Journeyman Stories

One of my favorite movies of all time is “Serendipity”. It is a great romantic comedy (If I were an actor, this could be one of the movies I would play in). Before I watched the movie, I did not know the meaning of the word “Serendipity”. Here is one of the meaning of Serendipity: “the effect by which one accidentally stumbles upon something fortunate, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated”. Such was my experience a few weeks ago in Montreal. As I mentioned in one of my recent blogs (I hope you got a chance to read it, otherwise go back and skim through it before you carry on with this one. That’s my assignment to you and there might be a quiz afterwards lol), I was in Montreal hosting an event, and I “accidentally stumbled upon” one of the guest speakers. What a fortune accident! The last time I saw Jeanine, I was a little boy. We lived in the same area (our moms were great friends) and we attended the same high school. When she left to pursue her studies in the U...

Back to normal life after a few busy weeks. It's great to wake up in the morning feeling rested and ready to go (yes, Ama. Hoping you won’t ask me to get a life again lol). Two weeks ago, somebody told me: “Patrick, you are a doing machine. Find some time to just be”. I laughed so much, but I came to see that she was right. After much consideration, I took last Monday off. All I did was respond to a few e-mails, some of them to friends who were just discovering my blog for the first time (Vanessa, I am not trying to name any names lol, but your comments were so great. Thanks a lot), some others were discussing with me about an opportunity of me blogging for them (I really felt honoured, so I said yes. Stay tuned for more on that). I was again the MC of an event a few weeks ago. Despite my team losing at the Basketball game prior to the event, I had great fun. I guess now the Lakers are having second thoughts about signing me to that contract I have long waited for. If that doesn’t ...

I just started a new relationship. It is an amazing one. I really love this person so much that it takes a song to describe it. I thought of a great romantic song and I came up with Whitney Houston’s The Greatest Love of All. Here is how it goes: “I found the greatest love of all inside of me.The greatest love of all is easy to achieve. Learning to love yourself It is the greatest love of all” Yes. I am learning to love myself (I know you were expecting me to say something else lol). It is not as easy as it seems. I must admit that it took me a great deal of courage to face...me. I once heard a speaker say that when you seem to get stuck over and over again in some areas of your life, check up from the neck up. That is what I did recently. I took a thorough and honest look at the man in the mirror (I think Michael Jackson’s song came in handy). What I saw was not a pretty picture (but I am that bad either). There were things I had to face, and my coaches (yes I have many) helped me a l...

I have been to Montreal a couple of times, but I cannot say I know the city well. Of all my trips there, the longer I have stayed is 3 days. I usually go just for a week end. On every occasion there is somebody to pick me up either at the airport or bus terminal, I just have to show up. This time it was different. I knew I had to go to Montreal (I was the MC of an event taking place there), but I had little time to prepare as I was on the road for the most part prior to my trip. A day before my trip, I had no idea how I would get to Montreal and where to stay. Because I had been away for a while, I did not get a chance to talk to the organizers of the event about the logistics of my trip until only a day before (what an adventure!). But...a quick phone call to my friend Emery and there was a place for me to stay. I guess that’s what friends are for. I then decided to take the Mega Bus. Good decision. The bus is so comfortable and makes it feel like you are flying. Plus I had access to ...

Back to Toronto after a week on the road. The last few days have been amazing. I left on Thursday for New York City, came back on Monday morning (5am to be exact), then headed to Buffalo New York the same day, and by 1am I was back to Toronto saying to myself: “This is crazy”. Hold on there is more. On the next day, I was back on the road again this time going to Brantford Ontario and came back to Toronto around 11pm. Two days later, here I am on my way to Montreal for a week-end of festivities. In a few weeks, I am heading back to New York and if things go according to plan, I may go to Africa later this year (crazy isn’t it?). As I am writing this, I am amazed at how my life has turned out. Never in my mind had I thought I would travel this much. In fact, since July 2005, I have traveled at least every 3 months. On my way home from Brantfort, I was thinking a few years back about what my mom said to me when I was coaching Basketball. She said “when are you going to have a life?”. An...