I now accept and affirm that perfect health is my natural state of being!

Although we are not born with wings and feathers, it never stopped human beings from searching for ways to fly to the vast, blue sky. Neither do we fail to dive into the deep sea.

Besides the instrumental value of flying as a transportation, I absolutely enjoy the scenery from bird’s eye view. This is accentuated by riding a floatplane on a clear sunny summer day.

On the past Saturday, I took a Harborair seaplane, flying from Richmond south terminal (Vancouver) to Nanaimo harbor (located in Vancouver Island).  Our fleet is DeHavilland DHC-3 Turbine Single Otter. It operates by single pilot, and has 17 seats for passengers.

Fleet DeHavilland DHC-3 Turbine Single Otter

It was sunny and clear. At about 300-400 m above the sea, I could see houses, playground, construction site, trees and boats. I didn’t realize how high we were, until I saw several big birds flying beneath us. It was absolutely amazing to watch bald-eagles hovering, gliding, and diving…

Richmond (Vancouver) from birdseye view

An island between Vancouver to Nanaimo

Even the ocean was calm and serene. From above, it looks like the ocean and sky are joined together. In fact, they are never separated. A sense of serenity, peace and eternity arose from the scene.

Ferry sailing from Vancouver to Nanaimo

What I see in the world is a mirror to what I have in my mind.

I see myself as beautiful, lovable and appreciated. I am glad to be myself.

The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation, but your thoughts about it.

—-Eckhart Tolle

My favorite quote from my acting teachers is

Best acting is living life, instead of acting living life.

There are actors who have superb acting techniques, but lack personal connection with the scene. They look like robots and feel lost when scene changes. But a good actor is FREE of living himself/herself into the scene. And from their live experience comes the true humanity which resonate with the audience. However, the special skills that good actors have are fundamental to everyday living, that is, to observe and live life completely and consciously moment by moment.

The exercise we did this week illustrates the above point of view.

CHALLENGE:

Develop a scene with the following conversation. No more words can be added nor taken out from the conversation.

CONVERSATION:

A. Listen, about the thing.

B. Yes?

A. I didn’t know…

B. I wanted to –

A. And furthermore I went –

B. Yes.

A. Okay.

B. See?

A. Hey.

So what could the story be behind the short conversation?

At first, I couldn’t even read sense out of the dialogue. After a while, certain words captured my attention, such as “thing”, “furthermore”, “see?”. I started to allow my emtion to flow through the words…  Magically, a story is developing itself.

SETTINGS:

This is a conversation between a couple at kitchen table. The husband (A) had an affair, and the wife (B) has always known about it. They had lots of fight. He wanted a divorce, but she didn’t want to break the marriage. Things got ugly, and the mistress threatens him by making their story public (e.g., posting their pictures/stories online). He realized that this is not the relationship he wants, and decided to go back home.

BY KITCHEN TABLE

A. Listen, about the thing (the whole drama)
B. Yes (putting down her newspaper, looking at him. “Now what? You call it a thing? Don’t you have courage to talk about it, coward!”)
A. I didn’t know…. (”things would have gone like this”)
B. I wanted to —- (”warn you, but you never listen. But what’s the point when you can’t even openly discuss it with me?”)
A. And furthermore I went (”to break up with her, and now I and her are no longer together”)
B. Yes (”is that right?”, looking at him suspiciously)
A. Okay (”are we okay now”-begging for her forgiveness)
B. See? (”I know this could happen. You never change. You never even appologized to me asshole”, she doesn’t belive his story any more. And she turned away, walking out of the room)
A. Hey (”don’t go, I haven’t finished my story”)

Acting out this scene is a relief, because every time I was in her role, I felt a sense of freedom, not only from her breaking out the compulsive/abusive marrige, but also from her gaining new understanding of what true loving relationship should be. This is life. I can relate myself from different ways, while learning from every experience.

Face of life is colorful and diverse. In the next several posts, I will share what other stories are developed based on the same conversation by my classmates. As for now, if you look around, there are plenty of opportunities around you where you could be an excellent actor. Go and have fun with it!

You start your spiritual experience, when you breath consciously.

—Hui Xue (Me)

Feldberg, Germany

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.

—–John Ruskin

Meditate on this power thought before going to sleep… You’d be surprised to see it manifest in no time!

I see my patterns and make changes without embarrassment or guilt.

2009 Greek Day Vancouver

Well known to the residents of Vancouver west side is the Greek Festival on Jun 21 every year. It is a family-oriented festival to celebrate the heritage and culture of Greek immigrants and their descendants.

Curious about how my neighbourhood Kitsilano became the center of the festival, I did a bit research, and here are some interesting findings:

• First Greek immigrants arrived in Vancouver in early 1920’s
• During and after World War II, more Greek refugees from Europe and western Canada came and congregated in the Kitsilano area of Vancouver, forming the ‘Greektown‘
• According to the 1971 Canada census, Greek was the second-most common language and ethnicity in the Kitsilano area (next to English and the British Isles)
• In 1974, the city of Vancouver sanctioned an annual Greek Day celebration on June 21
• During the 1980s,  an influx of baby boomers, rising property prices, and Asian immigration began to significantly erode the Greek influence on the area. Many Greek businesses closed or moved out of the area
• In 2002, the percentage of Kitsilano residents speaking Greek as their mother language had reduced to 2 percent, fewer than those speaking English, Chinese, French, or German.
• As a result, many people, even Greeks do not have immediate knowledge of the ‘Greektown’

During the Greek Day, street vendors and live performance are among the highlights of the festival. To me, the most inspiring thing is to see the cheerful faces of children who perform on the stage, proudly living on the spirit and tradition of their ancestors. This is part of the multiculturalism of our city.  When majorities and minorities come together despite of their background, ethnicity and language, we develop great understanding of humanity, and bring about positive change.

Greek day celebration

Street vendor at the Greek festival

Greek day celebration

2009 Greek Day, Vancouver

Folk dance performance in front of Chai, on 2009 Greek Day, Vancouver