Seeing Eckhart Tolle, Toronto Trip, The Jackrabbit Beginning

After over three years, I finally went somewhere! My last August 70th birthday gift from daughter was a ticket to see this fellow in Toronto.  Hence the train trip I mentioned in the last post.

                        

Ekhart is a tiny man; we joked he looked like a happy gnome. We had wondered if, because he is such a low key fellow, our evening might wind up being a little boring. Anything but! 

 He talked for two hours straight and dealt with mostly two topics -how to deal with memories, loss and unhappiness, and also about God and beliefs. He taught us how to empty, as he put it, our minds. To just BE STILL( he discussed the Bible line, Be still and know that I am God), be present, etc.  I tried to take in every word. My emotions ran the gamut while listening...tears in my eyes pretty much throughout (sometimes a struggle not to cry) to smiling and feeling awe that he was striking so many chords with me. He has a unique ability to clarify complicated feelings and I was also impressed by all the philosophical references he quoted. There was a tremendous amount of love shown to him by the really diverse audience of about 2000 people. Us among them and so well deserved.

The suite at the hotel had marvelous views and amenities including a tiny sitting room and tiny kitchen.

 I could live there! And the vibrancy of any big city downtown, so different from my life, always pulls me in when I do get to go there. 

Street cars from the 21st floor

We spent a wonderful day at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I'll highlight two of the exhibitions we enjoyed. The Blue Series- 40 paintings from the tragic Matthew Wong. I'm sharing these because I feel they are interesting-wish we had had an interpreter with us to help us understand more about them,  and perhaps some art quilt inspiration for some of you as well. Here is a New York Times article about Matthew.

I was surprised when I realized I had taken a photo of this work of Matthew's I came across online a couple years ago. I like through the window views and houses. Early Moon

A highlight of our visit was seeing this very large beauty, Christi Belcourt's The Wisdom of the Universe. Christi is a Metis artist and used pointillism to mimic Metis beadwork. Up close it was a million tiny dots and looked extraordinary in the precision, colours and placement of each item. 

I invite you to watch this lovely animated video that explains all the features and special meanings of each item included in this fabulous work. 

Our favourite restaurant and bakery was an Italian one nearby; the bread, tiramisu and cannoli were delicious. We did a lot of walking so all good!

I made a little start on the Cottage Garden Samplings, The Jackrabbit, just so I could say I began it on my trip to mark the occasion. Wonderful memories!

 

The lilac flower was worked with a specialty cotton that came with the kit and I don't like the flat effect and the way it lay. I'm going to take it out. I think I am spoiled by DMC and the little sheen it has.

 About my photo I shared last post...A reader in the U.S. who has never commented before had to write to tell me I'm a dead ringer for her great aunt who lived to be a hundred. Imagine that!

Sharing this post with Kathy's Quilts.