kylewith

Dec 16 2012

Be the change you want to see in everything!

I think we as people forget that even if we don’t feel it we have the power to change. We have the power to make changes and influence change. The worst thing we can do is nothing.

Recently I have found that those we do not seek change either for themself for the collect being that may be around them are cancerous. They have no positive action, which ends up spreading and spreading. This is just not good for anyone, there becomes at tension. A tension that makes living unenjoyable and living should be enjoyable.

I don’t claim to be a perfect role model for change but I believe if we are not putting some wheels in-motion, even small one, we are not doing our part to make things better.

Self-reflection is one of things I do a lot of. I spend so much time alone that if I don’t try to be positive, depression takes over. In that self-reflection I look at situations from afar, as if I’m floating above and watching the them unfold. When I this and I see what is happening, I want to change it. I want to help. I want to see the change.

I don’t know where the quote “Be the change you want to see in the world” came from but I hope that this message will encourage a few people to be the change they want to see in their small pocket of the world, because going into this week, I know I am going to try.

Dec 11 2012

This is Shredded Pork

Slow cooked in a can of coke for 8 hours.

Dec 09 2012

Leonard and Gina on the Yellowknife Streets

My encounter with Leonard and Gina is still one that I’m in shock about. Let me tell you how these two are the begging of something bigger that I hope to accomplish.

On my way to work one morning, at approximately 6:50a.m. I walked past the TD Bank ATM area. Inside I saw two bodies on the ground, snuggled together and sleeping. I thought it was rude of myself to take a photo of them but I did. I didn’t know why I did it yet but as the morning progressed it started coming to me.

I have grown up around Yellowknife’s homeless folk, they don’t scare me and I sympathize for them. A lot of them have addictions, they come from broken homes and can’t just break the pattern they are currently in. When I see them around Yellowknife I see people who have stories of hardships, and these are the stories I want to tell. Why? Because I think knowing who these people are will give us all a new perspective on how we can help them.

On my way to get lunch on the same day I took the photo of the two people sleeping, I met Leonard and Gina on the sidewalk. I was taking a photo of something else and Leonard asked what I was taking a picture of. As I started talking to him, he explained to me his story. Leonard use to have a camera like mine and liked to take photos, but some months ago he lost it.

As you would guess, Leonard and Gina are not from Yellowknife. Leonard is apparently from PEI or started off his journey there. He has hitchhiked clear across Canada. About a year and a half ago he met Gina and they have been together ever since, they even refer to themselves as husband and wife even though it may not be official.

Why these two keep traveling I don’t know but before coming to the NWT, the two where in Whitehorse for sometime and then when the opportunity arose they hitchhiked right into the NWT. Leonard told me he had never been to the NWT and wanted to check it out.

What really stuck out to me about these two is how honest they seemed and how optimistic they both appeared. Leonard had said that he is an alcoholic, he didn’t shy around it. It is his addiction.

As our conversation was winding down we got on the topic of where the two had been staying. Up until that day they had a tent in the bush where they were living – Leonard and Gina as a couple wanted to stay together and neither overnight shelters allow that so they opted for their tent. Unfortunately a fire, presumably from their small stove they used for heating, lit their tent on fire and they lost all their belongings and heating fuel. Not even thinking about the couple I photographed earlier I asked where they stayed last night. Their response, TD Bank ATM area. I was shocked to have come full circle with the couple from the morning. Leonard then praised the people of Yellowknife because between leaving the bank that morning and meeting me on the street another resident had heard about their tent and gave them another one.

Leonard and Gina aren’t perfect people and many have also told me how these two can be aggressive and rude but I gave them two minutes of my time and they seemed very thankful to be recognized and spoken to like normal people. It wasn’t until we were practically walking away from each other did Leonard ask for money for a coffee. He didn’t guilt me into it or pressure me, he simply asked. I did give him two dollars, however I would have rather given a coffee card he could redeem, which I’m working on getting.

We don’t always know the stories of those we see on the streets, we often don’t give them the time of day and simply think of them as an eye sore. But just imagine if we did. Sure some stories will not be pleasant some people really are two lazy to try and turn their lives around but others have had the misfortune of getting into these situation they can’t get out of. I don’t have a solution I can only tell the stories of these people in the hopes it help find one.

Dec 05 2012

When you focus to hard nothing happens

I have been feeling this dilemma for a while where I want to do something, accomplish something, a lot but because I’m putting so much effort into it, it doesn’t happen.

The solution I have finally come to and the one the one I often come around to after going through one of these slumps for a while is to just don’t worry about it.

I don’t mean forget about what it is I’m trying to accomplish but stop trying to make it happen so badly. The second I do this a weight is lifted that allows me to see the goal again.

Dec 01 2012

Being taught how to build a Komatik

I have been very fortuanate to meet so many talented people in my life so far. One of those people is an Inuit man by the name of Sam.

Sam is about the same age as my dad and I first met him when I was 12 years old. He is from Bathurst Inlet, Nunavut; the small community south of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut with a small population and only two main families. For a while I went to Bathurst Inlet every summer as it also doubled as an eco-tourism lodge.

The Inuit culture is one I’m very honoured to learn more about as I have a huge amount of respect for them and their way of life. I have a special respect for Sam especially. He is a quite man with a large amount of patients and has an abundance of traditional knowledge.

I got to learn some of this knowledge when I asked Sam to help me build a komatik. A komatik is a large sled that is pulled by dog teams or snowmobiles. In certain Inuit dialects (ie the east) they are also called Adliaks, however I’m going to call it a komatik.

There is much to building a komatik. You must get all the supplies and then work the two runners by plaining then to make them as even as possible. Sam commented that the process takes a lot longer when you don’t have a “fancy electric plainer”.

Then of course there are the wholes you have to drill, cross pieces to cut and dwindle done. But where the real knowledge comes into play is the lashing. There is a true art to knowing how to properly lash together one of these sleds because that is all the is holding it together.

As Sam was demonstrating to me how it was done, he was giving me tips on how to do it best and then suggest I give it a try.

The over all idea is to lash it together as tight as possible but still allow the komatik to flex as it rides over the snow.

I now have a good idea of the theory of building an Adliak and would feel confident enough to do it again on my own. Now I can’t wait to use it.