Proud To Be...

I think it's safe to say that I am completely consumed by the Olympics. I am admittedly an Olympic-junkie. (Especially when it comes to the Winter Games).

And then this year, the Olympics are here in Canada, in the beautiful city of Vancouver (which I love). There have been a number of great moments for Canadians during these games so far (I think particularly of Alexandre Bilodeau - the first Canadian athlete to win gold for Canada in Canada). There have also been a number of letdowns: athletes projected to win gold who could not make the podium, etc. Last night's hockey game is a good example of nation-wide disappointment. To be honest I really felt that our players outplayed the American players, but that the American goaltender outplayed our goaltender. Bottom line: Miller was hot, Brodeur was not.

I could really appreciate the Americans who handled their win with grace. Of course then there were the obligatory few who displayed perfectly why much of the world thinks Americans are arrogant/selfish/ignorant (though most of the Americans I know are not). But for the most part I think the win was handled well - perhaps even better than us Canadians handled the loss (even if it's because the majority of Americans couldn't care less about the sport). :)

Despite the number of disappointments Canadians have had thus far, every day I turn on that TV and my heart swells with pride to be Canadian. This is an incredible nation and I almost feel a sense of relief that I am able to call it home. I've been to many different countries and perhaps I'm biased, but there is a certain freshness, a particular atmosphere within this place that I've been unable to find replicated elsewhere. No matter where I go I'm always so proud to have that Canadian flag sewn to my backpack and to let people know where I'm from. There may be times when I get the urge to live in a different country for awhile, occasions when I yearn for travel and new experiences, but I'm well aware that there is so much to explore in my own massive nation. I remember so well the feeling of leaving Korea and touching down in Vancouver to breathe Canadian air for the first time in a year. I don't know that there is a word to describe it, but the closest thing I can come up with is: heavenly.

And can I just say that I'm so happy Quebec is a part of Canada? In large part because I have been a Habs fan for all my life (it wasn't like I just thought it up one day - I was born and raised cheering for them) and the percentage of our athletes that come from Quebec has been duly noted as well. What's more, though, is that I really feel like Quebec's rich history and culture makes our country's history and culture that much richer.

I could go on, and maybe I will at some point. But I guess what I'm saying is no matter how many Olympic events we lose and even if we walked out of the games with NO medals, those of us who call this amazing nation home should hold our heads high and be proud that we have been afforded the privilege of being born Canadian.

Good News!

Dear Laura,

Fabulous news for a Monday...we’ve won global commitment to cancel Haiti’s debt. Here’s the latest from this weekend...

Your signature was one of 400,000 delivered to the G7 finance ministers meeting in Canada by ONE member Michèle Bertol, a Haitian Canadian living in the small arctic town of Iqaluit (the G7 can run but they can’t hide, ONE members are truly global!). More than 200,000 ONE members signed the petition and a further 200,000 signatures came from our friends at Avaaz, Oxfam, and the Jubilee Debt Campaign.

While in Iqaluit, Canadian Finance Minister James Flaherty announced that all G7 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US – have agreed to cancel Haiti’s debts. Exactly what we were hoping for.

You can learn more and share your thoughts on this victory with other ONE members on the ONE Blog:
http://www.one.org/international/blog/category/haiti/?id=1447-4478256-HGFNknx&t=2

Michèle handing over the petition on Saturday

Though the process isn’t complete yet, I’m confident that we’re on track to see full cancellation of Haiti’s debt. It looks very much like Haitians will receive the clean slate they need to start to rebuild.

Thank you so much for making this happen. Moments like this remind me of why this work matters and just how powerful we can be when we act together. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve next.

Yours indebted, er, but not in debt...
Roxane Philson, ONE.org

Complexity

Lately I've been thinking a great deal about just how amazingly complex we are as humans. More complex than we give ourselves credit for, in fact.

This stint of introspection first began probably around a couple of weeks ago after a series of situations caused me to acknowledge a few things about myself that I was not previously aware of. This acknowledgment was accompanied by a stark realization that though we as people tend to glide through life skating on the surface of the ice, there is a whole ocean underneath us and it impacts what we do on the surface more than we even know.

Sometimes things happen to us that have the ability to change our cognitions and behaviours, and oftentimes we will not even recognize the change or what has caused it. Sometimes things affect us to our core.

And it's hard to be able to swim in that ocean when it's protected by a layer of ice. For some people, the ice, the exterior, seems like a much nicer place to be.

I am perplexed by the ability of humans to not forget. I purposely stray away from the word "remember" because I think it's quite different than what I mean. At the risk of sounding Freudian, most of what I'm talking about happens in the subconscious.

And not only do we have this uncanny ability to "not forget," but the things filling up our oceans tend to become a part of who we are. The things that happen to us throughout our lives, the people that happen to us, are pieces of the puzzle. Much of who I am now is a culmination of events, situations, and people I've encountered up to this point. Sometimes these things will manifest themselves and interconnect in such a way that they alter who we are. I have always known this to some extent, but I think the reach of it is much deeper than I originally thought.

For me, in the past week or so, I guess I've been peering into my ocean. I wouldn't say I've gone swimming in it just yet, but I've definitely gotten my feet wet.