It’s easy to define ourselves in terms of our work.
Pushing hard, staying within a single lane, the temptation is strong to lose sight of the rich scenery and possibilities around us.
Last night my husband Joe came home beaming. He’d had a great night of hockey, stating that it may have been “his best game ever”. The night before that, he spoke excitedly about having had a great evening of tennis. Tonight he has a bit part as an Oompa Loompa in The KES Junior school’s rendition of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Joe seems to have mastered the talent of being many things. I’ve always been grateful that, come a zombie apocalypse, he’s on my team. At some deep level, he’s understood the importance of staying engaged in many diverse aspects of life, not simply driving in a single lane.
Getting and staying healthy is about diversifying our investments, not putting all of our eggs in one basket. I’m particularly aware of that as I approach the latter half of my life. Over the past year I’ve worked hard to deepen my interests, explore new hobbies, and challenge myself to discover things that might intimidate me. At the end of my life, I doubt I’ll be asking myself if I worked enough. Rather, I expect I’ll look to relationships, hoping I have been authentic, honest and trustworthy. Both inside and outside of my work, I never want to stop striving to be more.
Warm thoughts,
Belinda Seagram, Ph.D., R. Psych. Executive Director, Landing Strong
Anyone who knows me also knows I love sappy movies with predictable happy endings. I love the feeling of knowing that, in 90 minutes, no matter what challenges are faced, everything will be okay in the end. I think in many ways it’s my philosophy of life. If we keep on journeying, eventually we’ll get home.
Home isn’t always a place is it? It’s often a feeling. Sometimes it’s just being: Listening to music with friends, having a heart to heart over coffee with a friend, or walking in nature with your dog.
Home is a feeling that starts with being comfortable with ourselves. Whatever challenges you may have faced on your journey, we can overcome them together. Join us for a group program, and make your home a supportive community of peers who may have walked similar paths.
Warm regards,
Belinda Seagram, Ph.D., R. Psych. Executive Director, Landing Strong
The chocolate chip cookie. What a perfect creation. Whether it was first made by accident, or a flash of brilliance and loose hand with chocolate, this mouth-watering creation has remained a classic for many years.
This year, Mackenzie made it a goal to perfect her chocolate chip cookie recipe. We’ve been fortunate enough to sample her different attempts, each week learning more about the chemistry and subtleties of baking. I never would have believed that the sprinkling of flaked salt on top of a baked cookie could have such a transformative effect. Or understand the caramelizing effect of butter versus margarine. Small changes can indeed, have profound effects on the overall creation.
It’s amazing how often in life we use the same ingredients in a recipe, somehow expecting the outcome to be different. In many ways, health is similar to a perfect cookie recipe. It takes a multitude of ingredients, with the quality of each element having a significant impact on the outcome. Recovery from injury isn’t just about individual therapy. It also involves group work, exercise, balanced nutrition, healthy lifestyle and meaningful, supportive connection with the people who are important to us. If we’re missing an ingredient, the result won’t be as good.
If your recovery is going slower that you might like, don’t assume you’re doing it wrong. Maybe you’re exactly on track, but just need to adjust an ingredient or two.
We still have a few spots left in our Mind/Body Health and Recovery group for Caregivers. This is intended for partners/adult children of those who are injured. We want to take care of you too.
For those Veterans and First Responders who have taken a course before, feel free to join our monthly Maintaining HealthProgram, starting this September.
Glancing through Facebook, it’s easy to believe that for most people, life is a series of joyful moments. Even knowing that social media is a highlight reel of people’s lives, it’s easy to start believing that others are always happy.
In reality, I think of life as more of a climb. Some days a struggle, but most often a climb.
I’ve had the opportunity to climb Mount Kilimanjaro twice. The night before the summit push is long, cold, dark, and tortuous. There are many times I asked myself why I was doing it. Reaching Uhuru peak at the break of dawn, it all made sense. When we’re in the struggle, it’s often hard to see the point. Glancing back in the darkness, the distant glow of headlamps of the other groups weaving their way up the mountain reminded me of how far we’d come, even though we weren’t yet at the top.
We judged our movement by the needs of the group, taking breaks if people were struggling, telling stories, and singing songs when spirits needed to be lifted. We knew we were going to do this as a team, and that we would leave no one behind.
By husband Joe has led over 7 school groups up Kilimanjaro. Of the people who attempt to summit Kilimanjaro, about 50% are successful. With these school groups, after months of training, group work, and team building, the success rate is almost 100%. What I have learned from this, is that we work best in teams. The second time I summitted felt harder than the first. Although the photos look the same, they represent two completely different experiences. Both of which were preceded by many months of training.
Perhaps life is like this, a climb, punctuated by triumphs and joyful moments. If I’m not having fun today, that’s okay, as long as I’m content with the longer term journey. Wherever you are on your journey, we invite you to reach out and join us as we move forward, together.
Warm wishes,
Belinda Seagram, Ph.D., R. Psych. Executive Director, Landing Strong
“I just want to be happy,” the woman sitting next to me at the coffee shop exclaims to her friend, “is that too much to ask?”
I’m trying not to listen, but have a hard time tuning her out since she’s speaking so loudly. As I sip my London Fog, I wonder if she is struggling because she’s asking the wrong question.
Everyone is talking about having a happy life. I’m not sure such a thing exists. In true Buddhist tradition, we can’t fully appreciate joy without knowing suffering. Or love, without loneliness. I believe happiness is a byproduct of spending our time in meaningful ways, not a destination in and of itself. It’s really about understanding the impact of the many small choices we make each day. Happiness might come from supporting a friend instead of watching Netflix, or starting that fitness program we’ve been putting off. It’s about choosing to do the hard thing, instead of settling for what’s easy. It’s not always clear how important the struggle is when we’re in the midst of it. The joy of an accomplishment is in direct proportion to the challenge it presents. If it isn’t hard to do, it probably isn’t worth doing.
So instead of asking the question, “why can’t I be happy?”, we should be asking, “how have I challenged myself today?” Ultimately, it’s through meaning and purpose that we find fulfillment.
One of the physical hazards of being a psychologist is that much of my working life consists of sitting. It’s literally killing me… hence part of my motivation to create a program that is engaging and physically active. I want to move with you.
Have I mentioned that my family is hard core into fitness? I just returned from a vacation out West where we participated in the Great Canadian Death Race, followed by a back country hiking trip through the Rockies. It’s the Seagram idea of fun. What is the Great Canadian Death Race you ask? It’s 125 km of mountainous terrain covered by a team of five people over a 24 hour period. No, I did not compete… I’m not at that level. I was the support crew.
My daughter Mackenzie, the Landing Strong Director of Wellbeing and Community Engagement, played a vital role with the team, tackling a 38 km mountainous section. She killed it. A graduate from Acadia University with a psychology and nutrition double major, she practices what she preaches. She represented Acadia’s Cross Country Running team for four years, last year making it to Nationals. She has also competed at the Canada Games representing Nova Scotia in a Biathlon; and in her free time summited Mount Kilimanjaro twice. In her down time, she works on getting me to reach for hummus instead of cookies. Shall we say, it’s a work in progress. I’m grateful that we have someone so uniquely qualified to help us get active and engaged! Mackenzie is setting the food plan for Landing Strong, coordinating community activities, and planning outdoor adventures for us. She is also generating much of the health promotion social media content that we are putting out over Facebook and Instagram. The quirky sense of humour… that’s her. I hope you will join me in welcoming her to the Landing Strong Team.
Do I sound like a proud parent? Well I guess I am, but I am also incredibly proud of the huge talent we have assembled in the Landing Strong Team. It’s bursting with passion, expertise, enthusiasm, and commitment. Over the next few weeks, I will be introducing you to various members of the team, so that you have the opportunity to get to know each of us on a more personal level. Over time, perhaps you will share with us details about your journey, so that we might walk together.
[In the team pic attached L to R: Dale Block, Joe Seagram, Kaitlin Proksch, Kyle Seagram, and Mackenzie Seagram.]
