No way but to go through with it

Dave and Louisei n the tent

I had to go off the roof tonight for awhile. When we'd planned the event last September, we had talked about three days. For some reason -- call it my right brain thinking -- three days did not connect to three nights. Until Alan Facey, our Director of Administration and Finance, who's amazing with numbers and dates, mentioned last week that 72 hours beginning at 9am Monday doesn't end until 9am Thursday -- not Wednesday.

 Oh. Really? Those right brains. They definitely don't get numbers some days. Okay, most days.

What the right brain does gets is -- the heart. The meaning. The relevance of what is happening here On the Roof. We are making a difference. We are being made different.

 Different.

As in, being up here on the roof, even when I had to leave for a couple of hours, has created a difference in my life and in this place.

A friendly visit from CPS

 As Dave (my tent mate who does snore, though he denies it) says -- "When I came here I was hired to create new fundraising strategies. I think there's a spin-off in what we did On the Roof which is surprising and really exciting. Not only did we raise money and meet new donors, but through this event there are now clients who are aware that there are people doing something different for them. And the staff are aware that there are people trying new ways to bring awareness to homelessness and to promote the DI. Through the staff who came up here to sleep, and to just sit on the roof for a few hours, this has become a real team builder. It's actually not about the fundraising, it's about the bonding. Amongst the staff and the staff and clients. Bringing us all closer together. Certainly there were clients who were aware that this was going on -- and they're talking amongst themselves about what's happening. And that's exciting and it makes possibilities open up."

 Possibilities opening.

Dave's Girls
Denise, Anne, Liseanne, Christy

 I feel it, sitting up here on the roof after leaving to give a speech and coming back to meet up with a reporter from CTV -- thank you Bill MacFarland -- Change is in the air. Possibilities have opened.


 There are so many out there. Waiting. Opening up. Evolving. So many possibilities to be explored. Sitting up here on the roof, feeling the support of staff and clients and media and the community at large I know. We are not alone. We are all connected.

 Being here has connected me to that bigger picture. That place where 'no way' is not a direction to 'not' take, it's the direction that must be taken. It is the opening into more. More of what we want in our world. What we want in our lives and in our communities. No way isn't a sign that says, Keep Out. It's a sign that says, YES! This is the way to more. This is the opening to step into possibility.

Janice catches... the rays?  A cold?
the On the Roof Fever! 

 It's been an amazing 3 days on the roof. As we enter our last night in the tent, we are reminded -- all things are possible when we let go of the notion -- there's no way it can't work. No way it can't happen. It can. It will. It must. Happen. Simply because we know -- there's always a way when we let go of saying, No.

 On Monday morning I arrived on the roof wondering it if would actually work. Could we? Would we? Stay the course? As we enter our last night in the tent I know. There was no way we couldn't. No way we wouldn't go through with it. Because going through with it is the only way to discover what it's all about.

Going through with it is the way to 'it'. That 'it' that says, yes we can because we must bring people in from the streets. We must lead the way so that people can find themselves again on this road called homeless. and in their uncovering themselves, they can find their way back home to where they belong.


 Namaste.