29 Days of Magic

I'm gearing up for another fabulous course with Vivienne, which starts in a matter of days! I am so excited about Montage, which is about working with video and stills to tell your own story. I'm a little nervous because this is a bit outside my comfort zone, but I'm excited to learn new things. The desire to learn new things always trumps the nervousness though, thankfully!

Meanwhile, I've been working on a few more photographs. The one above was taken at Burnaby Village Museum. I loved the look of the prices poking up inside an old cash register. I took this one while I was there for the End of Day Celebration. Once upon a time, I was a volunteer tour guide there while visiting BC on summer vacation. It was fun because I got to dress up in 1920's costumes every day for a month and teach people from around the world about local history.

This shot comes from the Downtown East Side. Vivienne recently held a class at Opus (a local art store) on double exposures and I discovered the lane ways nearby were full of graffiti. You'll remember me saying that my new benchmark for true friendship is that a real friend will say "YES!" when you say "Let's go shoot in a filthy alleyway." Curiosity also trumps trepidation.

May has been such a crazy month. I feel like I've lived 1000 lifetimes in the span of the last 29 days. Seth commented the other day that I must feel changed. Yes, in many ways I do. I'm still processing everything I learned and thinking about the important stuff. Really, it was almost too much goodness to take in at once.  

Yesterday was also a wonderful day. I had the pleasure of meeting Andrea Bundon, who is a PHD student at UBC. She launched a blog about disability and sport, called Athletes First some time ago, as part of her research. I've been following along, learning alot from the posts and people's responses and I've commented myself from time to time. Andrea asked me if I would be willing to do an interview with her about the my participation on her blog and what my thoughts were on a number of topics related to disability and spot. I was happy to help.

It turns out she's an incredibly interesting and lovely person and I had a great time having a very thoughtful discussion with her. It's always wonderful when you connect with other kindred spirits! (She's also a prairie girl!) I came away feeling like I'd learned so much and I'm excited to see where her research takes her. Andrea has kindly invited me to do a guest post at some point and I'm really excited about that!

Funnily enough, my day wasn't over after Andrea and I talked for 2 hours. Tiina, who is working the the MS Society's local chapter contacted me last week asking if I would be willing to do an interview. They want to feature me as a member of distinction on the MS Society website. So...there was two more hours of interesting conversation with Tiina who is also lovely. It was wonderful spending time with her.

I feel deeply grateful for everything that has happened in my life in the last 29 days. At times, I feel kind of emotional about it. Like I said, it's been alot to take in and I'm still processing. It will be good to turn inward for the next while and work on Montage. I think the timing is perfect.

Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay, Part 4

So, after we took a group photo at the End of Day Celebration at Burnaby Village Museum, Rick half turned in his chair and spoke to me. He put his hand out and thanked me again for being a part of the relay and for the work that I do. I was glad I had my sunglasses clips on because behind them, my eyes were full of tears. I leaned down and thanked him for including me in the relay and then, I realized I had something else to thank him for. 

I took a deep breath so I could get the words out and thanked him for the nomination by his foundation for the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. I explained to him that it would be an honour under any circumstances to be nominated, but having that nomination come from his foundation was doubly meaningful to me. I told him I hadn't heard anything since the initial email in early February informing me my name had been put forward and he crossed his fingers and said "Fingers crossed that you get it!"

WOW! I was kind of reeling from our exchange, so I stepped back and a fellow Difference Maker came up to him and asked to get a photo with him. A light bulb went off in my head: when was I ever going to get this chance again? So after she was done, I politely asked him if it would be okay for me to get a photo with him as well and he said yes, almost before I could finish asking. I handed my camera to a Difference Maker standing nearby and Rick reached out to put his arm around my shoulder, so I crouched down and put my arm around him.

 I am so glad I have this photo. It means everything to me.

It's a funny thing when you admire someone so much and then the moment comes and you finally get to meet them. You always wonder if they are going to be who you think they are, or if you're going to be disappointed-people tend to build famous people up in their minds and they almost never turn out to be who you thought they were. I can honestly say that with Rick Hansen, what you see is what you get. He exudes kindness. When he shakes your hand, he looks you square in the eye and you know that he is 100% present in that moment. He really sees you. He is humble and genuine.

I don't have many personal heroes and the ones I do have I admire because they are ordinary people who have done extraordinary things with their lives. They people of great kindness and compassion, people who have shown great courage in the face of soul crushing adversity and who have used their lives to better the human condition. They are people of substance whose living examples have guided and informed my own life. Rick Hansen lives at the top of that list.

And speaking of lists, I can officially cross another very big thing
off my life's to-do list now:

-Meet Rick Hansen

The Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay, Part 3

So after launch with the family and a brief stop at home, I headed over to the Burnaby Village Museum, for the End of Day Celebration.

There was lots of entertainment-a band and a children's choir, both of which were very good. By this point in the day, I was quickly running out of steam, so I found a quiet bench where I could sit and enjoy the music while I wanted for the final medal bearer and Rick Hansen to arrive.

While I was sitting there, a member of the relay team, Lisa sat down beside me to take a break. We had a really great conversation about how I'd gotten involved in the relay and what life was going to be like for her once Wednesday rolls around and she doesn't have to pack up and hit the road anymore because the relay's over. I have to tell you that everyone I met from the Rick Hansen Foundation was helpful and really friendly. They are a great group of people-clearly the foundation attracts and hires the best!

 Eventually Rick and the end of day medal bearer arrived. There was a pretty good crowd, but this End of Day Celebration felt pretty intimate. 

Rick gave a short speech thanking his personal Difference Makers-people who were present at the End of Day Celebration who have stood by him, encouraged and supported him in his life. There was his high school coach who urged him not to give up on his dreams of being an athlete after his spinal cord injury and the university professor who had the vision to accept him into the physical education program at UBC, allowing the opportunity for Rick to be the first person with a disability to graduate from the program. There were also friends who accompanied and supported him on his original Man in Motion World Tour, all those years ago. All of them participated in the 25th Anniversary relay.

Here's our group photo. I am right behind the podium that holds the official medal in the centre. As it turned out, after we were finished, Rick turned and spoke to me. (I'll blog about that tomorrow.) I am really glad I went.

Here's the motor home the official photographers ride around in, in the relay convoy, just ahead of whomever is carrying the medal. It's quite the rig!

Each of the Difference Makers was given a keepsake medal, made by the Royal Canadian Mint, to continue to inspire us to keep working to make positive change in the world.

Remember I said Rick had signed the ribbon? Well here it is!

It really is a thing of beauty.

 The ribbon also has "Difference Maker" written in braille on it. The raised dots are rubbery, so they stand out from the ribbon. 

 The medals are double sided, just like the official one.

The swooshes kind of remind me of the branding for the 2010 Games. You can learn more about the medals here.

In addition to the medal, they were also giving out limited edition pins to medal bearers and their families. These will be treasured as well!

I have one more Relay post, tomorrow and then Tuesday night, I have a ticket to the big wrap up celebration. It's a concert featuring Sarah McLaughlin, Jann Arden, The Canadian Tenors, David Foster, Shane Koyczan & many more! David Suzuki is one of the presenters. It should be a very good time!