Category Archives: Musings

Calf-roping is not okay

My theme for the past couple of posts has been ‘kindness’. This applies to animals as well as humans. I cannot fathom how we can be so cruel to animals, how we can call calf-roping a ‘sport’, how we can inflict pain and fear onto helpless animals. Calf-roping is just one example, of course, but because it’s rodeo season it’s the one that we’re hearing about. When people attend these events they are showing their support to this cruel practise, which is as unfeeling as actually doing the roping.

Does this calf look like he’s having fun?

Can we call it ‘sport’ when the calves don’t stand a chance in the competition?

More thoughts on kindness

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” (Buddha)

“So spread your light through love and kindness to the people around you and let the ‘giving spirit’ you initiate spread like a virus, infinitely touching the lives of people you may never meet, across boundaries you may never cross, in ways you may never have thought possible. That is the power of our love and kindness, and it’s your ticket to making the world a happier place.” (author unknown)

I remember the day a total stranger pulled over to the side of a busy and narrow highway to help me change a flat tire. It was dangerous work with huge trucks barreling past, threatening to drag us along in their undertow. I asked for the stranger’s name, wanted to buy him lunch, something, but he simply asked me to do a good deed for someone else. I was touched by his kindness. I do try to practise kindness in my life, but need to make a greater effort to practise random acts of kindness for strangers each and every day. It may not be a something big, like changing a tire, some days it may only be a sincere compliment, but who knows where it may lead? Hopefully the gesture will ‘spread like a virus.’

Kindness

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not. ~Samuel Johnson

It’s easy to be kind to people we love or even people we want to impress. It’s much harder to be kind to that bumbling waiter, cranky cashier or rude taxi driver. A truly kind person is the one who shows kindness to the person they will never see again, for they are not being kind with the expectation of getting something in return. We remember small acts of kindness shown to us by strangers. These are the acts of kindness that will start the ripple that will really change the world.

The best thing about being an author….

… is hearing from my readers!

I keep every letter/email I receive from people who have read my books and when the writing gets tough and I want to give up I simply read through these letters to get the encouragement to carry on. Thank you to every one of you who has taken the time to write and tell me what my books meant to you. You have no idea how much I appreciate your kind words.

Here’s one from this week, about my book Dancing Naked which is one of my older titles.

“Thank you so much for your gorgeous novel “Dancing Naked” and giving me the chance to share Kia’s and Justin’s respective journeys. Honestly, I had many time when I felt desperate to give each of them a hug according to the struggles they were working through…

No idea if I will ever have enough anything to strip and dance as suggested by your story’s title but it has definitely helped me make some steps toward journeying through life and I’m insanely grateful for the effect it’s had on my life, showing me I’m not alone and giving me ideas about where I can turn for a spiritual home.”

Insanely grateful? That warms my heart. And another one, from a few weeks ago.

“I just finished dancing naked it is one of my favourite books now! I don’t like to read but that book just made me want to read more and more. I never wanted to stop. It stood out for me a lot and I am looking forward to reading more of our books!

Thank you, dear readers, for your notes of encouragement. I am “insanely grateful” to each of you!

Car Shopping Dilemma

I’m ready for a new car. I want to purchase a ‘green’ car that is right for my lifestyle. I know that giving up a car completely is the greenest option, but not really a choice for me as public transit doesn’t quite reach where I live.

Hybrid? Electric? Smart Car? I’ve considered each of these options, weighed the pros and cons and right now I’m leaning towards the Smart Car. 99% of the time I’m alone in the car so I don’t need a backseat. I rarely leave the city. It’s very fuel-efficient. The price is right. It’s cute. Apparently it’s safe. It’s calling my name…

Calvin And Hobbes – the best of the best

This cartoon strip was pinned on the wall behind my desk for years. A gem.

Congratulations Butch Batchelor!

My first ghost-writing assignment is complete, and the book is published. I am so impressed by Butch Batchelor’s tenacity. It was just over a year ago that he contacted me to ask if I would write the story of his daughter, Taryn, who has autism. During that year there were long periods where we couldn’t meet to work, but he never wavered in his determinations to see this project through. Following is the forward I wrote for his book.

When Butch first contacted me to ask if I’d be the ghost-writer for Forever Twelve I was touched by his faith in my ability to write it, but I was also reluctant to accept the invitation. I write novels for teens. I throw one problem after another at my characters but still make everything turn out okay in the end. With a memoir I would need to stick to the facts. Would I be able to write Taryn’s story in a way that was compelling enough to make people want to read it? I did not want to disappoint Butch.

But Butch, being Butch, was very persuasive. We met for coffee and immediately I could sense how devoted he was to his family, and how desperately he wanted Taryn’s remarkable story to be recorded. When he told me that she had ‘crashed through all the barriers’, I was hooked. I wanted to hear her story and I wanted to help Butch tell it. Continue reading →

I just heard the sweetest sound…

…the laughter of two of my daughters, together, making breakfast.

It’s a sound I once took for granted.

All three of my daughters have ‘flown the coop’ in various ways and for various lengths of time, for work, for school, and one now has her own home. I see each of them as often as I can, but because they have lived in different parts of the world, these two daughters have not sat at my table, together, for two whole years.

What a lovely sound it was. And how much lovelier it will be when I have all three of them together over the Xmas holidays.

The sound of them laughing together is not something I will ever take for granted again.

A Season of Symbols

It’s December 1st. The crazy season is upon us. Each year when I find myself becoming grouchy about all the expectations that the season brings I reread this list of Seasonal Symbols which reminds me of why we do these Christmas-y things and I feel grounded once again. The list was written by Harold Rosen, a former minister of the North Shore Unitarian Church and with it he invites us to “look behind the all-too-familiar things, and see the Larger Reality they represent.”

Season Of Symbols

Gifts – they are more than stuffed boxes covered with shiny paper and ribbons; they are tangible tokens of all those thoughtful things we wanted to ‘do’ for our loved ones and friends, all year long, but never got around to it.

Cards – they are more than donations to Hallmark and overtime pay for the postal service; they are humble hints of the much we’d like to say if only time, emotional strength and eloquence abounded.

Lights – they are more than electrical fire hazards and jobs for the handy-person in our midst; they conquer the darkness of season and soul with a glimpse of celestial splendour.

Carols – they are more than memory-markers and excuses for extra choir rehearsals; they are auditory proof that heaven is nigh, and that the layers of tradition can heal the layers of our pain.

Angels – they are more than plastic ornaments on trees… they are those whispers we hear just in time, saying “you have what it takes.’ ‘Good deeds can be fun.’ ‘Things pass, but Love abides’ and ‘all will turn out well, despite appearances.’

Thank you for these reminders, Harold.

Peace.

Shelley Hrdlitschka