Mindcamp Ripples

I think that having Mindcamp in the dying days of August is the absolute perfect time.  It still clings to the carefree adventurous spirit of summer while reaching out and clinging to the sinews of our working life and the impending fall.

I'm feeling a lot of things about my five day experience at Mindcamp, but what rises to the top is the sense of renewal.  I was in a great headspace going in - apart from that low-grade, rumbling, rambling headache that taunted me on the first day: crunching, gnawing - but I was in an even better space going out.

30-Day Challenge


Seriously, we have an outstanding motivational presence based right here in Alberta named Tony Esteves.  I attended his 30-Day Challenge session and was blown away by his facilitation skill and the outcomes of this dynamic 90-minute pursuit of dream.  Susan is jumping into a 30-day drawing challenge and Jacky is going to do something spontaneous every day for 30 days.  I'm into Day 4 of my commitment to walk 30 minutes each day for 30 days.  The catch is that it has to be a new route every single day.

Tony is doing some exciting work with human connections and the riches that person to person interactions contains.  If you're looking for someone to motivate, inspire and challenge your group, organization or company, Tony is your guy.  Check him out at http://www.iontheball.ca/.

Teacher becomes Student


I had this big shift after my Saturday morning "Painting Steve Shama" workshop.  Watching the work of the 7 participants, I was catapulted over an imaginary wall that I had constructed for myself around the portrait that I was working on of Dr. Win Wenger.  The way they approached the task at hand, their curiosity and sense of adventure gave me a new frame of reference, and exactly what I needed to complete this painting of one of the geniuses of the creativity world.  Win's wife Susan participated in my painting class.  She'll never know the impact she had on me with your participation, kindness and heart.  Or, maybe she will if she happens to read this post.  Bless you Susan.

Pizza in the night

There is nothing profound about this story, but it deserves to be captured in some way.  I was in Anik April's free writing workshop on the first night of Mindcamp, when we were all pushing through a rather long power failure.  The sun was setting and the light in our room was almost gone, a room with massive windows on two sides.  We were writing by light provided by iPhones and various other devices, otherwise the room would have been black.  All of a sudden, I saw a piece of pizza go running across the grass and up a tree.

"What the hell is that?" I asked, rising from my chair and running outside to investigate.

A black squirrel had stolen a large piece of pizza that had been put down by someone at dinner, and had taken it up to its nest in the tree adjacent to where we were writing.  Creativity and resourcefulness in action.

Inspirational Transformation


Tom McMillion used to be a very big man.  The last time he was at Mindcamp two years ago he was over 400 pounds.  He began changing his eating patterns and the amount of exercise he was getting and has dropped over 200 pounds.  Tom is a man on a mission, and based on what he has achieved so far and the approach he has taken, complete success is within his reach.



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