Keeping Wills Current
Many things have changed since the ‘good old days’ but, unfortunately, some things haven’t. My Dad died overnight at age 57 from a massive heart attack; to say it was unexpected is an understatement. We were terribly unprepared, both emotionally and estate wise. My Dad had a will, but it needed updating, and everything was in my Dad’s name. The estate took almost a year and a half to settle, and, in the meantime, my Mom had never written a cheque or paid a bill in her life. I talk to many women and couples – it still surprises me how often wills are not done or updated, or, the...
Read MoreClose Friendships are Vital
Bonds of friendship are often formed when we are young, and many of these bonds continue to stay strong well into the golden years. It’s important for your senior loved one to stay socially active, whether it’s through maintaining longstanding friendships or building brand new relationships. That’s because the more social connections a senior has, the healthier and happier they generally are! WHY DO SENIORS BECOME SOCIALLY ISOLATED? Older adults who retire or move in with their families may have fewer opportunities to engage with other seniors. Limited mobility and various other health...
Read MoreAmerica’s Electile Dysfunction
The world watched amazed when Donald Trump pulled off a stunning election upset, defying polls that generally agreed he was not going to win. Everyone thought Hillary Clinton was a shoo-in. After all, she had the support of the larger part of the media, the establishment, the business community… she even had the endorsement of the current President! What we saw instead was the complete and utter repudiation of the established political system by a large, overlooked segment of America: The Rural, blue collar worker. Proven terribly wrong, the political pundits and talking heads licked their...
Read MoreMore Women in Leadership
Last week we got closer than ever before to electing the first woman President, and millions of young girls across the country have been emboldened to dream even bigger and see no role as out of their reach. Despite the progress made by Hillary Clinton’s historic candidacy, the campaign has forced us to reckon with issues of gender bias that emerged in the national dialogue – from tone of voice, to stamina, to what a leader “looks” like, to how the media covers gender. The sadness, anger, and motivation that women across the country are now dealing with are familiar, as we have been...
Read MoreSigns Our Body is Giving Us
Heart palpitations, anxiety, memory difficulties and more. These and many more signs our body is giving us that it is under constant stress from electro magnetic frequencies emitted by the wireless technology we use (see below). These devices emit radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, including cordless phones, cell phones, IPads, Wi-Fi routers, wireless games, baby monitors, and smart meters. An Information Package was sent to Doctors together with a letter signed by Una St.Clair Executive Director, Citizens for Safe Technology Society. On...
Read MoreTrump Election.
Good, bad or ugly the 58th U.S. presidential election is finally over. Donald Trump will be the next President, to the surprise of many observers considering he trailed in most national polls in the weeks leading up to the vote. Riding on his coattails, the Republicans held onto control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives (throughout the campaign most analysts anticipated the Senate swinging back to the Democrats). This sets the stage for a much more aggressive pursuit of Trump’s campaign platform positions that would be possible in a divided government. Among other...
Read MoreNovember on Gabriola.
Lost between the October Ferry to Gabriola and December, lies November. Like nothing happens here in November? Get on the bus-Gus. Of course it does! Here’s my November as an example of nothing happens here, so pour yourself a java and put up your feet. Dream if you will and ask me again, “Why do I love it here”. Besides the dark nights, really-really dark-dark nights, and hardly a noise ‘cept the odd car. Most Gabriolans happily are tucked in for the evening, me by my fireplace toasty warm. Fact is, I just got home from Iyengar Yoga with Karin Young. Twice a...
Read MoreBooks, Bills & Bios.
That title pretty much describes my desk in what I call the ‘view area’ of my family room. When I first looked at this spot some decades ago when house-hunting, it sported a rudimentary desk, but what truly grabbed my attention then was this corner’s ideal placement with easy access to the kitchen beyond. What better place to store helpful book titles, pay the inevitable bills, and write irresistible biographies of talented artists, writers and musicians or announce the what, where, and when of upcoming events? Here I could sit searching for just the right phrase, watch the decreasing...
Read MoreReflexology to perk you up…
Our daylight time is getting shorter and the clouds seem to have rolled in. This season can certainly be a struggle for some of us. Depression and anxiety can start to rear their not so pretty heads. The good news is, our bodies can help us find those inner rays of sunshine once again. What a relief to know that our own bodies hold such keys to our well-being! How do we unlock these golden treasures? One path is to apply pressure to specific reflex areas of the body. This assists in boosting our spirits through stimulating endorphins to release naturally. How do endorphins make a difference?...
Read MoreKeep Super Computer Humming
It’s a fact that as you get older bodily functions slow down and parts don’t work as well as they once did. As I approach my ‘golden years’ I want to make sure that the years ahead are indeed golden, so I recently signed up for a one year diploma at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition in Nanaimo. I support their credo that the body is qualified to heal itself with a healthy whole foods diet and good lifestyle choices and I want to find out more. The 80:20 ratio of healthy to not that healthy works best for me. Fanaticism is no fun. It is recommended to limit intake of...
Read MoreWorking with Difficult Styles.
Conquer your Fashion Fears. One of the most frequent things that I hear as a fashion consultant is “I can’t wear (insert piece of clothing), because of (insert problem).” Many women shy away from bold prints and fanciful details for fear of drawing attention to “problem areas,” and become stuck in a fashion rut. While there’s nothing wrong with sticking to what you know, it can be empowering to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new. One of the most commonly shunned patterns are the dreaded horizontal stripes. While it’s true that they can be tricky...
Read MoreDreaming My Life
I love dreaming. I love all the amazing experiences I have when I dream and I love all the ways there are to dream. Flying, breathing underwater, traveling through space and time, lucid dreaming, past life dreaming, seeing loved ones who have passed away – these are just some of the experiences awaiting you in your sleep. My Mother used to ask me each morning what I had dreamed the night before and so from an early age I became very good at dream recall. The earliest dream I consciously remember involved a talking squirrel that lived in a large tree at the end of our street when I was...
Read MoreDeclining incomes of BC Seniors
Last month I wrote about the recent annual report released from the Office of the BC Seniors Advocate that painted a somewhat bleak picture about the resources available from the public system (government) in seniors care. Now, on the heels of that annual report, comes a new report this week also from the office of the BC Seniors Advocate expressing concern about the declining incomes of BC Seniors. And this problem is particularly acute to seniors in BC compared to other parts of the country. For instance, since 2013 BC senior families saw their annual median income fall 5.7%. For a BC...
Read MoreHousing Crisis
The worsening problem of housing affordability is producing hardship for people all across British Columbia and the Capital Region District. In particular, people on fixed or limited income like seniors or single-parent families may face bigger challenges in finding and maintaining stable housing. In response to the problem, numerous pundits have come forward to offer perspectives and guidance. Jake Fry is the founder of Small Housing BC and is one such pundit. I saw Mr. Fry speak on Tuesday, October 11 at a community town hall meeting entitled “Let’s Talk About Housing...
Read MoreHow-To Books.
How to successfully self-publish a How-to book. If you are an expert in your profession or hobby then writing a How-to book might be right for you. How-to books are extremely popular because many people, including myself can appreciate a step-by-step guide of how to do something we have never done before. We might be intimidated to jump right into something without research or basically we are lazy and don’t want to do all the research. Why reinvent the wheel when someone else has already done it? The wildly popular “Dummies for ______” are everywhere and easy to find. Here are some...
Read MoreIsland Women Victimised.
Innocent until proved guilty?, isn’t that the basis of our criminal justice system? So why are women on Vancouver Island treated so cruelly whilst awaiting trial. At this point they have not been found guilty and yet they, their family and friends are torn apart when they need each other the most. Where is the humanity in this? This is yet another example of our provincial governments myopic view of how to run a province. They blindly pursue their goal of cutting taxes no matter what the social cost may be. They impose users fees and cut services and have the gall to boast that...
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