Terry Fox School Run Day

Many students across Canada will be taking time out of their school day later this week to participate in the Terry Fox School Run. You can be a part of this day as well. Please sponsor a child’s participation in this national event. Any donation or pledge is greatly appreciated, and will help younger Canadians realize that we all support Terry’s dream. It won’t be hard for you to get involved as the majority of students in this country are collecting money this week for cancer research. You must know a family member, a friend’s child, or a student in your neighbourhood who is participating. Every dollar counts, and it sets a fantastic example that this is a cause our children can expect support in, and should continually offer their support to, for as long as it is needed.

More information about students participating in Terry Fox School Runs is here, including how to donate.

Thank you – Merci.

2009 Terry Fox Run – Sunday, September 13

Twenty nine years ago this month, Terry Fox had to stop outside Thunder Bay, Ontario. Next Sunday, September 13, 2009, you’re the one who gets to keep going, so get out there to a Terry Fox Run. From the Terry Fox Foundation website:

When Terry recognized that he would not be able to complete his Marathon, he instead bequeathed his mission to those very Canadians who kept him going day in and day out.

Video below - however, just learned it may not appear if you're using IE. Use FireFox please.

Unfortunately, I do not need to impress upon you how deep this disease cuts through our lives, families, communities, and culture. Nor is there much more to be said about the place this young man, and his mission has within our nation’s culture. Thus, I will either see you at my local run, or hear about you attending yours. It’s not a race, it’s a calling. Walk, jog, run, ride, roll, bring a child, bring a friend, bring a family member. You do not have to pre-register – just go. Use the links I have listed below to find a run or donate. Please remember that the Terry Fox Foundation is a world leader in directing the percentage of funds raised directly to research. Looking forward to your pics and stories of a Sunday September 13th well spent.

• Find a local run by clicking here.
• Register for a run, if you would like, here, but you can just show up.
• Donate by clicking here.
• Find information about runs outside of Canada here.

Thank you – Merci

Once Upon a School

I have been meaning to watch this talk for a while, but as with many things it kept being put on the back burner. When L. encouraged me to follow through, I was glad that I did.

While I have enjoyed Eggers’ writing in the past, this was the first time I have seen him speak. He meanders in the beginning a bit, and admittedly I was worried about what type of impression he was making, but about half way through, and on to the end, he finally starts putting forward something you can grab on to. The main concept I took away was community building. We ask our schools to do so much, but how does the rest of the community stand with schools, or connect with schools, to help them achieve all we ask? This concept is certainly not the cure-all, but it is something novel, exciting, and perhaps the start of something greater. The idea also does not have to stay limited to English and writing. In every community there are people who have skills and expertise in so many different areas that could help teachers to inspire, support, or engage students. One of the key points he makes in this talk is that volunteers need not give up a lot of time, just that the time is quality.

Schools should spill out into the world, and the world should spill into schools. Besides, who doesn’t need supplies to ward off scurvy?

I particularly agreed, and identified, with his thought that a solid community comes from solid simple relationships, and that solid communities can lead to great things. I’m fond of saying big things come from little things. Be sure to let me know which parts you agreed with, disagreed with, connected with, or questioned.

If you haven’t read anything by Eggers yet, I certainly encourage you to do so. What would you offer to help students in if you had the chance?

On the Cusp

It’s the eve of The Tuesday again: the day after Labour day that signals the practical “new year”. A year ago on this evening I wrote a post about this time of year, this day in particular. WOW! It is crazy eery how everything I wrote back then seems to apply even more to this year, even though so many things are different. A whole new set of circumstances is at play for myself and many of you, but the point of that post seems to ring true even more now. My suggestion, there’s not a whole lot more to say, so be sure to click here and read that post. If you want you could just read it, listen to the song, and call it day, it pretty much sums things up. (At the bottom of it you’ll also see how I promised a “Fear of success” posting, and it took eleven months – cheesh :-S )

Still, there is merit in being current though, so a few new comments. So much has happened in the past year, the past season. Yet, here we sit, on the cusp of so many new adventures. The most amazing thing is, that most of the adventures that will come from Tuesday’s starting point can’t be seen right now. They may even be unfathomable. A new path, a different approach, a new opportunity, a new relationship, new travel, a new life. There’s also endless possibilities of what is already at hand, jobs could change, homes could change, relationships could change, plans could change. With all the ups and downs of balance in the past 12 months, what we can take away though, is that balance will still play a role in the year and the adventures to come. As I did a year ago, I encourage us all to remember, that we’re all in this together.

Remember, you can turn to people in your community – whether it be friends, family, co-workers, teammates, classmates. You can also hold them accountable and tell them they can turn to you. Sometimes we assume people know they can turn to us, but we don’t say it. If we actually mean it, then we should say it. Adventures can create unbalance, and that’s okay, it is exciting, and we can learn from it. Adventures, learning, life, all require some unbalance. Our community’s job is to help bring the balance back when we need it. You’ll be there, I’ll be here, and we’ll get this show on the road come Tuesday.

“The most beautiful adventures are not those we go to seek.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

Please keep me up to date on your adventures.

Ready or not, here we go.

Allez!

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New quotes from the summer added – click here.

Your Say On The First 200 Photos

I have reached the full quota of photos that can be posted on my free flickr account – 200. While I ponder whether or not I should make the leap to a pro account (and have unlimited photos on display) I figure I’ll ask for a little community interaction involving the first 200 shots. I am looking to put together a set of 10-20 photos out of these first 200 that I have made public to the world, and call it IR’s So-Called Best Shots (So Far). That title is a work in progress as well. To do this I’m looking for a little input from you and that other guy that actually read this blog or view the photos. Please have a look at the photostream on flickr, and then let me know which shots you like. There is no limit to how many you select, but I suggest starting with one, and not going over ten (seeing as I’m only going to put 10-20 in the set). But those are just guidelines. You can choose from a variety of methods, ranging in privacy, in order to send me your feedback and to let me know which photo(s) should be included in IR’s So-Called Best Shots (So Far):

• leave a comment at the bottom of this post
• email me
• join flickr (a cool thing to do anyways) and leave a comment on the actual photos there
• tell me in person

Regardless of the method, please include the title of the photo(s). After that, you’re more than welcome to say more, including why you like the shot, what could be better about it, ideas for future shots, whatever. You can also be honest and let me know if you think it is worth it to go with a pro account and have unlimited photos available for viewing, or stick with this 200 shots and then choose the best. (Clicking on the photos on the left over there also takes you to the photostream)

I saw other people around flickr with sets of photos they call their “best-shots” and I figured it was kind of neat, but why should I be the one to decide the best shots? But remember, the primary purpose of this is to foster a little interaction and friendly discussion, not to make me feel like some uber cool photographer – because I’m well aware that is simply a non-starter. There are no right or wrong responses, and there may not be any shots you like – which is totally cool. The photos and the blog’s posts are meant as pieces of the conversation, to foster more communication – not to stand as the whole communication. If you haven’t figured stuff like that out about this blog, then a little less subtlety may be required As the Autumn season kicks into high gear, I know my communities of people I like to interact with get busier and busier, so maybe you see this as the shameless hook it is to generate a little interaction during a time when people drift apart, and realize, in reality I could care less about the photos.

Let’s see how this works. I’m going to write down a number of how many people I think will actually respond in some way. Let’s give it a week or ten days or so. Looking forward to your response.

IR

Tuesday Eve, and We’re All In

Tomorrow is Tuesday, and the figurative end of the summer. Labour Day is an odd holiday. For many it marks the end of a season that officially has almost 3 more weeks to go. I have never been truly able to enjoy it as a holiday because it often falls on the eve of beginning a new adventure, or I’m on a recently started adventure abroad and don’t notice its passing (as most of the world celebrates this holiday on the first of May). Instead it stands as this preparatory day, the calm before the storm if you will. There is certainly credence to the history and symbolism of the day, (to be discussed at another time) but for myself, and the community of people I often find myself in, the day marks the eve of new adventures, change, a fresh start, and not a lot of sleep.

For some people the Tuesday after Labour Day will bring momentous change: travel, a new residence, a new job, new commitments to a relationship, or a new school. For others the day will be more subtle, reflecting on a calendar year that is two thirds done. For some there may be a shift in mentality about how the conclusion of the year should be approached. Autumn resolutions may arise, now that Summer and its frivolities are slipping away and a more serious state of being seems to set in with the cooler air. Personally, I have always looked upon the Tuesday after Labour Day as the start of the New Year. The roots of this feeling obviously lie in September being the start of a new school year and a new hockey season – the two calendars that my youth was organised around. Even with both of these factors playing a reduced role in my approach to the future, the feelings of freshness, and adventure, remain prominent at this time of year.

I know many of you will be starting new adventures, or returning to old adventures with new challenges. Some of you will also begin to think about the season and the special holidays ahead and will be assessing relationships and considering the adventures that lie ahead in pairs, with friends, or in families. All this rambling reminds me that we’re all in this together. We’re going to get more out of our adventures, new and old, go further in all our relationships, be keen to try new things, if we contribute to – and rely upon – the communities we build around ourselves.

On Tuesday, or later this week, or later this month, when you are being in, and having a new adventure or experiencing new things, and its getting a bit stressful, or the path looks unclear, or the direction of the relationship uncertain, I hope you remember that you’re not alone. The experiences you are going through are not meant to be conquered alone. The new adventures, the exciting experiences that follow Labour Day can help shape the rest of our “year”, the rest of our lives. It would be silly to think we should be experiencing them alone. When it gets tough (which is exciting) on Tuesday, later this week, month or even year, be ready to turn to someone else in your community, and be ready for them to turn to you. After all, it wouldn’t be much of an adventure if there weren’t other people around.

After all that, we’ll end with a little cheese, as I recall Ben Lee’s song: We’re All In This Together. It’s kind of catchy, kind of cheesy, but it fits – darn that non-threatening pop music There’s a slideshow that has some neat little images on YouTube using his song.

Have a great Tuesday, no matter where it finds you!! Hope to hear all about your adventures soon.

Coming soon:
-Confirmation of blog’s rationale
-A requested post about the “Fear of Success”
-Decisions about photographs
-La Vuelta