Second long day

I started off today with my Spirituality and Healing group. We are going to be looking at The Secret, which is really just the spiritual law of attraction (if you want something to happen, visualize it happening and it will come to you). It isn't an awful idea, because it makes people more positive, but I do have some reservations about it. If I draw positive things, then I also draw negative things to me; so did I draw the cancer? How about the recurrence? Or the metastasis? Hmmmmm. Still, I do have a belief that since you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, so I'm more likely to get what I want if I'm positive. So I'll stay positive and hope that things go my way.

BTW, we watched the first part of The Secret DVD in the group. It's very dramatic and hyped. Clearly, they are not marketing to me. The whole thing is not marketing to me, because, well, I don't like the idea that it's been covered up for ages and all of that. Also, they focus on material things (money! houses! great jobs!) and that just seems so crass. If you're going to look into this, I'd recommend that you read the book instead.

I also talked to our facilitator about the problems with the young women's group. She took me to talk to the executive director and will be discussing the problem at a meeting on Thursday. I'm very glad that she's on my side; I have a great deal of respect for her, and I'm glad that this is in her capable hands. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens.

Later on, we went to the Brier. It's in Hamilton this year, which is about an hour's drive from our place. To get to Copps Coliseum (the arena), we went through this cool mall. We walked through one part that had clearly had stores in it before, but which was completely boarded up with community-made murals. That reminded me of downtown malls in Edmonton; there's something I like about a mall like that. There's so much old promise and hope there. I wonder what used to be there, and what things used to be like when the stores were open. I got a glimpse of a store name - Marvela - and I wondered what it was. Had Ian not been with me, I would have taken a long, long time to walk that hallway, because I would have stopped to imagine all sorts of histories for it.

There is something very powerful about being at a sporting event that is one of the best in its class featuring the best in the country (or the world). I imagine people feel like that at the Olympics, too. Being in the same area as athletes, and close enough to see them clearly, is exhilarating. Once I got over that, I enjoyed the games. None of them were very close, but they were good.

We will be going back to see tomorrow night's draw. They have a souvenir shop; if any of you are interested in getting a vest, down jacket, windbreaker, golf shirt, or fleece hoodie (all branded with the Brier logo, of course), please let me know. Each are maybe $15-20 more than you might pay in a reasonably good sports store. The women's vest was $60; the women's down jacket was $150. I don't really remember the colours. There are also small souvenirs like glasses and stuff. If you want something small, please let me know.