WHO'S LAUGHING AT YOU KID

I recently finished the second of five levels in Improv training at Second City Toronto. It was a nerve racking and exhilarating experience. Each week I would walk away exhausted from thinking about how well I was 'playing' with others and whether certain character or scene choices I made could have been played better. Or when that person said that thing 'they were just acting right? There was no hidden meaning... right?'


We graduated last night (yep I finished very recently) and I realized that something amazing had taken place between this diverse bunch of people. Our ages spanned several generations, our backgrounds were as diverse as the food choices in Toronto yet Improv bound us all with it's whimsical call to 'come and play.' We each used our differences to play hard, to find the thrilling and beautiful moment that could take place when you simply let spontaneous creativity guide you and DON'T OVER THINK IT!


I love to laugh and I am willing to admit I completely and enthusiastically enjoy laughing at others. OH THE HORROR. I know our mother's always said you should be laughing with them not at them. But I'm afraid I love to see people in that desperate moment of what do I say next and all the funniness that happens when a group of people fail together with absolute comedic gold. In fact I'm renowned for my laugh. And though in a new city I could try and reinvent myself I have chosen not to tamper with my funny button. In fact it is now on my permanent record at Second City that I 'enjoy watching others, Kathryn is our most frequent laugher.' How's that for a report card! 


I am unashamed of the enjoyment I get from watching the incredible beauty, funniness and joy there is in humanity. To be quick to laugh is to be quick to see the beauty, joy, friendliness, kindness and fun in life. It is to enjoy each moment rather than endure each moment. It is to increase your immune system not tear it down with negativity, anxiety and doubt. To laugh is to lengthen your life.


So, to my Thursday night Level B friends I say salut! Cheers to you, my brilliant improv friends, and may each of you go confidently laughing in the direction of dreams. 

THE LIST
So, I had visions of writing a blog every week when I started this. I have written four and published 3 in 9months!!! Not so good really but I justify my slackness with the thought that I am the mother of a two year old, wife, homemaker etc... Of course that has nothing to do with it. I am the eternal eager starter and slack finisher. You know the type, you may be one of us, you may know one of us - you may be married to one of us (my husband feels your pain). You know us by our never ending enthusiasm for new things and the cupboards, garages and backyards filled with 'projects' we might one day muster enthusiasm for again. But let's face it, most of it will end up in a yard sale, in the bin or forevermore drive our husbands, wives, children and neighbours nuts!


So, in the light of this terrible personality trait I'm publishing a list. It's the list of blog idea's I have stuck on my wall.  A list of ideas that may never see anything but the wall of my home office unless I publish 'the list'! Some of them may yet become blogs. And if anyone is reading this cathartic craziness feel free to request a blog title.


THE LIST
- Creaking Underwire Bra
- Zumba Lady Stretching
- Poco Loco Mummy Moments
- Criticism from a Homeless Man
- Moribund Interesting Word
- Squirrel Madness
- The Perfect Pav
- Undies Awareness
- To Dream or Just Sleep


Ok, so there's the list. These and many more blogs may or may not be coming at you in the near or very distant future.

A Car Park Thought
Last week there was a tragic shooting in Toronto. A young man was killed in the food court of a major shopping centre, innocent bystanders were critically injured and hundreds of people who witnessed the incident have been emotionally scarred. The disconcerted feeling in our city is palpable. Surrounded by this air of uncertainty I stood for a moment, just thinking, in a car park.  


Unusual place to think, but then we always choose unusual places to have a profound moment. I know friends who do some of their best thinking in the shower, in front of the kitchen sink or even, dare I say it, whilst upon the porcelain throne. In general I'm not a car park thinker but this car park is very thought provoking. I've walked through it, past it, driven into it and even stood talking in it before and have never had this thought until today. 


"You don't know how long your life will be, so you'd better make the most of it."


I had just dropped my daughter at preschool. Across the car park I saw a group of people all dressed in black entering a building. You see my daughters preschool shares a car park with a Funeral Parlour. And there it was this poignant picture of life playing out right in front of me. Through a window I could see a bunch of two year olds discovering new words, new colours and sticky things. And across the other side of the car park were people preparing to say goodbye to a loved one who's journey of discovery was finished. I don't know if they were young or old, it didn't matter. What mattered was the thought that the space between these two building's represented every opportunity, every moment to do good, unspecified time to be present discovering, growing and loving.  No one knows how long their walk from preschool to funeral will be. For that reason I need to make the most of each day. 


So today I choose to do good. I choose to pray for the families who are struggling with the tragedy in our city, and I choose not to live in fear. I choose not to worry and I choose to enjoy my walk, how ever long it may be. I choose faith, to be secure in the knowledge that my journey of discovery will not simply end with my death but will be only just beginning on the other side of this mortal coil. 

The Joy of Imperfect Success

'Give it a go ya mug.' A common Australian phrase... well maybe 20years ago but I still like to say it. This mug decided to give a few things 'a go' recently and to my surprise these little adventures were not a complete disaster. In fact far from it, some of my recent steps out of my comfort zone have been quite successful. My husband is displaying the results of one of these adventures into the wonderful world of sewing.

When I was about 18 years old I attempted a one hour pattern to make a wrap around skirt. This was a disaster. Not only did said skirt take a lot longer than 60mins (it was closer to 6hours) the result was something I wore once to prove a point to my mother but had to relent that choosing a tartan fabric for a pattern that clearly states 'not suitable for patterned fabric' was a mistake. And sewing one of the panels inside out was also clearly not going to work. This little fiasco set back my sewing career about 15years.

So recently, after moving to another country, purchasing a new home and going through that glorious stage of dreaming of all the ways I would like to decorate my daughters room, followed by the depressing stage of the cost I was confronted with a challenge. To sew or not sew. I toyed with a no sew cheat version but alas it was not to be as I could not find ready made materials in the right size. My heart, now firmly set on Roman blinds, left me no other choice. I had to sew or sell a kidney. it was a close call but I chose to sew.

Drawing on a few skills passed down from my mother through many tears (my stubbornness frequently got in the way of my learning things from my mother) as a child; a few months of home economics and a good pattern and I was making roman blinds. Not only do they work, they look pretty snazzy too. Of course they are not perfect but when it comes to trying new things perfection must be set aside for success. Not being able to achieve something in exactly the way we wish it often prevents us from even trying it. And yet, the joy of imperfect success is by far a nicer way to live than with the weight of regret from unfilled idea's and desires.

I write all this to ask you what is it that you are not 'giving a go ya mug?' Step through the fear, the procrastination, the excuses and all the 'reasons' why you could not really try that thing you have always wanted to and 'GIVE IT A GO YA MUG!'

Falling Over Fun

We have a delightful Aussie term for falling over - 'stack it.' I recently 'stacked it' while going for an early morning jalk (my own term for a walk that is occasionally interspersed with jogging at comfortable intervals). It wasn't my most spectacular stack but it was a very public one. Early morning commuters traveling down a busy Toronto street witnessed me trip on the sidewalk, commando role across the pavement and land superman style flat on my face. I then confused them all by rolling onto my side laughing, too embarrassed to lift my head up or even address anyone who was stopping to help. It wasn't until I was around the corner, away from the public eye, that I vented my pain and took stock of my jalking wounds.

This was not my first public or most humiliating fall. In fact when I think about it I have been falling, stumbling and tripping for most of my life. In reflection I feel there could be a familial predisposition to my tumbling ability. My Mum was in a horrific motor vehicle accident when I was a small child that left her with a permanently straight leg. I can recall quite a few occasions of my mother falling while we were at the town library, out shopping or in the park. On most occasions I would here the fall and then come around the corner to find my Mum sitting in a shopping aisle, groceries on the floor around her, laughing so much she had tears running down her face. So actually I was groomed for stacking it in public places.

The majority of my 'stacks' have simply been my lack of attention to the changing level, condition or undulation of the path I was treading, rather than any physical disability. And the embarrassment from falling over nothing or tripping and exposing myself is always covered by a good giggle. Which is actually a good life lesson, a lesson my mother unknowingly shared with me.  That the small trips, even some of the fairly decent stacks need not be major drama's or devastating deal breakers for a good life or future success. We need to learn to laugh, to accept the help that is offered to us and get back up to jalk another day.