12 Influential People

In my life I can think of 12 people that have influenced me greatly.......so far. All in VERY different ways. I am thankful of all of them.

Ms. Forsyth - Grade 10 English Teacher
When I entered high school I really had no idea what was going on, who I was, what I was thinking, where I stood in myself, if I was still living or did I die with my mother a year before. I was always feeling like something was going to happen, something big and so I was perpetually in a ready state to attack. Fight or flight.....usually fight. I was quiet and shy but if you got in my territory.....watch out! Cause this is mine and you are not getting any of it!
What softened me was literature, poetry and Shakespeare. I would be swooned by books; even the smell of books. I would watch Dead Poets Society at least 3 times a week. I was in my own little world of Byron and Shakespeare. My Grade Ten English teacher, Ms Forsyth, saw this in me and would suggest more great works to me. She read my poetry and would praise me for being so bold and raw. She was the first person to believe in me since my mother had gone. I am sure she knew that I needed some fantasy in my life to help me through the difficult times. I would tell her about the books she suggested after I read them and she would notice the life coming back in my checks.
There was an advanced level art history english class being brought in that a student would have to apply for and be accepted. It involved an art history class, special english class and a social studies class. At the end of the year the class would go to Europe and see where this history happen. It, also, include a trip to Assisi where our school's patron saint was born, lived and died. I applied in hopes I would be accepted even though my marks or my attendance were not that great. I did not make the cut and Ms. Forsyth told me in person so that I would not be discouraged. I was very disappointed but her faith in me made it easier to handle.
Many years ago, I went to see the new Merchant of Venice with my husband at the Globe theatre in downtown Calgary. (the version with Al Pacino) Ms Forsyth was there. We gave each other a quick nod hello. I was so overwhelmed with seeing her I had no words that could get past the lump in my throat. I wonder if she knows she helped re-shaped me as a person after experiencing so many devastating events in grade nine. The love of literature is still with me today.

Madonna
There are only three people on the list that I haven't met personally. Madonna is one of those people. I love Madonna! There are two things that Madonna did that influenced me significantly:

1. Truth or Dare
2. Her interview with Oprah

In her movie Truth or Dare, Madonna showed the world a side of her that had never been seen before. No not her boobs! That was old news. It was her journey through life without a mother. There is a part in the movie where she visits her mother's grave and lies next to it. The song in the background is Promise To Try. The lyrics to this song hit a very sensitive place in my heart.
Here is the part from the movie:

I saw Madonna on Oprah in 1998. She talked about Ashtanga Yoga. I have posted the video below. There is a part where she looks at the camera and says 'do yoga'. It has been edited out of this clip but it was in this interview. After seeing this I found a yoga studio and started my yoga journey. I am so grateful to her! There I times I feel that I know her so well because we share some deeply intimate things in common. 

Craig Strukoff - My Husband
Oh yes, Baby, you made the list! Before I met Craig I swore I would not date anyone else because they would cut into my reading time. I was determined to become a hermit, only leaving the house to go to work. I met Craig at work. "Ha!" says the universe.
Craig has taken everything in me that I was not sure or shy about and validated it. He has introduced me to my True Self and fell in love with my True Self. He helps me, supports me and joins me on this Spiritual Path. He has helped me fine tune the gifts I have. He understands my intuition and that I am just not good a small talk. He finds humour in my bluntness. He is the encyclopedia and I am the card catalogue. He is my interpreter and my filter. He is a fantastic writer and would have wrote this a lot clearer and romantic..er then me. Thanks Spankie Roo for being my Spankie Roo!

Craig & I on our Wedding Day.

Todd Campbell - My boss at Van Houtte Coffee
Todd taught me that not all bosses are assholes. He taught me how to be a leader and a friend at the same time. He taught me that you don't need a degree to be a successful person in the corporate world. Todd was the Western Regional Marketing and Sales Manger for Van Houtte Coffee Services. During my interview with him, he gave me all these tests....personality test, aptitude test, math test. I failed all of them. He said that the personality test told him not to hire me because I do not take leadership well and tend to rebel. This is exactly why he hired me, he wanted someone that would think of things differently and be able to hold their ground. Yup that is me. Todd inspired me.
'People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it."
There is a TED Talk that explains Todd the best HERE.

Shell Arkell - My best friend turned greatest enemy
I will keep this brief because she won't like me writing about her at all.
Shell and I were inseparable. We lived next door to each other, sharing a wall. For about a year we did everything together. For about a year I had forgotten everything I learned in junior high and through to my twenties about self worth and self esteem. For about a year I forgot about me. I was moulded into someone that suited Shell's needs and became a trophy best friend. As I slowly started to wake up to what was happening.....this was around the same time I started practicing Ashtanga yoga seriously.....I would rebel against her. Not talking to her for a few days or a week at a time. Our friendship did not survive Burning Man 2006 and we have not talked since. It got messy and then it just went away.
What did I learn from Shell? Some great tips about mothering that I still use to this day. I learned how to party until I could party no more. I learned to not hand my whole being over to someone because people do not know how to handle me with care. I learned that over time the deepest of wounds will heal but the scar will sometimes tingle as a reminder. When I feel that tingle I look back with a smile. Sometimes the greatest lessons are learned from your greatest enemy.

Jeff & Harmony Lichty - My Gurus
Here starts my long list of influential yogis.
I wrote a whole blog on these two people here. Here is a quote from it:
"Jeff & Harmony Lichty have been in my life as Gurus since I first started practicing in the Ashtanga tradition of yoga. About 3 months after I found Ashtanga yoga I attended a weekend intensive with J & H. I had never heard about the other 7 limbs of yoga until I met them. As they were talking about the philosophy I had tears in my eyes as I felt in my heart that I had finally found what I was looking for.....a 'coming home' feeling."
They opened up the world of Yoga Philosophy to me and are living examples of the teachings. Thank you for all you have taught me!

Ian Buchanan - One of my first Yoga teachers
After my first class with Ian I left the room crying. Ian took that class through a guided meditation at the end of practice that made Corpse Pose, Savasana, real. We were practicing death and our family members were selling all of our possessions in a garage sale! Ian tied all my buddhist studies to my new found yoga studies and he made it real. When I was at my most receptive, after an hour or more of yoga practice when my mind is calm and my body is too tired to react, Ian would take me on a journey of non-attachment. He has a gift of guided meditation. Also, he is a great teacher of Yoga and Buddhist philosophy. An expert in translating it to the modern, North American world.

Ram Dass
Ram Dass is love. His book 'Be Love Now' is amazing. I cannot convey here the message he has so I just suggest reading his book. His teaching are about loving awareness and bringing it into everything you do and think. His story is inspiring and a spiritual road map especially for people who's spiritual journey started with experimenting with psychedelics. You can make those glimpses of awareness your everyday life. I have not met Ram Dass personally but I can feel his love across the ocean.

By Dean Chamberlain

$teven Ra$pa - Event Planner Extraordinaire 
This is a quote taken from Mr. Ra$pa's website:
"Artist, performer, writer and director, $teven Ra$pa produces and lends his event production skills to private and public events ranging in size from 50 to 50,000. As an artist, arts advocate, noted personality and speaker, he regularly brings together innovative artists, gifted performers, DJs and musicians of stunning variety to create one-of-a-kind experiences ranging from ruckus to refined." 
I have attended $teven's event production workshops at the Burning Man Leadership Summit in San Fran two years in a row. I have learned more from him then I did at college getting my event planning certificate. He knows how to direct people that want to be directed and engage people that just make trouble. He is inspiring to me because he is obviously living his life the way he wants to and is having a great time doing it.

Photo by Dave Mead

James Altucher - Blogger

James lives in New York with his Ashtanga Yogi wife Claudia. I discovered his blog about 6 months ago and read it everyday since. I first read his blog about being completely humiliated by yoga and then his how to be the luckiest guy alive blog. James inspired me to start writing a blog.....an honest blog. Raw and unedited to be politically correct. His how to be the luckiest guy alive blog I took to heart and has made me a better person. I encourage you to read a few of his posts and hope you love them as much as me.

In no way are these people in any kind of order of least to most inspiring! But I did leave the most humbling to the last.
Ivan Strukoff - My son
Ivan is six years old. Having a son has given me a job for a lifetime. He knows how to make me smile deeply in my soul and he knows how to make me go completely crazy. Ivan has shown me what hard work really means and how precious sleep really is. I know how to love as only a mother can love because of my little dude. Ivan has shown me how to have fun again. He is magic!

Thank you to all these wonderful people and for all they have taught me.