Corny

Corny... this word is one that I use to describe myself, my actions and much of what I say.   This weekend I was out for dinner and Canucks game with a very close friend of mine, and old teammate Mo, from back in my UBC days.  We were catching up on life, work and all the funtivities that we've been up to.  I prefaced something, as I always do, with "This might sound corny...", Mo cut me off to say that "corny" is one of the things people love most about me.  We continued on our catch up, enjoyed a great dinner and headed off to the game.

This small statement and comment from Mo has been on my mind now for the past 24 hours and I am certain she has no idea what that meant to me.  All of a sudden, something I constantly say about myself, and to be honest usually with a bit of a negative connotation to it, hence the need to tell people the statement or action is "corny", all of a sudden her acknowledgement of this just gave me a complete 360 on myself.  Being "corny" is absolutely something that I am, and that I am OK with, actually more than OK, I wouldn't want to be any other way.

Google Definition of Corny:

corn-y
adjective
informal
     trite, banal, or mawkishly sentimental

So... this might sound "mawkishly sentimental" but I am proud of the fact that I am caring, that I get excited when I see a stranger hold the door for someone, or that I want to cheer on random strangers I see out running because I am proud of them for being active and healthy, or that I feel incredibly invested in wanting someone to make the bus when they are running to catch it (and often celebrate a lil when they do :).

I want to thank my friend for highlighting this for me, and once again I am shown just how impactful a few words can be if we are open to hearing them, and if we choose to receive and truly embrace a complement that just moments before was potentially suppressed.

Is there something you admire or appreciate in a friend that you may not have shared with them yet?  The first person that comes to mind, stop what you are doing and fire them a text, email or quick message.  So often things cross our minds and yet we don't take the step to tell those we care the most about.  I guarantee you will make someone's day.

We could all use a little more corny in our lives!

Burlington, Ontario 2011

Well, this has been a REALLY long time since I have written anything. Not sure what has inspired me to get back at it... and who knows how long it will last. Possibly was triggered as I was at the Burlington Montreal game today and the refs were ABSOLUTELY embarrassing and I felt the need to share with them my thoughts... and here I am... figured there is a better way to share thoughts and likely in more of a positive light as well.

I am currently living in Burlington, Ontario playing hockey in the CWHL (www.cwhl.ca) for Toronto. It's been an exciting and yet challenging year but that is how life should be. I have met some incredible people in the past 5 months, people who I instantly connected with and believe to be life long friends... whether they like it or not and some who it has taken a few months to really get to know. That is also a great thing about life, I love that I am presented with people who are challenging to me, people who may not be easy for me to be around for whatever reason. Those are the people and the situations that I believe will help me grow most as a person. Makes me think about my actions, my views, thoughts, everything and realize that there are soooo many people out there with completely different views on life. How great is that? So much to learn.

Alright, it's 2am... as always I'm up too late but look forward to putting down more thoughts and experiences in the days and months to come.

Must also make a note that my team beat Montreal on Saturday!!! Only 2nd game they have lost all year!! I am sooo proud of my team and it was one of the most exciting games I have seen/been a part of. Nice work guys!!! Love, hugs and high fives, Hails