Christmas, Oh Merry Christmas

 

 Well it is just around the corner. The date in which we spend the whole month of December planning for and preparing the house and home. If you guessed Christmas you are right. This is the single the largest holiday on the planet. It is celebrated by about a third of the population of the planet. It is a retail dream come true.

Christmas to me as a child was about the bobbles, the gifts, the sparkle of the decorations and the parties. We always knew in our minds somewhere that Christmas was the birthday of Jesus but that never really mattered as much. My beliefs changed over the years and I discovered many similarities from other belief foundations to be acceptable, but that is another story altogether.
 

  

I still love Christmas as a season. It has a life of it’s own and it is glorious and bright. A time of year when people come together to enjoy a good meal (or a bad one if you cannot cook), to exchange a gift and to see how much the nieces and nephews have grown over the year. It is a time of weight gain and hangovers, of good intentions an resolutions at New Years. Gym memberships that go unused after February that pile high with the exercise equipment, new and mostly unworn jogging clothes, all purchased with good intentions. It lands with the crazy crowds on December 26, Boxing Day, the nightmare of retunes exchanges and new purchases with newly gained finances that came under the tree. The traffic, the angry lineups the consumed time and money that you have worked so hard to gain just to feel obliged to give your old ninety year old Auntie that special gift that will become yours someday (make sure it is not electronics they will be obsolete over night!!!). But I still love Christmas as a season!!! 

 

Is it the glitter or the bobbles or the lights??? Have we blown Christmas out of proportion??? Some days I wonder as I add up my receipts and look at the spending done. On the commercial side of Christmas it is over rated. It is one day a year. What is next Halloween, it sure looked like it was on its way this year with all the decorations gifts and loads upon loads of candy. But remember the story, each visitor brought one gift to one child. The expense was great to each of them I am sure, but let’s get real what a cash cow this time of year is. From the tree, to the elf on the shelf, to the stocking stuffer, to the glitz and the glam, what ever happened to it being simple??? Less expensive, more real, more about the people and not about the stuff. Do we really need all the stuff???

And certainly not to complain but please bring us no bobbles, bring us no glitz, bring us no glam, no stockings, no ham. Bring us your love, your company, your voice raised in song, bring us warm memories of family and friends. Bring us just Christmas, the day once a year, we’ll celebrate a baby without any sham. Sorry for the hacky verse!!!

 

Happy Holidays from my family to yours. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

 

 

May the season be yours to remember!!!

 

1.

Lisa Anne's Thoughts on Canada and Being Canadian

 

 

Today’s commentary has been written from its title. Not often do I title a piece until I have written it and edited for the most part. But that is not so for today. After a dumping of November snow I found myself thinking what it meant to me to be Canadian. What were the things about my country I am proud of and maybe not so proud of…eh??? Or maybe just my thought...

The table on our deck. Photo by Lisa Anne

 

Canadians are a hardy bunch. We endure long cold winters that seem to never end. We do it with style through ice sports like hockey, figure skating, skiing and tobogganing. I have never been much of a hockey fan until the last two winter Olympic games. In Vancouver, Canada showed the world that we are made of the right stuff. Not only did we win both men’s and women’s hockey golds but we also won and broke the record for the most medals won by a host country. I think that is pretty spectacular. And just to be Canadian one step further we go to Sochi and come home with bilateral gold medals again for hockey. I remember watching the women’s game and feeling down right lost as the clock ticked down and the score was for the other team. We tied it up in the last few seconds and then in overtime slammed it home for the win!!! Way to do it ladies!!!

 

But all-in-all we have cornered the market on snow blowers and shovels, snowmobiles, skies, and quite possibly winter outerwear. Most true Canadians have owned or know someone who has or does own a Hudson’s Bay coat. That would include yours truly as an owner, thank you. These garments are the epitome of Canadian outerwear. The coloured stripes on the beige background is very distinctive and the warmth of such a coat is undeniable. Also so is the weight. You need to be in good shape to wear one!!! I remember the deep red, navy, grass green and the bright yellow always holding some position in our family cottage on a cold night. Then as I grew up I found the value of a Bay blanket on my bed at home. To this day in winter I slip under the weight of a six point gift of warmth that I will never surrender.

 

My final thoughts are about winter storms. I remember plenty of them as a child and ones that came with walloping winds, tons of snow and lots of ice. This always made the roads slippery for those who would shag. If you do not know what that is, I will not hold responsibility for telling you and it is not dirty, just dangerous. Almost every car I rode in went sideways along the roads and there was always the slipping backwards down the hills as cars were unable to climb and top small mounts that were heavily topped with snow. The snowmen in the yards were made by every household on the block and the forts to have snowball fights were built to last the season. We still have storms like that. We have just had one that was caused by lake effect snow and possibly another one coming. That will never change in Canada, we are the country that counts on these storms for our survival. These storms replenish our land and cover it with a blanket to allow it to rest for the following spring when it will come alive again. A country of four distinct seasons that do not blend and are their very own in every way. So after all of this my best thought about Canadian snow storms…the invention of the snow day from school!!!

Mystic Beauty of a Storm. Photos by Lisa Anne

Buried. Photo by Lisa Anne

 

I have always been proud to be Canadian. From the poppy I wear lest I forget, to ones I grow in honour of a grandfather. To the places I have seen and the simple saying of “Sorry” I am proud. We are a nation true and strong and we stand together and will not fall. I have pride in the beauty of this country, from the mountains of the west coast to the flats of the prairies, through the mosquitoes of Manitoba and the great lakes of Ontario, the history of Quebec and the rich culture of the east coast (which I am yet to visit) I have pride. We are the true north, strong an free and in that I stand a Canadian.    

My Garden Sink & Potting Bench. Photos by Lisa Anne

The Shed. Photo by Lisa Anne

 

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An Officer and a Gentleman

 

I repost this again as we approach Remembrance Day 2015. Please know that our soldiers and military service personnel are people with families who love them. These thoughts and memories I share with you are because of that sacrifice these individuals made to keep our country free. On November 11th stand in silence and please remember and be grateful.

I wrote this piece back in June of 2014 to honour my father at Father’s Day. It seems appropriate today as well that I post it to let you see a little into the life of an Officer and a Gentleman. I love you Daddy. Please remember and may we not forget the sacrifices made for our freedom.

As Father’s day approaches I have been thinking about my Dad. It has been just over thirteen years since he died. And the morning of May 20^th 2001 has been etched in my mind and my heart forever.

My father was a tall and dark haired man with a strength and presence about him. His blue eyes often glistened with pride even though he would show very little emotion. Being born in the thirties and raised throughout the war toughens a person especially as a young child. A stiff upper lip was always present. But as a child I could just tell how much he loved his children and family.

I think back on times of fishing and my mother and I out in the boat, the bugs becoming too much and the need for the toilet overwhelming. Dad finally gave in and only to reel in the tiniest perch fish I have ever seen. My mother holding the rod had not even noticed the little fish nibble the hook. I remember Dad’s laughter as she was surprised to see the little thing there. It was almost as if he knew better than we. 

As I grew older and was able to venture out I was taught to ride a bike. With Dad running behind me holding the seat I felt safe and secure. But then he let go and all of a sudden…freedom hit and I knew how to ride and I was gone. I took off around the block and down to a friend’s house, with Dad calling after me to come back. He had neglected to show me how to stop let alone turn around!!!

Now Dad was not all glory and good guy we were disciplined and kept in line by a firm military hand. This did not keep us out of trouble but Dad was the top of the food chain when it came to who ruled and if you were in trouble with Dad you knew it was bad. He had a subtle way of teaching you through well-chosen words that came at you as he sat looking at his paper work, the occasional glimpse over the rim of his glasses gave you the finality of it all. There was nothing left to say.

Rides to lessons, that I took far too many of, and suffering of cold at the skating rink he would endure with pride. Hockey games for my brothers, baseball games at the local parks that gave me time to run and play on the swings as he watched the boys play their games. Dog bites cleaned and dressed with a stern warning to leave the animal alone come back to me with the sound of his voice in my head. The wounded, stray, lost, dying, or just forgotten animals were all welcome around Dad often crowded our house. Cats were often just called “Cat” and dogs, well they were called whatever came to mind sometimes. He tolerated the plague of hamsters, mice, guinea pigs and rabbits that lived with us for most of my pre-teen years. I am not nor have I ever been sure he was comfortable with the rodent population that lived under our roof. It often outnumbered the humans. 

His silly personality shone through with the renditions of old songs he would come up with out of his head. Sometimes with new words created just for the occasion. His knowledge of old movies was like a library of Hollywood and he would often share this by just saying the name of the actor or actress and then silence but you got the point. His favorite movie of all time was Top Gun. As a RCAF pilot retired Dad enjoyed this movie more than any other. When it finally came out on video I am sure we had two or even three copies of it, with reserves just in case one broke or became damaged.

But it is not the memories that has brought me to my computer to write about him and it is not the nearness of Father’s Day. That time can be filled with my husband and our family as we grow together. It is as if it was yesterday that we lost you Daddy and nothing has changed in my heart. I know you would have stayed if you have made the choice yourself, but that was not yours to make. I know you are never far and I often feel your presence, your strength reassuring me. I just want to tell you how much I love you and that I miss you with all of my heart.

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Our Personal and Environmental Foot Prints

 

 

As I sit here at my desk and wonder what to write about I find my thoughts are scattered today. For most blogging is a passion and not a career. I am one of the passionate ones. I make absolutely no money informing people about how crappy the human race truly can be. Maybe you have noticed that I write commentary that gently slaps humanity in the face.

It is not that I want human beings to be crappy, I want them to be better. Better to the world, better to each other and mostly better to themselves. Life is not easy when you have children, a mortgage and other responsibilities, but why have we let that become the societal norm to the western world? Because we all want what each other has…it is that simple. We are never satisfied and strive for more, but that strive has achieved us what…more of what? Well look around your home, it is decorated well with well-made furnishing, are your cooking pots from Canada or the US made. You get the idea and where I am going with this. I look around and find that more has brought in the cheap junk toys, the expensive spatula that broke on its third use, the vacuum that will not pick up the dust and the parts break if you bump the base boards too hard. Wanting more has brought us to a level of consumerism that sucks. Junk is cheap, easy to make and disposable, so what is wrong with that?

 

What is wrong with it is that more cheap breakable crap we buy and give to our children or use ourselves, the more packaging we use (to keep breakage and theft at bay), the more disposable our world becomes the more we pollute our planet. Yes there I said it we are destroying our planet. And really if you have some fantasy about going to Mars, get over it because that is not going to happen in this or any other lifetime. Not only are we destroying the health of our planet we are destroying our own health as we nosh down on fast food, Halloween candy (how many parents out there are at the junk that was brought home after secretly wanting it to begin with?) and the ready made foods from the grocery store.

 

I get it the days of the stay at home “Leave It To Beaver” household are gone. Truly I would not want those days back, the hair do alone would kill me, let alone the dresses, and we have come along way with technology since then and it has improved our lives. But in the same breath it has taken away many things we crave as people.

 

People can get lonely when they are not social. Yes, humans are social creatures. We need to interact with each other on a personal level so that we can grow and form our personalities. Wait for it…now add in computer games. These games are usually solitary and are performed for the most part in the seated position. Great that is just wonderful, now our human being is not only alone but sedentary and eating crappy foods. What is wrong with this picture? It makes me sad to think of someone like this, in this state of disrepair as a person and our planet in this state of disrepair and a living being. Yes our planet is just like a living, breathing human being and we are killing it slowly.

 

So what do you say that we take some time and do a few things for the human race and our planet. How about lowering your own household environmental foot print? Buy reusable sandwich bags (can be found on Pintrest), use cloth shopping bags instead of taking the plastic ones from the store, recycle everything that is recyclable and make this a habit. Hold governments accountable for the recycling initiatives and make sure they follow through. Turn your heat down and wear a sweater, get off the couch and move you will warm up, don’t just turn your heat up get up. Take a closer look at packaging of toys, foods, and other consumer goods and refuse to buy anything that has way too much packaging. Stop eating everything in the grocery store, learn how to cook (look that up on the web) healthy meals that will give you leftovers for lunches. Buy fresh fruit a couple of times a week and eat it. If you take it with you, you will eat it just because it is there. Most of all have will power to make positive changes in your life and your environment. It takes twenty-one days to make or break a habit. Let’s try to make some new good ones that will benefit all.

Now get out there and live and make the healthy choice for yourself and our planet. We can do for ourselves with ease, but our planet will take team work!!!

 

1.

Can You Afford toEat???

 

 

Well it has been since Thanksgiving that I have written a commentary for your reading pleasure. I was raised under the adage that if you have nothing nice to say do not say anything. Well that is not what my commentary is about. I have tried to keep quiet but that is…well…impossible.

So after finishing my workout this morning I headed to the grocery store to pick up a cabbage, milk, and some ground beef. Seems simple enough right? No not at all. The price tag on these three simple items was over twelve dollars!!! I was stunned at the cash but not before I was hammered with the prices of the produce and the meat. I never shop the inside isles of the store as that is the junk food and the processed foods. As a Mom at home I have the opportunity to prepare wholesome meals and shop in the outside isles, so I do. I was making my rounds of the fresh produce only to notice that English cucumbers were $1.99 and were about eight inches in length and as skinny as a twig!!! Not only that, but, the price of a ham was $12.00. Less than a year ago the ham was $7.00 and the sale price was $3.99. Ground beef was another one. 500 g was $5.00 a week ago now it is $6.00 for the same amount, but still who can afford to eat right now?

 

 

We live in one of the largest food producing nations in the world. Our waste food is one third of what is grown in this country Canada and the farmers, producers and manufacturers of our food has the nerve to up the prices like that. My family spends about $800.00 per month on general food products from the grocery store. That does not include the extras such as the odd pizza or other celebratory meal out type of deal. For the most part we cannot afford to be eating out or ordering in food (neither can our health for that matter) so we stick to what we can buy from the grocery store or local farmers. So imagine my shock and horror as I walk the isles with my measly bi-weekly allowance and try to reconfigure our grocery list. I have cut out of our diet as much as I humanly can to manage our monthly budget. It is not as if my husband’s salary is going up to compensate for this financial grab by the food industry or as if I make any money from this blog. We are stuck now having to find what it is to give up next to make sure we have the right foods on the table for pure children to grow and be healthy.

 

Most of the food in this photo would have been wasted due to rotting.

Source: my local grocery store. I have observed and questioned.

 

Well as it stands right now, I make bread at home for a cost of $0.50 per loaf instead of paying over $2.00 for commercial bread. I make crackers, jellies, pickles, and just about every other condiment that you could want in your home including ketchup. I make my own soup stocks in order to lower our grocery bills we use every scrap of food that is bought and waste next to nothing to continue to lower this mandatory survival bill. We purchase nothing that is prepackaged or processed to yet again lower the bill. I price match and use coupons when I can (mainly for toiletries and items like that) yet again to lower the overall bill. So where does all of this give the audacity to the manufacturers and producers and sellers of our food to increase the cost to the point that we as an average family in Canada cannot afford to eat??? What gives you the right to be so financially greedy that you would and will stave people this year??? I know and am sympathetic to the circumstances of the lousy Ontario crops this past summer but really as I looked upon the elderly man in the store with me looking to his budget and trying to adjust his list so he could buy the meat he needed to survive my heart broke and my rage grew. There is no reason in this great country of Canada for anyone to be starving or having to make the choice between meat and heat. Ridiculous I say!!!

 

This is not the man I met at the store but a good representation of our aging population that will not be able to feed themselves.

 

You would think that after we as a country came together for our fallen soldiers over the past few weeks that we would be able to come together for our own countrymen. But I seem to think that this is an impossible task and that we are doomed by common human greed for money and that even as a country we will not all take a small part of the bite financially so that we can all ride this storm together and reach the light as a community we will do as any other place in the world would do, pass it all on to the consumer and let our tiny salaries, already squeezed dry, find a place to fit expenses that we are stuck paying just so we can live. Food is a basic need.

 

Food is a right not a privilege!!!

1.

Oh Canada

 

 

Oh Canada…I am Canadian and I stand by my country. I love being Canadian and I love this country. It is huge to say at the very least. We have great lakes and rivers galore. We have mountains, and lowlands, foothills and beaches. We have polar bears, lynx, otters, seals, bird of many variety and we have people. We like all other countries of the world have good people, strong people and we have very bad people.

It is not unbelievable to me that this has occurred. These perverted, twisted and cowardly actions clearly show us what we are up against in our war against terror. Remember it was just a short time ago that our Prime Minister, the honorable Steven Harper and his cabinet declared war on ISIS. Now I hate people killing each other I think it is something that we as a race of humans could live without. But I know that will never be the way as it is the nature of man and not the nurture so much. So as far as I am concerned this militant group has taken the first shot and on our turf.

                                                      Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

This act against an unarmed man guarding the tomb of the Unknown Soldier is nothing but a cowardly attack against the Canadian people. The victim Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a father, and a man just starting his life did not deserve to have it ended by another for doing his duty. We stop for a moment and recognize our Sargent at Arms who ended the rampage quickly. Thank you Kevin Vickers it must be something awful to take a life no matter what that life is and what unhonourable tasks that individual is performing. It is because of men like you and Cpl. Cirillo that this country is the true north strong and free.

                                                                Cpl. Nathan Cirillo

                                                      Sargent at Arms Kevin Vickers

We are Canadian and we will stand together against adversity no matter what that maybe. We will come out of the ashes as the survivors, the victors and the victorious. We will strive to overcome our loss and become stronger from it’s grief. We will hold to our nation as one and we as one will fight for what we believe in as a people…freedom.

Oh Canada we stand on guard for thee…

 

1.

Boredom

There are very few days in my life I can say I am bored. I constantly have something to do. Today for that matter I am over run with a list of thirty plus activities that I must take care of, but not one of them has any appeal. I have no motivation.

It has always amazed me that human beings can be bored. We have created so many activities for entertainment and yet we still bore ourselves in some way. What is boredom? Well according to Wikipedia, I know you say do not trust it, boredom is an emotional state that occurs when an individual has nothing to do and becomes not interested in their surroundings. I think that sums up today quite nicely.

So what is one to do about being bored? Well it has been suggested that going for a walk or getting fresh air would be of great benefit. I have already done that this morning and I was not bored during the exercise it took a hold of me after shopping and picking up a few items for the house. So again I ask what is one to do about being bored?

I guess I time the emotion has and will wear off as something more exciting comes along but what underlies boredom? Is it being tired and the lack of concentration or could it be just an inability to be clear minded and focus on a task? Well I must say that writing about boredom has alleviated my boredom but what about you? Are you able to change course during the day to not be bored at your job or go for a walk during lunch (if you get one)?

The mundane, the repetitive, the boring. We can all find ways to occupy time that entertain us remember your parents saying “Go outside and find something to do.” and you would. Well maybe we should all go and play like we were children again that might do the trick. I know it would for me. There is one huge pile of leaves in our back yard right now…

1.

The Fall Season

 

Have you ever noticed how beautiful the fall season is? I know what your thinking “It is the beginning of winter and I hate winter.” Well I am not so fond of the those days between the Christmas holidays and the end of March either. But I am very fond of the fall.  

The fall has so many wonderful aspects about it. First the colours. I could not imagine living in a place where the colours of the leaves do not change. The deciduous trees that change into the bright reds, golden yellows, deep oranges and the soft browns take my breath away every year that I see it. To be surrounded by the beauty is just awe inspiring. At times I wish I was more of a visual artist and could capture these colours on canvas. The camera, although a great tool for this imagery just does not do it justice to my liking. Maybe I need a better camera, but nonetheless, I am in a glory of colour and enjoying every moment.

 

The next best thing is cool crisp air mixed with warm days and cool nights. I love the combination of temperatures over the days of fall. It is something I reminisce about from childhood, those mornings walking to school when the air was chilly and would make your nose cold and the tips of your fingers would chill even through the gloves, and the next thing you know it is recess and you are peeling off the layers because you are too hot with the sun warming everything around you and you. And then into the cool nights where you pull out grandpa’s chucky knit sweater that grandma made and you and your family sit by the fire in the back yard and roast marshmallows and hot dogs and again your nose gets chilly and the tips of your fingers are aware of the chill in the air.

 

But the food…oh…the food. I love fall cooking and eating. Not only do I spend hours at a time in the kitchen preserving and creating all kinds of wonderful canned goods I love the fall veggies and fruits. Fresh apples by the bushel, pears, squash of varieties upon varieties, cauliflower and broccoli and of course the Thanksgiving turkey. One of my two favorite meals of the year that includes a stuffed turkey with all the trimmings including a pumpkin pie with whipped cream. I am making myself hungry… Of course this is all repeated two months later at Christmas and we must have two turkeys every year. It seems to throw me off if I do not get my two turkeys in a year. But the fall food seems to bring in a warmth the no other season can do with the soup stocks brewed and the best ingredients to add how can one go wrong?

 

So go out this weekend and enjoy the fall. Bundle up, drink hot apple cider, go on a wagon ride at a local farm. Buy pumpkins and gourds to decorate your home and enjoy the fall. Embrace it with zing and zeal and a zaniness and always remember when you are out in nature please, please, please take only photos and leave only foot prints.

 

ENJOY!!!

Check out this link it has some information about the area and what to do and where to go including local farm markets.

 

 City of Barrie

1.

The Things I See Through The Lens

 

 

I took some time and thought about what this week’s post might be about. Of course I came up blank. I had ideas about complaining about the state of the world yet again and then decided not to. Most of you re probably bored with my finger pointing. So I set my mind on a true story and would like to share it with you.

Most who know me well know that I am a spiritual person and have certain beliefs that are not from the main stream. I have always been slightly out there and a definite outcast from the regular norm of society. I tried hard as a child to have friends but it never seemed to work for very long as my personality would always get in the way. I would come home from playing at someone’s house and inevitably something went wrong between myself and the friend, my parents would always ask what I had done to cause the problem. Well you can imagine how that would make a child feel. But I am not writing about that. I was teased and picked on at school and stood up for myself with vengeance.

As a teenager I was a talented figure skater and dancer and I knew there was hard feelings from friends at school about what my abilities were. I also have musical abilities. Alright, with some sadness, I will tell you that any art form I concentrate on and study I can do in general, this applies to photography as well.

I started taking photos after my father had passed away about thirteen years ago. He had left in his possessions a digital camera. I had never used one so I started playing with it and enjoyed using it and learning how to crop the frame and adjust the light for the right picture. The longer I played the more I learned and my first daughter was the most photographed child in town!!!

After about four years the camera broke down and technology advanced I was stuck buying a new camera. It was digital as well. This is when I discovered how much I could actually see. I began taking photos with the new camera and found it simple yet sophisticated enough that my photos were much better than the old camera. My daughter and I were playing with sparklers in the back yard of our home when it all started happening. I was wanting to just get some fun pictures of her playing and dancing about when I looked at the proof that remains for a moment after you have taken the photo. There it was a cloud swirling from her feet with tiny dancing balls of white all around her. I had taken my first photo of orbs.

 

I was shocked and started taking a series of photos of her with the sparkler and click after click I was not disappointed. I was told it was a problem with the camera or it was droppings in the air, dust particles reflecting from the flash and I was opt almost to believe what I was being told until I looked more closely at the photos and discovered that the mist came from the ground and not the sparkler and that some of the orbs appeared to have parts of faces.

Now it is not that this for me has been a onetime phenomenon. I have since bought a new camera and this phenomenon continues to happen only now I see them before I take the photo in the pre flash exposure through the lens (must be the camera). I have taken photos of other people, places and objects and I still get the orbs in the exposures.

 

I have no intention of trying to stop this from happening as I am interested in what might come out next in any direction. My second daughter is no exception to the rule of orbs and I have photographed her many times with the tiny dancing balls of white. Our home as well does not stand alone and even during the daytime hours I have been known to find the spirits hanging about in the garden.

 

So if you have ever had an orb in a photo do not dismiss it so readily, it could be someone you know trying to be close to you or your guardian just keeping a peaceful watch.  

 

All photos taken by Lisa Anne with the exception of the first posted.

Another true story by Lisa Anne http://writerscreche.blogspot.ca/2013/02/ghost-wolf.html 

1.

Into The Abyss

 

 

 

We lose many of our great people to the illnesses of the mind. It is sad and tragic and for those who do not suffer from such deep and terrible sadness it is hard to understand what people go through during the depressive times in their lives. It must be the dark abyss where the tunnel of darkness has no end and your feet never touch solid ground.

We have heard of the madness of some of the great composers, Beethoven, Robert Schuman, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov just to name a few. It is written in biographies that all of these men were deeply disturbed by a great sadness that sent them into strange rages, often obliterating friendships, disrupting the houses they worked for and often secluding themselves into loneliness only to deepen the madness.

 

Madness was not limited to musical genius it touched the art world as deeply with Vincent Van Gough being one of the most famous when her cut off his own ear. It is said that Michael Angelo struggled with his demons and we of course we know Edvard Munch famous for his painting The Scream must have suffered in his mind and tried to paint the demons away.

 

This is not something new to the art world and it seems that those that are so incredibly excellent at what they do are the most afflicted with this life sucking illness. As a young musician I as often told “I needed to pay my dues”. I often wondered what that meant and never really cared to find out as it always seemed to be working for nothing or playing the dives until you get discovered. I now believe that those dues are paid by your soul and your sanity and come from deep within you and are not about the struggles to be discovered but about the struggles that so many artists have in their minds. Those are dues we pay and some of us with our lives by our own hand.

Depression is not limited to just artists, it has touched many families around the world from every walk of life and every socio economic status. This is not an illness of the rich and famous although it seems that way because we only acknowledge it when we hear they have done something drastic. We have neglected the homeless, the single parent, the elderly and often the working individual who can cover it up day-by-day, the widowed spouse, the lost son and everyone under the sun.

Clara Hughes is one of Canada’s most famous Olympians. She has fought depression and came forward about her battle. She rode across Canada on her bike and received what I thought was very little news coverage. Terry Fox (although not struggling with depression, he still had a life threatening illness) died during his efforts for cancer. Is it only when death occurs that we as humans stand up and take notice? If so this is a part of humanity I want no part of. Can we just reach out and allow people to be mentally ill without judgment? We may never understand how to treat the causes and we may very well loose so many other people to the creeping darkness of depression but we must allow people to no longer be ashamed. We spend so much focus on control of ourselves from our bodies to our emotions to our minds and when our minds do not react the way we have been taught they must, the overwhelming sensation fills every space and just breathing becomes an effort.   

 

Clara Hughes

 

Terry Fox

 

 

All Photos Courtesy of Google Images

 

 

 

 

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