Matt Corker » Travel

Value and Motivation: Wesley George

Matt Corker — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:26:08 +0000

corker #3: Wesley George! Wes is a seeker of truths. After becoming friends in Vancouver, he went off to complete his degree in mathematics in Ontario and has since moved to New York to help a professor with some of her projects as he completes his PhD in cryptography. He looks for what is true and real (in numbers and in life). I feel smarter by simply talking to him for 5 minutes. His wisdom is infectious. (And also so vast that we chose to separate his musing into two posts for you!) What a corker.

I caught up with S, an old friend of mine, over the Christmas break. S. is in the third year of dental school in Michigan. I don’t remember when he first got the idea, but it was something he committed fully to. He spends two summers studying for the DAT. Canadian schools show no interest in his (multiple) applications, but he’s accepted to a school in Michigan; after securing a massive loan, the journey begins.

I wasn’t shy to question his motives. I felt that he, like many students, took this path because he imagined it would in the future offer him the freedom to do the things that were important, whatever he eventually decided these were. It is that the real values are as yet unarticulated, and that this path of training does nothing to shape them that this choice seems disordered.

Whatever S.’s original motivation was, it runs out 2 years into this program. The promise of future freedom no longer has purchase. (freedom for what?) Class is unappealing. Studying seems pointless. He skips class to sit at home, smoking weed and playing Halo in his underwear. Even the enormous debt of two year’s tuition – whose repayment seems impossible without the income potential of a dentist – is no motivation.

Now earlier that term, when he still cared, S. had signed up to spend part of his summer in Guatemala with Dentists without Borders. And though he’s in no place to be making new commitments, he honours this one and leaves for Guatemala.

The work is not glamorous and the days are long. Largely he’s pulling infected teeth. By Canadian standards, this is emergency medicine not dentistry. But it’s easy to see how this thing he’s doing is important to the people he’s with. There’s a new importance to his work.

Suddenly it clicks.

It’s not important that this is dentistry or medicine, that he’s in Guatemala, or that he’s alleviating suffering. He could be a mechanic back in Detroit, a barber in Sudbury, a bus driver in Manitoba, a web developer in Vancouver; take your pick. The point is that he sees how his skills – his commitments, his investments – can effect other people’s reality, and so they have cause to seek him out as he can help them better their lives.

This is why what he’s doing is valuable – because it involves him with other people, enabling him and empowering him to participate in society.

Dentistry is cast in a new light – it is not about provisioning for some unspecified future investment, it is enabling him right now to take up the things most valuable.

With this, all tension, all hesitation, all doubt dissolves. He is renewed, reborn. New clarity: his actions follow directly from and reinforce his values. And with this clarity, purpose.

So why didn’t he see this before?

More musing from the corker series:
corker #1: Steph Corker -The Remarkable Journey
corker #2: Mike Desjardins – Creating White Space

Pick of the Post: Austra – Beat and the Pulse

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Day 4-6: European Yogi Nomads hit Basel

Matt Corker — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:49:23 +0000

With my travel essentials in tow (a rad playlist, my mat, and my new favourite body refresher), I spent the last three days of my reading deprivation week in Basel, Switzerland with the European Yogi Nomads.

8 hours of yoga was the perfect remedy for the aches and pains of not being able to read (or share my excitement about this adventure with others online). It was a weekend spent in my own body, and my own mind.

The people around me, from the Copenhagen kula, would joke and chat in Danish which gave me the chance to simply be in the conversation. Rather than trying to translate, or ask them to speak in English, I could sit back and enjoy their facial expressions, the intonation of their voices, and the crazy dance moves they would break out while cooking dinner. It was cool to experience happiness without knowing what witty comment triggered it.

The yoga, led by some superbly talented teachers, reacquainted me with my body. Note: my hips and butt are still talking to me! Press handstands, rolling down to full wheel … it was crazy. There is something about laughing out loud on a yoga mat – especially while reaching the peak of / falling out of a pose – that reminds me not to take myself so seriously. My inner critic definitely got a good kick in the butt this weekend. My best self also got some serious love. Thanks Copenhagen Kula!

Next stop for the European Yogi Nomads – Copenhagen. Can March be tomorrow?

Pick of the Post: Kelly Rowland – Down for Whatever

Day 2 + 3: Distraction & Creative Action

Matt Corker — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:16:02 +0000

Day 1 was filled with temptation. The textbooks, the incoming letters from friends I haven’t heard from in years, the blog posts … all tempting to read. I did not give in.

Day 2, yesterday, was a day of distraction. Was there an episode of Community that I could kill some time with? What about perusing pinterest for some visual stimulation? How much time could I spend watching videos on YouTube? (When I found myself watching babies laughing and beagles, I knew it was time to stop.) My procrastination had turned from text to images.

Day 3, today, is the day of creative action. I started off my day with a meeting with the Department of Management, Politics, and Philosophy about their research in self-management. This is the department at CBS that asks questions like “What is money?” and “How do we use co-creation in today’s society?” and hires (read: pays) PhD candidates to do research in authenticity and vulnerability in the business world. It was 10 am and my mind was blown.

My day continued with the download of Danielle’s Big Beautiful Book Plan. It was time to answer the call and realize that this blog may have been the beginning of something bigger … stay tuned.

And now, I am moments away from taking on another artist task for the week: create a vacation and make plans to do it. Well – “all talk, no action” and I don’t go well together. When a plan is created, I commit to making it happen. So I am flying off to Basel, Switzerland with the European Yogi Nomads to enjoy 4 classes this weekend with some great people from across Europe. One of the classes is being taught by Nanna (my friend/teacher here in Copenhagen) and Chris Chavez – together!

Worlds are about to collide in Basel and it will be beautiful.

Pick of the Post: MC Yogi – Give Love

The Highlights of 2011

Matt Corker — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:23:59 +0000

Every year I love writing this post. It allows me to take the time to reflect on where I came from, who played a large part in my life over the last year, and remember the rad adventures that made me smile from ear to ear. It’s like a yearbook of awesome. I especially love it this year as it is making this layover en route back to Copenhagen fly by (pun intended?).

As seen through the highlights of 2008, 2009, and 2010 – lots has changed. With a humble heart and really huge dose of gratitude, I share with you the best moments of 2011:

January

Geeked out with Conor et all as we watched online when Sauder took home School of the Year at JDC West “one more time”
Presented another award-winning workshop at the UBC Student Leadership Conference

February

Got accepted into my MBA program at the Copenhagen Business School
Spread a little love for yogis on Valentine’s Day with NoMoSolo
Spent the weekend on Bowen with Zoe & Haas updating our vision + goals and laughing until we cried (I love that this is now a tradition!)

March:

Celebrated borderless friendship when my fav gents from Ontario flew out west to join us for a hippie party and a road trip to the Great Big Sea concert

Witnessed Peter’s epic surprise proposal to Joe. Holy love fest!
Met a man that reminded me what it feels like to fall head over heels in love.
Went up to Whistler to experience Camp Drishti 1 and to uncover my inauthentic leadership

April:

Cheered like a maniac at my first roller derby with Woo and DFern. Go Public Frenemies!
Headed back to Whistler for Camp Dristi 2 and experience the igolu principles by Susanne Conrad
Snowshoe’d and ear candled the weekend away with sis in beautiful Manning Park

May:

Cheered and clapped REALLY loud for Conor at his first performance with the Vancouver Men’s Chorus
Rocked the stage at UBC Alumni Weekend with a session on Why Goals Are Not Enough
Kicked an hour off my time at the BMO Vancouver Marathon thanks to a rad group of people

June:

Re-vamped my blog with the help of the brilliant artist Michael
Celebrated my Mom’s birthday out west. Real goodness + real conversations + real wilderness = real love.

July:

Played my first round of golf on Bowen with Joe, Peter, and Preston
Cheered on my best friend from a distance as he conquered the Spartan Death Race

August: (this month was E-PIC!)

Headed down to Portland for the weekend with the best group of friends a guy could ask for

Front. Row. At. Jason. Mraz. (need I say more?)

Raced around in mud at the Whistler Warrior Dash

Crushed my 100 before 100 – bungee jumping, hot air ballooning, making chocolate by hand…
Celebrated my birthday with a rad party and a hilarious camping trip
Said goodbye – to Vancouver, to my relationship, to my job – to say hello to the Life Europa

September:

Moved to Copenhagen to start my MBA at the Copenhagen Business School
Discovered Hamsa Yoga Studio - and the great people that are a part of that community
Supported imagine1day’s 1 School 1 Day event with a run around Copie

October:

Rocked out on a mat with Carlson when he came to visit

Was a tourist in my own town during Culture Night
Headed to London to rock out with the lululemon crew at the London Yoga Show and reconnect with friends from Van

November:

Lifted Martin with two fingers at “Leadership Bootcamp” with my class thanks to some Butanese magic
Made a Van-fam dinner with Calvin, Bonn, and Lanie

December:

Partied the night away at a memorable Julefrukost with my classmates – fake mustaches, snapps, and all

Had the best 2 weeks vacationing in Vancouver! Laughing with Steph at 6 am, getting sweaty with some of Vancouver’s finest people and instructors, dance partying (at every opportunity), eating great pie and sushi, meeting new friends who I believe will be shining in my life for a while, jamming on leadership theories, dating for 6 days, playing board games til the wee hours of morning (to FINALLY beat FLam at Settlers) – it was all so perfect. Thanks for the monumental end to 2011.

Holy wow. What a year. Correction: what a LIFE!
And now it’s 2012! Here we go again…
What are you celebrating from this past year?

Pick of the Post: Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe

_ is the new _

Matt Corker — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:52:11 +0000

I missed two days of posting. I know you don’t mind. You were off enjoying the holidays, the loved ones, and the delicious food like I was. How perfect is that!?

On this two week vacation in Van, I am reminded that things change. In fact, a lot has changed here in Vancouver since I’ve left. And it’s all really good. It’s also cool to see how easy my life can change with a simple change in location. (“The more we change, the easier change becomes” holds some truth here.) What I had in Copenhagen is not what I have here in Vancouver, and both are super rad!

A car is the new bike.
My sister is the new rad flatmate.
Hilarious one-liners are the new sarcastic comments.
BC wine is the new Tuborg.
Organic pie is the new late-night hotdog.
Magazines are the new textbook chapters.
6 days is the new long term.
The radio is my new iPod playlist.
YYoga is the new Hamsa.

This also reminds me that a new year is upon us. Just like a change of location can spur some really cool changes in our lives, so can a new year. So, as I prepare and reflect for the year ahead, I begin to ask myself: what is the new ____?

Some fun examples from GOOD are:

Pick of the Post: DJ Earworm – United State of Pop 2011: World Goes Boom

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‘Twas the Night Before Leaving

Matt Corker — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:41:17 +0000

‘Twas the night before leaving, and all through the house.
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse (*phew*)
The luggage was loaded by the front door with care
In hopes that 4 am soon would be here.

The rest of the city all snug in their beds
Trying to recover from the snapps in their heads.
With Kristina in her room, and I down the hall
I was trying to bide time before my departure, that’s all.

When out from my playlist there rose such a clatter
I sprang to my comp to see what was the matter
A great little ditty had started to play
And my only response, “a dance party? Ok!”

The moon on the breast of the rain lined streets
Nothing was distracting me from these beats.
When what do my wandering eyes do appear
But my online booking, (this is where Kai would cheer)

With a click of a button, I was already set
For two-weeks in Vancouver (after 19 hours on a jet).
More rapid than eagles I’m glad airplanes fly
Cause I just can’t wait for the good times to arrive.

“Now sushi! Now dancefloors! Now laughing ’til we sleep!
On yoga! On jam seshes! On parties with rad peeps!
To the top of the mountains! To the edge of the seawall!
With my sis! And the crew! We’ll LTD it all!”

And then, in a twinkling, I looked at the time
It was almost the moment when my alarm was to chime.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
I smiled a big smile – I was Copie Airport bound!

I sprang to the metro, leaving my bike behind
Now excited to see what inflight moves I’d find
So hear me exclaim, as I leave out of sight
“Merry Christmas dear Copie, and to Van – see you Monday night!”

(In the meantime, enjoy this pick of the post – straight from my dance party to yours)

Unique Ways to Stay Connected From A Distance

Matt Corker — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:22:49 +0000

If the, now finished(!!), banking saga taught me one thing, it is the power of staying connected. Staying connected to my faith, to the principles I live by, and also to the rad people in my life that make challenging times enjoyable. Besides the e-mail and Facebook updates, we’ve found some fun ways to stay connected from a distance. I thought I’d share some of my favourites:

1. Playing Scrabble
Board games and best friends. It’s hard to find a better combo. Zoe and I rock out games of scrabble together via the Scrabble Free app for iPhone. My joy of just finding a word amongst the letters has now turned into valiant attempts at composing saucy seven letter words to keep Zoe on her toes. I’m learning – and am currently in the lead in one of our games. (I’m going to intentionally leave out the fact that she has won ALL 9 games we’ve played back-to-back.) I think my Dad would have a hay-day with this app if he ever traded in Zach Morris’ phone for an iPhone.

2. Lose It! Weekly Summaries
If there is one thing that tops the chart of “things that are important to me” – it’s health. As part of a friends goal to run a half-marathon, he started tracking his food intake and exercise regime via the Lose It! app and added me to the weekly summary report to help hold him accountable. Every Sunday I got an update on how he was doing. This usually provoked a conversation about exercise tips, healthy snack ideas, or about how he was feeling about his progress to date. It’s cool to watch someone go after a goal. It’s even cooler to be a part of it.

3. YouTube Cover Video Showdown
YouTube is one of the many sources I find new tunes for my Picks of the Post. In my quest for new tunes, I’ve discovered some really rad cover songs that I think need to be shared. Enter in the YouTube Cover Video Showdown. My friend Woo selects a song, I find a cover of it and post it to her Facebook, she posts another cover of the same song in rebuttal, and our pal Darran gets to decide who found the best cover. The stakes are tied at 2-2 right now in true showdown fashion.

You can join in to if you want. Comment section – best cover of “Moves Like Jagger” – go! Here’s my entry:

4. Podcast Commentary
Felicia and I used to go to the same church in Vancouver. Now, she still attends and I listen to the podcast version of the sermon. Instead of talking about the service over brunch afterward, we’ve made a weekly Skype date to talk about what we got out of the message. It gives us an opportunity to engage in dialogue about something important to us AND get a weekly update all at the same time.

5. Breakfast Together
My favourite way to wake-up is to see a smiling face staring back at me. At 6:30 in the morning, I grab a bowl of cereal, my friends grab a bowl of ice cream (its dessert time on the west coast of Canada), and we laugh and update each other in between bites. It’s a perfect start to the day and a great reminder that even when they’re miles away, they’re still here.

Great friendships know no geographic boundary.

Pick of the Post: Mat Karney – Head Or Your Heart

The Remarkable Journey: Steph Corker

Matt Corker — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:33:13 +0000

Could I have anyone else other than my wicked sister start off this series? Of course not. This iron(WO)man, attraction ninja, baker, and adventurer extraordinaire has dropped truth bombs on me for years now. As she traveled the globe in October, she stopped to share some lessons from her Journey with us.

I crave start lines and I live for finish lines; I write lists to feel accomplished when things are crossed off; I have defined myself by jobs I’ve loved (and hated!) and success by the size of my inbox. Yet what I know for sure is that the Journey is what makes it all worth while. I’m writing this fresh off a plane from a whirl wind trip to Asia, on the eve of lululemon’s Leadership Conference whilst totally jet lagged and concerned for the quality of my run in a few hours. None of these are line items to be checked off – in fact, they are remarkable experiences deserving to be savored because only from livin’ it up do i have the honour of being awake at 2AM!

In the last month, the brilliant Steve Jobs passed away and a world record was set by a 100 year old man who finished the Toronto Marathon. I’m pretty sure that Steve didn’t care how many emails were not answered and Fauja’s crossing of the finish line was about a whole lot more than 26.2miles. Our time is short and we don’t know when it will be taken away, so what I’m committed to is a really remarkable Journey…

Here’s is what I pack on my Journey:

1. Water – we are made up of 90% of it; it fuels our brain; and straightens our spins. Bottoms up, H20!

2. Vitamins – VitC + D, Apple Cider Vinegar, Psyllium, E3LiveBrainOn + a multi for good measure. Heaps of spinach + kale. Everything in a vitamix! Repeat daily.

3. Endorphins – I prefer to swimbikerun with a lil bit of yoga. You might prefer to skipjumpdance, lie in savasna with a bolster + a blanket, learn how to ride a bike, hike a new mountain, sign up for a new race….whatever you do, just move your body! Sweating is the by product – the sign of fat cells crying! It’s always worth it.

4. Rad Gratitude + Generous Enthusiasm, wrapped in Love. Period. Please + ThankYouThankYouThankYou, said with a smile…it is the universal language of Awesome and I wish everyone spoke it.

5. My Tribe – “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Family + friends; young + old; new + treasured. Your cheerleaders + motivators, your inspiration + accountability partners, your shoulder to cry on + hand to high five. They remind you that everything is recoverable + everything is remarkable. My life is so much sweeter because of them.

I’m so proud to be a Corker…especially related to Sir William Corker. You can find more of my random musings over here where I blog about Kale, Crunches + Kilometers on my journey to a six pack!

What are your Journey essentials?

Perhaps the sweetest of all is when the dream lands you on a beach for sunrise + sunset!

Steph

Stopped Down in London Town

Matt Corker — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:56:20 +0000

I headed to London on a whim and, as previously mentioned, these stories tend to have a happy ending.

I got off the plane, found my Oyster card from my bag, and minded the gap all the way to the London Business School. After getting off at the wrong stop, realizing my cell phone network doesn’t provide service in the UK, and getting lost for 15 minutes – I found my way to LBS to meet up with Derek. Did he tell me it was an open bar event for their MBA students and that another rad Vancouver-ite would be there to make my first night in London SO memorable? No, he didn’t. Life is great when it comes with surprises eh!

I made my way to the hotel where my friends from lululemon were staying only to discover that they weren’t back yet. (Party animals!) I found a glass of red wine at the hotel bar, my highlighter, and my Innovation & Entrepreneurship readings and went to town. Halfway done the glass (and two pages into the reading….) the crew arrives and we top up empty glasses.

Rocking out at the Yoga Show was the intention of the 3 day weekend. After 8 yoga classes (including 3 challenging workshops), a visit to one of lululemon’s partner studios, connecting with tons of cool instructors from around the world, chillin on bean bag chairs with new friends as they waited to try on PILES of clothing, and seriously kickin it up kitchen-party style – I would say we rocked it.

Being surrounded by, and working out with, such talented and hilarious people all weekend was like going for a run in my favourite sneakers. It reminded me what it feels like to be at my best, to be alive, and to be really truly sweaty! Thank goodness for silverescent. Just sayin.

After big days came big nights. A dinner with friends I’ve had since first year at UBC bled into a swank evening out at the Home House. More belly laughs, more great conversations, and, after all that yoga, my body actually lasted til 4 am. Time flies when time doesn’t matter! Before I knew it I was folding up my (un) mat and heading to the airport again.

As I boarded my last tube ride of the trip, I reached into my bag to put away my Oyster card and pulled out a bookmark left on my mat after one of the workshops I attended. It read:

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do. – Rumi

BOOM!

Thank you to everyone who made this past weekend one for the books. (I told you these stories have happy endings.)

Pick of the Post: David Guetta ft Jennifer Hudson – Night of Your Life

$20,000 Down, Looking Up

Matt Corker — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:38:59 +0000

I was ready to share a blog post today about what I learned from my remarkable weekend in London with some stellar friends (both new and old). And BOY was this weekend worth sharing!

However, when I sat down, I checked my online banking to see what damage I did after the pounds had been converted to dollars, and that’s when I saw it. $20,000 withdrawn from my account to pay some “bill” in Ontario. Not being in Ontario or buying anything from Ontario … I think it is safe to say that this money was taken without my consent. (I don’t know what your relationship with money is like. For me, that is a huge sum of money – especially with tuition still not paying for itself these days.)

An hour call to CIBC (thank you Skype!) left me with no answers of why this happened. They reassured me, however, that the money will be back in my account soon, so not much to worry about now.

What was interesting was how flustered my service rep on the phone was. On multiple occasions she would say “thank you for being so calm about this” and “I feel like I’m more stressed out about this than you are.” I took the gratitude and re-assured her that it wasn’t my intention to add stress into her life. (I also told her she could try rocking out her favourite yoga pose or having a mojito if she wanted to de-stress a little … she told me it was 8 am her time … I said that shouldn’t matter.)

After we had a game plan of what was going to happen going forward and had hung up the phone, I was reminded that crappy things happen in life. Life is not all gum drops and roses. There are wars, break-ups, disease, and random money withdrawals that add some (albeit unwanted at times) twists and turns along the road.

I thought about what Deanne says in this video. “Before coming to lululemon, I would have let a flat tire wreck my day.” $20,000 gone, at a time when money is seriously limited, when I’m far away from my bank, … and I could have easily let it ruin my day. These twists and turns in life are a lesson in perspective. How I look at the situation is what it becomes. When I look at a situation as hopeless, bad, or insurmountable – that is what it becomes. When I look at a situation as positive, temporary, or easy to deal with – that too is what it becomes. So why would I want to create something as insurmountable and, in that moment, give up my ability to surmount it?

$20,000 down and things are lookin up!

Pick of the Post: Hedley – Invincible (so appropro)

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Matt Corker » Travel

Value and Motivation: Wesley George

Day 4-6: European Yogi Nomads hit Basel

Day 2 + 3: Distraction & Creative Action

The Highlights of 2011

___ is the new ___

‘Twas the Night Before Leaving

Unique Ways to Stay Connected From A Distance

The Remarkable Journey: Steph Corker

Stopped Down in London Town

$20,000 Down, Looking Up

_ is the new _