A Year Later: Canuck Jerseys for Sale

I’m stupefied by the fact that the Vancouver police didn’t seem to fathom a possible riot a year ago, when members of the general public – ordinary, everyday people like myself (and I’m not even a hockey fan) – highly expected it. And not only if we had lost, but also if we had won!

Interesting too, that out of curiosity while surfing the net I discover it was the exact same teams that played and lost the same game (number 7) back in 1994 and last year. And the police did not expect a riot with that info? Unbelievable!

Regardless, it’s certainly a shame as the riot seems to have tarnished Vancouver’s reputation as one of the best cities to live in the world. No wonder why Vancouver became a “no-fun city” a number of years ago: the ’94 riot probably contributed to this.

I recall riding the skytrain into Vancouver from Burnaby with my boyfriend at the time to watch a movie. After hearing comments about possible rioting/looting from several riders (which quite shocked me), I wanted to immediately return to whence we came, though my boyfriend didn’t.

Emerging from the movie theatre at the end of the show, I witnessed a sight that looked and sounded what could have been a war zone. Ironically, I have felt eerily peaceful and calm at two close-to-death experiences, but a mob mentality is another story! With its extremely menacing and dangerous nature, I was scared for both of us as we traversed downtown Vancouver hoping to make it home unscathed.

What is the lesson or are the lessons to be learned to prevent future riots? (By the way, Vancouver Canuck fans: jerseys on sale!)

I’ll let you answer that as I said hockey isn’t for me, never was, and never will be. I have better and more important things to do with my time than watch a bunch of men play and get paid millions for what’s become a violent sport, seemingly both on and off ice. (I’ll let you use your imagination on that last comment.)

As I type this posting, I still feel some of the anxiety churning in my stomach which quite amazes me. Unfortunately, both riots, particularly the one last year – I thought we would learn from the first one – has left a bitter taste in my mouth.

So why am I writing about this then you might wonder? Good question! Partly to expose what a number of people already foresaw with the hope that somehow this can prevent another such occurrence, and also to hopefully learn the lessons involved for the same reason.

Let us be peace and live in peace. Is an award, a trophy, a cup (Stanley Cup) worth fighting for? Maybe in terms of fighting for it as a goal, but not in the literal sense please. Spare me and spare Vancouver. We don’t need nor want another riot.

How do you demonstrate peace in your being and/or actions?

Part 2 Aftermath ... Accepting and Expressing

In my previous posting on the aftermath of the riot which I felt compelled to write (and did so extremely quickly), I wrote in part that in order to find peace, we must be peace. Likewise, that the reflection of our inner world is reflected in our outer world and vice versa. What does that say about us and the Vancouver riot that occurred two weeks ago? I know this might sound quite controversial, but I am speaking on a spiritual level.

What I didn’t mention previously is this: we all have a dark side. We all have the ability to love and to hate, to love and to kill. Love and fear are supposedly opposites. although most people think that love and hate are. Regardless, though these are extremes, I’m saying that every human being has the potential to express both, to the same degree.

We all have the potential to swing either way on the pendulum. Luckily most of us don’t swing on the dark side or too often. However, most of us don’t wish to accept our dark side or even see it at all and that is when we find ourselves in trouble, unbeknownst to us, at least initially.

You see, the dark side is still an aspect of your soul and if you resist it, it will eventually catch up with you. There’s a saying, "what you resist, persists.”

Similarly, what you resist is what you repress, denounce, avoid, deny. Example: you might not admit or even know that you’re a rageaholic, a term the author John Bradshaw used to describe himself in past. Furthermore, you may be an alcoholic portraying all the classic symptoms and be a violent one at that! Then you hit bottom.

Your hitting bottom may be experienced as the ‘dark night of the soul’ that Thomas Moore and others write about.

I have experienced this dark night, rather dark nights of the soul, an arduous journey that I so desperately wanted to run away and hide from, but it was too deep, way too deep for me to even climb out of it. It felt like an abyss, so dismal and dark.

This experience is not for the faint of heart and is certainly not a fun place to be in or live from. I don’t recommend it. However, it may be a necessary obstacle to overcome in order to balance amd assimilate our light(er) side, and come to terms with ourselves, both the light and the dark, these polar aspects of our soul.

Think of the light side as your essence, your true essence. Some of you may have questioned – I did! – after my posting on the riot’s aftermath – what has this (riot) to do with ‘expressing your essence?’ (as that is currently part of my blog name, albeit I’m considering changing it). Good question! I’m glad you asked! ; )

Well, it is about that which I just wrote. And it is also about the importance of expressing your essence, in this case your emotions – so-called ‘good’ and ‘bad’ (as there’s really no such thing, that’s just human labeling) in a healthy way. If all the rioters, whether ‘die-hard’ hockey fans expressed their anger/frustrations in a ‘positive’ or healthy way, the riot would never have taken place.

Now I don’t know about you, but I have at times expressed my frustrations and anger in a not-always healthy and/or liked manner by the general public (i.e., those who were effected), and thus have asked the question: HOW does one express their anger and frustrations in a healthy way? Well again, thanks for asking! ; )

This is probably what drew me, in part, to study the expressive arts, perhaps on an unconscious or subconscious level.

Expressive arts therapy is a form of (psycho)therapy – I personally don’t care for that term – but it is – using Wikipedia as my source and perhaps a better explanation and more succinct than my own definition – described as follows: “Expressive therapy, also known as expressive arts therapy or creative arts therapy, is the use of the creative arts as a form of therapy. Unlike traditional art expressions, the process of creation is emphasized rather than the final product. Expressive therapy is predicated on the assumption that people can heal through use of imagination and the various forms of creative expression.”

I love that expressive arts therapy can heal people through the use of imagination and I also love that it focuses more on the creative process rather than the final product. If you read my bio, you would know that I have a passion for the creative and performing arts which is another reason why expressive arts therapy appealed to me.

The creative forms I studied included the visual arts (primarily painting), sound, movement, clowning, psychodrama, mask making, clay, poetry, and fairytales. Through these various mediums, I was able to at times channel my energy including anger and frustration. (Groups always trigger emotions!)

I learned to express these emotions in a healthy way that is considered acceptable to society, i.e., harmless. Now I know I may be a bit of a rebel at times (not in a bad way per se, more like playing devil’s advocate), but there comes a point when I need to be reasonable and follow the guidelines of acceptability, aka conformity, for a host of reasons. (You’ll understand more when I write about this topic in future. It relates to what I believe my purpose is.)

There are numerous ways to express yourself not limited to the (art) modalities I mentioned above: you can exercise, play sports, vent/shout/swear/scream (sometimes preferably in a pillow or something or else someone may either call 911 and/or think you’re crazy unfortunately), and the like.

But what about before a situation or temper gets out of control? What about curbing anger and frustration in the first place? Any way to express yourself healthily can be a great outlet in letting off steam. Such ways may include playing a musical instrument, singing, meditating, yoga, walking/hiking and the like in nature, and talking things out with someone you love and/or the person(s) you are having challenges with in a respectful manner. Blab if need be instead of blowing up. Get things in control before they become out of control, right?!

And accept yourself just the way you are with both your ‘good’ and ‘bad’ sides. However, focus on the light, your light, and let that light shine, your light shine like the song" "This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine..."

p.s. Photo on the right is courtesy of Ray Van Eng (www.vancouver21.com). The one at the far right with me in it is the only one I seemed to have as I apparently misplaced (deleted?) some beautiful close-up photos that I had taken of the lit Olympic cauldron from above. When I saw it (lit at night) the song, "This Little Light of Mine" came to mind. Something of beauty, of remembering my light came to mind when I saw its majestic beauty and I was in awe of this.

Aftermath of an Almost Glorious Victory

Are we so disconnected as a society that we feel that the best way to connect with others is through hockey? For example, dressing up in the city's hockey jerseys or even all in green, one of the team's colours? Or feeling the need to bond over beer and a sport as violent as hockey?

Do we as a city not have more soul and depth? Or are we artificial beings relating on a superficial level?

Some people may hate me for asking those questions, as well as when I say that I have never liked hockey and find it a violent sport, not to mention boring as a male in my choir attested to. It seems to have become more violent over the years and even off the ice as, unfortunately, we witnessed last night.

And at times like that I hate hockey. Yes, you heard me right. Not only because of the riot but because the city caters to hockey fans so much so that I hear rambunctious stereo sound when I travel the streets or when, last night, I sat with a friend outside trying to enjoy some dinner. I didn’t want any part of it. I wasn’t interested!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not a total ..... (fill-in-the-blank here with your choice word). I would have loved for the Canucks to win the Stanley Cup. We were so close.

However, would it have made any difference if we won? The riot may have occurred anyway. Just an excuse for some people to cause mayhem damaging private property and hurting people in the process. I don’t really care to share the details here. If you want them, check out the newspapers or online. (However, remember this if you do, what you focus on expands.)

Did we learn anything from the riot in ’94? It seems not. It’s no wonder that Vancouver was declared a ‘no fun’ city for quite some time, i.e., years afterwards. Things were starting to happen again to bring Vancouver on the map again, but maybe we’ll go back to square one in this case.

My hope and prayer for Vancouver at this time is that we find peace. One way is through healthy and safe expression of emotions. Another is to find acceptance. Accept things just as they are. If we were to accept our hockey team’s loss with dignity as the team did, none of this violent aftermath would have occurred.

If we want peace, we must be peace. Thus, if we want peace in the world, we need to find peace within ourselves.

What does the condition of Vancouver, let alone the world say about our inner world? Because what we see and experience is a reflection of us, both as individuals and as a community or society.