Sometimes things come easy; other times things serve as a test, but too often people only acknowledge those two extremes.
For
me, it’s the times between – that weird, grayish, tricky area – where the best of my
life appears.
This final month of off-ice preparation, back to back appointments and working, has been a total
blur. A wave of indistinguishable movement, filled with new faces, new lessons
and brand new perspective.
In the mix, I had the pleasure of making my third on-air appearance at Calgary’s New Rock Alternative X92.9‘s The Show as their “Girl Friday” guest-host. We managed to discuss everything from Star Wars, babies, royal family nude-sunbathing photos, the NHL lockout and why not to order a chicken burger from a place famous for their hamburgers. I figure if these two are going to keep making me “bro-out” this hard with them, I’m likely getting an invite back … plus I’m pretty sure there are only a hand-full of girls who can handle Roger and Fraser at 7am anyway.
Then, just a few short days from the Calgary track crew starting to make ice for the 2012/13 season – we captured the preliminary images for a killer series I’m doing with Derek Heisler. As you can see in the “behind the scenes” picture, my sled and I are being held up by my strong footed bodyguards … seriously people – it took a ton of core-strength activation to not look like a banana with gravity pulling all my weight to the left. I am super anxious to continue shooting and witnessing the final images take shape. They are going to be great!
Adding to the September calendar – Thursday, the 20th was the date of our “Rock the Ice” fundraiser in support of all of the Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton athletes. This was our 3rd year hosting the event, and I can say with conviction that it was by far the best yet! With the guiding hand (and patience) of Christy Hall (Concorde Group) and her crew, the organizing comity ensured that Flames Central was transformed and all our supporters were treated to a fantastic evening. It’s always really amazing to see that many athletes dressed up – we are much more accustomed to seeing one another in spandex, sweat pants or looking exhausted from a workout. It’s important to remind everyone (and ourselves) that all this hard work fits quite nicely into suits, ties and dresses.
So while this entry might seem like a chronological re-cap – the point is, that this is exactly the time of the year when I find myself wedged somewhere in between. Moments when I don’t know if I’m coming or going, but that I only have ‘x’ amount of minutes to make everything fit, become my daily routine. What I find incredible about these times though, is that a person is suddenly presented with the opportunity to experience so much more! John Lennon once said, “There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be…” We should remind ourselves of this, when our world threatens to be incredibly overwhelming. Sure, easy times are great and trying times can teach – but intense times can be a gateway to a lot of fun!
vs.
The middle can be a scary place: the middle seat on an airplane, sitting in the middle of rush hour, the middle of an over-booked schedule – it presents itself differently all the time. But in the middle (somewhere between simplicity and chaos ) I feel centered. The middle often asks me take-on more than I was prepared to, to meet new people, to take risks, to listen and to be heard. It knows how to push the boundaries but then again, how else could I see further than my regular point of view?!
