Happy International Women’s Day!

To all the courageous, wonderful, insightful, dedicated, determined, beautiful women, I say happy international women’s day to you all!

This year, I’d like us to take a moment and think about all the women who have survived the unthinkable; from earthquakes and natural disasters, to those who have been murdered or gone missing in different parts of the world. From domestic abuse and stalking to sexual assault or worse, to denial of rights and suppression and oppression.

It’s easy for us to live in a western style democracy and say “happy women’s day!” but what do we know about the women who have to suffer without medication or food or water every day? What of those women who are now facing homelessness? What about the women who can no longer work or those who can’t get hired because they don’t have names like “Mary Smith.”

Women of colour are facing incredible challenges every day, in every part of the world. We only have to look at what’s happening in Afghanistan to understand that gender recognition is a pipe dream in some parts of the world.

Nothing that is happening is by accident; in order for all of this to change, we need to partner with the men who are in positions of power and have decision-making capabilities. Without this, Afghanistan could happen anywhere. Margret Atwood’s “The Handmaid Tales,” was based on entirely true, real life happenings. That’s the scary part.

Our world is sick; we are beyond the point of no return. Healing mother earth will require all of us; not just the 50% who seem to keep bearing the brunt of the world’s harm.

Ladies, here’s to you- and all those who cannot speak for themselves.

Happy Women’s Day

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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023

Wishing all of you and your loved ones the happiest and best year ahead.

We have been through much since the start of this last decade. We’ve lost many and made our planet even sicker.

In spite of this, good people are doing great things to create positive and lasting change.

On that note, I wish you and the ones you love all the very best of goodness, health and happiness in 2023 and beyond.

To Barbara Walters, a pioneering icon, trailblazer and pathfinder, thank you. May you now rest in the beautiful peace of our Creator!

Happy New Year everyone!

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Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth II

Many years ago, I was outspoken in my absolute disregard for the British Monarchy.  As it goes with many things, years later,  I found myself being rather happily corrected in my assumptions.

We seem to dismiss and disrespect that which we don’t understand.  Living in a “non-monarchy,” it’s very easy to scorn a system that’s seemingly challenging on the taxpayer. Yet, the Brits seem to welcome this challenge with a smile and some form of inebriation!

My outlook completely changed in the spring of 2001, in the charming and quaint town of Windsor, U.K.. My aunt had taken me to the high road, running just along Windsor Castle because a procession was about to take place.  His highness, the King of Jordan, King Abdullah and his wife, Queen Rania were in town and were to be feted and driven through the streets in the Royal carriages.  As a lover of history and international relations, I could not pass up the opportunity to see this Middle Eastern power couple! 

70 years strong


What took my breath away was the number of people who turned out, in the middle of the week, to see the procession! I remember I was wearing new arch supports in my trainers and my feet were not happy at all.  But that frustration quickly turned to awe and reverence when Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth suddenly popped into view and smiled at her cheering subjects.  I melted then and there, and in an instant, regretted every “royal” snub or jeer I had ever uttered!  To this day, I remember that smile more than I remember King Abdullah or Queen Rania or the people on the street or the gold-laced carriage or the horses. I remember thinking she smiled right at me but I suppose this must be wishful thinking.  That smile, in one instant, undid the ridicule and judgement of the previous years.  And in that instant, a new royal fan was born. 

I must let you know that prior to this unravelling, I had met Prince Charles and Princess Diana in person and was even granted a gold level Duke of Edinburgh award from the Duke of Edinburgh himself, the late Honorable Prince Philip.  I was not undone by any of them.  There was a bit of star-struck awe at the sight of Princess Diana up close – she was quite beautiful!

That day, in 2001 in Windsor, I began to understand what an absolute treasure the Queen is; not only to her U.K. subjects, but to her subjects of the Commonwealth.  Her 70 years of service is not matched by many.  In fact, the Queen is the only living monarch to achieve this landmark milestone.  I was fortunate enough to be in London for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations and I was stunned- the fanfare, the pomp, the circumstance, the flyovers and the party- What a party!! It’s a celebration I will never forget and it was a very quick education in the appreciation of tradition.  My only regret is that I cannot be in London today for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, so I will say only this:


Thank you your Majesty and Congratulations!  You Go old Girl!!

happy new year 2022!

What if you just devoted this year to loving yourself more?

We’ve had an incredible era; living through a pandemic, inconceivable weather events, being disconnected from and losing loved ones, this has been a challenging period.

I was watching a show the other day and the main character was tried with unbelievable challenges, one after the other, to the point of making her incredibly numb.  But she never stopped fighting for her little girl. Because she knew they deserved better.


I forgot I had the same fight in me. 

It’s easy to forget that fight when a frequent traveller can no longer fly; when we’re told “stay home.” It’s gets harder when the airplanes are grounded because we are making each other sick.  Yet more challenging when we were told we couldn’t see our loved ones for fear of infecting them.  Add to that unbalanced vaccine distribution, heat domes, record forest fires, atmospheric rivers, hurricane activity, flooding, supply chain issues, crazy inflation, political strife none of us ever imagined, and cities falling before our eyes, we’ve had an incredulous year!

In the beginning of the pandemic, we kept hearing (and using) the term “unprecedented.”  What else can be used to describe situations that 95% of us haven’t lived through? How do we even begin to understand and make progress through such situations without using words like “unparalleled?”

However daunting all of this is, can you imagine what could be possible if we changed the narrative from “I can’t even do/see/visit/go…” to “could I show myself more love today than I did yesterday?”

So, what if you just devoted this year to loving yourself more?
Can you think of everything that is and could be possible for you?

And if we all did that, we could shift the common wavelengths from negative to positive, because I am sure that we could all use more hope and infinitely more love.

Happy New Year fellow earthlings!


May your 2022 be far better than your 2021 and may it be filled with love.

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Oh my Omicron!

We thought we were done right?
South Africa gave us a way to identify a new mutation and we punished her for it.

Yes, we’re still in this.

We could have been out of this, but you know, some of you just have to “Fight” what you don’t agree with, and that my friends, is what keeps us mired in s**t.

Do you ever stop to think about why the world is in such chaos? Tornadoes running rampant, weather systems on steroids, militia groups pretending they have the intelligence to run entire countries, people thinking they have superiority over others because they lack melanin, social media and misinformation becoming the new apocalypse…nurses and doctors quitting because we devalued their care so much — dare I ask what’s next?

What a wonderful world this could be if we learned to just agree to disagree! Have a dialogue rather than a heated argument. Listen rather than blame, try to understand, even if you totally disagree. Don’t be in such a rush to shout about your ‘rights;’ be in a rush to feed someone who’s hungry. It will change your perspective.

With the price of food set to skyrocket even further, let’s all just stop the shouting and see where we can give a meal or two… because there’s a universal law at play here– what you give, you get.

May you give much.

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