BC students (PC years 35 and 36) at RaceRocks, taken by Mark Kelsey. Spring 2010.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Still here...still here.

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.
 ~Meister Eckhart


** Warning! Extremely cheesy post below.

It has been a while since I updated, and I really don't have any explanation besides being utterly consumed by the last few weeks of my Pearson experience.  As of today, April 18, I have a mere 5 weeks left here.  Even just writing that, my breath catches in my throat and a sense of dread/excitement/fear/overwhelm/panic/relief/envy and just about any other emotion humanly possible starts to rise up.  So many amazing, tiring, wonderful, sad things have happened recently I just don't know where to begin. I've been feeling really grateful lately so maybe that's how I'll structure this post...

~

1) Thank you for my friends and family.   It was my 19th birthday a week ago, and it was very possibly the best birthday I have ever had.  I am still very touched by all the loving and enormously kind things that people organized/did. I am so grateful to have so many inspiring, intelligent, incredible people in my life (including all those friends that take the time to read this blog).  Thank you thank you thank you thank you. You have no idea how much you mean to me.

2)  Thank you for Pearson. Today my marine science class hopped on our boat Second Nature for our final field trip to RaceRocks (the ecological reserve we often visit and study at).  It was so bittersweet, sitting there on the rocks with Laura and the class, watching the sparkling ocean and the mountains in the background.  A surreal Pearson moment.  Life here has been full of such unique and amazing experiences...I can't believe I have been lucky enough to learn like this.

3) Thank you for Nuit Blanche.  Pearson's second annual art festival of the night happened on Saturday and it was amazing.  From fire poi to laser shows, to soca raves, to cake baking, to a heart warming campfire, it was a spectacular night. Kudos to all the organizers.

4) Thank you for Pangea. Every year one floor on campus organizes a regional day/non-talent show called Pangea Day and it results in a confused, random, yet totally fun dinner/show/party....the Calgary Boys did an excellent job this year, and it was wonderful. 

5) Thank you for school.  Although I never thought I would say that, finishing my IB theatre course after a VERY challenging practical performance proposal,  I have renewed respect for the education I have been blessed to receive here.  I have started to realize how much I have learned in the last two years...

6) Thank you for this community.  Waking up every morning here, knowing the people and adventures that await, is a constant joy.

7) Thank you to McL.  We had the Golden Shoe Soccer Tournament yesterday and despite not being particularly talented at soccer, we had a blast.  I realized again how much I love our house. I love how crazy and spirited we can be, I love our strange eclectic mix, I love how much love we have for each other, I love our t-shirts, I love how we get along...

8) Thank you for sunshine. At last, the clouds have parted somewhat and the spring sun has started to show.  It has been absolutely glorious and uplifting being outside the last few days.

9) Thank you for the chance to see Elizabeth Gilbert.  I absolutely loved Eat Pray Love the book, and I had the magnificent gift from my mother of tickets to see her live in Vancouver a while back.  I also had the chance to ask her a question (I asked her what advice she would have given her 19 year old self). 

10) Thank you for the challenges.  Life at Pearson has its high highs, it also has its low lows.  I've realized that being here has taught me how to have some difficult conversations.  I've learned a little about how humans can be so very complex and simple at the same time.  I've learned about myself.  I'm thankful now for obstacles I have faced and will continue to face, because they always have a golden lesson encapsulated within.  Thank you.

~

As John F. Kennedy said,  "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."  So as I embark on my last 3 days of classes and the coming weeks of IB exams, I will try to live by my words (and JFKs).




Speaking of beautiful quotes, my lovely housefellow and yoga teacher often recites this lovely prayer at the end of each yoga class, and I think it's a nice place to end for today's post:

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May all beings never be separated from the supreme joy which is beyond all suffering.
May all beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment and aversion.


~Traditional Buddhist Prayer - Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek



Wishing you a wonderful week.


Love,
Emmy

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