1 month. Adjusting to the new normal of a global pandemic. Everything shifting and changing. So much to process. And in spite of how alien it all seems - the good stuff too. Working in my garden & tending to my bees. Turning home schooling into an opportunity for my kid to do some out of the box learning. More hiking in the forest & longer runs in the morning. Diving into the cold Pacific at Eagle Point yesterday, because the sun felt so good and the salt felt even better on my skin. Care packaging for self isolating folks & lotsa loaves of sourdough being left on the porches of people I love. The 7 o’clock cacophony that the nurses in the basement of St Paul’s Hospital can hear and look forward to every night. Daily phone calls and Friday night Zoom dinners with my crew. A square of dark chocolate every morning:) Caring for each other. Counting our blessings. LAUGHTER. Hanging tight. Kindness, everywhere. And knowing that when we emerge from this, we have an opportunity to manifest something very different. Build up new systems that are better for all of us. Heal our hurting planet.
I am blown away by the support that surrounds us. Within my artistic community, and beyond. My deepest gratitude for financial, creative and emotional lifelines: Canadian Actor’s Equity Association, ACTRA, Union of BC Performers, The Actor’s Fund of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, EAST VAN, Lauren Levitt & Associates, Netflix Emergency Support Fund for the Creative Community, Carrie de Jong, The Cultch Bees, Richmond Beekeepers Association, Jay Senetchko’s online life drawing classes, Noam Gagnon & The Pilates Collective’s online classes, theatre companies across the country streaming rehearsals, readings and live performances to keep performing artists working and bringing stories into our homes, Trout Lake Park, Riley Park Farmers Market, BC Farmers, Cedar Cottage Community Garden, Caroline Van Hemert’s amazing NY Times story “What the Caribou Taught Me About Being Together and Apart”, BC Housing, Dr. Bonnie Henry (and her Fleuvogs), the provincial and federal government’s emergency response funding, Quac - my local green grocer, the hard working women who clean the common areas @ The Porter, essential service workers and first responders: nurses/docs/care givers/DTES social workers/paramedics/firefighters/conservation officers & park rangers, my daughter, true blue friends and family - the connective tissue, and every artist I know - for sending ferocious, healing, creative energy into the world. ❤❤❤