by Heather Plett | Apr 8, 2010 | travel
I’m in Chicago, at an inter-faith communicators’ conference that’s all about “embracing change”. I’ve heard some amazing speakers – like Mitch Albom and Otis Moss III – and my head is reeling with just what embracing change means for me personally, professionally, and spiritually. I think I’ve got to process that some more before I blog about it, so for now, I’ll share more of a random travelogue than any particular deep thoughts swirling around in the grey matter.
It’s been rainy and cool since I got here, and tonight that was excuse enough for me to come “home” early, put on my pjs, and curl up on the couch. But these wandering feet can’t be kept entirely still, even in the rain, so I did manage to do a little sight-seeing in the last couple of days.
First, the view of downtown, from just down the street from where I’m staying.
This homeless fellow caught my attention.
He was deeply engrossed in his book and I couldn’t resist sneaking behind a tree to take a closer look. What kind of book does a homeless guy read?
The Last Man Standing. I haven’t read it, so I can’t say anything profound about whether or not it makes some kind of social statement.
I spent a bit of time in Millennium Park, and… can I just say… even though I got soaked and had to go to the conference banquet with squishy feet and dripping pant legs, I LOVE walking in the rain. Really. Being in a touristy artsy outdoorsy space when it’s raining and foggy and few other people are crazy enough to be there? Well, it just has a special kind of magic. By the time I ducked into Starbucks to warm up over a chai latte, I was downright giddy. Silly but true.
I am SO in love with the giant face sculptures in Millennium Park. The faces keep changing and I could just stand and stare for an hour or two, even in the rain.
Here’s a little sneak peek into the luxury digs I’m staying in. I booked a place through bedandbreakfast.com, and at first I was going to be in a modest little suite. But then I got upgraded because somebody wanted that place for a month. And then I got upgraded AGAIN to their first class accommodations. (For cheaper than I would have paid at the big corporate hotel where the conference is, by the way.) Ooh la la! I feel like a QUEEN!
This is the well equipped kitchen and way down at the end, past the dining room, is the living room. Behind me is the bedroom, and off to the side, an office, an extra bedroom, and a bathroom with a 2 person jacuzzi tub. I don’t think I want to leave!
Just one more thing… this picture almost defies comment.
A BAKERY for DOGS?! I know we’re an overly-indulgent society, but seriously?! If you’ve got a pampered dog, please forgive me. But you know what… when there’s a homeless guy living in a park just down the street, is it really okay to have a bakery just for dogs? (I know, I know – getting rid of one won’t fix the other, but still…)
I may be “embracing change”, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to embrace bakeries for dogs.
by Heather Plett | Apr 6, 2010 | Spring
I have a huge fondness for wild crocuses. They are such bold little flowers, poking their heads out of the newly thawed ground and blooming before other plants even dare to sprout. But they’re not just bold, they’re smart – they guard against the early Spring cold by wearing furry coats and staying close to the ground where they’re out of the wind.
Almost everyone who grew up in my small town feels an attachment to prairie crocuses. The crocus is our provincial flower, and my hometown prides itself in being the crocus capital of Manitoba. On Sunday mornings in early Spring, we’d race across the road after church to the big field in the centre of town to see who could spot the first crocus of the season.
I’ve been longing to go crocus hunting, and yesterday, on my day off, I actually considered driving the two hours just to see if my hometown was a-bloom with crocuses. But I’d travelled on the weekend and was leaving again today, so it seemed a little frivolous and irresponsible. Instead, I did the responsible thing and made sure the family has groceries and clean clothes while I’m away.
It wasn’t ALL work, though. With such lovely weather, I couldn’t resist a visit to the labyrinth before tackling the grocery shopping.
The designers of the labyrinth filled the in-between spaces with indigenous grasses and flowers, and… guess what? There were wild crocuses in bloom! I hadn’t even thought of that when I decided to spend some time there. What a pleasant surprise!
If you want to see more of the lovely labyrinth that’s just across the river from my house and is one of my favourite places for contemplation, here’s a video I made last summer.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPiXVsRhp4s]
p.s. I’m in Chicago this week, and will be sharing photos from here soon. I’ve livin’ in the lap o’ luxury this week, having been upgraded to first class accommodations. Remember the suite in Pretty Woman? It’s not quite that, but close! More on that another day.
by Heather Plett | Apr 5, 2010 | Uncategorized
Yesterday Marcel was talking about how he needed to put together some Spring collages and/our video montages of photos to help inspire the students in the photography elective he’s teaching at school. Maddie jumped up and said “I can help you Dad!” Shortly thereafter, Marcel and I went out for coffee/chai and didn’t think much more of it.
When we got home, Maddie bounded out of bed because she HAD to show Dad what she’d created for him before she could drift off to dreamland. Here’s her work of art. (She wanted to add talking bubbles to the geese, but ran out of time.)
I just love how little hesitation there is in her when it comes to creativity. She never questioned whether or not she knew how to create a collage, never hesitated when it came to using software she didn’t really understand, never worried that the photos she was selecting were good enough, and never doubted that her dad would love the final product.
It seems I have a lot to learn from the bold creativity of an eight year old.
by Heather Plett | Mar 31, 2010 | beginnings, change, journey
There are knots trying to untie themselves in my stomach. Big decisions trying to get made. Big ideas trying to find space to grown. Big worries trying to overshadow those big ideas. Big questions. Big doubts. Big and dangerous transformation trying to happen.
The other day I tweeted: “Holding this phrase in my heart today: ‘In the fullness of time.’ When the time is right, the shift will come.”
Honestly, though? I suck at “the fullness of time”. I’m really, really impatient. When I decide I want to take a certain path, I want to take it NOW, not six months from now when the timing is better. You’d think I’d have learned this lesson by now, after so many times in my history when I’d wring my hands hoping for something to change IMMEDIATELY and then – when it changed at a later time and turned out in a better way than I’d even dreamed – I’d realize “oh THAT’S why it was better to wait”.
But, alas, those lessons seem to be lost on me whenever I’m chomping at the bit waiting for a new story to unfold. Like an unruly child, I squirm and shout “Now! I want it NOW!”
I’m not quite sure what this post is for. No great wisdom or revelation here. Just the wrestlings of a restless soul.
BUT… if I were to write myself an advice column, I would tell myself:
1. Change is inevitable. Embrace it, dance with it, but don’t try to rush it.
2. Slow down. Transformation takes time. The cocoon will be broken open when the butterfly is ready to be released. Break it open sooner and the butterfly dies.
3. There is a force greater than you at play in the world. Trust it. Spend time with it. Let the Spirit hold your hand and whisper in your ear.
4. You have good friends who understand things about the world. Share your secrets with them and they may just whisper words of wisdom you didn’t let yourself believe to be true.
5. There are lessons to be learned in the waiting. You NEED these lessons. Take time for them.
6. Sometimes you need to let things go – some really GOOD things – to step into a new story. Don’t worry, you’ll find new things in the new space and they’ll probably be just what you need for the person you’ve become.
7. Be gentle with your family. They may not understand what you’re going through. But they want to see you happy.
8. Sometimes, the people who love you the most are the ones most resistant to seeing you change and grow. It’s probably because they want to keep you safe.
9. The “road less travelled” sometimes has scary shit on the path – monsters and falling trees and huge crevices – tread carefully, but don’t give up. It’s still the right path.
10. That ugly feeling of restlessness and worry and doubt and angst all balled up in the pit of your stomach? This too shall pass.
Now if only I were good at following my own advice!
by Heather Plett | Mar 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
Today was my first day back at work and this is one of the first things I read…
???“A World Bank report found that gender violence was the cause of more ill-health among women and girls than malaria and traffic accidents combined.
“Another WHO report showed that, in some countries, up to nearly 70% of women report having been physically assaulted, and up to 47% report that their first sexual intercourse was forced. Surveys of villages in India showed that 70% of women had suffered at least two forms of physical violence in domestic abuse, and 16% of all deaths during pregnancy are from domestic abuse. Studies from Peru report that about 40% of girls will be victims of rape or attempted rape by the age of fourteen. 70% of HIV infected women and girls in South Africa report having been forced to have sex. AIDS education does little to help women and children who are contracting the virus from forced sexual encounters.” (From a lecture by Gary A. Haugen at the University of Chicago)
We still have so far to go.
