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today 		"The things we want are really the times we share."

"The most important things we bring with us are within us."

"If I had only one thing I would take a smile over an iPod."

~ Rob Hueniken

From the category archives:

Awareness

Thumbnail image for 10 ways to guarantee grumpiness

10 ways to guarantee grumpiness

October 6, 2009

Make a big deal of everything.
Sure, we all have things we really care about, but what do we gain by insisting it’s our way or it’s no way? Stress.
It’s amazing how the tension evaporates from our shoulders when someone says, “I’m fine with that”, or “That could work.”

Have the wrong pet, or be the wrong owner.

If you think your pet always looks like this, or perhaps that your pet would like to kill you, then it’s time to think outside the litter box.
Your style might not work with this pet, and changing how you spend time with your pet [...]

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Thumbnail image for A different perspective can help us reach our goal

A different perspective can help us reach our goal

October 5, 2009

As the stage designer for an 1100-seat auditorium I get to spend a lot of time up a ladder, reaching for things. Drapery, fishing line, cable ties and scissors are just some of the items I carry, tweak and twist while 10 feet off the ground.  I have a great respect for the stage, especially when I get to stand on it instead of looking down at it from a ladder.
A recent stage design was based on the community theme of “Being Connected”, and used gears and steel trusses to give a mechanical representation of people being connected in [...]

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You will be eating again soon

October 3, 2009

The finishing moment of many pleasant restaurant meals is having a fortune cookie. Dropped off with the cheque, fortune cookies are a final treat, and usually a source of optimistic wisdom. So it surprised me when I opened my fortune cookie to find this message: “You may be hungry soon: order a takeout now.”

At first I thought that the cookie writer was expanding upon an old joke about Chinese food burning off quickly, but then I read it again.
Yes, I would be hungry soon — not “may be hungry soon”. I would want something to eat, and I would get [...]

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Guess who’s not coming to dinner

September 27, 2009

Having dinner with friends at a nice restaurant is a wonderful event. You are with people you love, being served excellent food that arrives without any effort by you in the kitchen. The air is filled with laughter and storytelling, and time rolls backward as you reconnect with friends with youthful exuberance.
I joined five friends recently for just such a marvelous evening that had all of these great things and more.
Arriving at the restaurant we found the place  buzzing and busy, with hostesses taking names of eager diners and every table taken. But two of our group had arrived early [...]

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Thumbnail image for We are all the same size inside

We are all the same size inside

September 26, 2009

Humans come in all sizes, shapes and styles, and just when you think you’ve seen every possibility you see someone who looks different yet again. I think we all find people to be interesting — they are variations on ourselves and the world-wide human community.

Height is one of the greatest sources of differences with people. People can look different and act differently in many ways, but height is a unique and obvious trait that we can all agree on.
Height is tied into the process of human growth: we all start very small, as babies, and then grow taller. We become [...]

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Not on the outside

September 24, 2009

One of the worst feelings is being left out. Something is going on and you aren’t included, whether it was intentionally, or you were forgotten, or they never imagined you might want to be included .

While some people prefer being on their own, that is different from actually being left out. Being left out means that you wanted to be there, if only you knew about it or were able to be there.
There are always lots of reasons available for not including more people in a gathering or event, and most of them make sense — there wasn’t room, we [...]

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Thumbnail image for Air is thick but sensitive

Air is thick but sensitive

September 19, 2009

One of the biggest things we never see is all around us — the air. We know it’s there but we don’t think about it much unless it smells wonderful (like dinner) or smells terrible (like when a farmer is spreading manure on his fields).
While air usually looks clear it is much more than thin nothingness. It supplies oxygen for billions of people and for even more animals. It pushes windmills, holds up birds and even holds up airplanes. Air is thick!

While not a stunt to repeat, this guy is being kept upright by a very strong updraft. If the [...]

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Thumbnail image for The rabbit knows he’s delicious

The rabbit knows he’s delicious

September 16, 2009

We all have our weaknesses, and most of us know what they are.  We also have our strengths, and those are what we need to focus on sharing.
Sitting in the backyard with my friend we saw a rabbit. It was doing what rabbits spend a lot of time doing — sitting very still and sniffing the air.
“Do you think the rabbit knows it’s cute?” asked my friend.  “No,” I replied, “but the rabbit knows he’s delicious.”

From the moment a rabbit is born he is told that he would be a very tasty meal. He won’t become less tasty or desirable [...]

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Thumbnail image for Someone that someone cares about

Someone that someone cares about

September 12, 2009

As people discovered with the Six Degrees of Separation, we are all connected in surprisingly few steps.

While walking in the mall, driving down the road, or having lunch, we are near to people that someone close to us knows and cares about.
It is an illusion that our days are filled with true strangers — an illusion that continues because we spend most of our time “getting things done” rather than getting to know our community.
A photography project called Being Toronto uses a portable photography studio to take free portraits of the people making up the city. In doing this, photographers [...]

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Thumbnail image for We are all more

We are all more

September 11, 2009

We are all multi-faceted and unique. You and I are complex people, living in a busy world that often misses the simple joys of life. As you walk down the street, know that inside each person you see is more than what they are showing.
We can’t have time to know everyone, but we can know that everyone has a story, and that each hopes that tomorrow will be good.

A photography project called Being Toronto (www.beingtoronto.com) has John Beebe and Michelle Gibson taking their cameras to the urban streets, to capture some of life and community.
John and Michelle are setting up [...]

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