The other day I was sitting in my kitchen when I heard a ruckus coming from a group of crows outside. Puzzled and curious, I went to look at what the fuss was about. To my surprise, I saw my cats chasing a huge crow around my yard, and several other crows cawing from above. Automatically, I brought my cats inside, thinking that somebody was going to get hurt if I didn’t act. Later on in the day, I came back outside and found the same crow trying to fly but unable to.

I realized then that it was wounded and that the crows above were its protectors. They follow this wounded crow everywhere it walks, and caw when there is danger below. When they are not watching from above, they are walking next to it below, making sure nothing bad happens to their fellow crow. The other day I saw the team of crows around the hurt crow, crossing the street with it! It was a beautiful and mystical sight to behold indeed.

This story reminds us of the importance of working together in this world. If the other crows had abandoned the wounded crow, it would probably have died by now. Working as a team we can survive longer and better in this world. We can watch out for each other, give each other advice, guide each other, and help each other through difficult times. Like in the animal kingdom, humans need a support network, and without it, I believe our lives would be much more miserable and hard.

Sometimes we think we are alone in our suffering but we forget to look around and notice our team members around us, shouting encouragement, walking next to us, even helping us cross the street. If you find yourself like this wounded crow presently, do not forget to look up at the team above or next to you,  and give thanks for their support, whether visible or invisible.

Every year in Quebec, 555 million antidepressant pills are sold. There are under 8 million people living in Quebec. Head-lines around America speak about the growing number of depressed people, underlining the importance of seeking help by mostly medical means.

Factors that contribute to depression, specialists tell us, are usually linked to divorce, moving, financial stress, and death in the family. There are other factors too that can affect our mood, for instance the weather. In this past month in Quebec we have had more rainy days than sunny days, and this too must be considered as an element which affects our state of being. We are, after all, like animals, sensitive to the environment around us.

Rather than consult a psychiatrist to get your dose of “quick fix” to your depression, why not explore some options listed below?

Surround yourself with positive people. It is quite remarkable what happens when you surround yourself with positive-thinking friends rather than friends who reinforce the negative. Having positive friends around you will uplift you and allow you to see reality in a new light, one that might not be so dramatic. Through wonderful conversations and fun activities, this feeling of depression can easily be lifted.

Keep busy. In Journey to the Heart, Doctor Field tells Lucina that one way to beat depression is to stay busy. This could mean to focus on work or to find hobbies that keep your mind from over-thinking. Have you ever seen a depressed dog or bird or tree? Depression is mostly human-made, and I believe over-thinking is one major cause of depression.

Do physical activities. This is one thing that I constantly return to in my blogs. Doing sports activates blood circulation hence boosts serotonin levels, and this will help you to be happier. Doctors say that 30 minutes of physical activity is equivalent to taking one anti-depressant. So rather than taking those pills why not do 30 minutes of running every day?

Eat healthy food. We are what we eat, and if we eat food that has little vitamins and minerals and vitality, we are not helping ourselves become happier. Drinking good alkaline water is definitely a must as well. Staying alkaline will keep disease out of the body, allow you to have better relationships with others, and it has been proven that being alkaline brings us out of depression.

If you’re dealing with depression for whatever reason, the first thing is to acknowledge that you are feeling depressed. Remind yourself this is only temporary: this too shall pass, and if you choose not to take that “quick fix” and work a little on yourself every day, you will soon see the light, I guarantee you. All it takes is a little effort and a good routine. Good luck!

Have you ever been excited about meeting someone whose photo you liked on a dating site, only to meet them and find out their photo did not match one bit what they really look like? This is what happens to the girl Lori in this short comedy movie:  http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6dd080e255/online-dating

Although this is a comedic piece, there is a lot of truth behind it. When the person you think you are going to meet turns out to look completely different than their online photo, it gives you several messages: 1) They are afraid of being rejected based on their physique 2) They lack self-confidence and 3) If they can’t be honest about their photo, what else are they hiding?

If you are looking to find true love on an online dating site, my advice is start by asking yourself if you prefer for life to surprise you or for you to be proactive in your search for true love. Clicking through profiles is fun only if you’re a person who likes to speed the process of love along. If you’re more like me and like to be surprised, and you’re not in a rush, then skip the online dating thing.

If you’re comfortable about who you are, you will naturally attract the right internet date.  Posting photos that look like you, and being honest from the start will get you started on the right foot. It all depends what you’re looking for: an honest and truthful relationship, or one based on deceit.

Hopefully you won’t be running into any Bobby’s! And yes, I play the nerd in this movie, so enjoy!

Acting might seem like the most easy and awesome work on the planet, but when you go behind the scenes, you get a whole other picture of what it is truly like to be an actor. I must say, over the months I have come to know quite a few actors in Los Angeles, and all of them share common traits, which I would like to celebrate in this blog.

A burning desire to succeed. Have you ever sat in a crowded room filled with beautiful people who look almost exactly like you, who are all reading the same part as you are, and wearing similar clothes as you? The most confident person in the world can saunter into that audition room and still be faced with insecurities suddenly. It truly takes a burning desire to succeed in the acting world because actors need to reinforce over and over again that they are special and not just another number.

Ability to accept criticism. On a set, time is money. Things must move quickly and efficiently. Hence the importance of being open to criticism without flinching in front of dozens of people. Actors are continuously faced with criticism, and this is what makes them exceptional people:  their ability to keep their mood and vibration positive, and not let words destroy their self-image and self-love. If they do not have a strong back-bone, the slightest discouraging word can send their career down the drain.

Adaptability. Acting is all about going with the flow of the present moment. Whatever script actors have memorized or scenes they have revised, things in real life can go completely wrong sometimes. Thus they need to adapt quickly, and this means losing the desire to control events or situations. From what I have observed, great acting comes from great adaptability, that attitude that whatever happens on set, “It’s all good”.

Detachment. When going in to audition for roles, actors must remain detached from the outcome. If they hold unto that burning desire to get a role, they might live great disappointments. I have seen actors saunter in and out of audition rooms like they were going to order another cup of coffee, two sugars and cream. As they sit in that audition room, sipping their 876th cup of imaginary coffee, their faces reflect that timeless spiritual law of detachment.

Ability to sense others. To succeed in acting you need to be plugged into that invisible realm. Certain actors have told me that they immediately sense when the producers turn them down, even before they have spoken their first line. This sixth sense of what others are looking for creates in them an ability to not take things personal, to realize that they might not be the perfect person for that role. Most good actors navigate through auditions with an ability to sense and foresee ahead of time whether they will be cast or not. Such a sixth sense frees them of great expectations.

Staying humble. A great actor stays humble, because he or she never knows when the moment of glory shall pass. Maybe one year they get cast in the most popular television series, and the next they find themselves without work. Whatever happens, staying humble allows for actors to avoid crashes and burns.

My time amongst actors has taught me much. I continue to learn from their powerful spirits and quick minds. The world has much to learn from them. Let us remember that although Shakespeare is considered the greatest English writer of all times, he was also a superb actor. Rodney Dangerfield once said, “Acting deals with very delicate emotions. It is not putting up a mask. Each time an actor acts he does not hide; he exposes himself”.

Mother Ocean in California is widely known by surfers as the “Blue Lady”. The Blue Lady is a force to be reckoned with. My first time in California, I had no knowledge of duck diving. When the first six-foot wave stood up in front of me, I froze in fear and could not figure out for the life of me how I would survive. After getting “rinse-cycled” and after eating many “sea-salt potatoe chips”, I stumbled out of the Blue Lady and got a crash-course from my good friend who had been smirking discreetly from the shore.

“Kook!” he yelled at me, which is a Californian word for many states of being, but in this case it meant “beginner”.

Many people are afraid of the ocean’s great power. And we should be! She can toss you around like you are but a speck of sand to her. Every time I duck dive under a wave, and close my eyes, I feel like a little part of me is dying, that part that is used to the known, to the visible, to the physical. As you go under a wave, it’s all about trust. Trust that you will pop back up again on the other side, safe and sound, the seagulls screeching above you.

I have great admiration for surfers. To surf is to not fear the unknown, to really trust that the Blue Lady will protect your life no matter what happens. Talk to any surfer and you will know what I mean. They are the most laid-back, easy-going, relaxed people on earth! They are natural gurus, really, because they enter one of the most powerful forces on earth every day with great humility and reverence, and then go back to work as if they just had done the most natural thing on earth.

The Blue Lady opens her innermost secrets to those willing to close their eyes, take a deep breath, and surrender to the great unknown.

Every writer has an itch. It can be a small itch, or a big itch, but it has to be an itch. Orlando in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando has a very big itch, one that is related to the whole body; when the desire to write takes over her, her entire body shakes and trembles and tingles (if you haven’t already read Orlando it is an amazing book). My itch is quite annoying as it happens to me… in the middle of the night.

Quite often I am enjoying a dream when it takes over. At first it is like an annoying noise in the background of a dream, but it gets louder and louder and finally, it wakes me up: words flash, bells go off, you name it, I have it. Then the trick is that before falling back asleep, I have to recite the words several times  in order not to forget them. In truth, I am too lazy to write them down.

How does your writer’s itch manifest itself? Have you ever tried to control it or ignore it? What happens when you ignore the itch? Once I tried to sleep through the itch and it turned into a nightmare: someone over a loudspeaker was yelling my name, telling me to get up and write things down. I nearly fell out of bed when that happened. My advice: do not ignore the itch! Obey it! Amazing things have come from writers who follow their itch rather than fight it.

How can you encourage the itch? Give it permission to disturb you at any moment during your day (or night in my case). It’s unbelievable the words that will come at you! Truly. My friends used to tell me to take sleeping pills, but I always replied, “Why sleep when I could write the next best-seller? Let me sleep when I am dead”.

Being real is all about learning to walk to your own beat in life. Every life has its own beat, and all beats are beautiful, but finding out what beat your life is might be a little tricky at times. When you turn to the outside world and compare yourself to others, there will always be people who are more intelligent, more beautiful, more popular, more rich than you, but this thinking produces nothing but a dead-end. You are looking at other songs and telling yourself yours isn’t as precious, and this is when you become less real: when you try to fit into another beat.

Socrates said the wisest words two thousand years ago: “Know thyself”. These words, as simple as they are, teach us that before achieving wisdom you must first know your essence, what makes you dance in this world, what makes you cry, what makes you laugh, what makes you afraid. When you can identify your weaknesses and strengths you become more real, and step past others around you swimming against their own life stream.

Feeling like you don’t know what you are doing here on earth some days? Remind yourself of your passions, the things that make you vibrate, make you happy. There is an old Chinese proverb that says, “If you love your work, you will never work a day in your life”. Repeat this to yourself. You are your work, and your work is you. When you love what you do, every moment of life is magical and infused with divinity.

Walking to your own beat involves taking risks, perhaps losing friends that you had for a long time, or feeling lonely for some time. It might involve you quitting a job you hate and spending some time in limbo, waiting for that job that will turn your life into magic again. It could mean that you feel sad for some time as you retrieve lost pieces of your soul.

Cinderella’s story is the tale of how one woman is badly treated by others, and always feels like she is an outsider until the day her real identity is revealed. As she steps into her real vibration, her real beat, the world outside can no longer harm her and she finally achieves completion and happiness. Walking to our own beat is a lot like Cinderella’s story, which involves risks and loneliness and venturing forth into the unknown, hoping the shoe will fit.