Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Happy Fairy Day

Today, I lost my skirt.
How is that even possible in a public place you ask? How could I possibly be selfish enough de-robe in a high school beneath the glaring eyes of countless innocent bystanders? In what way is has such scandalously and controversial statement related to winged beings?
The Relay For Life made me do it! As you're probably aware, the Funky Fairies Relay for life team has been door to dooring, baking, coloring, creating, planning, volunteering, bargaining and harassing the general public in order to fund raise for the Canadian Cancer society's all night walk-a-thon this Friday. Our team is all girls under the age of seventeen, who have been affected directly or indirectly by cancer and want to make a change. Directed by our fearless leader Jeanne Yurris, The Funky Fairies have been working our wands off from the beginning of April to the second weekend of June for the last three years. Without a doubt, I can say it's easily one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had. Working with motivated and positive people is enough to make anyone smile, but these girls are more than that. We support one another's endeavors and ideas, doing the best we can to help each other achieve them. These girls are kind and caring, I've never had a bad day where is was not made better by a Fairy Gram or an encouraging hug by a teammate. There is such passion in our group, a drive to seek out and aid. There is never an absence of help, from our team or for our team.
I'm pretty sure there is another law of attraction, that those who search to succeed are met with those who search to help succeed. There are some very amazing friends, students, family members, staff members and community members out there who have given us Fairies a greatly appreciated hand. We've had boys like Braden Redshaw and Kevin Durkee be so kind as to donate cookies to our bake sales and a wonderful student body to buy all of our creations. Teachers have allowed us to miss classes to set up and take down various fundraisers, without many questions asked. They have even gone as far as to donate to the cause.
Our families have the patients of saints. They have taken up the roles of chauffers to and from events. They have worn the chef hat and worn down the Bank Of Mom and Dad. But ultimately they've been our biggest cheerleaders.
It's no wonder that today we've raised over seven thousand dollars.
So when I misplaced my skirt today trying to change into a bright blue sparkly prom dress for a team picture with the Yellowknifer, I was glad. The Fairies and community have worked so hard for this, and I believe it's time to show pride in our accomplishments. So I wore my big poofy blue cupcake of a prom dress to third and fourth period. Today is fairy day for me, but anyday could be fairy day. Just don your crown and get out there to make a difference.

Let the sparkles and wings make you brave.

Arctic Hipster

Monday, June 7, 2010

What wonderous things discovered again by unexpected means

I have found great  inner peace dear readers.... 
Well, not completely but that is simply because of the teenage mindset and lack of experience. Nevertheless, I am ready to make some changes in my way of being as well as begin some new projects. I am attempting to release all of the stress that has accumulated inside of me during these last few months through physical activity. Yoga stretches out every bit of muscle that I  never even realized I had, and releases it in a calming way. Leaving me feeling as though I'm able to bench press a house. Realistically that's humanly impossible. It's a pretty great feeling though.
That said, there are also some pretty fantastic vibes entering my window at this time. The sun is back darlings! Sky rocketing Ice cream sales and surprising Yellowknifers
with tell tale signs of our origins. Almost the entirety of the city's population had turned an angry red after our first day of plus twenty temperatures.  The weather had been nothing but blue skies with the casual dark rain cloud. We northerners don't fret that much about precipitation anyways. You get used to it after nine months of snow.
Speaking of cold, have I talked about how wonderful my boyfriend is? He honestly is the coolest person since Frosty melted. Sir Alex is the force that refuses to let me tumble into self loathing or teenage angst behavior. Instead he makes me laugh until the tears roll down my face and my sides are in pain, which makes us laugh even harder. Thus furthering my belief that all you need is love.
Is it possible to exist in such a state of undeserved bliss?
Alas, despite a couple barf-ons
 by the unstoppable force of life this is turning out to be quite the fantasmical* year. Two plays (Charlie and the Chocolate factory: Micheal Jackson tribute  and The Werewolf's Curse),  countless social engagements, hundreds of cookies, volunteering until my heart is sore, staying up doing homework until I'm sure my hands will fall off, fundraising like the mad for Relay For Life, and writing. Lots of writing
.
Now, in some ways I wish I didn't do so much or could say no to participating and helping out some times. I might get in my eight hours of sleep that way. In another though, if I weren't so busy I'd be bored. My parents believe it's hereditary, and as much as we all curse each other out for our over booked, under-planned schedual
, our household wouldn't be the same without an event mangeled calender. In fact, I doubt any of us would get six hours of sleep like that. We'd all be up pacing looking for things to do. Instead of giving up being immersed in society, I'm prioritizing. My mother informs me that that's very mature and I'm growing up. What she doesn't realise is that I'm merely "reorganising". I'm slowly trying to reduce my Facebook addiction, and instead, replace it with a blogging obsession. This makes more sense anyways, considering I suffer from "Graphomania
":
"a compulsive urge to write either driven thereto by an exaggerated idea of the importance of what he or she writes or by an insane impulse"**.
I'm voting for the insane impulse. Math homework, the back of gum wrappers, the underside or even the upside of tables, chairs and other furniture, a ridiculous amount of notes and letters and journals. Strangely enough, the idea that I might one day create a job out of this seemed improbable. Writing= Freedom. Job = Work. I didn't think that I could actually do this as a career, one that would make money and possibly fulfil my unsatisfiable need for the written word. Unlikely, but goodness would it be awesome.
Then, as if fate had another idea for my Psychologist future, the English world fought it away with books and authors. That's right, guess who was able to attend the North Words conference?! Not only was my class able to listen to publish authors  Jamie Bastedo
, author of On thin Ice, Silas Revenge and Tracking Triple Seven, and Cathleen With author of Skids and her new novel Having Faith in Polar Girls Prison, I was able to talk to them. Some kids grow up wanting to meet so-and-so of this movie or that, but I've always wanted to meet a writer. Boy could you tell too. I was tripping over my sentences and basically blurting out my entire life story in the span of a couple seconds. Yet, being the amazing breed that they are, Mr. Bastedo
 and Mrs. With tolerated my explosive adoration and awe. Mrs. With even gave me great direction on where to take my life. She studied at the University of Victoria with amazing professors, retired great authors who were attracted by the weather but couldn't give up the trade. She took theater and had an education degree, and is helping kids adjust to school. She talked with me as if I hadn't just spilled my story all over her shoes, but rather as if I were a writer too. That's when it hit me.
I wanted to be a writer too. I could be a writer.
So i went home and looked at my life as though each piece was an article of clothing or childhood treasure tumbling out of a disorganised closet. Right at the bottom, created when I fist heard a story, was my need to write. So I put it out in the open, and stacked everything from least important to most, placing it out in the open. This is my project lovely readers, this is my future.

May your closet be messy enough to be lived, but clean enough
 to see.

Arctic Hipster



** Dictionary.com