Tag Archives: heroes

Heroes in our midst

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I had planned on writing about heroes I’ve met or heard about or seen this week. Because today is Saturday and Saturday is my day to celebrate heroes in our midst.

And there are lots. Like the father who stopped to let his little girl watch a worm crawl across the sidewalk in the rain, or the young man who gave a woman his seat on the train in from the airport, and the cashier who threw in the final 33 cents for a coffee for the man who was short of change.

And there was the police man giving directions to a couple whose English was as scant as his of theirs (something Slavic I think but I didn’t know what). He patiently traced their route on a google map on their phone as I stood beside them waiting for a light to change. They smiled and nodded their heads and he smiled and nodded his and spoke in a loud voice, slowly articulating each syllable of the words he spoke that they could not understand. Didn’t matter. They were all happy to be connected.

There was also the young girl who stopped to help a man with a walker navigate a sidewalk after she’d helped him pick up some oranges that had fallen out of his basket. And a balcony festooned with balloons and banners wishing someone a Happy Birthday. I laughed when I saw all the balloons blowing above and hoped they were the biodegradable kind — but then, this is Vancouver where environmental awareness is second place only to how their beloved Canucks are doing in the shortened hockey season. (Last I heard there was a lot of noise about bad plays and worse goal-keeping — but that’s the lot of hockey fanatics. Their team is only as good as their last win.)

But I’m not going to write of those everyday heroes — they are all around you though so don’t forget to watch for them, to see them and to celebrate their brilliance. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to celebrate the hero in you! Because, no matter how you look at it, the hero in you is dancing around, opening doors for strangers, wiping up spilt milk and taking out the garbage.

The heroes I want to write about this morning though are my daughters. Two incredible young women who have never ceased to amaze me and awe me with their hearts and beautiful spirits shining.

Once upon a time I promised to love my daughters with all my heart, and then I fell. My heart broke and I lay shattered upon the ground. It was my daughters’ love that brought me back to life. My daughters’ forgiveness that lead me back into the light.

I am blessed. So incredibly blessed. And grateful. And humbled.

By love’s majesty. By love’s capacity to heal in the broken places and lead us back to the hearts and hearths where we belong.

Once upon a time, I disappeared without a word from my daughters’ lives. It was a man. Albeit a ‘bad man’, but I disappeared none-the-less, without a word, a note, a sign that I’d be back.

Four months later, I was given the miracle of my life when he was arrested and I was set free.

Almost ten years later, I continue to live and cherish the miracle of my life today. The love and joy, the gratitude and abundance for all that I have, I am and know in this world today.

I am celebrating my daughters today. No, it’s not “Happy Daughters Day” or even their birthday, (though the youngest turns 25 in less than 2 weeks). Nope. I’m celebrating my daughters today because…. I can. I am here. Alive and loving. Alive and feeling. Alive and knowing, I am so blessed.

And because…. I read my daughter, Alexis’ blog todayAlexi’s blog today, and my heart broke open again. Just as it breaks open every day immersed in the love that we share.

I am celebrating my daughters today.

Why not celebrate the one’s you love today, just because you can. Just because you’re here and living and they are the gift that expands in love everyday.

Heroes among us make a difference

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C.C. and I are sitting out on the deck eating dinner under the day’s falling light. Tiny pinpricks of stars begin to glitter above as the sky deepens from aqua to indigo to black, The Big Dipper, Orion, Cassiopeia…

I ask him who is a hero he encountered this week, and he promptly replies, “Hakim.”

Hakim is the receptionist at the Tribal Council offices where C.C. has his office. “He is always smiling, always friendly and happy,” C.C. says. And he goes on to tell me the story of Hakim coming into his office hoping C.C. or one of his staff can help a young, pregnant woman whose car is in the parking lot, unwilling to start. “She puts the key in, turns it and it just goes, Scccrrrr. Scccrrr,” Hakim tells him. And Trent, C.C.’s project manager, goes out and helps the woman.

Hakim and Trent are heroes.

I had a long and delightful coffee yesterday with my friend Max, a client at the homeless shelter where I used to work. Max and another client, John, just got back from the New York Musical Theatre Festival where they travelled to be part of Onalea Gilbertson’s production of Requiem for a Lost Girl which had its world premiere here in Calgary two years ago as Two Bit Oper Eh Shun? (the 2010 blog I wrote about it is posted at the NYMF site, here). Max is full of stories about his travels in New York, and more importantly (to me), about the things he learned about himself.  “We were there to be their mentors more than anything else,” Max says of the six Covenant House youth who took part in the production. After a pensive, quiet moment he adds,”My dad was right.” And he tells the story of his father’s lifelong involvement with Knights of Columbus because of 26 cents he received when he stepped off the boat as an immigrant with no material possessions many years ago. “He always felt he had to pay back that 26 cents,” Max says before adding, “I have lots to offer others too.”

Max and John and Onalea and Marcelle and Elizabeth and all the other cast and crew who worked so hard to make Requiem a reality are all heroes.

Onalea Gilbertson is one dedicated, committed and talented woman. After spending six months in New York planning and mounting Requiem for a Lost Girl, Onalea hopped on a train and took off for Washington, DC where her one woman show, Blanche, is appearing at the Fringe Festival (It’s also appearing in the Fringe NYC Festival August 15-25 ). The reviews are phenomenal, and Onalea is considered, ‘best of the fringe’. Onalea constantly inspires me with her drive to be her best and give her most to create a world of beauty and love. It would be great if we could all support her and LIKE Blanche on FB — go here to add your support!

Onalea Gilbertson is  a hero. 

There are heroes among us everywhere. Have you celebrated a hero today?

Heroes in our midst

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The world is filled with ordinary people doing ordinary things extraordinarily.

Like Jeff’s mother. Jeff is one of the owners at Calgary’s most creative wine shop, and my favourite  — Vine Arts. Jeff’s mother is a foster parent. He told me about her one day while I was in Vine Arts to pick up some libation. The pride and love in his voice was inspiring. Like my beautiful friends Bev and Larry Pettigrew, Jeff’s mother gives other children a chance at not just a ‘normal’ life, but at life itself. A chance they might never have had before. Jeff Jordan, who writes at, To My Children, If They are Listening, also makes a home for foster children, and he writes beautiful and amazing stories about his experiences. These giving  individuals open their homes and hearts to children who need a place to call home.

Foster parents are heroes.

I’ve never met Angela. Didn’t even know about her and her Project True initiative until my eldest daughter, Alexis, became involved in Project True — there’s only one YOU in TRUE.  Angela had an eating disorder. Six years after leaving a healing facility, she has started a not-for-profit to provide online assistance to those recovering from disorderly eating. What an amazing woman. Sharing her knowledge, inspiration and creating a safe and welcoming space for others to learn and grow is important to Angela and all those involved in the project.

Angela, Alexis and everyone else at Project True are heroes.

I ran into a former co-worker yesterday. He still works at the homeless shelter where I used to work, is working on his masters in social work and has a young child. He is busy. Another woman I know, after years of working in the not-for-profit sector has gone back to University to get her undergrad in social work and is also holding down a full-time job. Every year, the Calgary Counselling Centre where I am working as the Interim Director of Communications, provides graduate and post-graduate students the opportunity to obtain real-world learning and counselling experiences because the CEO Robbie Babins-Wagner, believes in creating a better world through creating ways for people to learn and grow and become all they are meant to be. And btw, Robbie obtained her Ph.D last year while working full-time at the Centre and teaching at the University.

Those who work and go back to University, who commit their lives to helping others, who lead not-for-profits and still find time to learn more and to share what they’ve learned by teaching others, are heroes. 

Who are your heroes? Have you celebrated anyone today?

Celebrating the heroes in our midst (a Saturday Feature)

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I had coffee with one of my favourite heroes yesterday, Ian Prinsloo. Excerpted from his bio at The Rehearsal Process — in formal terms, “Ian is a professional theatre director with over 20 years experience working across Canada… Recently Ian has been exploring theatre outside of theatre. His graduate research (MFA, University of Calgary) focused on how the alternative ways of knowing developed through actor training and enacted in the rehearsal process could be developed in people outside of theatre and how those abilities prepare groups to engage in change processes.”

In real life terms, Ian is a man with a great heart, inquiring mind and enormous capacity to, as he calls it, be comfortable in the field of inciting change. I first met Ian at the shelter where I used to work when he came in to work on The Lower Depths Project he created for the National Conference on Homelessness held at the University of Calgary in February of 2009.  “The Lower Depths Project explored the lived experiences of people connected to the issue of homelessness through theatre practices; in doing so it was seeking to create an opening for alternative views of the issue to emerge”, his bio states.

Ian knows how to touch hearts and open minds, to see possibility in everything and to be open and generous with his enormous talent.

Ian is a hero. 

Max Cielsielski. was one of the participants in The Lower Depths Project and continues to be a supporter and participant in The DI Singers. A gifted artist, carpenter, musician Max is a man of great heart and deep soul. Max was a founding artist of the art program I started at the shelter, and one of its strongest supporters. His generosity of spirit, his willingness to explore his creativity and to share his discoveries inspires me. Max is a beautiful soul who never ceases to leave me breathless at the beauty and magnificence of the human spirit.

Max is a hero.

I first met Des Nwaerondu at the TEDxCalgary event last November where I was a presenter and he was one of the participants. We met for coffee in January and  I sat in awe of this young man who is committed to make a difference in the world, and who is doing it everyday. Des takes action. Des makes change happen — and in his doing, creates opportunities for others to see their power to create change too. You can read Des’ blog HERE, and follow him on twitter here — @AdvisorDes. He’s always got lots of good information to share on creating wealth in your world — he’s an accomplished wealth advisor by day and a heart-driven philanthropist at all times.

Des is a hero.

Heroes in Our Midst would not be complete without a video of someone, something in the world that inspires creativity, wonder and awe. My friend Maureen at Writing Without Paper shares a VIMEO video of music expressed as a rollercoaster ride this morning on her Saturday Shares (My finds are your finds) — Its fun and exciting to watch and makes me marvel at the ingenuity of the human spirit! Enjoy!

ZKO Rollercoaster // GREAT EMOTIONS from virtual republic on Vimeo.

Celebrating the Heroes Among Us (2nd edition)

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It is ‘Heroes Saturday’, the day on which we celebrate the heroes in our midst.

Yesterday, Trevor Boller wrote this on his FaceBook page about his wife, Tracey.

“My Hero this week is my wife Tracey Merrett She is goes weekly to Mustard Seed to assist with an art program there where inner city ppl come to express themselves in art. They have built up trust for her and she comes home energized on a Thurs night. Who has energy by Thurs, let alone 1030 at night? On the table was a bag this week of gluten free bread and some products. She was bringing this to a patron who shares he rarely eats because he can’t because of Celiac or something. I was so touched to see this bag on the table and was given to him last night. I used to think that everyone in Alberta could find food some place. I was educated! ♥”

He’s right. Tracey is a hero! And so is Trevor!

I’m coaching in the Givers 2 weekend of Choices, the life experience/personal development course I took six years ago that changed my life by letting me explore my limiting beliefs and giving me tools to live everyday with joy, passion and peace in my heart. It’s something I love to do, something that feeds my soul and brings great joy to my heart. The program couldn’t run without its volunteers. When the 90+ people walk into the room on Wednesday afternoon until they walk out Sunday evening there is one thing they absolutely can be assured of, they will be loved – even in those moments when they do not believe they are worthy — they will be loved. And, for the 30+ volunteer coaches who give of their time, talents and treasures, they know there is one thing they will do perfectly throughout the five days of seminar, Love the people when they walk through the doors, and keep on loving them. In that love and their giving spirits, miracles unfold. Husbands and wives let go of hurts and fall in love with each other all over again,  a man finds the will to live, a woman finds the courage to claim her dreams, families are reconnected, lives are reclaimed and spirits soar.

To everyone coaching in Choices this month (and all the other months too!), you are heroes.

I’ve never met Maureen Doallas in person, but, for the past 3 years I’ve been inspired and informed by her blog, Writing Without Paper. We’ve become ‘soul sistars’, exchanged emails, chatted on the phone and cemented a friendship I treasure. Everyday at Writing Without Paper, Maureen celebrates the ingenuity, creativity and excellence of humankind by posting interviews, essays, and links to other sites, and sometimes, she shares beautiful treasures of her own poetry. When her book of poetry, Neruda’s Memoir was published, I quickly ordered a copy and have been slowly devouring each delicate poem and intricate image she weaves with her words for the past year. Maureen makes a difference every day by graciously sharing her talents and teaching us about all that people are doing to create wonder and beauty and inspiration in our world. (and if you want some wonder and inspiration in your world today, go check out Maureen’s Saturday Sharing.  (My finds are yours) And do say hello! She’ll be happy to see you!

Maureen Doallas is a hero.

I have never met Grace Brown. I first heard of her through Maureen’s blog earlier this month. I wish I knew Grace. If I did, I’d give her a high-five, a happy dance, a hug, a huge Thank You! And I’d tell her how she has inspired me through the difference she is making for victims of rape and sexual assault. Grace is a college student and a photographer in New York and the creator of Project Unbreakable: The beginning of healing through art. Maureen writes on her blog, For Project Unbreakable, Brown, a college student, invites victims of rape or other forms of sexual violence and abuse to write a quote from their attacker on a large piece of poster board and to then be photographed holding up the quote. Yvonne Moss, a rape survivor and advocate for sexual abuse victims and one of the women Brown has photographed, states on Brown’s site that the project is “a way for victims to take the power back of the words that were once used against them.”

Grace Brown created this short video to highlight the importance and relevance and healing power of Project Unbreakable. Please share it.

Grace Brown is a hero.

We all need heroes. Who are yours? Take some time today, and everyday, to celebrate those who inspire, move and motivate you to make a world of difference. And let me know who they are. I’d love to share the story of your heroes here!

The world needs heroes. Let’s all be one. Let’s all celebrate the ones we know!

Namaste.