Erin's Journals

***The Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts added another “In Conversation With…” me. Unfortunately, that second show is sold out as well. If you were hoping to come, but were unable to get tickets, please check back here every day and I’ll keep you updated about any future events HarperCollins is scheduling.***
 
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Good day, my friend. I awoke to a little bit of a rainbow in my coffee cup yesterday morning, so I knew it was going to be a special one. And it was. 
 

 
How could it not be? We have friends here with us – our senior producer and longtime pal Ian MacArthur and his wife, the equally special Anita Reynolds MacArthur – and we had planned something quite unusual to do that day.
 

 
When I visited my sister and her husband, who used to spend winters here in the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area, we had hoped to get our spirits sparked with a visit to a place called the Integratron. Unfortunately for us, it was booked solid; this time, I took no chances and booked our visit months in advance. What, you ask, is an Integratron? Well, here’s what the web tells us. 

The Integratron is a 38 ft tall cupola structure with a diameter of 55 ft designed by Ufologist and Contactee George Van Tassel. Van Tassel claimed the Integratron was capable of rejuvenation, anti-gravity and time travel.

And here’s how it looked, set out in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, tiny Landers, California, 75 minutes from our place in Palm Springs.
 

 
In this place, we were booked to attend a sound bath. What is that, exactly? It’s a collection of special crystal bowls made from quartz, precious metals, and other sonically splendid materials that are played by hand or with soft sticks. They make magical sounds that vibrate through our bodies and souls.
 
Rob has had experiences when meditating where he sees a variety of colours; Anita has connections to the other side that amaze me. She and I shared a psychic reading down here this week with a woman we’ve both talked with before and both Debbie Cooper and our Lauren were coming through loud and clear. So, let’s just say we were open to experiences going in. Ian went along too, to see what this massive structure and a 60 minute healing sound bath were all about. 
 
Before we even entered, we were inundated with nudges (or Godwinks) from Lauren. I went to play a song on my iPhone and instead, the Beatles channel on Sirius came on with one significant line from the song “She’s Leaving Home”: “…cried to her husband, ‘Daddy, our baby’s gone….'” We turned it off after those few words and said, “Okay, Lauren, we know you’re here.” And how about a sign, literally, with lyrics from “We Can Work It Out?”
 

 
When we entered the registration area and gift shop, John Lennon’s “Watching the Wheels” came on. Later, I re-entered to another song on the satellite station the man had playing: The Beatles’ “I Will.” And still later, we heard Lennon’s “Imagine.” And no, it wasn’t a Beatles channel, it was the Leonard Cohen channel. Okay…. If you know ours and Lauren’s story, you know how significant the Fab Four are in our family.
 
At 12:15 on a lovely blue sky Wednesday, it was time to take our places in the Integratron itself. The building was constructed by an aeronautical engineer who worked for Lockheed Douglas Aircraft and as a test pilot for Howard Hughes. George Van Tassel, who died in 1978, had strong beliefs in UFOs, but what we came for was the sonic purity of this yurt-like structure in the middle of the desert, set among myriad powerful energy vortexes. 
 
You can see pictures inside the Integratron at the link below; I didn’t feel comfortable shooting inside this place that’s listed as a must-see by travellers on Tripadvisor. There were 30 of us in the second storey room, all laid out on cushioned mats and covered in blankets, and were led through a short history of the space and then a sound bath, whose haunting chords and reverberations had some amazing effects on at least two in our party.
 
Anita and Rob both saw brilliant colours, Anita saw Debbie laughing and Rob saw a show of blackbirds as in a flipped-page book animation. We all came out feeling we’d felt something special and that made the journey, the $40USD per person and the entire outing an exceptionally memorable spiritual experience. Here’s a link if you’re interested and are planning a trip to the Palm Springs area.
 
After our visit, we drove the extra half hour to Joshua Tree National Park, which is worth a whole other journal. But here’s a special picture.
 

 
Thank you for coming along on our unusual spiritual journey – just a perfect extension of the wonderful moments we’ve already shared, the four of us. 
 
Tomorrow, continuing my “Friday Favourites” theme, a product that offers comfort in ways I couldn’t have imagined. And it’s so good, I have to share – in case you have an opening on your gift list this season.
 

Hey there – welcome to Wednesday. You know all of those fake or phishing emails you get, warning you that an account (with a bank you don’t do business with) is shutting down and that you’d better do something promptly to prevent the action? Oh, I’m sure you’ve gotten them; we even got an email last week from someone within our own banking system warning us of something dire. We contacted our bank and sure enough, someone had stolen this employee’s identity and was using their name and title to spread false information (or worse).
 
Rob and I feel like we have pretty good radar when it comes to this stuff. So when I saw this email come into my inbox from aws-verification@amazon.com I was pretty sure it was bogus. Except that it wasn’t. Here it is:

Hello,

We believe that an unauthorized party has registered an Amazon Web Services (AWS) account with your visa ending in 10. To protect your information, and to stop any potential service charges, we have closed this account and cancelled any pending services.

Please note that AWS is separate from Amazon.com. AWS is primarily used by website owners and developers. This notification is not related to a physical order on Amazon.com.

We recommend that you review all recent activity on this card and report any unauthorized charges to your financial institution.

We are unable to provide information about how your credit card was obtained, since it occurred outside of Amazon.com. Some techniques include: using malicious software to capture a user’s keystrokes, trying common passwords, and sending fraudulent emails that request account information (known as “phishing”).

If this account was closed in error, please let us know by replying to this message and we will reinstate the account for you.

For information about safe online shopping, visit the “Security & Privacy” section of our Help pages.

I was about to delete the email when I showed it to Rob. And just to be extra sure, he looked at our VISA statement. Sure enough, there it was: a purchase for about $1.50 on something called Amazon Web Services. We knew it was fake because we’d never buy something that small and we rarely use Amazon.com, never mind a so-called web service (except for the site you’re reading this journal on).
 
Just as the letter recommended, we contacted our bank. They shut down that VISA card immediately, an action that caused more than a little hassle, as we were on the road bouncing between Ottawa and Toronto during that time and I had to have them send my new card to a branch in Ottawa, crossing my fingers that it would arrive before I had to fly off to Halifax and then California.
 
It all worked out – except for the charities that automatically receive donations through that card, which we have to contact – and we were fortunate that Amazon caught and alerted us to the purchase and that we paid attention.
 
We’re told this is how it works: back in the day when a card number was stolen, thieves would make a credit card call via pay phone. If the card worked, they knew they could go ahead and use it on some big ticket items. Now, with the paucity of pay phones, they’ve moved on to other means. Thus the so-called web service purchase.
 
I’ll never stop purchasing online or using my card, period. I’m not afraid and I’m certainly not going to be cowed into changing my spending habits. I’ll just continue to be careful.
 
Kudos to Amazon for alerting us like this. We’re grateful to have paid attention and helped shut down this one attempt. We just all have to be in this together. And I hope if you see an email like the one we got, you won’t be as quick to blow it off as fake, as we initially were. Live and learn, right? Back with you here tomorrow.
 

Ah, Giving Tuesday. After the orgy of excess following US Thanksgiving (Black Friday and Cyber Monday, to name two of the red letter days on the spending calendar) this day is dedicated to thinking of others and maybe putting your money where their needs are.
 
For Rob and me, giving back has meant leaning in. I wrote here last year when he was officially made a member of Rotary International; I didn’t tell you that a few months ago, I joined, too. Here I am with our president Carolyn Morley, who also happens to be a neighbour of ours. 
 

 
I waited until the book was finished so that I could attend as many of the semi-monthly meetings as possible. Some Thursday nights (that’s when we meet; others get together at lunch or for pre-workday breakfasts) I took advantage of the few solo hours to dig deep.
 
So, what is Rotary exactly? You see those blue or gold wheel signs as you come into many towns or you may even spot one on a clock or as part of a special walkway in a place you’re visiting. Rotary is everywhere – that you know.
 

 
It’s a service club, meaning we’re all in the service of others. We’re located around the world in 200 countries with some 1.2 million members, all of whom pay to join and are expected to help raise funds and do good works.
 
In our nearby town of Sidney, BC for example, we’ve put up bus shelters. We ring the bells for the Salvation Army. We host coat checks at arts events to put more money in the coffers, so that projects like house builds (both locally and internationally) for Habitat for Humanity and polio vaccinations in poorer countries can continue. The ways we give to our communities, and to people we’ll never meet, are countless. So what’s in it for us?
 
Mostly, we enjoy the company of good, like-minded people who just want to help out in their community. When Rob and I arrived on the Saanich Peninsula nearly two years ago, we knew enough people to count on two hands. But joining Rotary gave us a new purpose: helping others, meeting people with diverse backgrounds (we all have our professions on our name tags) and getting together every few weeks and at community events to have a good time. It’s just so fulfilling.
 
Here’s what Rob and I are working on right now, even from this long distance: a radio campaign for the Rotary clubs in our district. 30 second public service announcements that are going to run on our favourite local FM station, trying to reach as many potential Rotary members as we can. So, in our way, we’re using our own abilities – writing, announcing, producing – to contribute to Rotary.
 
If you think this is a club you might want to look into, certainly there are 33,000 chapters worldwide. I’m going to guess there’s one near you that needs what you have to offer and you’re always welcome to go as a guest to a meeting near you.
 
In the meantime, to find out more, here’s a list of frequently asked questions. Maybe on this Giving Tuesday, giving of yourself could be the best way to mark the day this year.
 

A quick update: as you may have seen on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter (I do get around), a speaking engagement has been booked for Oakville on February 25, 2019. I was astounded to learn this (via Twitter!) but later the same day, equally shocked to discover it was sold out. I know, it’s not Wembley Stadium, but still, it felt pretty amazing.
 
So we’ll fill you in tomorrow once I’ve heard from HarperCollins regarding any other appearances (there will be some) and how to go about getting tickets. I promise you’ll learn about it here first. Okay, so now to today’s journal….
 
Think about it: one month today, Christmas will be over. For better AND for worse. I am so grateful to get your feedback about last week’s “Friday Fave” (the sunrise lamp) and there’s another one on the way this week: something I’d only read about and thought, Oh, that’s neat…. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Still Monday.
 
As always, the fake “War on Christmas” has raised its ugly head, although with Bill O’Reilly mostly out of the picture, the rhetoric seems to be carrying a little less momentum. I’m convinced the whole religious persecution thing was spread by Fox with the same glee as the vile Birther movement against President Obama, just to divide people. Boy, didn’t it work, though? And while I am a firm believer in a meme I ran across a few years ago, we met a woman last week who most definitely is not. I don’t know who wrote it, but it read:

No one said you can’t say Merry Christmas. Some people choose to say Happy Holidays to be inclusive to everyone. No one gets offended when you say Merry Christmas. There is no War on Christmas. Just say something nice and people will be happy. It’s really pretty simple.
 
Chill. Be happy.

Last week in the pre-Thanksgiving rush at Costco, Rob and I found a rare parking spot and observed as a woman who was likely in her 80s struggled to unload the heavy contents of her cart (which we couldn’t help noticing included a Kirkland brand bottle of vodka – complete with handle). We asked the tiny lady, whose hair was perfectly coiffed, her makeup maybe a little heavy, if we could help her unload. She thanked us and when we were finished, she said, “Merry Christmas. I still say that.”
 
We responded in kind and I added, “You always could.”
 
I realized at the time it might have sounded to her ears as though I was saying, “Back in the good ol’ days, that’s what we all said!” but what I meant was, “No one says you can’t, honey. That’s just made-up garbage to help you hate people who might have different beliefs from yours.”
 
At least, that’s what I thought at the time.
 
My sister works for a very large multi-national retailer, famous for paying its employees so little that they have to use the food bank to which shoppers donate within their stores. (That job, it seems, is about to become another line in the history of employment on her résumé, thank goodness.) When I posted my opinion on the bogus War on Christmas, she informed me that her store told employees only to say Happy Holidays and not Merry Christmas.
 
I find that hard to believe, but I guess if she says so, it’s true. It’s also sad. I think that whatever anyone wishes you, if it’s said in the spirit of kindness and goodwill, it should be allowed. I suppose store employees should have to stick with whatever is most widely acceptable to everyone, but honestly, if someone wished me a Happy Hannukah (and I’m not Jewish) I would say thank you and wish the same thing back. I don’t have any problem with people just being nice no matter what time of year it is! Isn’t it all about the “thought that counts?”
 
For another, much more pointed blog on the War on Christmas, you definitely want to read John Pavolovitz‘s take on it. This guy’s goooooood. 
 
Talk to you here tomorrow.
 

Yep – it’s Black Friday here in the US, or as my dad calls it, “those Excited States.” (I know he didn’t make that up, but like his #3 daughter, he knows a good joke when he steals one!)
 
Although there are some for whom this day and its bargain hunting are a true annual highlight, both in the US and other places that have adopted the Black Friday hype, you won’t find me anywhere near a store. For one thing, I avoid crowds wherever possible; even though I love appearing before one, I’d rather not be in one. Analyze that, why doncha! But since for some this officially kicks off the Christmas shopping season, I thought I’d begin a Friday tradition from here until the big day arrives. Why? Why not, right?
 
During that busy stretch of work earlier this month, I had a day of coffee and laptop time and I was watching The View. It was Whoopi’s 63rd birthday and she celebrated it with abandon and reminded us that everyone should, in honour of those who didn’t and don’t get the opportunity to do just that. At the end of the show, in what was clearly an advertiser sponsored thing, she presented her “Favorite Things,” taking a page from Oprah.
 
I always loved to read about Oprah’s favs in her magazine. Almost all of them were either unaffordable or impractical things that didn’t pertain to my life (how many picnic baskets does one need, anyway?) but I saw Whoopi plug something that reminded me how much I love mine. Mind you, I haven’t used it since December 2016, when I no longer had to get up regularly before the sun. But with these short cold days and Christmas coming, how could I not remind you that this might well be on your list of favourite things when it comes to asking Santa this year? Here’s what I wrote about it in the past. And by the way, mine is distinctly not advertiser-sponsored.

A doctor friend recommended – for purposes of fighting depression and getting seratonin working in the early morning dark – getting one of these.  

 

The whole idea is to awaken in an already lit room, as though one was getting up at sunrise, as nature intended. The light gradually gets brighter and brighter until it’s fully on, and you can even accompany the light with bird sounds, gentle rain or water sound effects (uh, no…) or new age music.
 
It works beautifully…we have managed to awaken gently to our light alarm yesterday and today by setting it to begin 15 minutes before the time we want to get up. That means that at 3:30, the pitch black room begins to brighten. Then at 3:45 our other alarms (two phones, two stereos and a clock radio) all go off. By 4:00, when the hot lemon juice has been downed and the espresso enjoyed, I’m well into my pre-show Twitter scan and the room is bright.
 
I think…I think…I’m wider awake these days thanks to the illumination that tricks my little brain into thinking that the sun is up. I’m going to keep at this. But what I also need is for it to brighten up at 5pm when our afternoon nap is over – because it’s dark then, too!
 
Ah, morning hours. Best time to be on the radio (for me), no question, but oh, the challenges. Luckily, you make it worthwhile. 

There you go – from a journal originally published five years ago. I can’t tell you how much I wished I’d had one decades earlier to help me with those crazy early hours. I still have one of these lights in my closet at home; the other (the one I bought for the even earlier cottage-to-work mornings) went to my friend Lisa who, having just left radio mornings in London, Ontario to live a reWired life, may well be passing hers on to someone else who works the pre-dawn hours.
 
If you have someone on your gift list who gets up early and maybe even struggles with Seasonal Affective Disorder, this may well be what you’re looking for. Or get it for yourself and you’ll be grateful every work morning.
 
Sweet dreams and have a great weekend. By the way, next week’s Friday Favourite is another cool product designed to help you sleep those golden slumbers. Hmmm…seems like a bit of a theme, doesn’t it?