My name is Yanik and I've been sending you bright beams of positive thoughts and energy in pixels, in waves, on paper, on canvas and online since 2002.

The world needs people who have come alive. Find your voice, change your life and let's work together to make the world a better place.

Archives

Sunday morning musings

My son is in the living room watching Sunday morning cartoons as I sit at the computer making rounds on Reddit.

-Mom?

-Yes honey?

-Why do the bad guys look cooler than the good guys in the Batman cartoon?

-You think the bad guys look cooler? Why is that?

-Yeah, well, I’m a good guy but the bad guys always have cooler costumes and cooler powers than good guys.

hmmm… Interesting observation for a soon to be six year old. I have my own theory on the topic but that will have to wait for now.

-Honey?

-Yeah mom?

-Wanna go outside and play soccer?

- Cool!

;-) Peace out

Rise in peace – Two teens demonstrate how to get things done.

As adults, we often forget just how easy it is to take a stand for something we believe in.

If you are looking for inspiration on how to rise in peace, I have the perfect story for you.

Imagine a typical schoolyard on the first day of school. A boy arrives wearing a pink polo. He instantly becomes a target for bullies who begin to harass him, call him names and threaten to beat him up.

Most students watch from a distance and become silent accomplices. But David Shepherd and Travis Price; two 12th graders, decide to take action and stand up for the boy in the pink polo.

That night, they buy 50 Pink T-Shirts and tank tops from a discount store and they begin to email friends to rally support for their “Sea of Pink” anti-bullying plan.

The next day, the unexpected happened, not only did David, Travis and a dozen of their friends show up wearing pink, but hundreds of other kids walked into class dressed in pink as well; some from head to toe! Talk about a lesson in solidarity!

As we all know, bullies are huge cowards… so they pretty much kept quiet and out of sight as realized they were outnumbered by a peaceful “sea of pink” activists. That’s what Being the change and rising in peace is all about. Instead of confronting the bullies – which would have escalated the problem, these kids took a stand for someone… and they solved the problem peacefully.

Kids are awesome teachers and they remind us to stop over thinking things and just start doing what is right. Small actions create big changes!

The next question is : what can I do to rise in peace?

(Read the CBC news piece on this story here) Thanks to Seth Godin for linking to this story from his blog.

When was the last time you played like a 4 year old?

I spent the day with my son and his daycare group at Santa Clause’s village in the Laurentians yesterday. It was so cool to see my son having fun with his buddies…

Francis and I have a habit of playing along like big kids whenever we go to a theme park or even just at the park down the street. We’ve learned to laugh at how the other parents look at us like we are completely nuts… It’s all good! Nuts are nutricious I always say…

I have to admit that it comes more easily to Francis as he’s able to just be in the moment. I, on the other hand, often have a million things on my mind and it takes more effort to “forget” about everything and just have fun! like a kid.

It was easy to be in the moment yesterday. It was a beautiful day and there were more kids in that theme park than adults so the energy was vibrating at a joyful frequency. Plus, my son is still at the age where he likes having me there with him… I was the cool mom yesterday.  We all had a great time climbing, sliding, meeting santa and playing in the water park. It was great to forget about everything that exists outside that park and just laugh and be silly.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could live our lives like kids do?  No stress, no worries, no bills to pay, no responsibilities that weigh heavily on our shoulders… nothing but pure blissful simplicity, joy and curiosity.

Somehow, I want to believe that we can “program” our minds to enjoy a childlike approach to life even though we do have to deal with adult issues and responsibilities. I’m definitely not there yet but I took a decision yesterday to allow myself to play like a 4 year old at least once a day. Who knows? Maybe that’s the key to success!

Now, when are they going to make adult bumper boats like these? I could just see myself having FUN! in one of these…

Cool Bumperboats