WORKSHOP IN WINNIPEG

It’s been awhile since I wrote in my blog. After my trip to Winnipeg, the Wheel of my Life began spinning faster.  There is something about taking a trip that gets things moving again. It’s as if the Nomad Wind wakes up on my Wheel. Nomad is about change, movement, making connections and surrendering to something bigger than yourself.  I certainly did all of that with the Medicine Wheel workshop I gave at the Winnipeg 2^nd Annual Mental Health conference. 

When I arrived at the Marlborough Hotel, my Initiator came out in full swing and caused a stir from the start. The Initiator Role is in the Northwest of the Wheel. It is all about bringing movement, change. It tests things to see where there is unfinished business,  unresolved issues or anything that is amiss. I am a strong Initiator. I sometimes have trouble with it because I judge it and fear the backlash that it brings. When I initiate others, I also get initiated back. I often experience judgments and persecution. If only people knew about this Role and understood the gift it brings, instead of getting hurt, angry and lashing out. (Do you hear a sigh here?) I must admit, as I become more comfortable with my Role, balanced and functional in it, my words or actions seem to have a better outcome – like it did at the Hotel! 

I like to take the stairs for exercise. The Marlborough is a very old hotel, built in 1914 on the eve of World War so needless to say, elevator was slow. And it would creak and moan in protest. To my surprise I discovered that the doors to the stairs were locked. What if there was a fire. The desk clerk said that the security guard would open them in that case. But what if they couldn’t get up to the fourth floor in time? I am not one to worry about such things, but it’s a matter of putting safety measure s in place. 

I discovered that they locked the doors because the street people come in and knock on the doors begging for money. But I also I saw the security guards standing around bored and not doing their job. They just chatted among themselves, ignoring the comings and goings. But the doors were unlocked and I was able to take the stairs which worked great when the hotel got full and the wait for the elevators got longer. I was surprised to see that no one else took the stairs. We are a lazy society.

I also stirred things up in the café by coming late for my complimentary breakfast. No one told me about the time frame, and the manager was annoyed. In the end, he gave me the free meal, saying that it was the fault of the front desk for giving me the coupon too late. We made a good connection and I was impressed with his professionalism and good attitude. 

Winnipeg is a very old city, unlike the cities in Alberta. The Marlborough Hotel was in the downtown area, the older section. I noticed that there were plenty of abandoned buildings and a countless street people, mostly Aboriginal. There is a strong Aboriginal presence in the city. It is after all -  Metis country where my Ancestors lived. The city as it was that day felt sad, colorless and depressing. On my walk, I encountered security people that gave me their card and said to call if I felt any danger. They said not to walk alone at night.


When I went hunting for stones for the Wheel, I discovered that there were none! The stones they did have consisted of petrified clay and didn’t have the electro-magnetism of other stones. The city is built on the Red River after all. The red color of the Earth was remarkable to see though. And there was a lot of history there. 

(Is this beginning to sound like a travel journal?) Lol

It’s a good thing that I made some contacts with people in Winnipeg before leaving home. They warned me that stones were hard to find, so I brought some of my own just in case. They were small and that presented other challenges, but more on that later….

Standing in line for the security check at the airport, I began getting nervous. I had to put some stones in my carry-on luggage to distribute the weight. Sure enough they stopped me. The woman asked me with a look of disbelief on her face, “Do you have ROCKS in your luggage?” I smiled as if it was the most natural thing in the world and said, “Yes”. She shrugged and let me pass. Phew! 

I was given an executive suite, complementary breakfasts in this very beautiful hotel with cathedral-like rooms and stained glass windows. Before any Wheel or workshop, I need to prepare myself, do my own inner work and something always comes up. That is the way it is with Natural Law. 

This time it had to do with gratitude or the lack of gratitude. I realized that I was so nervous that I didn’t allow myself to appreciate that I was living a dream come true. I have always wanted to travel and teach the Wheel. As a Keeper of the Medicine Wheel for twenty years, it is time for me to expand beyond my immediate community and bring these amazing teachings to others. The Ancestors want us all to remember the Natural Ways, Sacred ways that they lived and died for in order to preserve for future generations. We need these teachings to help Mother Earth. When I realized I was blocking myself from fully appreciating my abundance, I cries tears of gratitude for the Ancestors, my Teachers, my path that brought me to that moment in time. 

At the last minute the room where I was to do the workshop was changed, from the ground floor to the 8^th floor. This presented new challenges. I contacted my Teacher Lisa and she told me how to ground the Wheel down through the entire building. Our Ancestors didn’t have high rises, lol. 

I’ll be back with more….. As always, I welcome your feedback and thoughts on my blogs. It is good to know who is listening, even if you said come in and say you’re here!