Keeping hope alive

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Last summer, I took part in a very special event. The 60th anniversary of the founding of Camp Claret du Lac Elgin.

This summer camp was founded by a Claretian Father, a young priest who arrived from Spain with a vision and a mission. Father Carmel Lerma.

As a teenager, I was lucky enough to camp in this heavenly spot for 5 summers. The first year, for 2 weeks, and the following years, I spent the whole summer there. Because my father, a high school art teacher, had been recruited by Father Carmel as coordinator.

Dad was in charge of scheduling activities for all the campers, and the whole family was at Lake Elgin for the summer. My brother Luc and I as campers. Mom and my brother Éric (too young at first) at the cottage.

Last summer, in 2023, in anticipation of this celebration, the team organizing the event asked guests to recount a significant event in their Camp experience.

Here’s what I sent.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

Approximately what year was your highlight? Oh, I can’t remember exactly, but I think it was 1972.

I was a camper in the Claire-Nature group at the time, and Dad was the coordinator.

My highlight

We had gone on an excursion to Mont Ham. The weather was overcast and we climbed the mountain in the afternoon. In the evening, we slept under the stars, taking turns to keep the fire “alive” to keep the animals away, but, curiously, in the early morning when the sun woke us, the fire was out… BUT what I saw changed my perception of things forever.

It was very early and the sun was shining brightly in the sky over the mountain. Straightening up a little, this is what I saw. The summit of Mount Ham was “cut off” from the rest of the world – a “carpet” of clouds stretched as far as the eye could see. We were alone in the world under the bright sun! It was breathtakingly beautiful. I remember marvelling at what I was seeing, while my fellow campers seemed to find it less beautiful than I did!

After closing the bivouac, we took the trail back down the mountain. The further down we went, the more we were in the clouds, which eventually turned to rain once we reached the bottom.

Before getting back into the Camp minibus, I remember looking up at the sky where the summit of Mount Ham was nowhere to be seen (let alone the sun) and thinking that I should never forget this moment… because even if I can’t SEE it, the sun is shining somewhere.

That image is still with me. I tell you about it here and I SEE it in my mind!

Despite the difficult times we face in life, the sun shines somewhere… So keep hoping Linda!

An outstanding experience

These images have been with me all my life since that moment. The sun above the clouds.

And I’m convinced that what I experienced on the top of that mountain in 1972 was what we call a moment of grace. The kind of experience that changes our perspective on things forever.

If you’ve ever been on a plane on a rainy day, you know what it’s like to fly above the cloud line.

This vision is as real as the rain that fell on the runway when you took off!

Rain on the ground. Sun higher!

Keep hope (say your name here). The sun shines somewhere and if I rise above my clouds, it’s there.

Health, laughter and joy

Linda

The gaze of others

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I’ll never forget the first laughter yoga session I invited a friend from Montreal to.

I won’t forget the distraught look on her face during the exercises either! It was obvious she was wondering what she’d gotten herself into! (Just thinking about it makes me smile to this day).

I had just completed my training as a Laughter Yoga facilitator in the spring of 2003, and was highly motivated to continue practicing my exercises and determined to share the benefits of the method with my friends.

M (I’ll call him M here) had agreed to accompany me to a session of the Montreal Laughter Club while I was in town, on the very day that a meeting was taking place.

The facilitator begins the session, and the group gets down to work on the exercises.

Let’s just say that his animation was different from what I’d experienced up to that point, and I didn’t feel as comfortable as I had during my training. But hey. I was there and I did it.

It was when I saw my friend’s distraught and perplexed look as we wished each other a warm welcome that I really started laughing! I KNEW what she was thinking!

But what is this? It doesn’t make sense!

M has a great sense of humor. She’s also a pretty serious person. If you’re familiar with color personality types, she’s a “blue”. I’d describe her as cautious and analytical. That’s not to say she doesn’t know how to have fun, but this intentional laughter program was taking her WAY out of her comfort zone. VERY FAR!

The gaze of others

I see this in the groups I work with. A woman will bring her life partner or a friend. Or work colleagues. The person participates happily and laughs heartily during the exercises. The partner, friend or colleague does not. And what’s more, he or she looks at the other person as if to say,“You owe me one!”

Not easy for the person who sees that his guest or colleague is judging, has a reproachful and eloquent look on his face.

I can see them having even more fun!

A bit like me, who started laughing harder when I saw how my friend looked like a fish out of water. When she saw me laughing at her perplexity, she laughed a little too. She knew I knew!

She might well have been angry about it and thought I was laughing at her. Come to think of it, it might have looked like that indeed. HAHA!

What actually happened was that I know her very well and I sensed her perplexity and discomfort. I knew!

Where am I going with all this?

HAHA! I’ve found over the years that intentional laughter probably isn’t for everyone.

Even if physically it is, some people’s rational side is so strong that it prevents them from fully living the experience and letting go of the mind.

The big, responsible, serious people we become over the years almost all have a challenge at this level. Letting go of the mind to stay in the physical experience. I know because I’ve had this challenge myself.

How do I look? It’s not funny, so why should I laugh? Nonsense…

This is where giving yourself the PERMISSION to do something different is essential.

The worst that could happen?
  • That we laughed (even at nothing) for a few minutes.
  • That we feel lighter and less stressed.
  • That we have been able to forge positive links with the people who are with us.
  • That we were able to be in the moment for a while.
  • That we feel free of a weight.

If that’s the worst of it, I want the worst in my life!

No one can judge or evaluate anyone, because everyone does the exercises at the same time, at the signal of the person who launches the exercise. No one is put “under the spotlight” because everyone is doing the same thing, at the same time.

I think that’s the beauty of intentional laughter sessions for people who are afraid of being judged by others. It’s impossible to judge someone when we’re doing the same thing they’re doing!

There’s something about laughing all at once “on command” that’s reassuring for the mind, which might be tempted to panic. HAHAHA! Laughter brings people together.

So the next time you catch someone looking at you doubtfully and critically while you’re intentionally laughing, just tell yourself that they might not be able to let go of their mind long enough to laugh with you!

And that’s fine.

To each his own.

I made my own… Have you?

Laughter, joy and health

Linda

P.S. If I had stopped laughing when I saw M that day because I felt judged, you wouldn’t be reading this today!

P.P.S. M is still my friend! hehehe!

 

The three main reactions to stress

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I was reading my colleague Alain Samson ‘s newsletter this morning as I waited in the studio to do my TV column in Ottawa.

One sentence in particular caught my attention.

He quotes Henri Laborit, a French physician, surgeon and neurobiologist who made his name by popularizing neuroscience.

According to Henri Laborit, under stress, individuals tend to react in three main ways: flight, aggression or immobilization.

He also says that, in the face of threat or intense stress, immobilization is the least energy-intensive response for the body.

My experience

I’ve observed that, depending on the situation, I too will react in these three ways.

For example, when I look at the clock and I’m slightly off time, I tend to want to run away. As in walking faster, driving faster, moving more. So here, it would be running away.

In other circumstances, I “freeze”. Unable to speak, to move, to think. Faced with shocking news, for example. It’s as if everything comes to a standstill. Immobilization.

As for the aggressive reaction, I’m sure you can think of several situations where we become downright aggressive and impatient. Sudden movements, clenched jaws, louder (or higher-pitched) voice.

All these reactions are due to perceived stress. Fascinating.

Depending on the situation, we all react this way. Flight, aggression or immobility.

So and so. I repeat, these are the three main reactions! That means there are others.

What could it be?

Hmm… I think about how I want to cry sometimes when it’s a bit too much. Or what a few people tell me – that they can’t stop laughing when they’re going through something very stressful.

Laugh or cry.

Two reactions that release some of the tension generated by the situation. There’s an immediate sense of liberation after laughing as well as crying. And I use both too!

The idea is not to judge ourselves (or anyone else) but simply to observe that humans all react in certain ways, and that we have many reactions in common.

And that’s interesting!

What’s YOUR answer?

Escape? Aggression? Or immobilization? Laughing? Tears?

Have a nice day!
Laughter, joy and health

Linda