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2019. A Monumental Year. 5 Lessons. 5 Highlights.

                    

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” - Carl Jung

Some Big Lessons Learned This Year:
  • The inner sage and the outer child need to negotiate and sometimes battle. Feed the sage. Starve the child.
  • Emotional reactivity is short circuited behaviour rooted in the past and not the present. Take a breath.
  • We cannot do anything worthwhile about oppressive bogeymen out there until we recognize the bogeyman within, understand that pain is its source, and find the grace to see the pain of our enemies.
  • The compounding nature of habits determines what we do or don't do. And then we die.
  • Everything is vapour. Learning to live in the present moment is the path to wonder.
Some Major Highlights:

Engagement: The journey towards making the biggest decision of my life involved a lot of challenging inner work, honest conversations, and was by far one of the most enlightening processes of my life. It was a profoundly life-changing and rewarding experience. I am so incredibly grateful that a woman of such magnitude decided to choose a life with me. We were engaged on the light walk of Grouse Mountain and celebrated with friends afterwards.


Cherry Docs: This year Cave Canem Productions produced a very challenging play called Cherry Docs. A gritty examination of hatred, racism, forgiveness, and justice. My research into playing a Neo-nazi took me into some very dark places and the role itself rocked me to the core. It also helped to clarify for me that enemy love and restorative justice are radical concepts that don't fit into our current political paradigms but are absolutely vital if we are to do anything about the escalating polarization going on within our society.


Cave Canem: This was my final year living the bachelor life with the Cave Canem boys and it was one for the books. I am so grateful for the past 4+ years I had with these guys. It really was such a unique and perfect place to spend the last few years. We created a one-of-a-kind environment where we were continually laughing, hosting events, creating art, and processing life together. A couple of highlights this year included a house concert, a music video we shot for our friend, my epic bachelor party, summer pool hangs, and our historic camping trip.


Wedding: We got married! I am still completely blown away by how perfect this day was. The ceremony itself was moving and intimate with beautiful music and meaningful words spoken at a lush waterfall site. The reception was a hilarious and raucous celebration with unbelievably tasty food, the best wedding speeches ever, and a wild dance party. I can't get over how much laughter was in the room that night and how excited people were for us. Having the most important people in my life all together for this pivotal moment was overwhelming in the best way.


Honeymoon: The following day we flew off to Bali and the Gili Islands. We spent the first week at a stunning oceanside resort and relaxed hard. The biggest decision of each day was choosing which beach area or pool we wanted to land at. Next, we traveled inland and stayed at a jungle resort in Ubud, the cultural centre of the island. From there, we explored rice fields, temples, waterfalls, and volcanoes. Next, we went took a harrowing boat trip to Gili Trawangan, a tiny holiday island filled with expansive beaches and surrounded by stunning coral reef. Snorkelling and scuba diving with sea turtles and tropical fish was a major highlight of the trip. Next, we stayed on Kuta Beach where we enjoyed the city, some great Indonesian food, and the surf.



Some favourite pieces of media I was involved with this year: 

Vancouver Sun Interview
CITR Radio Interview
Jon Bryant Music Video
My True Story Web Series

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