Flying my Freak Flag High #Reverb10

The word Freak lights me up.

Back in highschool in India, “freak out” meant having a great time. As in, “We freaked out at the movies, it was so much fun!”

Here, in the Wild West, freaking out means something different.

Since the word freak gets a bad rap, I’m here to shout it loud and proud – fly your freak flag high & embrace what makes you, YOU!

Now that that’s sorted, let’s move on. To prompts 8,9,10 of #reverb10. Enjoy!

Dec 8 Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. Karen Walrond

What makes me different.

DNA. The particular genetic make up I was born with.

That’s about it.

For no matter how different I am, I really am not. For every thought and feeling and idea I’ve had, you have too. At a deeper level, my fears are your fears, my joys are yours. We all want and need the same things – love, happiness, security, adventure, appreciation, to be seen and heard.

You get my drift.

So I’m rewording this prompt to “what I have come to love about me“. This is a list generated from realising that I only get one shot at this life, so I must love as much and as deeply as I can:

• My funny feet
• How easily I forgive & move on
• My courage, self love & leading by example
• My undeniable fall down & get up again spirit
• How I don’t let me compromise my values, no matter what the cost

• My bleeding heart & emotional nature
• That I know myself so much better today
  

  Christmas 09 @ Waikaka, New Zealand

• And love myself more than I ever did yesterday
• I throw tantrums in private, I cry and cuss at the Universe
• Then I dust myself off and carry on without regret
• The weirdcoolembarrassing things on my About Me page

• That I’m a walking contradiction!
• How wide my smile gets when I laugh, even if it turns my eyes into tiny shiny buttons —->
• How adventure and growth fuel most everything I do
• That I’m really SILLY and goofy with the spirit of a 5 year old

What quirky, crazy, freaky thing do you love / need to start loving about you?

Dec 9 What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. Shauna Reid

The Olympics!!! The single biggest 2 week party that 2010 brought.  What made this time so magical was the sense of community and spirit everywhere. For 2 weeks, people walked the streets high-fiving each other day and night.

I won tickets to a game and went to the Luge. And since I live downtown, I got to be a part of the electric atmosphere. I can’t describe it better than I can show you.

1) It started with waking up at 5am one morning and rushing to Stanley Park to see if we could spot Arnie-I’ll-be-back-Schwarznegger carrying the Olympic torch.

Bummer, he went down another route so we missed him, but only by a hair’s breadth! Running after the torch for an hour was the most alive I felt all year. PURE JOY and FUN! Found this vid on youtube.

2) Attended my first ever tweetup during the Olympics.

Here are a bunch of happy twitter peeps during the Canada vs Switzerland Men’s Hockey. One of many hockey tweetups I went to. From my twitter friend James’s camera.

3) Street Hockey on Stilts!

The main street in Vancouver’s downtown area where all the shopping happens is Robson Street. The party street is Granville. Imagine if you can, a constant carnival that never ends, people who can’t stop smiling and enough adrenaline to circle the globe a million times over.

4) Street Talent! – every corner of every street had a party going on.

These young ladies stopped us in our tracks with their mad skipping skills in Yaletown. Cldn’t load my video so snuck this off youtube as well.

5) And FINALLY!! The party of all parties – winning Hockey Gold!

I might have gotten a bit misty eyed along with a few other people. Oh who am I kidding, the tears flowed when we won. From my friend Cole’s camera.

Suffice to say, these were daily scenes of the OTT madness. After the Olympics, the city suffered withdrawal symptoms as we reminisced about “those days”. Sigh.. 14+ days of partying – what can get better than that? 🙂

Dec10 What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? Susannah Conway

Hmmm ok, I made so many smart decisions. All the conferences and events I said yes to, all the coaching workshops I assisted, the change in my diet (steel cut oats for brekkie, ya’ll!), starting to work out (killer tricepcicles!), cooking 3 times a week (from none) – all very wise decisions that made life better.

The wisest?

I’d say leaving my apartment of almost 2 years on Nov 30th, in delicious anticipation of moving to Argentina. Truth be told, I’d been wanting out since July as I’d fallen into a rut and felt myself being stifled by the garbage dump view from my window.

The beach and all amenities were just 2 min away so I LOVED that, and yet, I knew it was time for me to amp up my energy & vibe and MOVE UP to where I want to be (literally and figuratively).

Even though some dox I needed to leave the country weren’t in hand yet, I decided to take the BIG LEAP and trust that all would work out. Sold all my furniture, packed the rest of my life in 8 boxes, stored them, and …. no papers.

So I’m now living out of a suitcase, waiting on the Government & Higher Powers that be, cashing in on the generosity of family and friends (thank you!), loosely co-creating my next steps and more relaxed n centered than I’ve been all year. Funny how that works.

It did take a day of being utterly exhausted, sulking and being mad that I wasn’t going to be in BA on Dec 7th as I’d wanted, to switch my perspective to “I wonder what will happen next” and get really excited about the infinite possibilities.

Add that to the list of things I love about me – how quickly I can find something good in a situation that seemingly sucks 🙂

And the views, you ask? Infinitely better from the 22nd floor apartment I’m couching on, bang in the centre of vibrancy and aliveness.

The perfect backdrop to my December of reflecting & reverbrating.

So my friend, the future is unknown – In January I could either be in Buenos Aires, Argentina or Calgary, Canada. Two totally different places, with totally opposite lifestyles (summer in BA, 2nd coldest wintery place in Calgary).

And yet, I have a feeling the “where” won’t matter as much as the what and why.

My wisest 2010 decision.
Still playing out.
Not as a question mark.
But as an exclamation mark.
!

How about you? What are your responses to these questions? Thanks for reading & sharing!

Facebook comments:

comments