Lise's Ramblings

Today, it operates as a national museum of immigration, but in its heyday, Halifax’s Pier 21 was Canada’s ocean gateway, welcoming more than a million new immigrants and refugees to our shores. (For my American readers, Pier 21 was our Ellis Island from 1928 to 1971.)    While I’ve walked through the museum’s collections and exhibits, I, like one in five Canadians, also share a personal connection to Pier 21. In October 1941, my grandfather , along with his fellow Royal Canadian Air Force servicemen, other military personnel and plenty of frozen mutton, shipped out of Halifax on the HMT Mataroa to support our allies.  Years later, my British grandmother was one of nearly 50,000 war brides who sailed to Canada for fresh starts with colonial hubbies they met during the Second World War. I believe Mom-mom arrived on Cunard’s RMS Mauretania , before she passed through the doors of Pier 21’s immigration shed. Pier 21 marked a transition point for so many. I can only imagine the swe

Not in the hold-that-pose-for-30-seconds kind of stretching. I mean the stretching that causes you to leap beyond your comfort zone's outer limits. Life is busy. A perfect excuse for not stretching. After all, taking risk requires more effort and time than sticking to what we know. Add to that the strain of weighing all those what-if scenarios. Any wonder we stick to routine. Sure, familiarity breeds comfort and a sense of security. But, beware the trap. When everything comes to you too easily, you risk stagnating.  Take if from me, stepping outside that comfort zone can be as exhilarating as it is frightening. Even if you don't succeed on as many levels as you would within your usual sphere, it’s uplifting to just push the boundaries of your comfort zone. For example, I'm taking baby steps outside my comfort zone. During November, you won’t see two to three random ramblings per week, because I’ll be engrossed with s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g. How? NaNoWriMo. That stands for N