“Where were you when?” moments happen as part of our collective experience. They bring us together as we share joy and sorrow and history in the making.

Your own life has moments etched in time too.

They are the moments or experiences that cause you to stop and take notice, that perhaps change your life path, that also bring you joy and sorrow.

Sometimes we call them pivotal moments or peak experiences.

Things like:

birth

death 

an accomplishment

a unique experience

an insight, AHA or revelation

Just like “where were you when” moments, these experiences connect you to something deeply important within yourself. They remind you of something or highlight its significance. They might show you a theme in your life.

Take some time to think about the peak experiences in your life. 

Consider the ones that had the most impact on you. Try not to judge them. They may be big life events. And sometimes they are moments that on the surface seem quite trivial yet they packed an emotional punch for you.

What emotions did they create?

What core value did they reflect?

What reminder did they cause?

How did they impact on your life?

Please share a comment by clicking on the “Comments” like below.

I’d love to hear what moments are etched in your life time.

Please share a commen

Last night as Barack Obama stood in front of a sea of people in Chicago as the new President Elect of the USA, millions of other people watched on the TV or internet.

This will become one of those “where were you when” moments in time.

We share a collective memory of certain events, often tragic, but sometimes like last night uplifting and energizing.

Where were you when….

JFK was shot

the space shuttle Challenger exploded

Canada beat Russia in hockey in 1972 (if you’re Canadian this was a biggy eh!)

man landed on the moon

John Lennon died

the Berlin Wall came down

 9-11

or….

In these moments we share emotions and dreams, and sometimes the loss of dreams. We turn to each other for support or celebration. We come together in a common experience.

What is your strongest “where were you when” moment?

Yesterday I left you with some questions to ponder about whether your life, like the economy, needs a rescue plan.

When things get tough, successful people take inventory. Taking some time for reflection on questions like those is a good place to start.

Here’s the reason why:

Sure this whole global economic downturn is a complicated thing, but it seems to me that what’s at the heart of this problem is as much a spiritual crisis as a financial one. I’d say we’ve lost our way andI don’t mean to Wall Street.

We’ve lost our way because people buy things they really can’t afford. They are trying to drink champagne on a beer budget. Don’t get me wrong, I like the finer things in life. I think “buy the best you can afford” is a great motto. I don’t want to demonize wealth. I’m a big believer in abundance and all that goes with it.

But I’ll bet many people are up to their eyeballs and beyond in debt because they just had to have the biggest and the best and the newest “whatever” on the block. They bought houses and cars and toys that were really beyond their current means. They went on vacations they hadn’t yet paid for. They got the idea that they were entitled to the same kind of lifestyle that their parents had worked years for.

So why do people do that?

That’s the spiritual crisis. I think lots of people are trying to fill up giant holes in their souls with stuff. They’re trying to buy their way out of guilt. They’ve can’t seem to say no to themselves or their kids.. They’ve forgotten that money and stuff doesn’t buy happiness. If you aren’t content in your life, there’s nothing you’re going to buy at Walmart or Saks Fifth Avenue that will make you feel better. 

When you get right down to it, there’s been a lapse in morality - a steady decline in integrity. It’s sort of like stealing cookies from the cookie jar. You know it’s not right, but you really want that double fudge chocolate chip treat. And you also know, deep down, that eventually you’re going to get caught.

So here’s my challenge to you:

Take advantage of this economic crisis to take inventory on not only your finances, but also your moral compass.

Are your current choices a good reflection of your values?

Are you being a good role model?

Do you live beyond your current means?

Do you have the strength of character to require more of yourself?

What exactly do you stand for?

The great thing about a crisis is that it creates an opportunity to stop, reflect and correct your course as needed. Then you’ll be able to look back at the fall of 2008 and say, “Wow even though it wasn’t too pleasant that was the best thing that could have happened to me.”

What’s at the heart of your current crisis?

Everywhere you turn the current global economic crisis is front and center - jammed up credit markets, roller coaster stock markets, declining house prices and unemployment concerns.

Everyone has an opinion on the recent Wall Street rescue plan. And most people are asking,

“How did things get into such a mess?”

I’m no economic expert but it seems that part of the problem stems from a decline in morality, a pile of poor choices and not paying attention to flashing red signs.

It’s not surprising that when you take your eye off the ball, the game goes sideways.

Your life is not a whole lot different than the economy.

Are you heading for a personal recession?

Do you feel like things are out of control?

Have you been ignoring the signs that something needs to change?

Are your choices guided by a moral code?

Is it time to take stock and make some adjustments?

Does your life need a rescue plan?

Stop by tomorrow and I’ll share my thoughts on the real nature of the economic crisis.

One of my longtime friends sent these questions to a group of us who have known each other since childhood. It’s amazing what you might not know about people that you have actually known for a long time. I thought it was also an interesting list of things to share when you are getting to know someone new.

Here are my answers….at least for today:

Three jobs I have had: grocery store cashier, criminal court clerk, special education teacher

Three places I have lived: Brampton, Kingston, Morinville

Three TV shows that I watch: House, Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy

Three places I have been: India, Italy, Costa Rica

Three of my favourite foods: New York Cheesecake, salad nicoise, scallops

Three places I’d like to be right now: right where I am, Tuscany, Machu Picchu

Three things I am looking forward to this year: book launch for Spontaneous Combustion, my 50th birthday, Thanksgiving

I hope you’ll post a comment and share three things about you.

And feel free to add to the list - what other three things would be fun to know?

Is it just me or have we all been time warped back to junior high school?

I love journalist Misty Harris because she often writes about the more curious aspects of our culture. Her latest article is about a new online community open only to “beautiful people.”  Apparently they have a “strict ban on ugliness.”

On the website there is a disclaimer that you need a good photo because your appearance will determine whether existing members will vote you in. I wonder who voted in the first group of people?  

Back to junior high 

Doesn’t this sound a whole lot like junior high school when people were sorted by a random few into the “in crowd.” You either made the cut or you didn’t - usually based on some highly subjective and most definitely superficial basis. For most of us we outgrew this by the time we left high school. We realized that there is a whole lot more to people than hairstyles, labels, flat abs and high cheekbones.

This beautiful people website describes itself as being for “people who stand out from the majority because of their attractive appearance and personal qualities.” Since the initial sorting of who is in and who is out is based entirely on what quite likely is an airbrushed digitally enhanced photo, I’m guessing we know at least a bit about the personal qualities of the people who subscribe. I’m curious about who actually wants to be part of this group.

Beauty in the eye of the beholder 

The thing about beauty is it’s rather subjective. Who I think is hot - or not - might completely clash with someone else’s version of who is attractive.  Not wanting to anger millions of Tom Cruise fans but for me he’s too much of a pretty boy. Same for Matthew McConaughey. I more of a Johnny Depp girl myself.  Donald Trump once declared that he didn’t find Angelina Jolie attractive. Millions would disagree.

I’ve known some absolutely gorgeous guys that were quite frankly toads and some guys that most likely wouldn’t have made the cut on this website who were absolute princes. In the end what makes someone truly attractive at a deep level goes far past physical appearance.

If you start a club, you get to set the rules about who is let into the clubhouse. I think what bugs me about this website is that it pokes at our deepest fears of inadequacy:

“Am I enough?” 

Apparently nine out of ten of us are not beautiful enough for this group.

Maybe I’ll start my own club. Maybe I’ll call it “Enough already!” Leave a comment if you want the secret handshake.

Apparently the latest trend in devaluing each other is called bodysnarking - using social networking and blogs to criticize people’s appearances. An article in today’s Edmonton Journal by Misty Harris describes this newest on-line trend.

Well there’s nothing new about this except the venue.

Women have been making critical judgments about other women for ages. If we’re really honest, we’ll actually admit it. We do it out loud or with looks or in whispers. And overtly or covertly we vote that they don’t quite measure up to some standard we have.

A long way to go 

We’re living in a time when a woman was actually a viable candidate for president of the United States.  We might have come a long way baby in some areas but when it comes to how we treat other women and ourselves we’ve still got a long way to go.

I recently surveyed my wonderful stone circle community and guess what? More than half of them said they wanted to discover their real self and learn how to love themselves more. Oh yeah - and lose weight. In a chaotic world with competing priorities and little me-time, women feel disconnected from their authentic selves and are dissatisfied with their bodies regardless of what they look like.

As a culture we are addicted to TV programming like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars and America’s Got Talent - programs that invite us to sit in judgment of other people - particularly in those early audition rounds.

Somewhere along the line it became ok to criticize in unflattering ways how good people are or what they are wearing or whether their abs are flat enough or if their breasts are perky. And even if you are one of the small minority who doesn’t on some level participate in that sniping at others, I’ll bet you routinely snipe at yourself - out loud or in the mirror as your own internal critic.

One woman in the article even goes so far as posting negative comments about herself on Facebook as a way to beat others to the punch. She says she bodysnarks herself so other people will see she doesn’t take it that seriously.

Here’s a thought.

If we all really didn’t take nasty criticism that seriously it wouldn’t get any of our time and energy.

Perhaps what we need to take seriously is remembering that our physical selves are just the package - pretty or otherwise - that our spiritual self resides in. Bodysnarking is just another way to be disrespectful - of yourself and others.

Here’s a challenge.

For the next week notice all the people that you make judgments about - including yourself. Really pay attention.

Wouldn’t it be delightful if we fell in love with ourselves warts and all?

Wouldn’t the world be a lovelier place if you saw other people from the inside out rather than just the outside?

If there was ever a time for a women’s movement, it’s now. And it has nothing to do with equal pay or glass ceilings.

Want to join?

Sometimes I am my own worst enemy.

I have been putting off for a very long time something that needed to be finished.  The details aren’t really important - let’s just say that I kept procrastinating…over and over and over.

Not because I didn’t know how to do the task or even that I didn’t have the time.  I just seemed to choose everything else - or anything else - in its place.  You know what I mean - you probably have something too that comes with a little emotional baggage, or is necessary but not much fun - and you keep avoiding it.

What an energy drainer that is!

When you have something that needs to be done and you keep putting it off, it sits like a blood-sucking leach in the corner of your life.

The funny thing is, once I finally buckled down it really didn’t take all that long to do.  And there’s this amazing rush of energy that swoops into the space where the leach once slithered.

The curious thing is - I knew all that!  You do too. 

So I’m doing the dance of joy.  And I’m not even entertaining that little voice that says, “well if you’d only done that sooner…”  Nope, just enjoying the free space that’s been created.

What have you been putting off?

People are a never-ending source of curiosity. 

A British charity recently surveyed 100,000 people about their final funeral requests. The results were fascinating.

Number two on the list was to be buried with a cell phone.  Now I’m not sure who they are planning to phone but I’m thinking you need one heck of a service provider to call from the after-life.

Number three was to be sure that they are actually dead.  I’m guessing those people have watched one too many CSI episodes.

Buried with your pet’s ashes, with your teeth in, or with all your savings, people reveal a little bit about what’s important when they make their final requests.

I’m thinking I want to be buried with a great bottle of wine.  Not knowing exactly where I’m going to end up, I’m guessing I’ll either want to celebrate or I’ll want a good stiff drink.  Either way I’ve got it covered. 

What about you?

Just curious.