've been partying a lot too.  You got me.

As is my nature, spreading the good cheer has been one of my top priorities this holiday season.  Wine and cheese and cheese and wine and gourmet meals and long dog walks and visits with lovely friends...oh holidays, I love you so!  On a day like today, when it is mild outside, the mountains are showing off their snowy peaks, and I have time to write and reflect, I am truly happy.  Nothing to gripe about today. Not even the asshole who cut me off and then had the audacity to give me the finger!  Okay, I totally made that up for laughs. See? Spreading the cheer on thick my friends.

But, and I am ashamed to admit it, you know what doesn't make me smile?  Hearing about people heading down south for sun, sea, and slurpies.  No sir.  I wish I was that giving but while trudging around in my less than feminine waterproof hiking boots in the rainy darkness I picture those "friends" basking in the sunshine laughing laughing laughing as they reflect on how darn cold they were last week back home.  No.  Such tales of warmth and camaraderie do not make me smile.  But I do fake it.  Who doesn't these days?

All the same, sitting here, all cozy, with dog lying nearby, I write and write and write with the knowledge that what I am putting out there can and will hopefully change a few lives, empower some young people, and create awareness amongst the adults about what the youngster's are up to right under our noses.  The work is important and I love the creative process. That's why I keep writing this silly thing, as well.  Who knows?  Miracles can happen, right? Like when Oprah, and her new network "OWN The World" sees it and decides to give me one of her favorite things: a shitload of money!  Yup, that's my goal here people.  Not altruistic at all.  The only self I'm helping is me - and I'm thinking money. 

Speaking of money - or money shot, I have a funny tale of truth and espionage. Okay, totally no espionage but I liked the sound of it.  So, we (as in my wonderful friend and I) made a dinner party for a friend who is celebrating a year separated from his wife who was a skanky ho who slept with his best friend, or something. Maggie manifested a meal of epicurian standards.  After twelve bottles of wine  (do everything in dozens I say) one of our guests (a veritable stranger) came out of the bathroom naked as a jaybird exclaiming, "now this is unexpected!"  What a crowd pleaser!  The laughter, the yelling, the "hm, is that all there is?" that transpired after his enveiling really made the dinner party.  Oh people, wish you could have been there.

So, with that I return to my scriptwriting, and ponder upcoming New Year's Eve when I go to a party at the home of one of the dinner party guests (a new friend) and attempt to consume a neat dozen bottles of the champs myself - okay, maybe the small, cute bottles.  Anyways, happy holidays to all and take the time to say "yes" to something you never have time for.  Smile at people and dare to let a little funny quip pop out so that you will enjoy the smirks and laughter that follows.  And, at the very least, give a great big thanks that you are alive, and well, and full of love for yourself and those around you (and if you don't feel the love for them, then fake it my friends, fake it good!).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

THE JOLLY SEASON

 

I cannot contain myself - my heart is expanding, I feel good will towards all - even the non-smilers.  You see, after having been through the trenches, the heartache, the rudderless future, the lack of spirituality - I am on the other side.  How magnificent it is.  

Looking and finding, yes finding, the good, the learning, the reasoning behind my life and its varied directions and current path leaves me smiling. Once you scratch the bottom overcome by darkness, only to really see and feel certain about the Light (and I don't mean the one at the end of the proverbial tunnel) you wind up really, really grateful.  At least I do.  

I didn't know what would happen, what would become of me, at 45, upon arriving back to Vancouver with little cash and no home.  A summer job was waiting but after that, I did not know what I would do nor how I would get myself out of my money hole. Well, now, after six months, things are bearing fruit. I get to still be a drama teacher, part time, write two scripts against cyberbullying which will tour elementary and high schools, and remain in the business world through sales, as well as plan a really cool event for the district's drama students for February.  Wow - creativity and business - plus, sometimes, I can do a yoga class in the middle of the day - or sleep in.  This new life, in six short months, was created by me and was supported by my higher self - helping me to become the best I can be.  Awesome blossom.

I know that I've always bitched on this blog - bitched about how socially inept Vancouverites are.  My latest is: why are we so good at social networking, but shit at socializing?  That said, right now, the holiday season, living with my best friend (in photo) and her daughter, drinking Bailey's, eating Toblerone and good cheese, and laughing, laughing, laughing - I cannot bitch.  Daily I give thanks for this life. In every moment I am becoming more and more connected and absolutely certain.  All is as it should be.

But, being a preacher - um, teacher, I do have a message: when doing that last bit of Christmas shopping, take the time to hold the door for someone, smile at a passerby, and chit chat with the cashier. You are not in a rush - never too rushed to put a smile on people's faces, never.   Tis the season to be jolly - be jolly when it is difficult, and you earn extra points.  Reap the rewards.  Turn the dark into light. I did, and I wish that for all of you - my some 19 readers (small in number, large in heart).  

Much love y'all.

SORRY'S THE NEW HELLO

When did an apology replace a salutation? The topic was broached (okay, I brought it up) at a party last night when my friend Cin came up with this post title (she wanted credit for it) and a discussion ensued.

Lately, and for a while now, I've been hearing people utter sorry for nothing that requires an apology.  Scenario one:  someone walks in front of you, within your walls of proximity, and so, they say sorry.  Two:  A person, in a blindingly authentic moment  bursts out laughing and immediately looks ashamed uttering sorry, looking around guiltily. Three: You are at a party and an attendee walks towards you and gets stuck for a second as there is a bit of a crowd and they can't pass, so naturally, you hear sorry followed by a quick and painful aversion of the eyes until you can finally break free from one other. Four:  You step on someone's foot, and they say sorry!

Okay, now I understand etiquette, and showing respect but this is taking it too far.  Sorry relinquishes us from any further communication with strangers.  How about walking near someone, smiling, and saying hello as you step on their foot.  Wouldn't that be a refreshing change?  Or, let's bring the flirting back to this fair city - as in, you are at a crowded party, crash into someone (hot preferably), and offer a breathy hello, rather than sorry followed by a quick ear lick.  Fantastic. 

It's getting to the point that when people give me a sorry I say, "why? No need to be sorry.  Please don't be sorry for your existence.  No need to apologize."  People look at me in terror only to utter another sorry for their first sorry. The word has lost all meaning and context.  It's applied anywhere and everywhere merely to keep us apart.  You see, a hello draws people together, a sorry deposits a giant chunk of ice in between two warm bodied people sending them scurrying in opposite directions.  Plus, it dilutes the instances when you truly are sorry.

Like the time, this week, when I ran over someone's foot with my car whilst attempting a particularly harried parallel parking maneuver.  Or, when the dog, my son, jumped on a lady dressed elegantly in white only to leave muddy skid marks in his wake.  What about when I let someone know that they were being a real asshole - it goes something like this, "sorry, but you're a real asshole."  Now, did I mean sorry in any of those circumstances?  All except the asshole incident, yes. 

So, now, how do we change our habits?  I'm out there - living it, letting people know that they have nothing to be sorry about.  That hello works just as well.  That they deserve to be here as much as I and that they need not apologize for being around me, a complete stranger (who is getting increasingly strange). When we think about it, we have nothing to be sorry for.  We're all trying to cohabitate - to get along.  Inauthentic apologies will not help us but hellos will.  We must stop pulling inside ourselves and escaping one another with a sorry and instead smile and say hello.

Anyways, sorry if I offended.
Just kidding.