Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
Even at 67, I am discovering new insights about myself. One of them is that I protect myself with walls – as impenetrable as concrete, yet invisible. I like to tell myself they don’t exist. And yet when I think about my relationships, I feel the ache of distance. I alternate between warm and standoffish […]
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Decoding our childhood involves taking a second look at those things we considered norms: like my mom’s insistence that we didn’t need umbrellas. I carried that philosophy into adulthood, along with the habit of depriving myself of many common items. It took my husband’s insistence that I didn’t need to go without that helped me […]
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“Are the children being taught Canadian curriculum or Ukrainian?” Did I detect a tone of disapproval? I was speaking at a Women’s Institute regarding the Ukrainian School we have set up in town. I explained that the children all attend Canadian school during the week, and this is an extra-curricular program which occurs on Sunday […]
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We’ve all had them – the uninvited messages, randomly warning us about something that needs our immediate attention. Social media attracts many, but I also have found that downloading certain apps increases the number of email or phone scam messages I receive. I’ve engaged with a few and noticed that there is a pattern to […]
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Multi-tasking becomes a compulsion. I escape quietude at all costs. The urgency that underlies my actions wants me to believe that time and opportunity are running out. Until I catch myself spinning and stop. Question the motivation. Realize the old pattern repeating. Breathe. Now making space for the universe to fill in the blanks.
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“How do I know if I am depressed or it’s just the exhaustion of ME?” I asked my therapist in the early days of being bedridden with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. “It’s simple,” she answered. “With depression, you lose interest in the things you usually love, so you don’t bother. With chronic illness, you want to engage, […]
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“What do you have planned for when you’re older and less able, Mom? It would be good to have a plan documented…” This from a family group chat when I mentioned that my 95 year-old aunt had fallen and broken both legs. Although I’m 66, the addition of a disabling disease makes this question more […]
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The children were decked out in their finest, and polished in their performances. An Easter event combining Ukrainian tradition with Canadian touches. It was a thank you for the volunteers who help the children with homework. I was the MC. Rounds of applause and smiles all around and then it was time for tea, coffee, […]
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We are slipping away Tuesday, on a plane to the Caribbean. Will be there by the time this post goes to publication. It’s our close friends 50th wedding anniversary and we are honoured to help them celebrate. In the meantime, our fifth granddaughter is due to arrive any day, and the kids have reminded me […]
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Historically marginalizeddisability biased –a privileged minority Women’s inequalitysocioeconomic –oppression excluded Cultural relevanceunderrepresented – diversity victim Ethnicity, gender (female)sense of belonging –male-domination systemic Indigenous communityinstitutional trauma –polarization hate speech Advocacy banned (Every word in this poem, except banned, is from the list of words forbidden in research proposals submitted to the National Science Foundation (USA) as […]
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One Woman's Quest II 