cheek hurting, stomach aching, tear jerking laughter

I miss laughter.

oh and sunshine.

The west coast of Canada is BEAUTIFUL!  The mountains are gorgeously snow capped, the rivers and lakes mostly pristine, warmer winters, beautiful architecture, luscious bountiful gardens, a plethora of creatures (both human and non ) and interesting people all about. 

In the winter here, it's pretty gray... it's a trade-off.....warm, but rain.....lots and lots... don't get me wrong, I cherish the sound of raindrops whilst falling asleep with the window open no matter how cold....but... the sun...  So the sun came out the other day!  It was amazing the change in mood around!  I was getting worried as it seemed as though there had been a clearance sale at the local cranky pants outlet... but the sun was a change agent for sure!

Went to see an absolutely fantabulous band last eve in the beautiful village of Cumberland... Five Alarm Funk... 10 members on a tiny stage dancing and funkin' it out....seen them before, but last night all the stars aligned for an amazing night of dancing.  I was SO happy to see young people, young people dancing, young people singing, young people laughing, young people kissing, older people dancing, older people singing, older people laughing... My cheeks hurt...

I guess my latest question is how to know when it's time for a new adventure.... ?  What's the difference between giving up and new "adventuring"?  Is it when you seek out laughter and feel like it's been a while since you had a tummy ache from goodness?  Is it when you feel like you've done everything you can to achieve that kind of blissfulness and yet it seems distant?  What is enough or the right balance when it comes to friends, family, tears and belly aches?

this is my dad..... i love him with all my heart as of course you can see why...where my belly aches and hurt cheeks originated......truckloads of love.........xo erin

unconditional mummering love......

“The more one forgets himself – by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love – the more
human he is and the more he actualizes himself"

"The bottom line is that people who think too much about themselves and who are preoccupied with their own desires – or their own troubles – are not very happy."

So... I received some stellar feedback from my last blog post, however nobody felt comfortable posting on the blog.... which I found in itself to be interesting.  Since then I've been thinking quite a bit about unconditional love.  By this, I don't just mean "romantic relationships" but also friends, family, strangers... those you feel unconditional love from.  

I have to say that I have been searching for this since moving to the West Coast.  I am finding lately that many of the relationships in my life feel quite conditional.  I know that most people here want unconditional love, but there just always seems to be some walls to interacting with others.

I'm not used to this.....

To give you an example of the culture in which I was raised.... my whole extended family is from Newfoundland.  Newfoundland in my opinion has the most beautiful culture in Canada and soon you will see why.  So a prime example is the Newfie tradition of Mummering.  Mummering is when locals dress up quite funny, with the objective to not be recognizable.  Mummers go from house to house and are let in for a drink and a snack usually..... then they leave, never to be known of their identity.  I remember people coming to our house and laughing and chatting for awhile, and a cold drink of rum,  and after they left I asked "who was that?" to which my parents replied "we're not quite sure".   My point is that trust and friendship is there immediately, enough to share your prized rum even!  In other cultures in Canada, there is this sense that you need to earn your way to trust and friendship which is done by placing walls I think... but maybe I'm wrong and PLEASE challenge me on this!

Love is all around..... we just need to follow it, grab on to it, and cherish it.... 

Here is an example of newfie mummers, again stolen from a talented internet photographer... thank you! :)

Passion Mongrel

Hi everyone!

So I haven't posted in awhile as I wasn't going to continue the blog after my trip... but I've decided differently :)

I have  become extremely interested in the dynamics of relationships, especially within my generation.  By this I mean all kinds of relationships.... friendships, family, love relationships and even those relationships formed with absolute strangers within a glance. 

I'm looking to find out as much as I can and please feel free to help me by providing your opinions and ideas!

I see today in my generation an absolutely tremendous amount of fear.  I see friendships and love relationships falling apart due to a fear of something.... what that is... I'm not sure.  Then this fear turns into anger, or hostility, dismissing that once-special person or losing that person from our lives. 

What is love to our generation?  Is it all about checking off the boxes as is what happens with online dating services now, without even a physical glance with the other?  Is it about filling in that empty space of loneliness that we all feel due to our increasingly individualistic ways of living?  Is it still as magical as we grew up seeing on the silver (or technicolour) screen?  Why do we let it go so easily without fighting for love....?

Can we fall in love with different people for different reasons at the same time, but still maintain a sense of relationship and commitment?

What are our criteria now.... for choosing a partner or friend? 

I heard a term recently... agape.... and thanks to wikipedia -" Many have thought that this word represents divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love".. I heard it explained as giving of yourself to someone even at a cost to yourself......  Can anyone think of any examples of where we see this "now adays?"    If you do... PLEASE share!! 

I stole this picture... but i love it... thank you to whoever took it :)

loads of love
erin