Sadness across Canada yesterday as news of the death of Jack Layton, leader of the NDP party swept the nation. He was a kind and descent man who truly cared about the country and it's people. Even in his own battle against cancer he's priorities remain the same, in building a stronger, united Canada. In his final letter, he remains optimistic and urges canadians to continue fighting in his cause.
Mr. Layton worked hard for the common man, the elderly, those with disabilities and our your younger generation. He addressed difficult issues and kept opposition leaders on their toes by continuously pushing them to do better. He gave Canadians something to believe in and proved that not all political parties are the same. For many he was a symbol of hope that better times lay ahead and the worse were now behind us.
Jack Layton will surely be missed but will never be forgotten.
Sincere condolences goes to the Layton family.
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Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
The topless law
Canada is a beautiful country. Filled with natural resources, great food and rich in culture. For the most part I'm proud to call myself a Canadian. What I'm not to fond of is some of our laws.
This morning I pick my morning morning paper, staring at me on the cover page is a young woman with no shirt on, breast completely revealed. Twenty years ago our government passed a law that woman are allowed to be topless in public. This morning the story re-surfaced in my morning paper because not enough women are practicing their rights to bear it all. Activists of the law call it equal rights, because men are allowed to be shirtless in public. I'm all for equal rights in work, school and socially however the notion of exposing our private parts in public for all to see does not qualify as equality. To me it affirms that women are objects in which men can gawk at. The article features a beautiful blond woman topless, walking past some construction workers, who were smiling and whistling at her. I can't see how we as women expect to be treated as sophisticated, intelligent equal members of society, while exposing our breasts. I'm not sure that's what our ancestors were fighting for in terms of equality.
I believe in freedom of speech and of expression, I just don't see how exposing ourselves publicly benefits anyone.
My other issue with this law and those who are practicing it is rather simple. How can it become socially and legally acceptable for some to walk around half naked yet those who choose to cover are considered abnormal? The acceptable notion of "it's my body and if I want to share it with everyone I can", should also include: "it's my body and I don't want everyone to see it".
We only have one body. It should be taken care of with dignity and respect, both inside and out.
(This is an opinion piece.)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
This morning I pick my morning morning paper, staring at me on the cover page is a young woman with no shirt on, breast completely revealed. Twenty years ago our government passed a law that woman are allowed to be topless in public. This morning the story re-surfaced in my morning paper because not enough women are practicing their rights to bear it all. Activists of the law call it equal rights, because men are allowed to be shirtless in public. I'm all for equal rights in work, school and socially however the notion of exposing our private parts in public for all to see does not qualify as equality. To me it affirms that women are objects in which men can gawk at. The article features a beautiful blond woman topless, walking past some construction workers, who were smiling and whistling at her. I can't see how we as women expect to be treated as sophisticated, intelligent equal members of society, while exposing our breasts. I'm not sure that's what our ancestors were fighting for in terms of equality.
I believe in freedom of speech and of expression, I just don't see how exposing ourselves publicly benefits anyone.
My other issue with this law and those who are practicing it is rather simple. How can it become socially and legally acceptable for some to walk around half naked yet those who choose to cover are considered abnormal? The acceptable notion of "it's my body and if I want to share it with everyone I can", should also include: "it's my body and I don't want everyone to see it".
We only have one body. It should be taken care of with dignity and respect, both inside and out.
(This is an opinion piece.)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Health care
After attending a health seminar that my chiropractor, Dr. Sandy Bhasin delivered to his patients last night. I felt it was important to share some thoughts.
The bulk of his discussion was about the importance of total health care. Which I have to admit is a bit strange coming from a chiropractor. As he began his presentation it was very apparent how much he actually cared about people's health and in teaching proper care of the body. There are a few things that stuck with me. Before getting into his demonstration he made us stand up and say "I am happy and I am healthy". I'm a big fan of this type of encouragement, but what I found is it opened the room to him. When he would ask a question, we, his audience of patients would openly answer him. The second thing was his entire speech was focused on ways to obtain optimal health. Normally these types of doctors are only interested in fixing the immediate issue, such as neck or back pain. However, Dr. Sandy carefully designed this seminar to help his patients understand where the root of the problem is, how to get better and how to remain healthy in order to lead a more fulfilled life. I have never seen this level of care in any health care practitioner I have visited. I'm not knocking down other doctors here don't take this the wrong way. But rather how many sick people there are visiting their doctors and these same physicians do not have the time to spend with each individual patient. I really feel that these types of seminars
are important in educating people on the importance of maintaing health.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Reflection
I was recently talking with an old friend of mine from high-school. We were reminiscing about the dreams we had and where we ended up in life. It got me thinking although I'm no where near my dream of being a corporate lawyer, single woman living with a bunch of cats. I think this place where I'm at in my life journey is so much better. I would not trade my family for anything. Thinking back now I can't see myself alone without my children or my husband. Even the notion of being tied up in court all day defending corporations is really not appealing. I would much rather do what I do now by working with small business entrepreneurs at helping them to succeed within their business. Where I can take my office with me anywhere I am.
I think it's important to take a minute to truly appreciate the things you have as well as your accomplishments. Even though i have managed three degrees, no credentials in the world can replace or even compare to my two children.
I would like to ask you all to take a moment of reflection and think of all the things you are most proud of in your life right now. If you find yourself not happy with what you see, maybe it's time to start working on a new dream.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, June 20, 2011
A note on helping others
Helping those who are in need in my opinion is everyone’s responsibility. There are little things that we can do on a daily basis in order to help someone else. Little things like holding a door open, or carrying your neighbours groceries.
Donating your time to a special cause is another way to help those who are less fortunate. A few hours a week is all you need to truly make a difference in someone’s life. Recently I have met a couple wonderful ladies who have been diagnosed with MS (muscular dystrophy). One lady named Stacy is the owner and designer of Gothic Gourd Girl (http://gothicgourds.com/). She is raising money and awareness for CCSVI treatments. Another woman I have had the privilege of meeting is Tessa. Tessa is a single woman who is alone on journey to raising money in getting the help she needs.
CCSVI (Chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency) treatment is term that was developed by an Italian Dr. Paolo Zamboni. (Wikipedia) Through the use of angioplasty, patience suffering with MS has seen improvements to their overall health. The problem is the procedure is not offered here in Canada. I am working with these two ladies to help raise the funding they need to get treatment in the U.S as well as working to raise awareness to bring the treatment here.
I am currently trying to put together a few campaigns. One of which is selling some Avon products off my website www.cecavonstore.com and some hand crafted jewelry in order to donate the funds to them. I am also going to post the links to their websites so any interested people who are willing to help could donate directly.
I will posting some information as it comes in about their journeys as well as on MS and available treatments.
To learn more about CCSVI in Canada please visit; http://ccsvi.ca/
http://www.gofundme.com/Tessa-CCSVI-re-treatment
http://www.gofundme.com/HelpGothicGourdGirlStacy
Donating your time to a special cause is another way to help those who are less fortunate. A few hours a week is all you need to truly make a difference in someone’s life. Recently I have met a couple wonderful ladies who have been diagnosed with MS (muscular dystrophy). One lady named Stacy is the owner and designer of Gothic Gourd Girl (http://gothicgourds.com/). She is raising money and awareness for CCSVI treatments. Another woman I have had the privilege of meeting is Tessa. Tessa is a single woman who is alone on journey to raising money in getting the help she needs.
CCSVI (Chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency) treatment is term that was developed by an Italian Dr. Paolo Zamboni. (Wikipedia) Through the use of angioplasty, patience suffering with MS has seen improvements to their overall health. The problem is the procedure is not offered here in Canada. I am working with these two ladies to help raise the funding they need to get treatment in the U.S as well as working to raise awareness to bring the treatment here.
I am currently trying to put together a few campaigns. One of which is selling some Avon products off my website www.cecavonstore.com and some hand crafted jewelry in order to donate the funds to them. I am also going to post the links to their websites so any interested people who are willing to help could donate directly.
I will posting some information as it comes in about their journeys as well as on MS and available treatments.
To learn more about CCSVI in Canada please visit; http://ccsvi.ca/
http://www.gofundme.com/Tessa-CCSVI-re-treatment
http://www.gofundme.com/HelpGothicGourdGirlStacy
Friday, May 6, 2011
Positive thinking, the Power of Choice
I have recently been attending many business related webinars that have been geared to “changing your personal way of thinking”. This has been a fascinating topic for me. Not because it’s a topic I am not familiar with, but rather how much people do not realize how important this is. The way you see yourself and internalize yourself is important not only business but also with your personal life. If you are constantly focusing on your negative points and telling yourself you cannot do something, you will never achieve your future goals. By changing the way you think about yourself will also change the situation that surrounds you. Now of course I’m not going to babble about this with out actually putting this theory to the test.
I have always been a fan of Freud, for more reasons than I can count. However, for the topic of this blog I will tell you the one thing that I always valued about his theories and that is that he tested his ideas on his own children. This is a something that I have put to practice myself since my daughter was born.
How does this apply with changing your internal messages? I took one simple idea, from a recent lecture of putting up a post it note with the sentence “I choose…” rather than the conventional “I see myself…” Now I decided to test this theory not only with my daughter, but myself and husband as well.
First small background on my daughter, she is a naturally negative person. Not sure where she has gotten this from because for the most part my family is very positive, always seeing the “glass as half full,” or at least half. My daughter unfortunately has always just seen the negatives of the world around her, and now she is internalizing this. So for her I put something little on her note. “I choose to do well in school”. For myself I put “I choose to be a writer and share my writing”. For my husband, it’s rather funny and longer term, but it was his choice, “I choose to live in a scenic area”.
Now the point of this exercise is to read this note 20 times a day for 30 days. This apparently is how long it takes to internalize the thought and make it happen. I can only speak of the results for myself and my daughter, because my husband is more of a retirement goal.
For my daughter, who is struggling in school and is just barely getting by, has turned her C average to a B-. No dear readers you have not read this wrong. She has done a vast improvement in the past month that no one can believe.
For myself I have been writing up a storm lately. I have jobs that I didn’t even think I could get let alone accomplish and gotten positive feedback, which is always good for one’s ego.
This is my quest for all of you my dear readers. Take a page from Freud’s book and try this method on yourself and family as well. Start clearing your heads of all those negative thoughts of “I can’t”, “it’s not possible”, “I’m not good enough” and so on. Replace those with “I choose.” Choose to reach your personal and work related goals, no mater how big or how small they are.
I have always been a fan of Freud, for more reasons than I can count. However, for the topic of this blog I will tell you the one thing that I always valued about his theories and that is that he tested his ideas on his own children. This is a something that I have put to practice myself since my daughter was born.
How does this apply with changing your internal messages? I took one simple idea, from a recent lecture of putting up a post it note with the sentence “I choose…” rather than the conventional “I see myself…” Now I decided to test this theory not only with my daughter, but myself and husband as well.
First small background on my daughter, she is a naturally negative person. Not sure where she has gotten this from because for the most part my family is very positive, always seeing the “glass as half full,” or at least half. My daughter unfortunately has always just seen the negatives of the world around her, and now she is internalizing this. So for her I put something little on her note. “I choose to do well in school”. For myself I put “I choose to be a writer and share my writing”. For my husband, it’s rather funny and longer term, but it was his choice, “I choose to live in a scenic area”.
Now the point of this exercise is to read this note 20 times a day for 30 days. This apparently is how long it takes to internalize the thought and make it happen. I can only speak of the results for myself and my daughter, because my husband is more of a retirement goal.
For my daughter, who is struggling in school and is just barely getting by, has turned her C average to a B-. No dear readers you have not read this wrong. She has done a vast improvement in the past month that no one can believe.
For myself I have been writing up a storm lately. I have jobs that I didn’t even think I could get let alone accomplish and gotten positive feedback, which is always good for one’s ego.
This is my quest for all of you my dear readers. Take a page from Freud’s book and try this method on yourself and family as well. Start clearing your heads of all those negative thoughts of “I can’t”, “it’s not possible”, “I’m not good enough” and so on. Replace those with “I choose.” Choose to reach your personal and work related goals, no mater how big or how small they are.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Biography block
Recently I have been working on a project for a sister in the United Kingdom. I have been asked to write a personal/professional biography. I thought this would be an easy task, considering that I have picked up many projects ranging in details. I have written content articles for business, website articles, published in online sites, even did some marketing campaigns. Yet I find myself lost for words.
I would like to believe that I am not the only one in the world that can’t write a personal or professional biography. I think it to be rather silly that I can’t think of any thing that I would like to put together about myself. I have gotten as far as “mixing educational and business background to create…” I have even tried to tackle this as just another article and the person I am writing about is not myself but rather another fellow writer who coincidentally has the same credentials I do. This I have to admit is not working very well.
Now I try to voice my opinion here on my own work space. Maybe this place will help to jog my mind and unlock my words. Clearing my thoughts giving me room to come up with a thought provoking biography.
I would like to believe that I am not the only one in the world that can’t write a personal or professional biography. I think it to be rather silly that I can’t think of any thing that I would like to put together about myself. I have gotten as far as “mixing educational and business background to create…” I have even tried to tackle this as just another article and the person I am writing about is not myself but rather another fellow writer who coincidentally has the same credentials I do. This I have to admit is not working very well.
Now I try to voice my opinion here on my own work space. Maybe this place will help to jog my mind and unlock my words. Clearing my thoughts giving me room to come up with a thought provoking biography.
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