Congratulations.
Seven Island-based organizations have received grants to help them support the professional advancement of women. PowHERhouse Performance Strategies, Inkwell, Ladies Learning Code Central Vancouver Island, Fortress Foundation, Westshore Soroptimist Society for Women & Families, Island Women in Technology and WillStep Coaching & Facilitation will all receive funding from the Catalyst for Growth project. The initiative of Women’s Enterprise Centre aims to increase the impact of women on the B.C. economy by supporting women in senior leadership, as...
Read MoreSuccessful Doctor Visits
When my mother had stomach cancer, I flew back to Toronto to give my siblings a reprieve and support my mom post-surgery. The procedure to remove her tumour was long and very painful. Post-discharge, my mom experienced severe stomach pains, difficulty sleeping and digestive problems. Heavily medicated (not me, her!) to reduce the pain, I drove her to a follow-up appointment with her physician. My mom thought it was a good idea to have me sit in on the appointment with her. Pen and paper in hand, I was ready to be my mom’s advocate! I nearly fell off the chair when my mom smiled and told...
Read MoreHomeless women.
The pending explosion of homeless single women on Vancouver Island is very real. It is not a question of if, it’s a question of when. For many it’s already here. The most at risk section of society to homelessness are women 60 plus living alone. Women living alone that have no private pension plans, or other sources of income, will be totally reliant on Old age Pension, Canadian Pension Plan if they are eligible, and the Guaranteed Income Supplement. Rents on the island are so high now that over 50% of income that these women receive will be used to pay their rent. By the time...
Read MoreLawn to Food
It’s a very unsuspecting location to find Lynda Smith’s business. In the middle of a Comox neighborhood where homes sit on lots not much larger than a quarter acre, an active vegetable farm is in production year-round. Lynda, founder and operator of Lawn to Food, is immersed in a small business that not only brings fresh, organic and plentiful food to her family’s table, but allows her to educate and coach others to do the same all while sharing the fruits of her labour for others to enjoy. “We had always gown food but I was always the one doing it and the one preparing it and I...
Read MoreSigns our body is giving us
How can we overcome the fear many aspects of our life are causing in us? Unfortunately there are many things in our world that are affecting our health negatively. Only to a certain degree we can protect ourselves from ElectroMagneticFrequencies – Chemtrails – Genmanipulated (GMO) food – Herbicides, Pesticides and Toxins. During my studies I learned from the MD Mary Lynch the vibration of DNA is nearly the same as the vibration of LOVE. This means when we are experiencing LOVE our DNA is better able to repair itself. JOY, LOVE, and PEACE have nearly the same...
Read MorePregnancy and Reflexology
Woman have come for treatments looking to conceive, to support their bodies throughout pregnancy and finally to induce birth. After care treatments also remain an important element in bringing mom’s body back to equilibrium. Pregnant women have found reflexology helped with: Headaches Constipation High blood pressure Shortness of Breath Tiredness Heartburn Backache Sleeplessness Anxiety Oedema (fluid retention, often in feet) Morning sickness It’s amazing what this gentle form of massage and acupressure can do. I have worked with women applying reflexology...
Read MoreWhy a Retirement Community?
Are you are no longer enjoying cooking? Not eating properly? Or maybe you’re lonely and having a hard time getting out of your home to visit. Are you feeling isolated…or bored? As a ‘tour guide’ for a seniors’ home, I find that many people have at least one of the above concerns. Another big concern for some people reaching the age where they are considering a down size is what seniors homes used to look like. They are remembering the facilities that used to care for their own grandparents or parents. Thankfully we have come a long way and there really is very little, if any,...
Read MoreAn Accidental Pilgrimage
Rose Spit was on our list of adventures, and we were running out of time. A few days before, we were blessed to have been two, of a dozen hearty souls who shared a zodiac expedition through Gwaii Hanaas to the site of Sgang Gwaay. But that is a story for another day. My traveling companion, and sister, and I had been asking around Massett for a couple of days, hoping to find a ride out to the spit. There were a few possibilities, but nothing actually firmed up. We were told that Rose Spit was a 15 km return walk. We could see it in the distance. How hard could it be? We would be challenged,...
Read MoreVancouver Island, 1941
There were four crockery barrels on our back porch. I was four years old. We all had jobs. My job was to get things from the crocks. One held eggs preserved in water-glass; one was filled with oolichans (eels) in salt; one, my mother’s concoction of lye, oil and I don’t know what, which was the soap used for dishes, the floor, the laundry, the dog and our Saturday night baths in the tin wash tub; and one, goose grease, the salve of all bad things from cut fingers to leg-aches and whooping cough. When I see an episode of the TV show, “Survivor,” featuring people touching or...
Read MoreMainland judge aghast at lack of jails for women on Island
Here is yet another example of the inhuman manner that the provincial government treats women and young people to fuel it’s myopic goal of balanced budgets, no matter what the human costs may be. They are completely devoid of caring and compassion to those who are most in need. Trish SummerhayesOwner/Publisher of Island Woman. The article below which was published recently in the Times/Colonist A Vancouver-based B.C. Supreme Court justice was incredulous Tuesday upon hearing of the lack of jail facilities for women on Vancouver Island. “There must be some...
Read MoreYour Flashlight
Spring is with us and the days are brighter. This makes me think of a poem that I recently wrote called “Your Flashlight”. I performed it at the Spiral Café in Victoria, and you can check it out on You Tube if you like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL_FqK0zIDc I am thrilled to announce that I have been writing with Island Woman Magazine for nearly two years now. Whenever I meet a new audience, I begin in a safe and easygoing manner, and then I begin to unleash myself more and more. It occurred to me, a few weeks ago, that I have yet to fully unleash, or even step it up a...
Read MoreWonder at the Choices
Have you ever wondered at the choices you’ve made? Not judged them, condemned them or blamed yourself for them but simply wondered? Have you ever stepped out of your judgement and simply wondered at the choices you’ve made? Has it ever occurred to you to say to yourself…”I wonder why I choose to do that?” or “I wonder why I choose that path or said those words?” And if you were to allow yourself to simply wonder, how do you think you might feel about your choices? You could open yourself up to possible reasons for your choices; you could allow the bigger picture of your life...
Read MoreB.C. Seniors Advocate
B.C. Seniors Advocate is reinforcing the need for seniors in the province to file tax returns, even if they think they do not make enough income to file. “There are many subsidies available to seniors that are based on income tax information,” said Isobel Mackenzie. “If seniors don’t file their taxes, low-income seniors in particular may be giving up opportunities to access subsidies which can make significant differences to their lives.” The importance of filing taxes was highlighted in a recent case where the Federal Government found that 83,000 Canadian seniors, 13,000 of them in...
Read MoreUrine and Grass Scalding
Urine. Some veterinarians call it “liquid gold” because it has incalculable value in determining a dog’s health status. However, puppy owners who have to clean it up call it a waste product. Likewise for people who take pride in their lawns. To them, dog urine is a force that wreaks havoc on their pristine green carpets. Urine scalding of grass is so upsetting to some people that they won’t allow their dogs access to their beautifully manicured lawns. Others try to limit unsightly yellow urine stains by adding ingredients such as baking soda or apple cider vinegar to their dogs’...
Read MoreEven Caring Has a Limit
With the daily demands life puts on us, it is stressful to provide comprehensive daily care to elderly parents when one or both parents are not as independent anymore. It’s usually the daughter caring for her elderly mother or father. The family caregiver can become mentally and physically exhausted, irritable and resentful. Just like our own pool of physical energy, the mental energy required to provide care to loved one has a limit. When it becomes very stressful to see a loved one struggling with independence, sometimes with high demands – at the end of the day it can be...
Read MoreSharing Your Story
Have you ever had the experience of hearing two people try to tell the same story at the same time? How they can each talk over the other as they try to tell their version of events, each convinced of their own connectedness? Your stories are your experiences of your life. You can become so convinced of the validity of your experience that you block out any other perception. The truth of the matter, as I have seen it and experienced is this – My truth of my life experience is mine and mine alone and your truth is yours. It is not my job to convince you of the rightness of my experience...
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