Personal

Film Class

Posted June 6, 2012 by Eden

In May, I joined a diverse and talented group of students on a quest to produce a film in less than a month. In our film class at York University, we were assembled into teams of four – Producer/Writers, Directors, Directors of Photography and Sound Designers. Under the tutelage of expert course directors, Genevieve Appleton and Rafal Sokolowski and TA David Han, we learned about film production and especially as it applied to the neo-realist genre.

Our mission was to produce a short, neo-realist film. We had to write the screenplay, get the actors, design the storyboard, find and assemble the set, plan the shot list, sound design and then shoot the film and edit it, refining it multiple times in post-production during a three week period.

For me, it was a fabulous opportunity to learn a lot about film-making in a very compressed period of time. It was also very stressful at times to meet the required deadlines, incorporate feedback and changes after presentations and coordinate the way forward as a group. There were 14 short films shot by the teams in FILM 2030, all of which are available for viewing in Vimeo. Following are some pictures of the class and then links to videos where the licensing has been approved for public viewing.

$On set of \"Just Landed\"$

$Shooting \"Just Landed\"$

[Show as slideshow]

Links to short films on either vimeo or youtube:

Team 12 – Just Landed, about Pakistani immigrants to Canada

Team 6 – Swan Song, about a young musician who is going deaf

Canada Geese

Posted May 22, 2012 by Eden

One of my recent obsessions – observing the behaviour of Canada Geese – is not an overly popular one. I have one friend who, at the mere mention of geese, will launch into expletives and his desire to annihilate the species (good luck with that). He does not appear to be alone in this opinion as they can be pests in some areas and seem to be spreading like wildfire. It also strikes me that they seem to be highly intelligent, organized, and family oriented, often mating for life. I was amazed at the migration drills I observed last fall but spring has brought even more interesting activity.

In late March, near the bridge at the MacKenzie Marsh in Aurora, I witnessed a ritual that I had never seen before. There were about 10-15 geese in the pond making quite a racket. Frantic honking lead to a rather spectacular (and frightening) goose fight! From what we could figure, two males were fighting over a nest with a female waiting placidly for the result. In addition to this shot on the side,

I’ve included about 10 pictures of this fight in the set below… so perhaps there are some geese mating ritual experts who can tell me what was going on.

Gosling

Image 1 of 34

Now it’s May and the babies have been hatching. It’s so much fun to see the little goslings. Of course, I’ve been hissed at by more than one protective father when I’ve tried to take their pictures…

And, yes, I’m getting a little tired of navigating amongst the goose droppings.

Mind Games

Posted April 27, 2012 by Eden

Have you ever been hijacked by your mind? For me, it started when I was a teenager.

Mine is a familiar story, almost cliche – I was a mess – emotionally charged, kicked out of school and home regularly, suspicious and mistrustful of most adults, lots of friends and parties, drugs and alcohol. Boyfriends added to the emotional roller coaster. If I wasn’t fighting with the boyfriend then it was my parents or teachers. My mind was always spinning – obsessive thoughts, sometimes paranoid and jealous.

I was seeing a social worker (at the ‘suggestion’ of my high school) and I still remember some advice she gave me. I was obsessing and hadn’t eaten much for days after a bitter break-up from a two year relationship. At fifteen, I was in a desperate frame of mind. I’d been alternating between pushing away my constant thoughts, trying hard not to think about the situation or giving in to my obsessions, wallowing in it, raging internally. Everything – songs, TV, friends – reminded me of him, good times and bad, perceived transgressions, the degree to which I’d been victimized, etcetera.

Her suggestion was simple. She said when a memory surfaces, acknowledge it, don’t resist it but also don’t expand it, generating thoughts that lead to suffering. Once you’ve accepted the memory that’s been triggered, that’s it. Move on. This may sound obvious but it really struck me. For the first time, I began to realize that I have a choice. I wouldn’t have been able to articulate this then but what it meant was that my mind was not in charge – I was.

What I understand now is that conquering a busy mind is a lifelong practice and can be the difference between a miserable, angry life or one filled with love and gratitude.

We have somewhere between 12,000 to 65,000 thoughts per day, although I’ve seen reference to a wider range (between 2,000 to 600,000!). Most commonly, 50-60,000 is considered a good estimate.

Being human means having thoughts all day, every day: endless observations, judgements, interpretations, complaints, worries, ‘what-ifs’, memories, regrets, wishes, desires, dreams about our future, anger about our past, and on and on. I’ve seen statistics that 95% of them are repetitive. Some thoughts are random, others can hijack us if let our emotions react to what are sometimes completely irrational, twisted versions of reality. For me, it has been a major breakthrough to understand that I am NOT my thoughts. For years, my thoughts ran me. They still try to, every single day, but I am watching them now!

In researching this, I was astounded to discover that most of our thoughts are not even about the present. The majority of our thoughts are rooted in the past, somewhere between 70 and 90%. They’re not just replays of ‘what happened’ but we add our own interpretation and meaning. Within our minds, our perception of the past can often become warped. About 10-20% of our thoughts involve imagining what will happen in the future. Only a small percentage of them actually focus on the present moment in a purely experiential manner which is where life truly exists.

Eckhart Tolle, author of “The Power of Now” and “A New Earth”, tells us: “Stay fully present in the now—your whole life unfolds here. In the now there is joy of Being and deep peace”.

When you realize you are not your thoughts, that you are a being with a powerful inner spirit with an appendage that generates non-stop thoughts, the possibility exists to become an observer of the mind and take control.

Louise Hay’s work on “affirmations” demonstrates how you can change your life by the practice of generating positive, life-affirming thoughts. She says: “Trust life to hear and respond to your positive words. Say these affirmations every day and your whole world will change for the better.”

I still struggle with my tendency to wallow in negative, mistrustful thoughts, to over-react to situations. I believe it was Samuel Clemens who said: “Just because I’m paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me.” Well, that pretty much sums up how I feel sometimes, especially in the politically charged corporate world that many of us need to immerse ourselves in to make a living.

I believe that being self-aware and committed to conquering your mind is half the battle. Avoid the inner time travel and be here now. I’m so much better at this than I was at fifteen. With continued practice, I imagine I will be quite wise (and peaceful) by the time I’m 70.

Olympic Silver!

Posted January 29, 2012 by Eden

The Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Winter Games are over. Both Roni and her fan club are now back in Canada although she will be on a plane again very soon. She’s been invited to join the Canadian Prospect Team in Vail for a series of NorAm races which is amazing. It’s a great opportunity for a 15 year old and no doubt that lovely Silver Medal that she picked up in Innsbruck helped to get her the invite. 🙂

The last days in Innsbruck were busy. The Ladies GS race was a disappointment for Roni as she finished 15th but again, I thought this was awfully good given that she was racing against the top female 15-16 year olds in the world! But she knew she could do better and anything less than her very best is not good enough for her.

So on her last race, the Ladies Slalom, she showed everyone what she was capable of. The weather was sketchy and some events were cancelled, including Bobsled training runs and Ski Cross. Heavy, wet snow came down all day which made the roads disastrous later but they managed to get both runs of the Slalom in.

When Roni came down 5th in the first run, we were ecstatic. It takes two runs in Slalom and there are a lot of DNF’s typically (and even more than usual on this day with the tricky conditions). 5th means she has a chance of reaching the podium with a good second run. And, anyway, 5th overall would have been great.

But she did better, made even easier by the trail of European racers who didn’t make it to the bottom of the course. She finished Second Overall in the Slalom! Which meant a lot of attention, press interviews, two podium events (the ‘mascot ceremony’ at the hill and the Medals Ceremony in the square that night), and it also meant they whisked her away to do her doping test. (Two people watch the medalist pee to make sure there’s no funny business!)

So, everyone (including Roni) had a new date for the Medals Ceremony that evening, instead of going to the Canada v. Russia Hockey Game that night. And the celebration continued after the event…

Roni’s father, my brother Randy, put together a youtube video with some highlights from the opening ceremony and races. Here it is:

Happy New Year

Posted January 2, 2012 by Eden

Winter is here and with it, at last, the first snowfalls which turn dead, dreary landscapes and forests into magical, white wonderlands.

Many prefer to stay indoors, avoiding the cold and sometimes bitter winds. As someone who grew up skiing in Ontario, I’ve always been accustomed to outdoor activity during the winter although I must confess that I find the cold uncomfortable and my ski days are sporadic and short (more like half-days). But, I also enjoy snowshoeing and walking in the woods. Part of the allure with walking instead of soaring down the hills is to shoot the scenes of winter. It’s almost a painful thing for me, now, to drive by something beautiful and not be able to take a picture of it. So strange, this new obsession, but also so engrossing. By capturing the beauty of an outdoor scene, after I process it, I can put it on my iPhone, my computer, or even print it and come back to stare at it, feeling again that sense of awe. This picture above is of the bridge in Collingwood accessible from the backyard which connects the neighbourhood to beautiful walking trails in the woods.

Christmas and New Year’s 2011 are over and now it is January 2nd, the beginning of a new year. Back to work tomorrow but soon, we will be on our way to Innsbruck, Austria to watch the Youth Olympic Games from January 13th to 22nd. My niece, Roni, is one of two girls representing Canada for Alpine Skiing so it is very exciting. I will post some updates on how she’s doing from Innsbruck.

Happy New Year to all…

Wasaga Beach Film Festival

Posted December 29, 2011 by Eden

In early October, I heard an advertisement on 95.1 radio station about the First Annual Wasaga Beach Short Film Festival. Wasaga Beach is a neighbouring community to Collingwood (our weekend retreat) and a common beach/resort destination from Toronto (just 1.5 hour drive). When I was in high school, we would often drive up for the day and sometimes camp nearby. And when my sons graduated from high school, they came up in droves to rent cabins at Wasaga and celebrate.

As an amateur photographer and videographer, I was intrigued by the opportunity to produce a video for this competition but also conscious of the fact that the entries were due in two weeks. I originally planned to develop a short film, working together with some others in my family. There are 5 categories for entries – Romance, Action, Documentary, and Comedy (all 4 to 8 minutes in length) with the fifth category being a 30 second advertisement for Wasaga Beach. Following the release of my novel, “Vision Speak”, I’ve been exploring how to tell stories using other media, or perhaps mixed media with my writing, so this seemed like a nice chance to experiment with video production.

It came down to the weekend before the entries were due, Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend, which was unbelievably hot for mid-October in my area of the world. It was hot enough to go to the beach, swim, and shoot some film. With such limited time, we ended up just submitting one video in the Ad category. There just wasn’t enough time to produce a longer film for this first event.

Since then we are among the finalists and the Film Festival has placed all the final videos on Youtube. The Gala event/Award ceremony is on January 21st in Wasaga Beach, however, we will be in Austria for the Youth Olympic Games to watch our niece compete for Canada in Alpine Skiing at that time. So, our sons who participated in this production will go to the event and hopefully collect our prize. 🙂

Here is our video, entitled “Share the Magic at Wasaga”:

Recovering from a Random Act of Violence

Posted September 25, 2011 by Eden

In the blink of an eye, something can happen that will change your health and well-being, your future, your view of the world. For example, you could be walking across the street, carefree and strong, and be struck by a car. You could have a brain aneurism or a heart attack.

Or some unknown person, with a twisted heart, could come out of nowhere and assault you.

These are not happy thoughts and not usually the type of thing that I write about on this blog.

But that was before some random person committed a violent act against my son who was punched so hard that his tooth was knocked out, who now has stitches all over his lips and gums with his teeth wired to his mouth, who still can’t understand how anyone could do something so violent for no apparent reason.

What happened? As my son was on his way home from the bar in London, Ontario with a girlfriend, a young man walking on Richmond Street in front of him suddenly turned around, punched him in the face and ran away. Many witnesses and even two police officers were on the scene. My son was on his knees, blood dripping from his face with his tooth in his hand, shocked and dazed. He never even saw who hit him. The police were of little help and told him he’d better get in a cab and get to the hospital. No report was filed. No attempt was made to catch the perpetrator.

My son is in fourth year at the University of Western Ontario and on the Western Mustangs Lacrosse Team. He has been gearing up for this lacrosse season physically for months and excited about it all year. After they shoved his tooth back into his mouth and stitched him back together, the doctor told him he wouldn’t be able to eat solid food for weeks and likely had more painful dental surgery in his future to save his front teeth. But that wasn’t what really upset him. The most devastating news that night was that he couldn’t participate in contact sports for 6 weeks. He was out for the season that he’d been looking forward to all year, his last season playing for the Mustangs. It was the year that he thought they might be able to win it all and they had just started the previous week with two wins. To suddenly be told he could no longer be a part of their quest was heartbreaking.

But he knows and we know that it’s done and now we must pick up the pieces and move on. When things go wrong, our brains often do the ‘what if’ or ‘if only’ dance. If we had done something different, if only it hadn’t happened and so on. Something like this with consequences that will be felt for months, is hard. Of course, we all know it could be worse. We’ve heard about violent crimes of this nature, often associated with young people and alcohol or drugs, where the damage is extensive, where sometimes people die senselessly. At least my son will heal and this will eventually be a bad memory.

The other obsessive and difficult thing to deal with is the anger, the need for some kind of retribution. I’ve seen his facebook statements about this incident and his friends’ comments, their rallying cries. A natural tendency is to want to find the guy, to hit him back, to sue the guy, to get even, to hurt as one has been hurt. The more one thinks about it, the more these emotions can swell up and make a bad situation, worse.

And for me, I feel outrage at the police who were there when it happened. Aren’t they sworn to serve and protect? My son and his friend said they seemed indifferent, didn’t want to bother with the situation. I called the London police last night to ask about this. We can still file a report and they have video cameras downtown so they may be able to find footage of what happened although it’s unlikely they’ll be able to identify the perpetrator from the video. We may pursue this. I’m not sure whether it’s a good next step or if one is best to ‘turn the other cheek’ at this point. The constable that I spoke with said there was nothing reported and it would be impossible for him to determine which officers were on the scene as there would have been about 100 of them out on the street on Friday night at that time.

But this astounds me. Is this type of thing happening so often that they don’t even try to stop it? Why are they working on the street if not to do something about violence like this?

I fear the answer is that with so many college and university students frequenting the bars in London, that there are fights and violent incidents all the time. All they do is break it up and move on. I’ve tried to find statistics but what would they mean anyway if most incidents are never even reported?

How do we stop this? Can we only grit our teeth when our kids go out at night (for we know they will not stay home) and hope that they are wise enough, or lucky enough, to steer clear of the lunatics?

I don’t know the answer to this but I do know what I must do. I must help my son to move on, to accept what can’t be changed, to try and turn this negative into a positive or at least a life lesson. And I must do the same.

Top Ten Tips for a Happy Life

Posted February 19, 2011 by Eden

What is “happy” and is it really attainable? In this age of fast-paced, information overload, what do we really want from life?

I believe we want what people have always wanted. We want to be happy. We want to love and contribute to others. We want to be loved. We want to think we’re making a difference, that there’s a “reason” or purpose for our existence.

While some might argue that happy (as in merrily skipping along through life) is an overused term and not a practical goal, let’s consider happy as being peaceful and content, as being the opposite of miserable, as being empowered to be all that we can be in life, to be able to have loving and sustainable relationships. And then, I think, everyone will agree that this is a state where we would all like to be centred.

Based on my own personal exploration into this essential quest, I’ve summarized what I view as the Top Ten tips to a Happy Life, as taught by many of the thought leaders today who are great authors, speakers, and spiritual teachers..

TOP TEN:

1. Be Present, Be Here Now

Studies suggest we have somewhere between 12,000 to 65,000 thoughts per day, although I’ve seen reference to a wider range (between 2,000 to 600,000!). Most commonly, 50-60,000 is considered a good estimate.

Being human means being inundated with thoughts all day, every day: endless observations, judgements, interpretations, complaints, worries, ‘what-ifs’, memories, regrets, wishes, desires, dreams about our future, anger about our past, and on and on. I’ve seen statistics indicating 95% of them are similar from day to day. Some thoughts seem completely random, others can hijack us as we follow a thread and let our emotions react to what are sometimes completely irrational, twisted versions of reality. For me, it has been a major breakthrough to understand that I am NOT my thoughts. For too long, my thoughts ran me. They still try to, every single day, but I am watching them now. I used to look to my thoughts for meaning, wondering why I was suddenly upset when nothing had happened.

So how much of an average person’s thoughts are rooted in the present moment? Some suggest that the majority of our thoughts are rooted in the past (somewhere between 70 and 90%) with about 10-20% ruminating or dreaming or imagining what will happen in the future. A small percentage of our thoughts actually focus on the present moment in a purely experiential manner. Within our minds, our perception of the past, how it is affecting us now and into the future can often become warped.

Eckhart Tolle, author of “The Power of Now” and “A New Earth” and other books is a well-known speaker and teacher in this area. Tolle tells us: “Stay fully present in the now—your whole life unfolds here. In the now there is joy of Being and deep peace”.

In Deepak Chopra’s “Seven Spiritual Laws of Success”, he says that pure potentiality is pure consciousness, the field of all possibilities and infinite creativity. Meditation to connect with our inner being to be present and master our thoughts can help us to find that state of pure consciousness.

2. Your Thoughts Create your Reality

When you start to understand that you are not your thoughts, that you are a being with a powerful inner spirit that happens to also have a brain that does what brains do, non-stop generation of thoughts, you can step back and observe this and take control. Consider how you can choose how your brain operates just as you make these decisions about using your arm or your fingers or your eyes every day of your life.

The realization that you actually could control and direct your thoughts to create whatever reality you choose can open up a whole new world. If, for example, you tell yourself that you cannot succeed at something – then you probably won’t. So, the obvious question is why tell yourself that? And yet we do it all the time..

There’s so much groundbreaking work in this area over the past decade, everything from the books on the Law of Attraction (including the blockbuster work called “The Secret”) and new science indicating that thoughts are actually bits of quantum energy (see previous post “The Science behind the Mystery“), which opens up even more unbelievable implications for our potential capabilities if we can master our mind.

Louise Hay (founder of Hay House) is an inspiring example of this powerful concept in action. Her countless books and CD’s on Affirmations show how you can change your life by the very simple practice of constantly generating positive, life-affirming thoughts. From “Power Thoughts” by Louise Hay at www.healyourlife.com: “Trust life to hear and respond to your positive words. Say these affirmations every day and your whole world will change for the better.”

3. Be Grateful

Expressing gratitude, especially if you can make it a daily practice to declare everything you are grateful for in your life, can create positive self-affirming thoughts instead of negative ones and align your attention to everything that is good in your life. This alone can be transformational. Many current thought leaders and spiritual teachers encourage people to keep a gratitude journal. For a good example of this in practice, check out my Aunt Suzy’s Grateful List that she circulated at Christmas and I have since posted on this blog.

If you do a search on Gratitude quotations, you will find many empowering thoughts. Here’s a few:

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” G.K. Chesterton

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you?’ ” William A. Ward

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you’, that would suffice.” Meister Eckhart

4. Trust that the universe is unfolding as it should..

Or perhaps an easier way to say this is, Have Faith. Sometimes in our darkest hours, when nothing seems to be going as we had wanted or expected, we can’t see this. We want only to fight against what is. Everything will not always go our way but, if you trust life and let it unfold, as Mick Jagger said, “you just might get what you need”.

For some this could mean a belief in God, aligned with one of the great faith traditions, for others it might just mean knowing that there is a greater life force, that we are all a part of it, and that life will take us where we need to go if we surrender to it.

5. Practice Forgiveness

Oprah and others, have defined Forgiveness as recognizing that you can’t change the past. We hold onto a lot of resentment and in the end, who does it hurt? We hurt ourselves more than anyone else. Accepting what has happened and creating the space to move on can be a powerful step forward.

Sometimes, particularly if you have been a victim of crime or abuse, whatever happened may seem ‘unforgiveable’. In these cases, remember that forgiveness does not mean you have to let that person back into your life but it can release you from the hold that this has on you.

In other cases, we may have imagined transgressions that were in reality, minor. Caroline Myss, medical intuitive and author of a number of bestselling books including “Sacred Contracts”, outlines the common archetypes that drive our behaviours. She identifies the “Victim” as one of the four archetypes for survival which can lead you to believe that “you are always taken advantage of and it’s never your fault.” If this feels familiar, her work may be of interest.

Regardless of the situation (and many may lie in between these two extremes), if you have anger or bitterness in your heart, you must do the work needed (whatever that is for you) to let it go. It literally will suck the life out of you and can affect all your relationships. The serenity prayer from AA says it all: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.”

6. Follow your Bliss

One of Joseph Campbell’s famous quotations….

Many will say that they would love to follow their bliss but they have to pay the bills, don’t have time, it’s too late to change course, or any other number of excuses.

I would contend that for many of us, we don’t really know what our ‘bliss’ is. Of course, it seems like it must be the greener grass on the other side. Certainly, the idea of walking away from a tough job and living in luxury seems blissful – but this is not what Campbell intended.

Sometimes we need to take a hard look at our life circumstances and make adjustments along our journey. The important thing is to be conscious. Make conscious choices. Embrace work that you love. Remember, even when you’re “following your bliss”, there will be tough sledding at times. This is certainly not a free ticket to quit.

7. Choose your Life

This is another perspective on “Follow your Bliss”. Sometimes, it’s not our outside circumstances that need to change but our interior dimension.

I took a course called the Landmark Forum many years ago, and this was a key concept after 3 long days of workshop. It correlates back to the idea that ‘your thoughts create your reality’.

When you declare that your life, your spouse, your children, your job, your world are all exactly what you always wanted, then they will become that for you.

8. Don’t take yourself too seriously

Or, put another way: “Get over yourself”.

No one likes criticism and we all have fragile egos… but sometimes, when our thoughts hijack us, we can turn the simplest comments into conspiracy theories.

The truth is that not everything is about you, sometimes when people scowl at you, it’s because they’re unhappy inside. If a person says something to you that you don’t like, you don’t have to react in kind. In fact you may be able trigger transformation in another by not letting your ego take over, instead be present with that person and be compassionate.

Deepak Chopra asserts that “…the ego is not who we really are. The ego is our social mask, it is the role we are playing.”

If you are aware and present with people, not coloured by past injustices or imagined indignities, then you can choose to always have powerful, meaningful conversations.

Not being driven by ego takes focus, commitment, and courage…

9. We are all one

When you take steps to be present, become committed to not ‘be your ego’ or run by your thoughts, to be grateful for the people in your life, and to create your reality then you will start to sense more and more that you are not alone but a part of something much greater, the collective spirit of humanity.

Even the latest scientific breakthroughs with respect to quantum consciousness and unified field theory are demonstrating that the universe and everything in it, ourselves included, are interconnected by a vast field of energy.

In this collective space, love and contribution become natural which in turn can fuel harmony and peace in your life.

10. Conscious Evolution

Last summer, I took the Evolutionary Worldview Course through Enlightennext Magazine and Andrew Cohen and then a few months ago, I watched the event: “A Call to Conscious Evolution, Our Moment of Choice” which was also hosted by this group. Both experiences were inspirational and eye-opening. As Deepak, one of the many renowned speakers at the Evolutionary Leaders’ event, said: “…the only way to transform the world is to transform yourself..” and “…even well-meaning activism is often coming from a place of outrage rather that creative consciousness..”

This jives with many of the teachings of Andrew Cohen and his team with respect to the evolution of our interior dimension and our culture. Last year, I wrote a short post on “Evolution of Consciousness” vs.”Conscious Evolution” when I began to perceive the difference. Our mind, our being, or our “interior dimension” as they call it have evolved just as our bodies have. They talk about 4 billion years of evolution on this planet and how we, as sentient, powerful beings, can now choose where we go from here. They ask questions like: “how does your own evolution come into the culture, into changing the world?” and “To what degree are you enabling this process of evolution through your own heroic efforts?” so that we can leave the world a better place because we were here.

Andrew Cohen’s annual Being and Becoming Retreat delves deeply into these possibilities. I hope to attend this one day myself and will continue to explore and discourse on this topic in future posts.

I recently spoke at a women’s dinner meeting and shared my Top Ten tips, asking for their feedback. One suggestion, which happened to come from a Chinese medicine doctor, was “Your Body is your Temple”. A wonderful suggestion and I believe that, in many ways, this is an extension of this commitment to conscious evolution.

Making conscious decisions everyday to feed and exercise your body for optimal health and well-being is the other side of the coin to choosing the thoughts that you feed yourself for optimal mental health and well-being. WILL POWER has a whole new depth of meaning…

If you’re reading this post and have opinions or suggestions on what your top ten are, don’t be shy. Share your ideas.