Yesterday couldn’t help but be fabulous. It was brilliant and sunny, I was chuffed that my changed eating habits and weight were holding and I was not rebounding, and most of all, I felt rich because my scammed money was returned by the bank. God bless Vancity, plus I have made great progress with the speech language therapist database, and I had a lovely Zoom session with Aidan yesterday afternoon. What a great, great day!
We walked with our friends along a deep forest trail. It was cool, but I was in warm clothes, and we warmed up as we walked. And when we were done, Her Highness and I went into the village to pick up a prescription before returning to Pinecone Park for lunch and the wonderful heat of the fire.
After lunch, I wanted to read, but instead, I continued with the SLP database as I was going to be talking to Aidan at 14:00. It’s dreadfully tedious work. Considerable research goes into adding just one name to the list. It takes roughly three minutes of research to enter just one name! But thank goodness for AI because it makes finding the email addresses of many of the SLPs easy.
Our Zoom meeting was very productive. I am going to start writing revised bylaws to get a break from the database. I’m chuffed by all this work with Aidan and SPACE. My brain is used, and I love technical writing, plus, I am helping an organization that is doing fabulous work for people who are dysfluent.
After the meeting Her Highness and I went to Rollo Park and Regina and her dog, Billie, were there. I love them both, so it was a very pleasant surprise. We had a short visit and then Sheba and I walked the trails. Not long after getting back to Pinecone Park, it was dinner time for the brood and then … and then… the couch, my dinner and The Choral!
I’d seen ads for the film, that’s why I was willing to pay $30 to see it. It was worth it. The plot and script are right out of Disney or Hallmark, but I loved it—particularly the singing. I listen to Choral Concert every Sunday, and I had to take Kleenex to every concert of Chor Leone, so this film was bound to fulfill me. Ralf Fiennes is terrific, but it’s the singing that is majestic.
And although the script is simplistic, the concept of a reinterpretation of Elgar to create a powerful and very moving anti-war artwork is brilliant and powerful. The last image of the film is perfect. It has stayed with me. It’s a message we’ve heard before, but it’s beautifully said again in this film, just as the choral master adapts the music to say it again, but in his version, he speaks to the present. And when the film is over, stay with it. Close your eyes as the credits roll and listen to the music. It’s oh, so beautiful. The two lead singers in The Choral, the first time we hear them sing, I cried both times. Beauty moves me; it has all my life, and their voices are as beautiful as is humanly possible.
When they sing as they do in this film, at such a majestic level, it feeds my creative soul. And that made me remember that one thing likely saved me from becoming an angry or sad person due to my abuse: it is my passion for the arts.
I was rejected by both my birth family, and the people who adopted and neglected me. I bought into the ancestry of neither family. I always felt ‘outside;’ I had no backstory to inherit. But! I had a conviction that I was French, and that turned out to be true—50% of my genes. And I had a passion for the arts; I worked in many roles and achieved many things in the arts that I am proud.
I didn’t care about money, and fame was of no interest to me. When I did my wee theatre shows, by far,the worst part of every show was the curtain call and getting out of the building through people I knew who wanted to wish me well. On the stage, I am in control and comfortable. Off-stage I am overwhelmed with fear. I feel exposed and vulnerable, and when everyone is looking at me, it kills me.
My passion for the arts is a prime life fact and a great source of joy. My other passion is for animals and nature. I’m terribly proud of that I deduced early in my life that I might be French. I had experiences that made me suspect my ethnic root that began at age eight or nine, and I had one of the best years of my life living in Nice with exceptional people and learning the language (to a certain extent).
But I didn’t live French. It wasn’t in my blood, like my passion for the arts was. But I still find it incredible that I interpreted my experiences correctly. I’m very proud to be half Québécois; it means more to me than anything I created in my career. It gave me a backstory; my love of the arts did not do that. However, working in the arts was to join a family of extraordinary people.
I am powerfully indebted to Françoise for planting her language in my soul. She was a professional in the arts and she achieved great heights. When I learned her name from our social worker, after she and I talked for the first time, my friends and I went to our place (Steve’s and mine) to watch the movie, Agnes of God, in which she had a small speaking part. So, I must also thank Françoise for whatever it is we share, that gave me a life in the arts.
As I have neither children nor grandchildren, I need things to think about things that bring me joy—especially as I age.
After the movie, I wrote an article for our local paper, and then I hit the hay. A great day, all in all!
This morning is overcast but very warm. It’s going to be a day of mixed weather. I have tons of SPACE work to do, I have a good book to read, we’ll walk of course, and I will prepare for my day tomorrow in Vancouver.
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