Meghan on NKOTB, mindful moments and Gratitude....

I first met Meghan at the School where we teach. I used to come into her classroom once a week to teach Health and at the time I was just back to work after a leave and she had a very challenging class. I found her to be incredibly supportive and helpful towards me in her classroom and in the staff room Meghan was always so positive. It is easy to be drawn to her energy and passion for teaching! 

I was delighted when she agreed to be interviewed on the blog about Gratitude and of course about her love of New Kids on the Block! 

If someone were to meet you at a dinner party and asked you to tell them about yourself and your life - what would you say?
Im originally from Tillsonburg. I’ve lived in Collingwood for the last 19 years. I’m a teacher, and love it. I’ve been with my significant other for the last 10 years and I have two teenage step sons. 
 

You have this insatiable joy for the New Kids on The Block in fact, when you talk about it your energy is contagious!  Can you tell us what it is about this group that lights you up so much?  
I have a sweatshirt that says “it’s a blockhead thing, you wouldn’t understand” it’s hard to explain. I have loved them since I was 13. Maybe it’s a first love.... that never broke my heart. Maybe it’s pure innocents, never been jaded, by a single negative experience. Always 100% a positive. It’s hours and hours and hours of thoughts, over a life time... they have been apart of my life for 30 years. As a kid I worshiped them. I remember at a concert, Donnie split the audience, one half chanted ‘drugs’ the other half chanted  ‘suck’ (goosebumps) I was never tempted to do drugs because of that moment. I  can honestly say they have been nothing but a positive influence on my life. I have met so many amazing people along the way (including the band) some of my very good friends I met standing in line at a nk’s concert. It really, really is pure joy!

Would you share a time or times in your life that you had to dig deep to find gratitude? 
There have been so many. I have had a lot of  big (traumatic) events in my life; deaths, accidents, financial, legal, family...And for a long, long time I always just marched through. So many times people would say to me, ‘you’re so strong’, ‘you’re so positive’. I don’t know that I was...I used my positivity to cover it all up. I think I was (am) an expert at stuffing. Stuffing it all away. As I type this I can feel it welling up.... It’s only just recently that I have begun to dig deep... and not by choice. You see when you stuff it away, it doesn’t go away... it gets worse. Recently, last spring I crashed and burned, after years and years of feeling numb. I felt it all, emotionally, and physically. I couldn’t avoid it any more. So, I took time off of work, I went to counseling and lots of it. I took everything off of my plate, so to speak. And it was really,  really hard. I went to yoga. I breathed . I walked and walked and walked on the beach. I picked up driftwood and I created. I painted. I am still a work in progress... I have a lot more digging to do. But I feel again, I can breathe again. I know I am on a path that is rocky and not always stable. But I will keep trying. 

What is your version of a gratitude attitude today? 
This is a work in progress for me. It doesn’t come naturally to me. I was much better at it when I was off work and had more time. But, I try to find time in my day to breathe. Because for a while there, it felt like I couldn’t breath.  I have always been a positive person. I am trying to find a balance between being positive and feeling those, not so nice feelings. I do take time daily... well sometimes weekly to write in my gratitude journal.  I ask my family and friends what they are grateful for. I try to be more present, and mindful during moments in my day. And... I need (working on adding) more yoga back in my life. 


Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to participate and be part of the blog Meghan!! I believe that everyone’s story is valuable to someone and that by sharing we help each other in so many ways. 

With gratitude, 
Lindsay 

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