Non-Voters: The Accidental Conservative Population

     We have the Canadian Federal Election coming up on May 2nd, and I'd just like to speak for a moment to the non-voters and the people who love them.

     If you don't support a Conservative Government, yet you're still not planning on voting - you should know that by not voting, you ARE actually supporting the Conservative party.

     For those who don't know, the Conservatives use a strategy called "Vote Suppression" and it is very effective. I'm sure you have heard Stephen Harper refer to political debate as "bickering", and speak about how most people find politics off-putting, and other such comments. He routinely and purposely puts a negative spin on politics, government and the opposition leaders in order to disgust and disengage the citizenry – all while catering to and solidifying his Conservative base.  Harper does not need to convince more people to vote Conservative, he just needs more non-Conservatives not to vote so that his party gets a bigger piece of the pie. It is a manipulative, powerful, and proven strategy. George Bush also used it to his advantage.

     If you know anyone who is planning on not voting because they think "all the leaders suck" or they "hate politics", or “there is no one good to vote for” you may want to have a conversation with them about what their reasons are. It’s possible that they have fallen victim to Vote Suppression - although good luck finding anyone who will admit it, as no one likes to be made a fool. Nonetheless, it’s something that everyone should be aware of. It’s insidious and I think it deliberately attempts to undermine democracy and should be called out at every opportunity.

     People fought and died for us to have the right to vote. If we do not maintain, protect, and exercise that right, we give away our power. We can’t expect to improve this country or to enjoy the perks of democracy without contributing to it - democracy requires our engagement in order to function. It can not exist without our voices giving input. So let's not allow Harper or anyone else to convince Canadians of the false ideology that our voices are ineffectual, and our candidates unworthy of listening to us.

     If you still choose not to vote on May 2nd (or on advance voting days), don't use the invalid excuse that you don't want to take part in this election. By not voting you are still affecting the outcome, and it may not be in the way you prefer. So please, learn who your candidates are, make an active choice, and be engaged. It shows respect for oneself, for one’s community, and for those who went through hell to get every adult citizen access to the ballot box. 






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And the Cupcake Goes to...

Me!

I got a blogging award today, which is pretty surprising and just damn nice. It was given to me by Daisygirl at A Future Success Story, which is a blog I read on the regular. I enjoy her honesty and introspection. She knows that weight loss involves a change of your emotional and mental practices, as well as your physical state, and she is very open about her struggles and discoveries. Check it out.


Here is what she had to say, "*, my friend, I love the quirky humor (and the potential multiple personalities displayed) in your blog, White Knight Meet Starfish.  I look forward to every new post from you because I know I will learn about another facet of your unbelievably incredible self.  Muah!"


Well shine my shoes and call me Sally. Thanks Daisy!

Now I get to pass the cupcake on to three of my favourite blogs, so here we go. Please pay them a visit. Perhaps you will enjoy them too.

Tanya at Tanya's Sweaty Blog: You are one sexy, artistic personal trainer, with a beautiful voice and a naughty sense of humour. You also write thoughtful and motivating blog posts and your enthusiastic style always gets me excited about what you are up to. Thanks for posting so many pictures. I will always find your tattooed guns crush-worthy.

Robin at from the rooftops: I am impressed that your blog has been going since 2007, and I am always happy when I see a new post from you. You have a way of expressing yourself with words and photos that I find absolutely beautiful and I hope you never stop. You are so unique and refreshing.

Nightshade at heartonfire: I can always count on you to express yourself with total honesty, whether you are writing poetry, or telling a story, or even just writing a few words. Your posts hit home with me because they are unfiltered and raw, just like you, and that's a big reason why I love the hell out of you.




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Back to the Blog - Manifesting Pain

Hi folks!

     Well a break was demanded as other things stole my attention for a while. I had horrible back pain for just over a month, which left me feeling miserable and not very motivated to blog. After many chiropractic visits and the establishment of a very diligent stretching habit, I am feeling much better. The back pain didn't fully disappear however, until I quit the job I had been in for the past year.

     Yes! No more nine-to-five gig. I tried to make it work because it was nice to have a dependable salary, but who was I kidding? I'm an artist and the daily grind of an office job just isn't for me. I need more variety in my work and in my hours to be happy. I need art and activity and interactions to make up the bulk of my day. I do not thrive with so much structure, with knowing how each day will begin and end. I felt for a while, as though I was standing still. I felt like I could feel myself dying a slow, groaning, bone-creaking death. Dramatic, I know, but dear lord I was bored.

     You know, bodies are very clever. When I delay making a change that I know must be made for my betterment, then my body rebels and I get sick. I get sick in a way that renders me physically unable to continue with my present situation, and thus I am forced into change.

     This has happened a number of times, and the pain always manifests itself in an exact spot in my body that causes an absolute and immediate stop. The location of the pain is always directly related to the area of my life that needs focus, an obvious clue for when I am being bull-headed and blind. The pain does not go away until I shift my actions, as well as my thought processes that are connected to those actions.

     In other words, pain for me is often a signal that I am blocked in some way, and until I remove that block and change my path, the agony continues.

     In this case, I needed to leave my job and change my lifestyle because it was making me unhappy, but I kept trying to stick it out. Eventually I got debilitating back pain, and according to the professionals the only way to fix it was to be more active and not sit down so much. Voila. I had to say goodbye to the desk job, and I am relieved that I did.

     This is how I work. Now that I have grown to understand it, I am very thankful for my body's ability to make the right decision in those times when I am determined to rationalize myself into living with poor choices. In the majority of cases I make changes before I reach a point where I am in physical pain, but in the rare instances when pain is necessary, I am grateful for the illumination and action it commands.

I hope you are all well, and I look forward to posting here more regularly.

Until then,
x'ers and o'ers

Make changes or else!!!

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Love Thyself to Better Health

I mentioned in my last post that I keep track of my fitness by periodically recording certain stats. What I would like to address now, is the common practice of using one's starting stats as motivation, and how this is not always the best idea.


You've all seen it. The "BEFORE and AFTER" pictures placed side by side, the person in the Before picture looking miserable about their fatness, and in the After picture, the same person stands tall, looking proud and happy.


Now, I love transformation photos. I find them inspiring and fascinating. I don't argue that eating better and moving more brings more happiness. Leading a healthy lifestyle does wonders in lifting one's mood, self-confidence, and over-all sense of well-being and accomplishment, not to mention the improvements it causes in posture and body composition. I love looking at pictures of body transformations and seeing the results of hard work. These pictures are a fantastic way to measure and celebrate progress.

What bothers me however, is when the starting picture, weight and measurements, are looked at as a situation from which one needs to escape.

I can't count the number of times I have heard a person say "I have to get in shape because I'm really fat and gross right now", or "I didn't realize how fat I was until I saw a picture of myself. Now I use that picture to help me stay fit because it's a reminder of what I never want to be again".

One part of me wants to say "Hey, do what works for you", but then I give myself a good slap in the head because frankly, if what works for you is to beat yourself up, to use self-disgust and shame as a form of motivation - hell no. I can't condone that. 

Yet this kind of thinking is not only prevalent, it is widely accepted.

Let's be honest here. You can not use feelings of self-disgust as fuel to make yourself healthier. Self-destruction and self-improvement oppose each other.  Simply put, an essential part of health is self-respect, and you can not achieve and maintain a happy body and mind without it.

There is a danger in sticking your sad, fat "Before" picture on your fridge as a way to motivate yourself to keep your diet in line; in giving your love handles a vicious squish as you stare into the mirror and wish for a slimmer physique; in thinking about the cheese you just ate going straight to your hips and making your ass even bigger... 

Hating yourself to a better body will do nothing but make you unable to fully appreciate the progress you make. If you use disgust, guilt and punishment for fuel, then if and when you do reach your goals, I guarantee that any happiness you feel will be short-lived - only to be replaced soon enough by the familiar, and now habitual feeling of "I'm still not good enough".

If you are going to build and maintain a stronger body, you need to strengthen your mind and spirit as well. 

Accept yourself as you are now, and if you want to become healthier then work from a place of love. Rather than trying to escape from your body, try embracing it. Getting more fit isn't going to get you closer to the person you want to be unless you actively work on being who you want to be right now. 

So, to anyone out there who needs to - please take all the self-loathing out of the equation. Regardless of whether or not you want to make changes for health reasons, for aesthetics, for better performance in sport - let that desire for improvement fuel you, rather than cut you down. Open your mind to the possibility of surprising yourself with what you are capable of, rather than trying to be somebody else. Successful change happens through deeper self-awareness and positive action, not through escapism and self-destruction. 

Now I ask you, what is your motivation? 

Currently for me it is quite simple. I want to lead an active lifestyle again so that I can become healthier, avoid disease, and have a body that performs better in every way. I want to celebrate my life by living it well. 

I don't have a certain physique that I am working towards. I'm happy with myself, and as I become more fit, my fat/muscle ratio will just naturally and gradually improve. 

As I push myself to become stronger, faster, and more highly functional, my body will adapt however it needs to in order to meet the demands I make of it. Form follows function, not the other way around.

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Get Moving!

It's Fall it's Fall it's Fall!!!

I LOVE Autumn. It is my favourite season. The leaves change, the winds blow cooler, and every part of me seems to wake up from the daze of summer heat. My body and my mind are tingling with a revitalized awareness and new, exciting ideas. There is more electricity in the air and in me, and I suddenly need more outlets for my increased energy. As a result, Fall is a productive time creatively and physically.

I'm getting back into weight-training after being pretty damn lazy all summer. I love throwing heavy shit around, and it's really important for health. I haven't done it in a while and after a few sessions back in the gym it's apparent that I have become really weak. I'm looking forward to putting in the work and feeling like a warrior chick again.

I always enjoy tracking my progress throughout a program, because I find it motivating to see how much stronger, more agile, and more flexible I become as time goes by. It also lets me know what is and isn't working.

I am a huge nerd who is fascinated by the science of fitness, and I like to view my developments or lack thereof with the eyes of an eager student who is conducting experiments. I'm kind of my own lab rat, and it's really fun for me! Nerrrrrd.

An essential part of measuring progress is tracking body composition. I track myself by periodically recording my:

EXERCISE PROGRESSION
GIRTH MEASUREMENTS
BODY WEIGHT

PICTURES

From time to time I will get my body-fat measured with calipers as well, but I don't put too much stock in that as body-fat measurements are notoriously inaccurate (the at-home electrical impedence body fat scales being some of the worst offenders. Please don't take those numbers seriously). Together, the above four give me a good idea of where I'm at physically.

I keep an eye on how I'm feeling too, in terms of my energy levels, my emotions, and my mental state. If I'm healthy, then my body, mind and spirit are all working well together. If I'm over-training, or exhausted, or putting more focus on workouts than on personal relationships - well that ain't healthy right?

This blog is about living well, and since fitness is such a huge part of my life, I'll be talking about it often and giving updates now and then on what excites me.

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Welcome to my Blog

Welcome to my blog.

(No idea who to credit this pic to, but whoever took it, you're great.)

I'm here to write about respect of oneself and others, sexuality, art, fitness, everything and anything that peaks my interest, and enjoying life on one's own terms. I'm a very curious person, and as you have likely gathered by now, this blog will probably span a broad range of topics. 

I'm here because I like to write, and also because I am always hungry to learn. Communicating with friends and strangers through the blogosphere offers quite the potential for exposure to new perspectives.

My final impetus for starting White Knight, meet Starfish? I'm sick of seeing people treat themselves and others badly in the pursuit of getting laid, or getting loved. I feel the need to write about it.

If there is going to be a main theme at all in this blog it is this:

LIFE SHOULD BE AWESOME. So let's try to enjoy it, have fun, and not be cruel to ourselves or anyone else. Practice kindness, embrace humour, enjoy the weird and new, and be confident. Revel in being who you already are rather than who you think you need to be.

Goodnight all.




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