Tag: Positive Vibes

When Calls the Heart: A Feel-Good Kinda Show

The quality of T.V. shows these days is not particularly consistent. Of course it depends on what you’re into, with some people thriving on The Walking Dead, or others preferring Vision T.V. on Rogers Cable here in Canada for its smart selection of classic British, Canadian and American shows. I’m not a huge subscriber of cable television; maybe if I had more time I would spend it in front of the big box, however, every now and then I come across a show that I find particularly engaging.

I recently happened upon a Canadian-American period drama (LOVE me my period dramas) called When Calls the Heart, which is based on Janette Oke’s book by the same name. Now, because I am a sucker for history and romance, this was a perfect show to begin binge-watching. Set in the little town of Coal Valley (later called Hope Valley) in Alberta, Canada, this Western Frontier enactment is all about the feel goods. Only sometimes bordering on the slightly cheesy (I think because my generation is just pumped-full of cynicism), this drama delivers such a fantastic portfolio of lessons to build character. Spanning themes of love, forgiveness, compassion, hope, betrayal, death, grief, abandonment, sabotage and justice, this series just leaves you feeling like a better person for having watched it. A lot of us like drama packed with action and courtroom banter and loaded with wit and possibly nonsense comedy, but this show is ‘pure’, for lack of a better word. It upholds the values of kindness, compassion, respect, and love among a list of others, and in so doing provides a lens of purity in our morally disintegrating 21st-century.

Leading lady Elizabeth Thatcher, played by American actress Erin Krakow, is a big city socialite who has come to Coal Valley to begin her dream of being a teacher. Elizabeth is a headstrong woman who needs a bit of roughing around the edges, but who is kind, smart and pioneering in many ways. With a plethora of roles the likes of the dashing Mountie Jack Thornton played by Australian actor Daniel Lissing, the strong widow (and my favourite character) Abigail Stanton played by Full House‘s Lori Loughlin, the bubbly actress Rosemary LeVeaux played by Canadian actress Pascale Hutton, this show boasts a cast of very colourful and endearing characters. You’ll be surprised at how invested you become in these characters when you worry for Abigail’s safety or fret for Jack’s life.

What I love most about this show is that it portrays women in a leading role of strength and honour. The women are forward-thinkers and brave, and showcased in ways that complement their male counterparts. To me this show embodies a lot of what equality of the sexes needs to look like. Men respect women, and women respect men, and I think that it is this lesson that stays with me the most as I wait for Season 4 of this well-produced drama to begin next year. The irony of this statement is not lost on me as this show set a hundred years ago is more progressive than the deluge of TV we see these days where the sexes are just tossed around into total chaos. There is respect in relationships, and couples take their time to get to know each other and value their growing fondness for each other. There is honour, and people do the right thing by each other. There is forgiveness and hope, there is love and unrestrained compassion for strangers. And let’s not even sidestep the incredible chemistry between Erin Krakow’s and Daniel Lissing’s characters! Other progressive themes that struck me are the modern concepts around differentiated teaching and creative strategies for hands-on learning (as a teacher these nuances are quite intriguing), pushing for female education beyond the schoolhouse and women starting their own businesses and doing the handiwork around repairing their homes.

The Canadian tongue-in-cheek humour that we inherited from out British forefathers is quite entertaining, with sass peppered into the female and male characters alike. I am so glad that a show like this has been renewed for a 4th season when feel-good television in the same genre barely makes it past the 2nd.

If you’re looking for a feel-good series about life on the Western Frontier, this is the show for you. The plot is rich, the acting commendable, the setting quite elaborate and the themes totally worth your time. I just might invest in the entire series on DVD for myself! With 10 episodes per season, each episode running about 42 minutes (without ads), the first two seasons of the show are available on Netflix and the CBC TV app, if you’re in Canada. The show usually airs on the Hallmark Channel in the U.S. and on Super Channel here in Canada, with the 4th season premiering sometime in February, 2017. If you decide to watch this show, let me know what you think in the comment section. You can catch a CBC preview here:When Calls the Heart CBC Preview

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The Beauty in Being Strong

Lately, a lot of things have culminated in me rethinking the concept of beauty. People look for symmetry in a face, a glow in the eyes, a toned set of thighs, well-cared-for feet, a crisp voice, a smile, and call these things beautiful. And yes, individually and cumulatively, these things are all beautiful. Art is also beautiful, so is the kind interaction between strangers on a street corner. There is beauty in the darkness, in the crosses we carry, in the pain of our everyday lives. And then, there is beauty in being strong. And I don’t mean the physical strength that can be attained through persistent cardio and strength-training over weeks and months and years. No, the strength I have come to value as beautiful is a strength that wades through the messiness of life and still manages to be gracious and hold on.

Like a lot of people out there, I have unsung heroes and role models in my life. There are my father and mother – my ultimate heroes, among a handful of others comprising family and friends. There are a lot of people I look up to, for waging gracious war with the many battles in their lives, and coming out, albeit a bit beaten, still standing, at the end. These people are beautiful to me. It is in their strength that I find value in life, in being kind even when it is hard to do so, in being gracious when there is nothing remotely resembling grace about something or someone else.

There is beauty in silence when harsh words can be exchanged to fuel fires. There is beauty in this ability to exercise restraint; beauty in the strength it takes for that restraint. There is also beauty in being strong where you are able to care for yourself and be someone others can rely on. There is beauty in being strong enough to sacrifice for others. There is beauty in standing your ground when you believe in something, often meaning that you are standing alone. There is beauty in being strong enough to forgive someone who has shattered your heart and sense of self, intentionally or otherwise. And finally, there is beauty in being strong enough to recognize that you are weak as a human and need to reach out to Jesus (or whomever you pray to, if you do) or someone you trust, to ask for help.

Sure, the beauty of this world puts a great emphasis on that which is pleasing to the eye, but when we learn to value being strong as beautiful, we can free ourselves of the surface elements that leave many of us feeling quite empty.

Within the messiness of our lives lies the opportunity to be strong, and with that opportunity, we can find an unwavering beauty.

 

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Change Will Come.

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Have you been on the receiving end of a really bad day, only to get pulled into the negative thinking that heck, this is going to turn into a really bad life? Have there been piles of days when you honestly just cannot seem to win, no matter how hard you try? Like truly, nothing goes your way? I mean, you keep pushing for that goal, but you keep falling short. Every. Single. Time.

What exactly have you used during these rough times to rally yourself and rise up again? Or have you just given in, or walked away and called it quits?

Quitting on your dreams and your hopes should not be an option. Ever. Why put in whatever effort you already have, only to let yourself down? Because really, that is all it is, YOU are letting yourself down.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. What is the difference between people who keep fighting and those who walk out before they have actually achieved their greatness? Determination? Sure. Self-discipline? Sure. Support from loved ones? Sure. However, the thing that I think pushes these achievers into a class all their own is the belief that today will not last forever. That this really awful and devastating moment of complete failure and hopelessness, will pass. There will be another day tomorrow, and they will get that chance to try again. And, at some point, change will come. Change is always coming after all. It only remains to be seen when, and who will be around to see it affect them positively.

I think a “change will come” mindset is difficult for a lot of people to grasp. Truly though, if you have grown up living one way of life and all of a sudden you are pushed to believe that it gets better if you keep trying, because change will come, well, you might not be as receptive to the idea as say, someone who was raised on that concept. And that is okay.

So, how can you actually train yourself to believe that this moment, this really crappy moment, will pass? Breathe. Take a deep breath and punch a stop in your mind with that breath. This may sound a tad like yoga practice, and honestly, maybe it is (just a tad), but it is the stopping of your negative and life-derailing train of thoughts that can help you switch tracks to something that is more hopeful. As human beings, we are geared to be hopeful. Even when we are busy whining about the awfulness of our existences, we are hopeful somewhere deep down that change will come, and it will come for the better. And so, a lot of us keep trying. And try we must, because “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again”.

Change will come. It must. And if we’ve worked hard enough, hopefully, it will be in our favour.

 

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