The reason I will ask you to donate generously...

Waiting rooms are hushed at 9:30 in the evening.

I know this because a few months back I found myself in one such room as I helped a friend who was having a CT scan. It was where people in gowns wait quietly for their name to be called; wait for diagnostic tests to be completed, and I suppose, wait for the news that comes with these kinds of tests. At the Princess Margret Hospital the news more often than not involves the word cancer.

On this particular night the room was empty except for a couple of people.

Although I tried not to look, tried not to intrude, my eyes were drawn to a woman in her early twenties. Like all young woman she was pretty, and like all people in this room she was clad in a hospital gown; she stared straight ahead — only her hands moved ever so slightly. In the time I spent in that waiting room she never moved except for her hands; her stoic gaze never faltered; she waited alone for her name to be called…

I will ride in the Princess Margaret Hospital’s Ride to Conquer Cancer again to support the advances to defeat cancer in our lifetime and to ensure those who are battling cancer know they are not alone — and that their character is an inspiration to us all.

As Canada’s largest cycling fundraiser, the Ride to Conquer Cancer has raised over $194 million for the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. The funds raised through the ride support Personalized Cancer Medicine research, treatment advances, education and new standards of care at the hospital, across Ontario and around the world.

Any donations are greatly appreciated.

Please pass this on as you see fit.

iamgpe

Moments — who says the universe doesn't have a sense of humour

I looked at my calendar for the week and was struck by two appointments I had on Wednesday and Thursday — I even mentioned it to a friend who just laughed. I’m still wrestling with whether it’s funny or just ironic; either way “someone” has a sense of humour.

On Wednesday I have a colonoscopy* and on Thursday I have an appointment with my tax accountant**.

In fairness, there will be some who just see this as two appointments with little appreciable correlation; let alone humour. In reality I suppose this is true, but I will say both involve some discomfort to work through; for both I’m prepared and expect everything to go as planned, so in the end, it’s all good. I also just found out that my new bike (which I have patiently been waiting to ride for two months) will be ready Friday for fitting and pick-up. Maybe, as I look at this week, Friday is just a reward for working through Wednesday and Thursday, and in the end everything will have gone according to plan — although I’m now starting to question who’s plan it actually is.

Yup, the universe has a sense of humour, and I will just have to grin and bear it until Friday.

iamgpe

* a procedure in which a flexible fiber-optic instrument is inserted through the anus in order to examine the colon.

** Tax accountants are the financial experts who understand all the government rules and regulations that determine the amount of money owed to federal, provincial or local agencies.

Ridiculous beginnings...

All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or a restaurant’s revolving door. — Albert Camus

If you are like me and don’t know who Albert Camus is I will save you the Wikipedia search: Albert Camus (Nov 7, 1913 - Jan 4, 1960) was a French philosopher, author, and journalist. His views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as absurdism. He also won the Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44 in 1957, and then died three years later.

This is one of the reasons I love just “wandering around” once in a while — one minute you don’t know, and the next you do. Not only had I never heard of Albert Camus, I’d also never heard of absurdism. Let me save you another search…

absurdism [əb-ˈsər-ˌdi-zəm] noun: a philosophy based on the belief that the universe is irrational and meaningless and that the search for order brings the individual into conflict with the universe.

I suppose at the heart of this I simply like discovery and learning something new — it makes me more interesting at cocktail parties (although admittedly it’s utter conjecture). Aside from the joy that comes with discovering new things I did find the quote insightful, particularly if you are searching for something new.

This experience had me thinking of all those forced “brainstorming sessions” of the past and whether we ever really got anything new out of them — there was lots of discussion, lots of sticky notes, countless flip charts stuck to walls, and in the end, we always ended up with a list of activities that looked very similar to what we were already doing. I wonder if it would’ve been more productive to give everyone the objective, put $100 dollars in their pocket, and have them to wander the city for the day. Everyone would meet later in a park to discuss people’s experiences and what they came up with. No flip charts, no sticky notes, no group stretching exercises to “get the blood flowing”; just lots of conversation and discussion after a day of “discovery” (with someone taking notes). Or to Albert Camus’s point, something even more ridiculous.

Albert reminded me of a universal truism — if you keep doing things the same old way you will get the same old results. And this is fine, until of course, you start getting results you don’t want.

I wonder if this aligns with his thoughts on absurdism?

iamgpe