There’s an old saying that you can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep. I’m a big believer in surrounding yourself with what I call “hot people” - individuals who inspire, challenge and support you.

It’s easy to set the bar low for yourself. Mediocrity is a cultural norm.

I figure you have two choices in life:

half assed or kick ass

Which life you live depends a lot on who you hang out with. Hot people create a playground of rich conversation and joyful abundance where tackling fears and stretching yourself is encouraged and living your dreams is required.

I’m blessed to have lots of hot people in my life. Here’s what some of them are up to:

There’s Nancy, a woman of a certain age and not your typical athlete, who just participated in the Victoria Dragon Boat races to raise money for cancer.

There’s Virginia who has been known to spontaneously hop on a plane and land on my doorstep who is heading off to France for a couple of weeks of whatever adventure awaits her.

There’s Catherine who will be rappelling down the side of a 27 story building in Edmonton on September 8th to raise money for Easter Seals. Go girl.

There’s Gail who is facing a challenging illness with grace and optimism.

There’s Neela, a single parent of two daughters and closet writer, who delights me with thought provoking conversations about moments of revelation and deeper learning.

Pretty good company.

If you want to learn more about how hot people and ideas can set your life on fire, check out my new book Spontaneous Combustion.

What company do you keep?

Post a comment about your hot people.

Have you seen the video about Christian the lion and his reunion with friends John Rendall and Ace Berg?

If you haven’t, it’s worth a couple of minutes of your time.

Seems though that there are some people who question whether or not this video is a fake.

My response?

Whatever.

Here’s a video that tugs on people’s hearts. You have to be a big lump of concrete to not be moved in some way when you watch this video. It stirs our deepest desires for connection, for love, for enduring friendship. 

Personally I choose to believe its the real deal.

Just the possibility is delightful. Isn’t it curious that some people would rather choose cynicism and turn away from a heart warming of our collective core.

Whether it’s a fake or not is hardly the point. People are feeling a rush of emotion and having conversations about love and possibility. Works for me.

Now go call someone you love.

Tales from my Italian adventure

It’s amazing the judgments we catch ourselves making. Who would have thought that a butcher in a small Tuscan town was actually a renaissance man?

After a long hike through the Tuscan countryside our group ended up at Antica Macelleria Cecchini in the village of Panzano for a pre-arranged dinner with Dario Cecchini. He’s a fifth generation butcher whose family has owned their shop for more than 250 years.

Dario shared with us his philosophy of treating all things with equal respect. He explained that we tend to assign higher value to certain cuts of meat which means that other ones are then considered less worthy. Dario challenged us to consider the inherent value in everything, to treat all the parts of the animal with the same degree of respect. To entertain the idea that simply because something might take more of our time and energy does not diminish its worth.

So we feasted on a meal made from the cow’s knees and shin - a meal that required several hours of preparation to create the tender dishes we enjoyed. Good conversation, fine wine, and to top it all off, at the end of the evening Dario jumped on the table and recited by heart a canto of Dante’s Inferno. Splendid in its original Italian, the impromptu performance moved everyone with its passion.

Food for thought

How many times do we go through our day voting that “this” is better than “that” or giving less time and attention to things that we have decided are less valuable? 

How quickly do we dismiss this based on some pre-conceived idea?

How often do we limit ourselves because we have created a hierarchy for people and experiences?

How frequently in our super speed world do we choose quick and easy out of habit without weighing the option of slower?

Delicacies in the tuscan countryside 

Dario left me some tasty food for thought. His challenge to treat everything with equal respect has remained with me like a satisfying meal. I find myself stopping to consider what hierarchy I’m unconsciously creating or which way I’m voting at any given time. You never know what delicacies you’ll find in the Tuscan countryside.

What judgments are you unconsciously making?

Tales from my Italian adventure

Friends sometimes give you the best gifts without even realizing it. That happened to me when my dear friend Victor sent me a David Whyte poem one day several years ago. It was my first encounter with David’s work and at the time it perfectly captured the emotion of the moment.

Over the years I’ve read pretty much all of David’s work and listened to his audio cds. And like that very first poem, I often find that there is one that speaks as if it were magically written just for me in that instant. I have my favourites - like The House of Belonging - which I return to again and again. When new works appear, they are savoured piece by piece with faith that they too will, in their own time, be written just for me.

Retreating to the tuscan countryside

Of course when the opportunity came to travel to Italy to take part in one of David’s week long retreats I jumped at the chance. He and his wonderful staff created an amazing week of conversation, culinary delights, cultural experiences and indeed poetry. It was an opportunity to experience his work in a new and rich way.

His beautiful command of language and metaphor inspires the writer in me.His urging to return to conversation with ourselves and others moves me to find a deeper dialogue.

If you have already enjoyed David’s work, then know you have a kindred spirit.

If this is your first encounter, consider it my gift to you.

What poetry inspires you?

Who would have thought that a simple reusable bag could start such a fascinating conversation? Edmonton Journal writer Paul Simons recently lamented the growing popularity of Lululemon bags.For those of you who haven’t yet encountered Lululemon, it’s a Canadian company which sells yoga inspired athletic apparel. Purchases are put into reusable bags which proclaim the company’s manifesto which includes such gems as:

Sweat once a day.

Creativity is maximized when you’re living in the moment.

Children are the orgasm of life.

Dance, sing, floss and travel.

Simons declared that spiritual advice from an eco friendly bag doesn’t sit well with her.  Readers had lots to say about the article. Some felt that if the bags promoted good living, then what’s the problem? Others disagreed, including one who said if you are consulting a Lululemon bag for spiritual advice, then you honestly have no life!

I guess I must be part of the so-called Lululemon cult.

They make great clothes and have a cool philosophy. And yes I have a couple of bags that come in handy when transporting stuff. Maybe they don’t push my buttons because overall, their advice is a pretty good fit with my way of thinking.

Sure I get inspired by thought provoking books, great conversation and amazing people. But for me, inspiration also comes in the most interesting places…from my dog, Starbucks coffee cups and TV ads.

If something makes you stop and think, or prods you bit or even pushes your buttons, then I think hooray.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Apparently people waste a lot of time in traffic.

In fact at the Going Green conference held recently in California, it was estimated that Americans lose 3.7 billion hours a year in traffic jams.

3.7 BILLION HOURS!

So there has to be a way to make your time stuck in a traffic jam work for you.

First pay attention to your own and others’ safety.

Then give these 5 ways a try:

• Sit back and observe what’s happening in the cars around you. Notice how they’re handling the chaos. Now here’s the trick. What’s there for you to learn about yourself as you watch them.

• Popular wisdom would say, hey you’ve got a little time on your hands. Catch up on phone calls or blackberry emails. No - the better use of your time is to power off all your electronic devices and take advantage of this little temporary escape from the demands of the world.

• If you’ve flown recently, you’ll know that it is now recommended to do periodic exercises to reduce jetlag and deep vein thrombosis. No reason you can’t do some simple stretches in your car while you are waiting for traffic to get moving. Many airplanes offer sample exercises on their websites.

• Here’s a radical idea. Have a conversation with your travel companion. Not what reality TV show did you watch last night, but a meaningful conversation. Maybe something you’ve been wanting to talk about but haven’t found the time. Here’s my favourite meaningful conversation starter: What currently seems impossible, that if it were possible, would change everything?

• Do nothing. Many people tell me that they don’t have a moment to themselves. Well here’s your chance to take some time. Apparently 3.7 billion hours.