Posts from — June 2008

I’ve been back from the Ontario Vipassana Centre for two days now and am finally getting adjusted to being back. With the 349 emails that I had to filter through upon my return and so many other things that I had to get caught up on, it was a bit overwhelming.

Oh man, driving on that highway after meditating for 10 straight days was quite the trip, as well as experiencing the busy vibe of Toronto more and more as we reached the city. It was pretty trippy to say the least.

WOW. There are no words to describe it. What a gift. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I am a changed person now and all for the better.

June was a tough month for me. I’m so glad that it’s finally over.

The love of my life said goodbye to me just shortly after I arrived in Toronto and needless to say, it crushed me to hear the news. It came as a complete surprise. The pain that I experienced from that late night Skype conversation was more excruciating than I have experienced in many years. It’s always hard when you think that you’re going to spend the rest of your life with someone and then you suddenly discover that the beautiful dream you had in your mind of what was to come was so far from reality. And bad news never comes to us at a good time. It’s especially painful when one is on the road, is missing home and has no support system. Life is change, we all know that, but it doesn’t stop some of these changes from shaking our inner core to the point that we can’t eat, we can’t sleep and we can’t see anything good in life. I began to lose hope and felt totally lost. It wasn’t good.

And then came the Ontario Vipassana Centre. What a gift. I spent 10 days, meditating from 4:30am until 9pm, only stopping to eat and rest. I ate healthy and delicious meals, I had my own room with lots of privacy and the most magical nature right at my doorstep. It was inspiring and uplifting and at the same time, so painful and dark. When you can’t communicate or speak for that long, you are forced to deal with the darkest layers of your pain. The truth that you discover through the process can be hard to handle and so scary to see. It was probably one of the most difficult things I have ever had to face but because of it, I now feel that I can face anything that the universe throws my way. At the same time, it was also one of the most beautiful experiences that I have ever been a part of as I could see myself growing as a person by the minute. I am a different person now. Nothing I will write here can truly explain the magic of this experience. You’ve just got to experience it for yourself to understand and everyone’s journey is unique.

I wasn’t allowed to take pictures or video but I broke down on the last night, as we ended our noble silence and had a slumber party in the women’s dorm! This video is a little snapshot to give you glimpse of some of the special people I met that night. We were so excited and happy to be able to chat and were we ever full of the giggles. The conversations we had that night were so meaningful, some of the best conversations that I’ve ever had. it was so great to see each other’s smiles for the first time and hear everyone laughing. Such beautiful people. I feel like I am part of a wonderful family that I never knew I had.

One door closes and another door opens. Life is so beautiful that way.

And finding new love? Love can wait, until I meet someone who truly adores me, just as I am.

After a very fun couple of weeks catching up with old friends, making new friends and checking out so many awesome shows in Toronto, I am now very excited to be heading to the Vipassana Meditation Centre. It’s located just outside of Barrie and everyone who’s been there has told me that it’s a life-changing experience. I can’t wait.

I have no idea what this retreat will be like as I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s a structured program where you get up at 4am every day to meditate, only taking breaks to eat and sleep. There’s no talking allowed for the entire 10 days, no phone, no email and no contact with the outside world. Never done anything like this before. I’m dreading the huge amount of emails I’ll have to go through upon my return already but think it’s totally worth it! I’m sure that this retreat will be great food for the soul and will help me gain lots of strength for the rest of my journey across Canada. I feel truly fortunate to have the opportunity to take time for something as special as this and can’t help thinking that it’s the perfect time for it to be happening. I’ll make sure to write about it as soon as I get back.

Here’s a little video of one of my favourite bands performing at NXNE, Hey Rosetta! I could have included so many more performances by Laura Barrett, Hilotrons, Ladyhawk and The Diableros but the sound was so distorted on my video that it’s not worth sharing. This is the only video that I got where you can sort of hear the music without cringing but it’s still way too distorted for my liking. Hey Rosetta! put on one of the best sets I’ve seen in a very long time. What a great band. This video in no way represents their full sound and the energy that they create in the room. CBC Radio 3 recorded their set that night so you can probably check that out on their website. There’s also a few non-musical moments of fun stuck in there to give you a taste of the weekend. : )

Here’s an interesting one for ya. Been staying on Toronto Island (Ward’s Island) with my Mom and last night, I was in heaven.

I found out that Death Cab For Cutie, along with a number of other awesome bands were performing on Olympic Island. I had just enough time to ride my Mom’s bike over to Centre Island and catch Death Cab’s awesome set. Pulled out my flute for a song as I was at the front of the stage but the security folks would have none of that. I finished the song from a distance and people who could hear it in the audience thanked me afterwards. Too bad the Death Cab guys couldn’t hear it as I’m sure it would have put a smile to their faces.

It’s one of those things that I find a tad disappointing about going to larger shows. When a band gets that big, the gap between them and the audience gets bigger and bigger and you can no longer approach musicians like normal people. I’m sure the guys would have been thrilled to have met an islander and to have some flute for a song but it would have been impossible to reach them with the security the way it was. I certainly tried. I even tried to talk with security to invite all the bands to Tim Bovaconti’s island dance which was a roarin’ on Ward’s Island but who knows if they ever got the message or whether they took me seriously.

All I know is that they missed out on a really good time! Tim Bovaconti (known as Bover to fellow islanders and as bandmate for Ron Sexsmith) played such a great show. I sat in on two tunes with my flute. It’s amazing to see so many people dance and cheer when you play. Nothing like it actually. It’s nice to be home on the island.

The footage here is of Bov singing with long time islander, Michael Jones. So I didn’t get to play with Death Cab but I let it roar at the island dance!

Click on this picture of Death Cab for Cutie performing on Olympic Island to see footage of Tim Bovaconti and band playing at the Ward’s Island dance. Fun times! The place was packed.

Here’ some footage from Danielle and I touring through North Ontario to Toronto.

North Ontario rocks. It’s one of those parts of Canada that every Canadian should drive through at least once in their lifetime.

During our 5 days of driving, we saw a moose (sorry folks, no footage of that), drove through a snowstorm as we reached Marathon, met this crazy character who sang to us at a gas station in Schreiber (got video of that!), witnessed some wicked thunder storms and more.