I turned to nature.

I got in my car and drove to Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver(only 10 minutes away). I got myself into the woods and went for a hike.

I passed others hiking in small groups, family outings, but eventually found myself solo surrounded by gigantic mothering trees. My brain slowed down, and the wooded energy started to envelop me. One tree seem to beckon me closer so I could admire the strength in its thick beautiful bark. The tree transformed into a being, reaching out for my arms.

“Oh great. I’m going to hug a tree.” I glanced around, and promptly scolded myself for worrying what others might think. “Who freakin’ cares!” I surrendered to the tree, wrapped my arms as far as I could. I admit, the contact felt strong and reassuring.

I continued on, slightly slower, my gaze absorbing more.

That’s when I saw the fallen tree. Then another one, And, another one. Nothing dramatic, just down. These trees were parts, dead parts, fallen from some reason – wind, disease, or even a strategic chopping to keep the path cleared.

Nurse Log in Lighthouse Park

But, you would not realize they were dead. There was too much life happening in and around them. New life had enveloped them, bringing a lower level beauty to the forest that couldn’t have occurred otherwise.

Nurse logs. Yes, they are officially known as “nurse logs“. Fallen spirits, no longer existing with their own food sources, they become rich grounds for the young. For a long time.

Yes, there is a log underneath the flora!

I stared at log after log of this incredible nurturing. The metaphor provided solace. Even the dead provide a fertile, happy place for fresh new green life.

A new nurse…

I entered the woods with a busy, confused brain.

The forest nursed me with calm observations.

I left, altered, thinking of the nurturing grounds of those close who have passed on. Kind of comforting, don’t you think?

I took it on as a mission today to make sure that a whole bunch of people would become enlightened by a simple gesture. I made my sign. Put on my runners and a smile. Then hit the streets with no fanfare.

Me and my World Theatre Day message

It worked! One person CAN make a difference.

I had conversations about theatre, plays, musicals, husbands who won’t go, time that doesn’t allow, people who loved theatre in Europe, good memories, the politics (especially recently) and I even made some play suggestions that were received positively. I We all laughed. I felt happy as I brought smiles to people….(isn’t that sort of live theatre?) Some cars honked and the drivers gave me the thumbs up.

Now, back at home I feel good that I stirred up a little bit in my quiet community. The dry cleaning man said, “Why isn’t there a parade?” Well… maybe next year, I’ll instigate a parade!

You in?

Here are some people I met who didn’t know about WTD (except one…guess who?)

The local librarian at the West Vancouver Library

Ginnie & Doris who love theatre! (gave good life tips too!)

At our local cafe "Cafe Trafiq"

Our favourite local Iranian store

Our Friday night sushi place

This guy wants a World Theatre Day parade!

Love the small hardware stores!

These gals were such fun. It's the middle one's birthday, too!

Happy West Van busdriver!

Family supporting the arts

World Theatre on the beach!

I dedicate this World Theatre Day to those who continue to make theatre despite the trials & tribulations, and this world of high technology. Vive Le Theatre… Nous allons continuer!

(did you guess the one person who knew about World Theatre Day?)

But, first….

I belong to a Thursday morning breakfast group called “Think Referrals” started by Rainer Schmoll who created this group with a focus on giving back to the community – now several chapters and, also, an official non-profit society: “Think Generously“. I met Rainer, Dai and a few others at another fun networking group in Langley (Marketing Dangerously Social Media Challenge) put on by the very cool dudes  Neil Godin, CEO of “Marketing Dangerously” and Jonathan Christian, CEO of “We Make Stuff Happen“. Pro-connecter, “Financial Runner” Gary Jones was there that evening as well, and  encouraged me to join “Think Referrals”.(thank you!)

Thinkreferrals Yaletown chapter

That’s the background.

I did join. Several months and much laughter later, all chapters embarked, 45 days ago, on their 5th year ritual of “Think Fitness”, supported by Fitness Town. The 90 Day fitness challenge was good timing for me as health has become a high priority in my household, and I wanted to makes some changes.

Hmmm… 90-Day Fitness Challenge.. Doesn’t sound very artsy or warm and fuzzy, does it? Well…as one of my verbs for 2012 was “Embark” (which meant doing stuff out of my comfort zone) I decided to give it a shot. Thankfully, Dai is a good leader a long with Jason Scott, his esteemed side kick, and they have gently hooked this right brainer.

I still am wary of all the terms that everyone is tossing around as they embrace Dai’s fitness guidance: crossfit, throw downs, slam balls (oops, I mean ballslams), kettlebell swings, double unders, burpees, Sprint 8′s, Sasquatch….Sasquatch? I’m learning some of them, but, my fitness definitely comes from a different dictionary.

My list:

*Haven’t used the elevator in 45 days except for a handful of times with groceries.

*Increased my existing morning ritual to include squats, & arm weights, & longer in the yoga plank position.

*More brisk walks on the West Vancouver seawall.

*No more wheat.

*And, thanks to Jason Scott, very cool vibrating mini work outs on the POWER PLATE to strengthen an injured leg!

So… a little softer, but I think it still counts? I do feel better.

I want to thank Dai Manuel and Fitness Town for inspiring and encouraging a whole bunch of people who were skeptical and now have turned into “born again fitness geeks”. Your health mission is good for everyone!

Keep Moving!

Some buffoonery with Jason Scott's Power Plate

]]> http://trilbyjeeves.com/2012/03/16/keep-moving/feed/ 2 trilbyjeeves IMG_5915 Jason Scott & Power Plate http://trilbyjeeves.com/2012/02/11/blogging-for-greater-vancouver-professional-theatre-alliance/ http://trilbyjeeves.com/2012/02/11/blogging-for-greater-vancouver-professional-theatre-alliance/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:24:04 +0000 Trilby Jeeves http://trilbyjeeves.com/?p=1021 ]]> I’m BACK! Good grief… I have never had such a busy start to a year. But, I’m not complaining! It’s all been very creative. Buffoonery workshops, a conference, teaching, scene study, a film shoot (more on that), and writing, but, alas, not here.

At the end of 2011, I accepted to become an official blogger for the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance and amidst all the yummy creative chaos of January I managed to see some theatre and also do some writing. I’d like to share my recent posts with you here, if you would like to read them.

Vive Le Bouffon

It’s the love scene in “All’s Well That Ends Well” by Shakespeare. I’m playing the boy. My partner is playing the girl. And, we’re both bouffons. The production is en Francais and we’re having a ball mocking this scene, as bouffons do. Ce n’est qu’un plaisir!

I come off stage for my next change, back into a “normal” character and realize how free I feel. I also realize that my devilish inner voice that taunts me, tells me I’m not good enough, has been flushed into the outer world. Nowhere near me.

Read the rest of the article on GVPTA’s blog

On The Topic of Rehearsing

Last Saturday evening I went to witness the current VanArts (formerly the William Davis Centre) acting students’ presentation of their “rehearsal project” taught by Dave Mott and Daniel Martin. Since I had also taught this group, I wanted to support their first public appearance. The 10 students were guided through the play “The Hologram Theory” by Jessica Goldberg. The goal of this class is to teach the students how to rehearse effectively.

Effectively – just what is that?

Read the rest of the article on GVPTA’s blog

Traces… Their Truth?

Brush strokes, tattoos, video testimonials, life scars, legacies….. These are a few of the traces I pondered after watching Théâtre la Seizième’s original production “Traces”, directed (& created by) Craig Holzschuh and Anita Rochon, with collaboration by Gilles Poulin-Denis, (stage manager, Noa Anatot; set design: Julie Marten; lighting: Jeremy Baxter; music, Steve Charles; video, Corwin Ferguson) recently on at Studio 16 in Vancouver.

Coming from a family of artists – father, painter & potter – mother, fibre artist, I was always aware of the marks they were leaving in the world. I was in admiration of their visual contribution that will remain long after they are gone. It made me wonder about my contribution.

Read the rest of the article on GVPTA’s blog

The EveryDay as Drama: “El Pasado Es Un Animal Grotesco”

This January has been unusually busy. Therefore, I didn’t get to see as many shows during the PuSH Festival as I had dreamed of doing, but I was fortunate to witness “El Pasado..” by Mariano Pensotti. Ironically, unbeknownst to me, the only show I saw last year at the PuSH was by the same author, “La Marea” on the street in Gastown. In hindsight, I can certainly see a similar energy, style and observation of everyday life.

Everyday life – something we don’t necessarily see as dramatic, theatrical fodder to present. In the filmmaking world, Alfred Hitchcock quoted: “Drama is life with the dull bits cut out”. When I hear that, I suspect the “dull bits” are what occurs in the everyday, the quotidian, that aren’t featured in dramatic story telling. How many scenes do you see people scratching off their to-do list, changing the toilet paper, clearing the fog off the mirror after a shower, washing their coffee pot, ironing, writing a note, humping a pillow…..

Read the rest…. well, you get it now! HERE

Feel free to share any of your thoughts…. Would love to hear them.

Really, the New Year always seems to have a refreshing sense of renewal, a clean slate, a second chance, a new step, new energy and resolve, a dusting off, a shedding of old, and a new determination of marching forward. I love the sensation, yet, the realist in me says “it’s just another day”, and nothing has changed. Thank goodness, the spiritual side of me chooses to embrace the illusion of newness, and pulls up the new clean agenda with hope.

New Year’s resolutions can become a dangerous concoction of expectations, unattainable aspirations resulting in disappointments, so I step around the ritual with caution. One of the people I have “met” online, and follow is entrepreneurial mentor Chris Brogan. He offers us a suggestion to replace the over zealous resolutions by choosing three words for your 2012 guiding track. You have to dig deep inside and figure out what words resonate with how you would like to drive your year. I like this.

So… in the spirit of Chris, I would like to write three words that represent for me my departing year, and also my arriving year.

The main energy for 2011, for me, involved family, and some new steps towards my business. I learned that there will always be difficult challenges in life, and the other challenge is to balance it all, without guilt, with laughter and pleasure.

2011: Showing up, leading, cocooning

2012: Embark, Focus, Manage

Happy New Year to you all. I sincerely wish for you a road of good life, with good lessons, and laughter. And, if you would like to share three words with me, here, I would be honoured.

Cheers!!

Our inspiring neighbourhood... Happy New Year

Blogging at Christmas

Nostalgia:

Moping, being artistically depressed, and longing with unrealistic tendencies for a past that probably had it’s problems, too, but in hindsight were cozy, Kinkadishly perfect. Now you altruistically give to strangers, whilst pining for the “old days”, which means when you were a kid. *cough, cough* … Or, you just miss certain people…

Bah Humbug:

Humbugs are a British candy – not particularly exciting, brown striped (boring), and well, I think, kind of “bah”… or was that “BLAH”? Do I need to say more? Bitter…. (As an old term, Humbug also means “hoax or gest”.)

Woohoo It’s Christmas!:

Consumerism raises it’s excited head; you rush about hysterically (in the good manic way) playing beat the Christmas clock (with Christmas tunes), getting cards sent off, presents in the mail, the perfect food planned & cooked. You try to visit everyone you have ever known in one or two weeks, you consume tons of wine in a justified manner (it IS, after all, Christmas!). And, on Christmas Day or Eve you jump around in silly glee for all the goodies you get to open and share, maybe.

So.. this time of year for you? Under which category do you fall?

Moi?

I bounce around all three. I know, it’s a wishy-washy answer but I do tend to relate to Charlie Brown. Staring at the Christmasy animated screen saver at my chiropractor’s for the last few visits made me nostalgic for my old country home, and the warm lights in the snow. Then I spotted a glitch. No-one in this ideal community with it’s frozen pond skating rink in the center were actually walking together. The little computer generated people were programmed to avoid togetherness, and stroll solo. Not terribly cozy!

Whew… I felt much better, and returned to bah humbugness (it’s easier, right?). That was a close call. But, then I heard Bing Crosby singing in the background and nostalgia caught me again. ARG…

Christmas was my small family’s favourite time of year. Everyone was pretty relaxed, mostly, and we made a lot of our gifts. Creativity was bubbling, and mysterious. Dad insisted on singing his favourite Frank Sinatra songs. And, we lived in the country or in early days, a little town of Banff. It was picture perfect and we had fun.

Times have changed, obviously, so now the challenge is to accept Christmas as a different celebration, and to enjoy it with a new perspective. Not always easy but, possible.

I wish for all of you a peaceful, warm, friend and family filled time. And, if you don’t have that, I wish for you, peace within. Even if you are in the Bah Humbug category, buy yourself a special coffee and, go ahead, smile and wish someone well. You might be surprised how it warms your heart!

Kaleden in the Okanagan

Since our film editor friends moved to the Okanagan to become vineyard masters, I have dreamed of picking grapes for them. (My first job as a youngster, outside the family business, was picking strawberries. Gathering food from the earth seems to be something in my blood.) Plus, there seemed to be a bit more stress floating around, and my instincts plucked at my sleeve to get back to doctor nature.

Picking merlot grapes (and the bucket became a container!)

My dream came true last weekend. A perfect sunny, dry weekend in the Okanagan draped itself out for us to dive under grape leaves and discover the bulbous clusters of merlot grapes.

Abundant merlot grapes!

I was in heaven, and Peter seemed pretty happy, too. Between the four of us, we picked over a 1000 lbs of grapes before the light faded to dusk. Ahhh… good healthy tangible work.

While I was picking I never thought of anything else. Nothing. Just me and the grapes. The best meditation ever!

Peter happily picking grapes!

But, that wasn’t the end.

Nope… We were taken on a journey that would usher us into the late night of wine making.

However, we did have the odd break for wine tasting,  cheese savouring, and other food making, bien sur!

The steps to wine making were new to me, so everything was an adventure. A focussed healthy physical experience.

Loading up some of our buckets of grapes

Once all our grapes were in the building, we loaded them in the bins, passing them through a crusher. This is to help separate the grapes from their stocks. The merlots were  a bit stubborn so we had some grape handling to do as well! (no feet)

Crushing the grapes, catching most of the stocks

Once all squished into the bin we had to leave the grapes sit for awhile.

Wine consuming, I mean tasting, time!

Later in the evening, we had to decide whether to wait until morning to siphon off the juice for a rosé, or seize the moment before bed.

After testing the colour a few times, we concluded everyone had to get off the couch and head out for the “pressing”.

Which we did. And, it was the right decision.

Squished grapes into the press (see the juice!)

Pressing! Those grapes make you work!

The remaining crushed grape "cake"

After 2 pressings- our final result.. varied rosé

The juice we siphoned off will sit for 6 months before being bottled next April.

After this enriching weekend, we will never look at a grape again in the same way.

The following days, once returned to the city were calmer. And, I was clearer and able to listen to a very important bit of advice that came to me in my solitude. The muse could finally confer with me without any interference. I reevaluated a situation and made a wise decision.

Thank you to our friends for the opportunity to meditate with the grapes. (And, make some wine!)

I remember Lucille Ball had a little bit different experience with her grape crushing time in Italy! Not so meditative!

Little witchy Trilby!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

As a little girl, I LOVED Halloween! It was my favourite time of year. I guess that’s why I ended up in the performance arts. Dressing up, being something else, make believe, PLAYING…. all such fun things to do as a kid.

As an adult, we tend to let go of our playful tendencies as the worries of the quotidian life creep in and take over. But, this doesn’t serve us well.

Playing is just as important, and relevant, no matter what that inner voice tells you – (“you look silly”, “this isn’t serious enough”, “playing is for kids only”)!

I would love to hear about your great Halloween memories, what were some of your costumes, and adventures?

Even if you are not going to dress up this year, how can you find a way to celebrate the kid in you?

So.

Here I am with a wee poem from last summer.

Air

Little sparrow

Gasping for air

Canary saying

Don’t go in there

Yellow dash

Yellow pile

Sparrow tips toes

Backward

Wings not yet

Clipped.

Yellow bird on our PEI land

In a bold move, here is one:

Dandelion

Murky tear

Dandelion
Staying staunch
Wind pressing
Shaking her
legs
Fuzzy head
Barely intact
Big whoosh
Seeds part
Doing what
They’re supposed to
Bare stem
Bleeds a
White speck
of juice.
A murky tear.