All is well, it truly is!

For those of you that don't know I just finished a 3 month holistic retreat at the foot of the Canadian Rockies in British Columbia. It's difficult to describe, but holistic basically means 'whole' so my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being has undergone quite a change. I consumed an organic whole food, sugar-free, caffeine-free diet, practiced meditation everyday Tai Chi in the mornings and group therapy sessions in the afternoon, did volunteer work, took walks in forest, went fishing and mountain-biking, and I had the occasional massage, reflexology, and energy work done. It was the best three months of my life and the sum of my experience has brought about a mighty change of heart and the void inside of me feels like a deep pool of calm water. I feel reborn, reconnected to God, and have an inner peace that I haven't felt in years. I seem to have endless patience, I can love freely and forgive others, and I love my new and improved Leanne the way you do a newborn baby; unconditional love for a thing that has limitless potential. That Oprah was onto something...



I left BC a week ago and flew to the UK to spend some time with Mom and Dad. I'm in Spain at the moment visiting my brother Simon who's working in Salou for the summer then I go back to England until mid-august. I really fell in love with the Rockies while in Canada so I'm looking at going to school over there to study photography, which I've always had a passion for but never really pursued. Starbuck bought me a fabulous DSLR camera before I left the states and so far I've taken over 8,000 photos with it! I'm hoping to be back in Salt Lake City in the fall to visit friends and loved ones, but Canada's looking more like my new home.


While in treatment I found out that the local Wal-mart were selling Betta fish. Now, the stores in the States have been banned from selling fish because of the cruel conditions they keep them in and I guess the Canadian walmart have fallen below the radar because I was appalled to find a dozen or so Bettas lying on their sides in no less than an inch of water. It broke my heart to see their fins exposed and the water thick and dark blue from whatever goop they had them stored in. I summoned the store manager and explained that yes, they can survive in low oxygenated water but they're certainly not happy and won't live for very long. She promised to do something and I rescued four and took them back to the ranch.

A couple weeks later when I was volunteering at the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) I mentioned the walmart travesty and found out that the store manager who I'd complained to that day had nearly gotten fired by her superior for raising hell about the poor conditions! What a lady! It just goes to show that inside all of us there's a Betta-fan dying to get out, some people just need a point in the right direction. You see, evil exists not because bad people do bad things, but because good people do nothing and there's a good lady in the little town of Cranbrook in the heart of the Canadian Rockies making sure that Betta fish have plenty of water to wiggle around and show off their plumage.