Picture of the week – Parliament Sound and Light Show

We are a day away from our much anticipated move to Halifax. For my last ‘Picture of the Week’ from Ottawa, I thought it would be fitting to share a picture taken at the Sound and Light show at Parliament. My parents were in town this week so we took them to check out this show and boy were we impressed. If you happen to be in Ottawa this summer you absolutely must make a point of attending. The show is every night at 10 pm and runs until September – AND it’s free! You really can’t go wrong!

Picture(s) of the week – More yoga

This week’s picture(s) of the week are a few more shots that I took at “Yoga on the hill”  yesterday (which, by the way happens every Wednesday at noon on Parliament Hill during the summer in Ottawa).  Despite the extreme heat – there was a big turnout!  I wrote a long (ish) post about this yesterday, so I will just leave you with these pictures for today.  The lovely lady basking in her chavasna at the bottom is none other than my friend Shani who is very special to B&B, and who I will miss dearly after we part ways next week, each moving to a different city, sigh.  Happy Friday everyone!

Yoga on the hill and some thoughts about freedom and rules..

One of my favourite activities from this summer has been Wednesday lunchtime yoga classes on Parliament Hill. This definitely needs to be added to the list of things that I will miss about Ottawa. Not only does it feel so awesome to be outside at lunchtime with a crowd of 500 odd people doing yoga on the grass (such a different feeling from a studio floor!), but the idea of being right in front of our nation’s parliament is so inspiring. I love being there because I feel like I am a part of something great. I also love that while we are taking part in our yoga class, others are on Parliament hill with placards protesting whatever the cause of that day might be. I have traveled to parts of the world where you could get arrested for just taking a walk in front of the country’s house of government, and as a result I have come to appreciate the freedoms in Canada that others may take for granted.

What I find most amazing though is that the very thing that allows our citizens to be so free is the very thing that restricts us: the rule of law. It is so interesting that, in the end, what creates order and freedom are rules.  If you think about a country in which there are no rules or laws, you will quickly realize that what that country’s citizens have is the very opposite of freedom. This is a widely recognized principle in politics, and yet it seems that so many of us have such a hard time recognizing this idea in our personal lives.

For instance, when I tell people that my faith is an important part of my life, I often get comments along the line of “that’s nice, but I don’t believe in following so many rules”. I find this ironic, because I believe that it is those very rules that have given me freedom in my personal life. In the same way that citizens of democratic and law abiding countries have been able to experience greater freedom than those under lawless regimes, the limits and boundaries created by the faith that I ascribe to are also what have allowed me to feel free. I think that so many of us are resistant to a deeper faith that requires some sort of commitment to rules because we don’t want to limit ourselves in this way. I would argue, however, that that the key to our liberation and emancipation as individuals might actually reside in allowing ourselves to be open to the boundaries and rules created by a higher order.

How about you? Do you feel as though the rules and laws in your life have actually helped to liberate you in a strange sort of way?

Things I will miss about Ottawa

1. Saturday morning brunch at lieutenant’s pump

2. Runs along the canal in the summer and skating along the canal in the winter

3. Body attack classes with my favorite instructor Mike

4. Sundays  with my in-laws

5. Burgers at Quinns’

6. Walks by Parliament and through Majors Park

7. The Sconewitch

8.  Being right in the thick of things when an election gets called!

9. The Glebe – Everything: the shops, the houses and especially the “Great Glebe Garage Sale”