GOAT BALLS

 GOAT BALLS - special delicacy!

Tonight I enjoyed Happy Hour at a local restaurant in a local golf course, with my new friend Carol. We have been there before but today was the first day of their new menu and, believe it or not, I agreed to try goat balls. Hard to believe, right?

Before you fall off your chair with laughter, best read on …

The menu item is Warm Goat Ball Salad. It comes with lettuce, peppers, pumpkin seeds, poached apricots, cucumber, red onions and two warm hemp heart coated goat balls.

Of course my initial reaction was WHAT??? No way!!!! But, the inner voice said to push my boundaries and see what happens.

The “goat balls” were coated balls of feta deep fried and served warm. It was absolutely delicious!

THE YOGA IN ME

YOGA IN ME

There was a time when I would never have imagined participating in a yoga class.  My only understanding of the activity was a picture of a maharaja sitting on a piece of carpet, long bearded, with his legs crossed in the squat position, humming the sound “Yom” until he ran out of breath.

Somehow, and I mean somehow because I really don’t know how, I attended an aquayoga class, skeptically, and came out of it a believer! 

The experience is calm and relaxing, focused and intensely quiet. It’s all about breathing in and breathing out, but not just breathing in and breathing out air … it’s also about breathing in the good and breathing out the not so good thoughts and feelings within oneself. Whether it’s a problem to solve or approach to figure out, in the end it is really all about becoming a listener to your inner self, and balancing the body, mind and soul. 

So, for example today, I went to aquaYOGA class to help my mind sort through an opportunity that has come my way.  In a lot of ways the opportunity is obviously the next step in moving me forward in a skill I have been tinkering with for years. But, for some reason, my mind has gone full speed ahead to the end of the rainbow to the successful end of a long chain of steps to get there. It’s caused me to ask myself if I am ready to go there and have my current cosy, happy life change significantly into a whole new world — less quiet, less calm, less private, more demanding, possibly stressful and definitely public.

Through the process of focusing inward, with the sound of the soft, slow voice of the instructor, and delightfully calming music in the background, I saw the rainbow arch and realised there is still a long way to go to get to what’s at its end. 

At this moment in time, I’ve been handed an opportunity not an end. Opportunity means a series of stepping stones that I can choose to follow or not. It’s what I do with the opportunity that will determine if I get to whatever is waiting at the end. 

This revelation leads me to stop focusing on the end. The end is not the goal. The steps to get there is the goal.  Now is the time to start focusing on comfortably, confidently and calmly moving from breath (step) to breath (step), listening to the voice within, and do what needs to be done to get to where I could possibly go — and, feeling sure that is truly the high mountain position I want to accomplish.

AquaYOGA has done this for me. 

Nomaste: go forward in peace, and so it shall be. Next step is in the works … 

Elder Wisdom

CATCHING UP WITH THE KATZIE

Throughout my lifetime I have been touched by, and passionate about, the mystery and mystic of the Indigenous peoples around the world. Getting to the point of understanding or better understanding the silence and noise that surrounds all of that, was initially not easy; but, a new approach has definitely cleared that path to wanting to do better.

I see the subject of Indigenous people, history and culture like looking at a mosaic full of different shapes, colours and textures. Looking at all of it at once is overwhelming and complicated, kind of like looking at a forest and not seeing the trees. The feeling is so very different when you zero in on one tile, tree or segment of the bigger picture at a time.

Recently, the Maple Ridge Library hosted a seminar entitled Honouring Our Elders  and the guest speaker was Katzie Elder Colene Pierre. By using her Katzie experience, knowledge and passion, the more than 70 attendees were carefully guided through a series of anecdotes that ultimately provided insight into the role of the Elder as leader, a sharer of knowledge, guide, teacher and counselor to their inner community, and the rest of us as well.

Some Elders now have taken on the role of speaking to the outside community as a new approach to raising awareness and educating, by telling their stories as well as asking and answering questions.

Although this topic-specific experience was only ninety minutes, what we got out of it was significant clarity and understanding about one tile in that vast beautiful Indigenous mosaic or one special tree in the bountiful earthly forest: the significance of the Elder in Indigenous societies.

The bottom line is we share this Earth together and while we are here, our collective goal should be to die proud and happy, feeling like we have lived a good life and, all the while, learned how to respect and honour all others, and to value all they have to offer.

As Elder Pierre said: she does see progress is being made. Teaching strategies are very different now than ever before and learning outcomes are starting to look promising. Our youth are stepping forward and wanting to learn more, to help solve the mysteries, help change the stereotype attitudes and help lead us all forward in a more harmonious and informed way. 

Those of us well beyond our “youth” years have a key role in all of this too —  this is our time to embrace a collective pledge to unravel the mystery behind Indigenous history, culture, beliefs and practices, and often the misunderstandings derived from misinformation, and move forward together with new hope and optimism as our common thread.