I refuse to allow the prophecy to be fulfilled...

Wow... it's been months since my last post - nearly four months to be more precise. I have longed to write and have unfortunately not had the time in the past months with the high demands of work and life in general. That being said - NEW FOUND COMMITTMENT!

Awww committment - I have also committed myself to a 10 km run. Me, the self-proclaimed hater of running. I must say that it is for a tremendous cause - cancers below the waist. Over the past few months, I have watched, worried, and tried my best to support people who are the same as family to me. My young 22 year old brother from another mother was diagnosed and endured three grueling rounds of chemotherapy for testicular cancer. After his last round, he was found clear of cancer - what a relief. But the effects of this toxic treatment on him and the emotional and physical anguish endured by himself and his family has inspired me and others to form a fundraising and running team to find a better way to treat and hopefully a cure for this terrible disease that often effects such young and otherwise healthy men.

The run will be fun! Participants are encouraged to dress up (or down so to speak) in their best underwear. The fun and creative aspect of this event is what made me suggest we put a team in. I have already started training and surprisingly, I have quite enjoyed jogging through the gorgeous River Valley in my beautiful city of Edmonton (which will be even better when the darn trees grow some green leaves). These types of family crises sure test not just the immediate family but also the community. My home town of St. Paul, Alberta has pulled together to show their support both emotionally and monetarily.

It makes me ponder...

• Why don't we more often turn to community; work together to achieve our goals
• How can people not see the power of community - local community... instead of turning to provincial or federal levels of government to solve our problems, why not look at home? We are perfectly capable of being innovative and finding solutions
• Imagine if instead of waiting for crisis, we worked together to establish networks in communities ready to deal with so much more (and more efficiently!)

I have often heard the phrase "think globally, act locally" and never have I felt the truthfulness of this idea until now. And the more I think about it, the more I see other situations where it applies. While I appreciate the importance of individualism, I get scared that maybe this philosophy of life has been taken too far; so far that community has disintegrated only to bind together in times of emergency (and sometimes not even then). I have made it my personal goal to realize and talk about the power and importance of community...