Extreme Kindness

Erik's Journal

Date: Monday, November 16th 2002.

Geography: Halifax and Laurencetown.

Point form day: Up at 6:30 -had a little breakfast and took the rental van up the coast to go for a surf -got lost -arrived at Laurencetown beach @ 8:00 and met Jeff, (a buddy from the west coast) and Lance (The owner of Dacane surf shop in Halifax) -the surf was about 3ft with a stiff cold offshore wind. Lance was trying to beat a cold so he decided not to head out and Jeff implemented the 'head high rule' (stating that if it was freezing cold out and the waves were smaller that head high you do not go out) - headed out to a nice little point break just to the right of the beach and had a pretty fun surf (I was riding a 7'9" Bic) -returned back to the hotel for lunch with Catherine and the boys -headed out on the street for a live feed with CBC newsworld. We were offering the ultimate spa experience on the street so we headed down to a busy street corner dressed in terrycloth robes carrying a couch. We set up Springarden St. and offered an extensive range of services such as: massages (back and foot), hugs, aromatherapy, facial treatments, chocolate covered strawberries, pedicures, etc. -it started to snow -we had a lot of people stop and take part which was fantastic because we ended up having a lot of local media show up -we got really, really cold -had one of the most interesting and probing interviews of the tour, good work Anne Larass! -went out to pick up surfboards for tomorrows RAK: surf lessons. -tried to get the RV into the Festival of Lights parade but could not get the lights working -ended up jumping into the parade dressed in our red Columbia jackets and handed out hugs along with people who we recruited along the way -worked our way to Anne's house where she had put together a potluck for us -met everyone then headed out with 14 people packed into the minivan -dropped everyone off at the Velvet Olive and went to pick up Anne's roommate Natalie at a dentistry function -dozed in the van until 2:00 when everyone returned and then went back to the hotel and hit the sack -had crazy dreams.

Highlight of the day: Just being out there on the street, in the snow, massaging people. It felt like old times back in Victoria, spontaneous, outrageous and fun. We were all laughing and feeling happy to be a part of the group.

Most inspiring moment: There were a couple of really inspiring things that happened today. One was the amount of media that covered us. We had anticipated just the CBC but instead we got 4 other local media. The other was how active people became on the street. We had all kinds of people not only receiving, but giving massages. Everyone was really into our vibe and that, my friends, is inspiring!

Shout outs: All the girls who came out and hugged people with us during the parade. Anne Larass for treating us like real friends while we were in town. You are awesome. Neil from the front desk. Dude, thanks for hooking us up.

Classic quote: "You guys are nuts." - random guy on the street upon seeing us in bathrobes in the snow.

My crux: I'm all good.

Physically speaking: Pretty sleepy, this was a long day. However, it did feel fantastic to workout my shoulders on the ole surfboard.

Mental stimulation: Focus. Trying to remain articulate while being interviewed.

Big laughs: Sharing personal moments with Brad.

When I finished writing this I was: Hearing drums.