… Musings From Ms. Butterfly
That moment when I walked out of the hospital leaving my infant daughter to be placed for adoption was a moment ‘frozen in time’. Unacknowledged and unreconciled grief had wrapped itself around my heart. Several years would pass before this seemingly dormant grief would surface with depression-like symptoms. Healing began with sharing my story in a nurturing environment. Over time I reached out, offering healing workshops to other ‘first nurturing mothers’ who were experiencing similar grief. In writing this article, I am affirming that there is a healing power in telling our stories....
Read MoreWhat Matters?
Take a moment before you read on; close your eyes or keep them open, fix your stare on something and ask yourself: “ What matters? “ Last week, a co-worker asked me this exact question. I was stumped, time stopped and for minutes I was just staring at my desk. Nicole, my friend and co-worker laughed as if she knew exactly what was going on in my head. It’s a loaded question and all my thoughts were jumbled searching for an answer as I thought about poverty, world peace, our current state of government, women’s rights, gender equality, educational institutions, family values, my...
Read MoreSweet Heart & Fiery Conviction
“Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.” – Marie Shear, 1986 The year turned with anticipation, followed shortly by the passing of a friend. Admittedly I didn’t know her that well, but Jackie did. In fact, Jackie had to run out after the Board interviewed her so she wouldn’t leave too quickly, being absolutely the best person for the job. The Board of the newly formed Haven Society for the protection of abused and battered women, back in the early 1980s, was about to hire its first staffers, and Sharon Hirt would be a mainstay, a force to be reckoned...
Read MoreAlison Strom’s Yoga Bliss
If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are — if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time. (The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell, author and scholar of mythology and comparative religion) I am sinking down into the mat, all muscle has let go and my bones are heavy on the earth; my breathing has slowed. This is peace; this is rest: my body has stopped, and I have separated...
Read MoreYour Dance With Disarray
A home full of clutter can affect your health. Do you sometimes look at your storage room, desk, closet or kitchen countertop and feel absolutely overwhelmed at the ‘stuff’ that needs to be sorted, filed, paid or disposed of? The reason you may feel overwhelmed is because you are reacting to negative life force energy – or Chi – and you are weighed down by the depressing impact of clutter. Clutter comes in all shapes and sizes. It can be stacked on tables, crammed in closets, stuffed in file cabinets or packed under the stairs. Wherever it finds a home, there will be an invisible...
Read MoreA Muse-Driven Business
It finally began at the kitchen table of an old house in James Bay, Victoria. With a stack of sketches, a sewing machine and some material, and from a deep well of inspiration, Laura Bemister launched Victoria’s Muse Clothing Company. Seven years later, powered by hard work and inspiration, her company continues to grow. Laura Bemister is a petite, energetic, self-assured woman in her early 30s with a sparkly enthusiasm, a great big smile, and a ready laugh. Optimistic, cheerful and driven, she epitomises the enthusiastic self-starter. Her interest in fashion can be traced back to when...
Read MoreA Safe Haven
I had the chance recently to re-visit my 1980 roots in the movement to assist abused women when I attended the 2014 Annual General Meeting of the Haven Society and had the opportunity to meet and reconnect with current and past Board members and volunteers. Back in 1978-79, shortly after I moved to BC, I began working to stop violence against women, and helped start Haven House in Nanaimo. Within a year or so we’d raised enough attention to society’s quiet permission and shameful silence that we attracted the attention of Rosemary Brown, the only MLA brave enough to speak up for women and...
Read MoreOur Own Unique Master Plan
Mahalo and greetings beautiful Island women. It is a pleasure and an honor to be among you, not only as a contributing author but as a woman and a resident of this vibrant Island. Although I am fairly new to the area, my passion for exploration has created a giant gateway for deep discovery on all levels of life. I have tasted deeply and juicily of the Island’s many delights and feel the thrill of those not yet savored. Closing the door behind a life that had completed itself and courageously leaping into new passageways made possible the incredible journey that took me all the way...
Read MoreSelf Discovery Through Weaving
Imagine a world where you can play with colour and texture, where you can follow your intuition, and experiment to create unique items of clothing or works of art that express your individuality; imagine a world where there are no mistakes. This is the world of Saori Weaving, a world Terri Bibby inhabits and shares from her studio on Salt Spring Island. Nestled into the trees on a hill at the north end of Salt Spring Island, Terri’s studio is a treasure trove in the woods. Cones of cotton, wool and silk fibre, in every imaginable colour and shade line one wall, along with boxes of local...
Read MoreFarm Dancing
“Everything want to be loved. Us sing and dance and holler, just trying to be loved.” – Alice Walker, The Color Purple Ahhhh, the celebration of life that signals the fall, the harvest, food aplenty, with cool clear evenings and bright sunny skies greeting the day! ‘Twas not that surprising then to see the beautiful Jackie Moad, my long-suffering partner who puts up with me through many and varied intrigues, slowly dancing through the orchard. I stood and gazed upon her from across the field. How lucky I’ve been, marrying such a free spirited, happy woman, so...
Read MoreAnd A Bird Sang
Her mother-in-law followed her to the gate. “When are you going to do it?” “What do you mean?’ “The abortion.” When Lei becomes pregnant with her second child, she faces the decision of continuing her pregnancy or having a forced abortion as required by Chinese law. And a Bird Sang presents a realistic backdrop for a story illuminating the universal challenge for women who must decide between subservient obedience or honouring their inner voices. In China, millions of women annually face a similar choice to that of the main character in my novel – and 25 abortions are...
Read MoreMusic Educator Extraordinaire
She is the Ann Landers of the flute world and a world class music educator. From her home on a small island, just off Nanaimo, flutist Jennifer Cluff provides expertise, encouragement, and a stunning wealth of resources to flutists around the world. Her website is easily the largest of its kind in the world, and receives 20,000 hits a month. It is the quality, and not the size of this website that is so remarkable. Jen provides expertise on every imaginable aspect of flute playing, from tone production to solutions for technical problems and repertoire. Her articles and discussions are rich...
Read MoreNanaimo’s Poet Laureate
Naomi Beth Wakan is not one to sit on her laurels. For many, the words “poet laureate” conjure an image of a florid aging Roman in laurel crown, toga and sandals, decorated silver cup of wine in hand, launching forth extemporaneously to an adoring audience of lounging young men and earnest young women, swooning to fan the heat of his poetic passion. In the long history of poet laureates, dating back to the ancient Greeks, the idea of the triumphant poet – comfortable, celebrated and feted – is a recurring theme. This image needs adjusting, however, when considering...
Read MoreBring the Gift of Good Manners
I thought my first Island Woman post would provide a good opportunity to share a quick cheat sheet on dining tips. First of all, when you are invited, RSVP as soon as possible. Find out what the dress code is and never try to out dress the hostess. Be punctual. Do not bring along an uninvited partner to a dinner party. The hostess does not need a surprise. The only polite surprise you can offer is a small gift of flowers, wine or chocolates. Top 10 Dining Etiquette Tips 1. Napkin Unfold your napkin and place it across your lap. When necessary, dab your mouth and fingertips using the inside...
Read MoreLIfe Has Its Own Design
Some of us are lucky enough to fall into careers that we love, where just coming to work is a joyful part of the day. Fewer have been purposeful, have seized the brass ring and gotten into those careers through hard work, perseverance and, yes, even a little bit of luck. The path to my dream career was decided by an entirely different kind of luck. A social worker who specialized in helping children and adults with special needs, I had stability and my degrees in English and Psychology ensured the future of that stability. In fact, as a candidate for a Master’s Degree, all I needed was a...
Read MoreDirection and Reaction
I have a story about life and where it unexpectedly “directs” us. In the last eight years, my direction has changed from my garden to lower Yates Street in Victoria. Gone is planning and certainty; in the world of disability, you live by reacting to the direction that the day, the hour and the minute dictates. Recently, the Society I belong to had a booth in the Health & Wellness Show at Saanich arena in Victoria. I had put in a lot of years at that ice arena, with my two sons playing hockey and lacrosse; never did I think I would end up in my senior years in this booth, promoting our...
Read More