by Craille Maguire Gillies
OK, so we lied. On the cover, that is. Our “prescription” for 2009 is more a set of guidelines, suggestions for finding a balance. Because there is no hegemony to health and wellness, no one-size-fits-all approach.
I was reminded of this in early December, when the unlimited crew, including new editor Kent Bruyneel (more on him later) and a diverse group of professionals gathered in Banff for our inaugural Unlisted Summit. Appearing with writer-broadcaster Malcolm Azania and industrial designer Shoko César on a panel about creativity and innovation was Calgary musician Kris Demeanor, who once dressed up as a “pizza cowboy” (whatever that is) to hawk McCain’s International Series Thin Crust Texas Barbecue Chicken Pizza on TV. (He wrote about this gig in our 2008 Travel + Rec Issue.)
Demeanor told summit participants (read more about the event on page 48) about his creative process and his challenge to manage the business side of his career. “It’s easy to let five years pass where you don’t have a plan and you do what you think you should be doing. I find that I have had more fun thinking about those longer term plans, thinking how I can rattle the art form that I feel comfortable in and make it more challenging and exciting.” This means something coming from a guy who has self-professed organizational issues.
César, meanwhile, said that you can’t plan for creativity. “Don’t focus on the outcome. If it doesn’t work, try something else and look at it from a different perspective.” What does any of this have to do with health and wellness? Though their strategies couldn’t have been more different, César and Demeanor had customized their working lives so that it, well, worked for them.
This theme appears in most of the stories in this issue. In “Fire In The Head,” Heather Zwicker offers a personal look at burnout – a dark side of our jobs that many of us can identify with. Which is where the resilience training that Bobbi Barbarich reports about in “unlimited’s Total Work-Life Checkup” comes in. Barbarich, who’s also a trained dietitian, looks at everything you do during the two-thirds of the day you aren’t working that affect the one-third you are. We’re also introducing Project Start-up, a six-part series that follows one innovative company every step of the way.
This Health And Wellness Issue has a few ideas to get you started, from profiles of people who’ve found their own kind of balance. It all comes back to something else César said: “Plan your career around life not the other way around.” Everything, he implied, will flow naturally from there. This might not be a philosophy to share with your financial planner, but it is one idea of many that will help you get started as you enter a fresh New Year of possibilities.
Craille Maguire Gillies
News Flash
Speaking of new beginnings, Kent Bruyneel will join us for the March/April Comings And Goings Issue. By the way, he fits into the former category: Kent was born in Vancouver, studied business in Charlottetown and has spent the past five years in Saskatoon as the editor of the literary magazine Grain. He’s also finishing up a PhD in literature, so he knows from balance. You can reach him at kbruyneel@unlimitedmagazine.com.
Category: Articles
Leave a Reply
