Love, Hate & my New Shirt.

In a world filled with hate, violence, intolerance, ignorance, fear, prejudice, bullying ... it's easy to forget the good, the beauty and the kind.

Although I try to surround myself with kind, good-hearted people, there are times when the evil seeps in. No matter how hard I try, there are situations in daily life, as an adult, interacting with the world, that I will encounter people who hate, who make derogatory comments about someone's gender, race, beliefs, choice of clothing, where they find love.

In most cases, there's not much point in arguing. I certainly will speak up and voice my disapproval,  or at the very least  shoot a dirty or disappointed  look, but trying to argue with ignorance never turns out well. Mostly it's just frustrating and seems to propagate more bad feeling, rather than the opposite.

But the negativity and fear is everywhere. I can't fight  the propaganda on the TV or in other media.  I can't hunt down every negative Tweet or Facebook post.  I would drive myself crazy and it's not really what I need or want  to spend my time doing.

So, instead, I do my best to be the best person I can be, and to help other be their best. I compliment those who try to do good and who encourage others.

And today, I wear this shirt:

Some of you may already know about this shirt, but for those who don't, it's from Jared Padalecki's "I Am Enough" Campaign.

From the website: 

"I AM ENOUGH! And so are YOU.
In addition to funding charities that support the fight against depression, self harm and suicide a portion of the proceeds of the Rainbow tee will be donated to OneOrlando and Equality Florida's Pulse Victims Fund." --Jared

Who is Jared Padelecki you may ask. He's an actor currently in the CW show Supernatural.

Ok - so I can be a fan-girl, sure, but I don't normally spend a bunch of money for a shirt (+ shipping) just because it's the "in thing" to do, or is being sold by a celebrity or had a pop-culture theme.

But I bought this shirt. I coughed up the $40 Canadian. This is now, possibly the most expensive part of my wardrobe.  Also, when I do get special shirts (normally, only at a discounted rate) I keep them hung up and only wear them once in a while, if at all, for fear that I will stain or otherwise damage them. But I'm wearing this one, and plan to wear it unlit it's unfit to be worn again.

It's my silent protest against hate. 

It's a reminder to myself, and anyone who sees it to love yourself first, that no matter what anyone else says or thinks - you are enough. 

I am enough. 

For me, and many, it's even one step beyond that. Yes, the shirt print is rainbow! Some of the proceeds are going to the victims of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.

My thoughts on LGBT? pretty simple, really. If you find love in the arms of good woman - hold on to her. If it's a man - hold on to him. Find what makes you happy and don't let anyone tell you you're wrong for finding it. (As long as it's consensual!)

Love and trust are sometimes difficult to find and Family isn't always a mother, father and 2.4 kids (or whatever the latest stats says). If you can find love, cherish it. if you find trust, never betray it. If you have found a family, never take them for granted. Friendships, family, love... the lines are not so clear-cut in my mind. We should celebrate happiness and joy, no matter where we find it. We should encourage others when they find it. We should cultivate individuality while embracing togetherness.

I don't claim to be an expert and I'll admit that I've lived a some-what sheltered life (as many Canadians have), but it seems to me that if people spent more time striving to be happier with themselves, rather than worrying about other people's lives, the world would be a brighter place.

Don't get me wrong. We have to stop and take notice when evil raises its ugly head. We have to acknowledge and act when others are inciting terror and hate.

But we can't (and shouldn't) all take up arms, and not all of us even want to, but today, I'm wearing this shirt, because today, that's what I can do.

Please be kind to each other. Smile. Say please and thank you. Hold the door and show your fellow human being some compassion.  And for that matter, be kind to yourself!

... and animals too.

Peace.

Gishperience 2016 Team Le Radis!

My Gish Experience.

As per my previous blog post,  I was hesitant to join GISHWHES, even though I really, really wanted to. There were many reasons, but in the end there were more reason to join, than not to.

It was a BLAST. My team mates were awesome and so dedicated - just fantastic.

One of the conditions I set for myself, with the support of my team co-captains, was that I wouldn't overdo it - that I wouldn't over commit. My personal resources (specifically health related) have been strained lately and I didn't want to burn out.

At our 1st team meeting, on Gish Day 1 - and it was a doozey at 4+ hours - I agreed to take on about 4 tasks - that's not a lot, but I was already getting nervous about being able to complete them.

The first was right up my alley - hand made birthday cards for Ryan:

http://abc7.com/society/boy-from-big-bear-with-severe-autism-wishes-for-birthday-cards/1424726/
We had some young helpers at our meeting who where more than happy to make a few to get us started. Another team member volunteer his daughter to also make one, and I made one too. I gathered all the photos of the cards and stamped envelopes and made my 1st submission.

Success.

I was pretty happy with what I had done and felt ready to look at what else I had agreed to.

I had to Mail myself... This was super fun! The postman at work, Louis, was as excited as we were to make this happen. Again, with another team member to take the photo, the task was completed and another submission was on its way.

One of the tasks involved me waiting for a specific tweet from Misha Collins on a specific day... the specific details of task remained unknown until the last minute.  Nothing is ever simple. This task ended up  being a Twitter Poem - started by Misha, retweeted by me, with the next 2 lines of the poem and tagging  someone on our team to continue... total of 14 team tweets. Not so easy to coordinate. I had to walk a few folks through the twitter process, as some don't tweet much. But it got done!!   (Had a picture here - but seems to be gone.) :(

Another takes was a 360 degree  video with an exciting intro but very boring footage - all within 14 seconds. - I filmed the inside of an empty cube van. Nothing too interesting, and significantly more difficult than I had originally thought. But, I got it done.

Along the way, there were side tasks, related to the hunt, but not actual items to get points. Many on our team played along. I wrote a Haiku for Commandment #36 and tweeted it at a specific hour on a specific day.

I had looked over the task list many times by this point and had committed to do another task - Zachary Levis... Paint a portrait of Zachary Levi on a pair of Jeans. I wasn't too stressed about this one and surprised myself with how well it turned out.

  

Original image:

I also took on Living my Dream - well, more like nightmare...

I offered my skills and experience to the team with cropping images or putting together multiple shots for an entry, basic video editing, as well as uploading image and video entries.  Some of my faves:

Spider-Man does chores (Photoshop)

Regional Pictures (Team Photos -Photoshop)

Coupon Fairy (Photoshop)

Hope Bra (Photoshop)

Artichoke Bouquet (Photoshop)

Corn-husk dress (Photoshop)

Plasticine Front Page (Photoshop)

Gishwhes Jingle (video editing)

Bad Lip Reading (Expert camera holding skills)

I ended up being a key participant in a few other entries as well...

Selling Ottawa Air (Props & photography)

CosPlay Misha Collins at one of the Wonders of the World...

we couldn't get to any, so we chose a Giant Spider "Maman".

Hipster Kilroy Meme (meme creation)

Fighting Drones (Expert drone flying skills)

There were so many other fantastic entries by my team mates, I was just blown away.

All things considered - I'm glad I did it, and that I didn't commit to more!

I felt excited and exhausted, I wanted it to be over, and yet, never end.

It was an amazing experience with a fantastic team!

A little bonus footage of Pineapple Jogging!

Can't wait for next year!