Charisma...

You know it when you see it.. you feel it when it's in your presence... you are attracted to it but don't always understand why... and you always want more...


On Sunday I went to a cafe to have a tea, scone and do some reading and writing. I think I had heard that it was going to rain but I chose not to bring my umbrella.. to bulky in my bag and I didn't fully believe it was going to rain... (is it just me or have the weather predictions been a little unreliable lately??) So with an Earl Grey tea, delicious scone and a random section of the New York Times I sat down for a lazy Sunday. (Author's note: It did rain while I was in the cafe... not just rain though, torrential downpour... and a tornado in Goderich... poor Goderich...)

The section of the Times I grabbed was called Arts and Leisure... so right up my alley. I was drawn to an article about charisma... how funny it is that some people just have it and others could never obtain it as it is not something that can be learned, so it seems. It's a very interesting read by Zachary Woolfe. What really got me though was somewhere near the end he discusses how he had asked soprano April Millo what her thoughts on the subject were. He writes:

 "Hemingway gave us a haunting clue to it," she replied. "In his obsession with the Spanish bullfights, he spoke of the lust of the crowd and it's desire to feel something special, a raw authenticity, even in so brutal a setting. What he mentions is the hush that would come over the crowd at the entrance of the toreadors. The people could sense the difference between those who did it for the fame, the paycheck, and those who had the old spirit: the nobility, bravery, heart, 'duende'. I believe this also happens in the theatre. The crowd can sense the one with the authentic message, the connection to the truth."

It's the last line that really made me think... what truth are they connecting us to?? What is it that we are seeking or fail to acknowledge in our everyday hum-drumness that they are able to expose us to? They make us feel something different but what is that?? Not to be hokey, but it does give you the feeling of being connected to something magical, special.. or otherworldly.

Yesterday in Canada we lost one of the most charismatic people we've had in politics in a very long time. He was one of those special people who could make you feel something special.. he made you want to be a better person. Being the amazing human being that he was, he left a letter for Canadians.. and the world in a way. It makes me cry.. His last paragraph reads:

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.
All my very best,
Jack Layton


Here's to love, hope, optimism and living a life that is full of passion.

Thank you Jack. xoxo