It is Saturday morning, a day to celebrate (as we should every day of the week!) the heroes in our midst.

When I was working at the homeless shelter, I held a weekly session with Calgary Police Service (CPS) to talk about homelessness. These ‘Street Sensitivity’ sessions looked at the myths, the whys, hows, whats of what drove people to the streets, and what kept them there. These talks were always filled with heated conversation, each officer having their unique view of why, how, what, homelessness is all about. The officers were always forthcoming (they definitely weren’t shy about sharing their views!) and no matter their view, there was always one very clear and unifying denominator in our conversations — they were police officers to make a difference in our community and our world. They do what they do to be of service.

I came away from these conversations with a new appreciation for the exigencies of their calling, and an appreciation for the importance of seeking common ground. Every officer I met was willing to engage in the conversation — regardless of the distance between our perspectives, and in our engagement we discovered a mutual respect for our differences and our similarities. In exploring what connects us we shifted our perspectives from the distance between our positions to the relevance of our shared values, beliefs and principles in serving the people in our communities. I learned a great deal through these conversations and came away with a sense of awe for their commitment to making a difference in the world.

Men and women of the Calgary Police Service are heroes. 

We are having an election here in Alberta. Candidate signs have popped up on lawns throughout the city. Billboards extol the virtues of one party, one candidate over another. I was asked to run for one of the parties and declined. I know I do not have the commitment, the passion nor the energy to dedicate myself the way those running for public office must. No matter the person, the motivation is to be of service, to make a difference, to be part of the change required to continually renew our communities, our public well-being and our society.

Men and women running for office are heroes.

Every political campaign has a team of volunteers who dedicate countless hours and enormous amounts of energy to ensure their candidate has the best run at succeeding in their bid for office. It is often a thankless job, a job of menial tasks, of doing the small things to ensure they add up to big results. The passion, commitment and dedication of these volunteers never ceases to inspire me.

Campaign volunteers are heroes.

Street artists have powerful voices. Committed to expressing their vision and their art through passionately embracing their need to create, regardless of societal pressures to conform, they ‘dress-up’  dark corners and hidden places with vivid colour, wild visions and amazing perspectives. They teach us through their passion to always believe in ourselves, our dreams and our right to express. They teach us to set our imaginations free and see the world through different glasses, to shift our point of view and see the beauty and the pathos, along with the absurd, through eyes of wonder.

Street Artists are heroes.

And to prove it…

I found these photos of the Best Street Art of 2011 on StumbledUpon and was in awe. The artist’s names are not provided — I’m sharing a few of the photos below, to see them all, click HERE.