"The light at the End of the Tunnel may be you" Steven Tyler

This is the first time the Alphabet Challenge has sent me to the dictionary. My first thought was the “G” in the Freemason's square-and-compass logo, but if I ever wanted to join, they may not let me, since I proved to be a poor secret-keeper. My next thought was Gastro-intestinal, because it would open me up to plenty of juvenile jokes. I swear, sometimes it's like I'm 12!

What I've settled on was Guru, the ultimate mixed-blessing of all spiritual communities! I can't count how often I've been disappointed by “Enlightened Ones” of many traditions, but just as often, I've been surprised at some insight from an unexpected source. As the adage goes, “don't meet your heroes, you'll only be disappointed.”

At the end of the day, the problem was me; I was expecting too much from a human being. Ironically, it was one of the most disappointing teachers who pointed this out to me. The biggest epiphany of all this was that I needed to separate knowledge from the Guru. Not only does this allow Gurus to be human, it allows the seeker to learn from ANYONE AND ANYWHERE!

One of the quickest write-off's was the Hare Krishna's. While there is much to be admired about their ideology, I was put-off when I first went to visit them, and a monk asked if I wanted to be a monk. Whoa, dude! We just met; I'm not moving in with you just yet! And many of the adherents seemed high – I'm not sure if they were smoking grass, but having spent many years in Vancouver, I recognize that glazed and easily-distracted look! (I've been to a few protests and concerts in my day;) ) Years later, I was with friends and was approached by an HK adherent. After, a friend asked, “did he seem high to you?” I felt validated in my opinion. On the other hand, they had a vegetarian feast after a service I attended, and despite my pessimism, I was really impressed! Those folks are wizards with produce, and I'd highly recommend their food!

“To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books.” Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages

Fruit Feeding Faces

We read, in the wisdom of the experts, that it was smart to introduce vegetables before fruits. The logic being that once they had enjoyed the sweetness of fruit, they wouldn't have any interest in vegetables. Made sense. However, you can see that apples were't a hit.

Of course, being the model parents that we are, we couldn't help but to feed her more to get these great pictures!

Enjoying Energy!

I've been a divided in what to do for my E post. My first idea was “Enjoy.” Years ago, I read Steven Covey's classic “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” and he had an anecdote about his kid on a baseball team He was fumbling badly, and Mr. Covey was trying to flex his Performance Coach skills on him, to no avail. All involved were just getting more frustrated. After some soul-searching, Covey changed his tack, and realized that he was trying too hard. He decided to just enjoy his child for who he was. The child has flourished, and grown in his own right, into he's supposed to be, not what his parents would script for him.

Since then, I've tried hard to appreciate my loved ones without expectations. As a parent (about 12 years later), it's struck home. Fortunately, I have a baby who's just delightful, and we can giggle together a-plenty! Perhaps the next one will be more moody, but today, I can just talk nonsense to her, and watch her light up! She also loves to be sung to – yesterday, I was called the “Coolest Dad Ever” for singing Deftones and Rage Against The Machine to her. (I was showing-off, just a little)

My other idEa (cute) was Energy. I was struck many years ago to learn that it's what we're made of. As our technology gets better, we've seen that when we look past the cells that we're made of, past the atoms and molecules, the stuff that we're made of isn't very solid. In fact, it will alternate between particles (matter) and waves (energy). I haven't the time (or the education) to explore the MASSIVE ramifications of this, but what comes to mind first, is that Energy Never Dies (not a huge Black Eyed Peas fan, but they did say it really well!), it is transformed! And that can really do a number on your fear of death – it doesn't happen! But now I'm mixing science with belief. Fortunately, they finally seem to be in accord. Through this challenge, I've found a Blog that explored this better :http://stephentremp.blogspot.com/ Enjoy!

D is for Drama

When I got to work the day before the Easter weekend, my boss asked my to direct traffic in the parking lot. When I asked where the Drama was, she replied “Save the Drama for your Mama.”
We all love drama, to varying degrees. We understand most of what we experience through stories. When we see someone performing a random act of senseless kindness, we'll call them a Good Samaritan. When we're asking someone to dig deep, to do more than previously thought possible; “Use the Force, Luke!” (is my 'Nerd' showing?) And when we want to be persuasive, we'll slur about “an offer they can't refuse.”

Having said that, isn't it irritating when someone brings their Drama-philia to their regular social situations? This is usually a case of something being blown way out of proportion. That, my pretty's, should be saved for your mama. It's hard to blame us when most of us have been raised on TV.

On the other hand, let's have some fun with it! “That's like when I toured with Van Halen...” “Really?” “No, not really.”
“My cat washes dishes”
“There's a crop circle on my back.” Ew.
I've got one friend who I knew for about three weeks before I got a straight answer out of him. “How ya doing, Jay?” “My water broke.” Oh, for crying out loud... Loads of fun, that lad is (Pardon my Yoda-speak. Damn, my 'Nerd' is showing again!)

To shift gears slightly, I'd like to welcome a ton of new readers! Asides from the fire under my arse to write more, that's been the best part of this challenge. I've also discovered some great new Blogs! I hope you'll forgive me if you've commented and I haven't been by to your Blog yet. I've got a 61/2 month old in the house, and adding that to my other duties, including a full time job, it's been difficult to find the time. Don't doubt for a moment, though that I”m really appreciative! See ya soon!

C is for Catholic

It's “C” Day, and I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about something that's been on my mind.
In January, I heard a radio report on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. radio station that the Catholic Church in Nova Scotia was selling-off a lot of their real estate assets to pay for law suits. They owed over 18 million in reparations for – you guessed it – sex abuse.

A few years ago, I had the same opinion of the Catholic Church as anyone else who watched the news, but my wife had her heart set on getting married where she had done her other sacraments. After meeting many members of that Church through the 8-week pre-marital course, I came away from the experience with a healthy respect for Catholics. I enjoyed the company of many Believers who were just like the Believers of any other faith; sincerely wanting to be involved in a healthy community, and serving their God in a way that was comfortable for them.

What stuck with me from the news item, though, was the selling-assets part. It's well known that the Catholic Church is one of the wealthiest organizations in the world, and that kind of wealth tends to influence a governing body in ways that don't serve their religious goals. Perhaps it's time for them to liquidate, even 60% would leave them with massive assets.

And let's not forget the good they've done with their stature. Asides from countless charities, it was the monasteries that kept copies of great literature around through the dark ages (Plato & Socrates, etc), and were the fore-runners to our Universities.

For the record, I am not a Catholic, nor will I be in the foreseeable future. What I believe in is not painting every member of a large group with the same brush.

B is for...Plenty

The Alphabet; Day 2
I actually had two ideas for “B,” as two of my favorite things start with that letter. The first was Bass, the instrument, not the fish. You see, years ago, a friend & I watched the 10-hour Beatles Anthology, and decided that we would start a band. He was confident that he could sing, and I could play several chords on the guitar. After about a year, we realized that bassists are hard to find, and I wasn't shaping-up to be any kind of guitar hero. Through the miracle of financing, I got a bass & amp and, lo and behold, I was pretty good at it. Playing bass also gave me an ear for what other bassists were doing, and I totally fell in love with the instrument, and what it could do for a song.

The other favorite thing is books. I can't walk past a book shelf without looking at what's there. I love the exposure to fresh ideas, new information, and how woven words can evoke the nature of an event, but also the emotional flavor, and layers of effects on people involved.

Then something else happened today. It was a crazy day in retail land, but most people were in good spirits. Then I saw a Regular, and we greeted one another warmly. I'll call her 'Betty,' to protect her privacy, but she does have a “B” name, so I'm not cheating. We spoke a little about how Calli is doing, and she had to share that her son had been accepted into Harvard. She and her husband were simply giddy, and I was struck with the beauty of the moment. Here we were, virtual strangers with a passing familiarity, and we took a moment to celebrate each others children! I'm glad that that's the most memorable part of a positively exhausting day!

A is for Anniversary

How's this for a great idea? I've been challenged to write thematically-based Blog posts for April, using letters of the alphabet. On Apr. 1st, an “A” theme, on the 2nd, “B”, etc. If you take Sundays off, it adds up to you posting “Z” on Apr 30th. So here goes:

This first one is easy, since it's an Anniversary. Five years ago today, Andrea & I had our first date. When I told a friend that our first date was April 1st, he said “Are you sure?” I am now!

We met the day before, and the conversation was so natural that I asked if she wanted to go for coffee, but she had to go visit a friend in the hospital. So we went for breakfast at a place called 'Jean's' (when I told a friend, she said “The convenience store?” I said “Yes, the convenience store, because when you date Will, it's class all the way”). Andrea spent the evening before the date doing her nails and tidying her place. I spent the evening studying her astrology signs to see what I was in for.

Breakfast turned into an all-day hang-out, then in the afternoon, we went to her place to watch “What the Bleep Do We Know” (kinda like The Secret, with more emphasis on the quantum physics). At one point, when complaining about the cold, she said “if it's true, we should be able to Think ourselves warmer.” to which I replied, “Well, I wanted to try the Quantum Sharing-a-blanket technique.” Pretty smooth, eh? Fourteen months later, I proposed, then on July 7 2007 (7-7-7 – Neat!) we wed.

There's my A post, and there's the challenge. Best of luck to y'all!