The Parts of Vancouver We Do Not See

Here are some videos I found on Youtube. They are very interesting and insightful windows into a part of Canada we rarely see. As a Canadian, I was shocked to see the 4Real episode featuring this city and the serious affordable housing issues it is facing. I'm a little ashamed to say that MTV, and not the newspapers, was my source of information. Why is this issue not spoken of more often? There are several videos on Youtube featuring one part of Vancouver in particular, where it seems to be the most crippling : Hastings Street.



(Posted by "bipolarex")




(Posted by "celistin")





(Posted by "pumpkinheadbc")

This last one is particularly frustrating. Elections are taking place on both sides of the border, and I think this is an issue to keep in mind when you vote. Vancouver is certainly not the only place experiencing poverty. Both Canada and the US have some serious problems to fix. I am not usually one to talk about politics, because we end up going in circles most of the time and it just feels futile, but I am trying to take an active interest in who I am voting for and the issues that his/her party represents.

I encourage you to do the same.

Tid Bit 3

"Nature-based peoples throughout the world have cultural practices that assist every individual in the village to experience soul encounter. Soul initiation is a developmental milestone that must be passed before one can be said to be fully human, a truly adult member of the culture. A person who does not have a conscious relationship with his or her soul remains forever a child (or what in the West we would call an adolescent)."

-Passage from Bill Plotkin's Soulcraft

Tid Bit 2

They are the last romantics, these candles:
Upside-down hearts of light tipping wax fingers,
And the fingers, taken in by their own haloes,
Grown milky, almost clear, like the bodies of saints.

-Sylvia Plath's "Candles"

Tid Bit 1

"Spirituality is that sphere of experience that lies beyond the commonplace world of our surface lives and that opens our awareness to the ultimate and core realities of existence. There are two realms of spirituality. They are distinct yet complementary. Together they form a whole. Either alone or incomplete."

-Taken from Bill Plotkin's Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche

Savage Grace

I want to see this film.

YouTuber Art

Long Time

Things were a little crazy. I didn't get a chance to write for so long. I had to catch up the other day on SuziBlu. Things are on the horizon, just tickling at my feet. Even though I have some major issues with patience, I'm learning to wait with grace. I'm not there yet but I have to concentrate really really REALLY hard. It's hard to live in the moment. When you have bills to pay, a day job to worry about, and the stress of it all accumulating, it can be very difficult to focus on the beauty of the present. But! But, I'm slowly understanding how to make my conscious mind stop. It can be quite the task, though, and I have a long way to go, but I'm making headway.