To My Dear... #1

One of my favourite artists of literature is Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author of the fantastic novels "Sophie's World" and "The Solitaire Mystery".  I define my favourite artists by style, skill, and interest like anyone - but I would add that my favourite artists are those I am drawn to think about from time to time.  I haven't read Sophie's World for years and yet I often think about something Jostein Gaarder made me think about while engrossed in his pages... Especially now that I have a new nephew.  The particular section of the book I keep coming back to is in the first chapter and is absolutely enthralling.

"A white rabbit is pulled out of a top hat. Because it is an extremely large rabbit, the trick takes many billions of years. All mortals are born at the very tip of the rabbit's fine hairs, where they are in a position to wonder at the impossibility of the trick. But as they grow older they work themselves ever deeper into the fur. And there they stay. They become so comfortable they never risk crawling back up the fragile hairs again. Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink."

This is the type of concept that I find incredibly intriguing.  I offer this as an introduction to a new feature for MRKy Waters - "To My Dear..."  This will be a collection of entries geared towards encouraging the children in our lives to stay on the tips of the rabbit's hair and keep asking questions about everything.  

To My Dear...

You are very observant and I can tell, at your young age, that you are trying to figure out everything.  I will do my part to help keep that sense of wonder alive.  This world often tests the heart and I want to feed your soul.

A certain amount of comfort is dangerous because you stop asking questions.  If you take certain things for granted or become lackadaisical about routine tasks, you can end up in trouble.  For my part, I will always try to help you in any way I can.  Stay at the tips of the rabbit's hair and learn everything you can about everything you can.

Love,

Me

Happiness

The other day it occurred to me... I'm no longer as crazy depressed as I have been.  I'm getting to spend more time with my family and friends, I'm starting a new business, I met my new nephew, I've started running again... things are starting to feel like they are no longer spiralling out of control.

What a great feeling to be busy, content, and clear of the dark clouds that have been penetrating my grey matter!

The show of community and strength that took place in Calgary since the bombings of the Boston Marathon - my participation in the Run for Boston (Calgary) and subsequent writing will help formulate the basis of this new stage in my life, I am certain.

To be certain of something again is, also, a beautiful thing to behold.

Depression

Depression comes in waves... how suitable for the MRKy Waters author to be caught up in it.  I have happy moments, surrounded by family members who love and understand me... and I'm building myself back up from a particularly bad bout of depression.

The thing is, I feel more affected by emotions of others in this state.  I am normally a sponge when it comes to other people's emotion even though many have told me it doesn't register on my face.  I can think that I'm grinning like an idiot or worried that I may explode and my face doesn't show it.  I was at the gym with my best friend yesterday and, from what he said, I don't even show straining or exhaustion when I'm working out...

Now, with this depressive state, I feel an annoying or unfortunate incident as if it were some big tragedy - when something legitimately horrible happens like the death of my friend Peggy Sears (she died while working in construction outside Priddis, Alberta) and now the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15th, 2013, it's like a tidal wave... even though I had nothing to do with either incident and I'm not directly effected by the Boston bombing.  I am a VERY amateur runner... so I hope you understand my badly rampant imagination that has chosen to show me horrible images of me running across the finish line at Boston only to get blown up... and I can't stop it.

I don't know what will be done in an effort to help the survivors of these tragedies and others who suffer from depression - please donate blood at your local bank and register to donate organs and bone marrow.