Spirituality Beyond Borders.
Thirsting For Spiritual Nourishment? For those of us who wrestle with feelings of alienation and a sense of disconnect, Spirituality Beyond Borders: Education for Transformation might just offer soul food. I confess that I fall into the category of thirsting for spiritual nourishment. Recently April 6-8th I took the opportunity to participate in Trinity: The Soul of Creation live webcast -in -community from the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was offered at the Bethlehem Center (Nanaimo) in conjunction with Spirituality Beyond Borders ( Parksville )...
Read MoreCarole James, NDP, MLA
Since 2005, Carole has had the honour of working as a BC NDP MLA representing the community of Victoria-Beacon Hill to the provincial Legislature. She is a strong voice in the Legislature as the New Democrat Opposition’s spokesperson for Finance. Carole previously served as Leader of the Official Opposition and Leader of the BC NDP for seven years. Before serving as MLA, Carole was elected to the Greater Victoria School Board from 1990 to 2001. She served as the President of the BC School Trustees Association for an unprecedented five terms, commencing in 1995. As an MLA, Carole...
Read MoreWorth Fighting For.
The 3 pillars of a caring society should be that everyone has access to the services needed to maintain good health, education and safe, affordable housing. The needs of the individual person must be recognise as a basic human Canadian right. We must stop trying to hide the basic needs of society by fragmenting Canadians with convenient political jargon; the homeless, the unemployed, the working poor, the middle class and the wealthy. Enough, we are Canadians. We are a wealthy country and we should be ashamed of ourselves for not being able to maintain the basic needs to ensure that we...
Read MoreA Healer’s Oath.
May I always hold your story sacred, without judgement or reproach. May I always hold space for your Journey to wellness and acknowledge that your path is uniquely yours. May I always hold your wisdom in equal validity to mine, empowering you to know yourself better than anyone else. May I always come from the Heart, in total compassion for my Journey as it relates to yours, knowing when to step in and to step out of your story. May I understand and accept that Spirit moves through me for you and that, ultimately, you heal yourself. May I remain always humble in the work I do. Megan...
Read MoreBuilding A Resilient Brain
In 2017, we are no longer passive on-lookers as aging impacts our cognitive functioning. Thanks to exciting and revolutionary new knowledge from brain science, we can now take proactive steps in building up our brain’s defences against dementia. In a local workshop in Victoria BC, we all learned ways to make our brains more resilient to the impacts of aging. An initiative of the Eldercare Foundation, March is “Embracing Aging Month” on Vancouver Island, with many interesting workshops to enlighten and educate. I was fascinated by “Heads Up, An Introduction to Brain Health”...
Read MoreCheat Days
“Cheat days” are everywhere in the health and nutrition information world. However, I’m completely against cheat days. Let me repeat that because I feel so strongly about it. Completely. Against. Cheat days. Cheat days set us up to have a negative relationship with food. I’ve found that the secret to achieving, and keeping, your happy weight is to first create a healthy relationship with food. Then the weight loss will follow. Cheat days take you further away from your goal of a healthy weight and feeling happy about your body. First, let’s look at the term ‘cheat days’....
Read More“We Serve”
Gabriola Lions Club is planning an Open House on Monday, May 8th at the Agi Hall. You’re invited! 6:30 – 8:30pm as is our usual meeting times. Refreshments provided. “We Serve” our Lions motto internationally, and to Gabriola, it is ingrained in everything we do. We have over 40 members, all ages, men and women. Our club has history: in 1975, over 40 years ago, Eric Boulton was approached by the Nanaimo Lions Club and they helped form our own club which has grown, and enveloped the almost 5,000 residents living on Gabriola. The Lions number more than 1.4 million...
Read MoreFinding Your Personal Style
With trends coming in and out of style year after year, it can be easy to fall into a pattern of buying a new set of clothes for every season, which you won’t wear again. But with a good base wardrobe, it becomes easier to incorporate trend pieces without having to do a complete wardrobe overhaul every few months. Not only is it friendlier for the environment (and your wallet!), but it will also help you develop a stronger sense of personal style, above and beyond whatever the current trend a la mode is. I’ll use my own wardrobe as an example. I’m not someone who regularly...
Read MoreIncome Tax Alternatives
If you are filing a personal tax return for 2016, you should know by now, or shortly, if you owe Canada Revenue Agency money or if they will be sending you a cheque. You are probably pleased if you are receiving a refund instead of having to pay, but the less you receive as a refund from CRA, the better. You don’t want CRA to use your money all year and then pay you back your money without interest. If you make regular RRSP contributions throughout the year, you can complete a form with your payroll department at work to reduce the amount of tax that is deducted from each of your...
Read MoreSalish Sea, World Heritage Site.
She sells seashells down by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I’m sure she sells seashore shells. — Terry Sullivan As some of you will be aware, I have had my head down for six months or so, trying to get the Salish Sea recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Just the Canadian waters that is, so it’s only 60 per cent as difficult as getting the whole inland sea on the drawing board. Though some might say it’s going to be a herculean task to get the U.S. waters onboard in the foreseeable future, so long...
Read MoreImproving Senior Sleep Patterns.
High quality sleep of adequate quantity is a central lynchpin of senior health. Many seniors have one or more of these sleep problems: trouble falling and staying asleep, waking up extremely early, not feeling rested when waking up, falling asleep during the day, wanting to go to bed very early in the evening, craving multiple naps during the day. Lack of sleep can cause falls and other accidents due to drowsiness, poor concentration, and inability to focus. Worse still, undiagnosed sleep disorders such as breathing trouble and sleep apnea have been connected to hypertension, pulmonary...
Read MoreSaudade*
Early spring. The place we called the cottage is still there. Familiar and strange as eye blinks in a desert. Rose of Sharons cut down, confederate with uprooted lilac and pear tree. The building’s paint is freshened – trendy provincial blue with lemon pie trim. No faded white siding or forest green sills for the latest occupants. Won’t do. Bright tile-red shingles christen the roof. Young hands and feet banned from climbing its slick surface. The maple is steadfast where two sandy roads carve out the property line. The catalpa tree will soon spread spade-shaped leaves....
Read MoreLori Iannidinardo NDP
As a three-term Area Director withthe Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD), Lori believes consultation, openness and accountability lie at the heart of responsible government and a strong community. Raised in the Valley, she is a life-long community advocate, experienced volunteer and activist. Lori knows a sustainable environment and a sustainable economy go hand-in-hand. She led the development of Cowichan Bay’s award-winning Official Community Plan with its progressive and sustainable vision for the area. She has actively fought the proposed Saanich Inlet LNG project since day one,...
Read MoreLia Versaevel, Green Party.
Poverty, Panaceas & Platitudes Aplenty. There is no isolated solution to poverty issues. No matter who is doing the research, BC’s human population has one of the highest poverty rates in Canada and a lot of these humans are children. The other significant group in poverty statistics is single women, particularly elders. The BC Greens have been exploring the concept of basic livable wages or basic income, and a poverty reduction strategy. My own research reveals an extremely complex set of variables that make up the social reality of “poverty”. A poverty reduction plan has to...
Read MoreTraumatic Kitchen Renovation
Here’s a fast review of my worst winter in 50 years experience. Start with the longest winter ever, add the worst flu I’ve ever experienced, smother with the depressing ‘Trump’ effect, and toss in a full kitchen renovation and you get the idea? Gratefully the sun has just reappeared and spring is just around the corner and we are almost coming to the end of the kitchen renovation, an experience nobody could have forewarned me about! I met up with a kitchen designer employed by a cabinet store in November, and in no time he provided a plan and a shopping list. He was going to...
Read MoreMitzi Dean, NDP candidate.
Standing up for Esquimalt-Metchosin. I am humbled to accept with gratitude the nomination as the BC NDP candidate for Esquimalt-Metchosin. These are big shoes to fill, I know. Maurine Karagianis and Moe Sihota, Frank Mitchell, Ray Rice, Randall Garrison, and so many other New Democrats have stood up for this community for decades. And now I am deeply honoured for this opportunity to follow their exceptional example of public service, and build on their amazing work. Women running for elected office face particular challenges, and I am proud to follow the...
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