February 2015 Newsletter

Key Life Journeys is the website I established to share the various journeys that are a part of my life and which I thought might interest, inform and inspire others. On the five blogs there is room to comment. I discovered that the journeys which have had the most impact on my life are those of care giving, travelling and gardening; through them I have had personal growth and found a spiritual path, the soul journey.

In the last newsletter, available on the website, I wrote a story about time spent in my garden while reading  a book by Pema Chödrön. One of life’s lessons I read is the art of letting go – that is, accepting life’s impermanence. Adjusting to this reality becomes a necessity as we age, for we are always being forced to confront losses. Most often it is the decreasing functional ability of ourselves or those closest to us or the ultimate loss, life. On January 3rd 2015, just one month shy of her 102nd birthday, my friend Edith Chambers died. I first met her in 1978 when I joined Canadian Centennial Toastmistress Club in Etobicoke, in the west side of Toronto. She was already a member and we became good friends. She was a good friend to many, many people. She saw herself as a giver. Edith was a patient listener and an ardent advise giver. She was a competitive card player and very generous with her baking and preserves.

Although in earlier years she had recorded the story of her life for her family members, she rather liked the idea of it being made into a book with photographs when I suggested it to her. It sold well and she gave many copies away.  She chuckled to think it was now an e-book and could be purchased on-line from Amazon.

In memory of Edith and to honor what would have been her 102nd birthday on February 5th 2015, the e-book “100 Years Down the Road of Life with Edith Chambers” is available free of charge from Wednesday 4th –  Friday 6th February 20015.

Learn more about it by clicking here or go straight to Amazon . Even if you do not have a Kindle Reader, you can download a reader free which you can use on your computer. If you do download a copy I would really appreciate you writing a review.

Edith touched many lives directly and indirectly. The book is her story in her words. But we are collecting feedback from others on how she touched their lives. I will be putting them together for people to read. Personal stories about Edith can be sent to me at sue@keylifejourneys.com

As we handle this unpredictable winter with its sudden snow, its deep freezes, its thaws and high winds, we instinctively think back to times of pleasing weather. Yet my arrival in Nova Scotia last July was heralded by Hurricane Arthur and we viewed the aftermath of its destructive force during our travels.

We stayed for a few days in Yarmouth in the west, exploring the Acadian Coast and absorbing the history. During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain and France were enemies. The Acadians of French ancestry had farmed and established communities in Nova Scotia since the early 1600s. Since their loyalty to Britain was suspect, they were rounded up and expelled from the colony in 1755. Their lands were given to Empire Loyalists coming up from the US following its Revolution. After the Napoleonic wars ended, small groups of Acadians were allowed to return starting in 1764. But their fertile land was gone. They settled around the coasts of Nova Scotia, where they still live.

Université Sainte-Anne  in the community of Church Point, preserves the heritage by teaching the culture and language. There are small towns with amazingly large churches and the Acadian flag flies everywhere.

South east of Yarmouth is the Pubnico Peninsula where we spent an enchanting day. Firstly we visited Le Village Historique Acadien de la Nouvelle-Écosse (Historical Acadian Village of Nova Scotia), a place that invites you to return to the early 1900s and wander through a village depicting Acadian life. Houses were brought to the site overlooking the Pubnico Harbour from real villages and the period costumed guides are local Acadians often telling stories of their own families… continue this post

Hope in the Face of Destructive Power

Like for the peasants in feudal and colonial times, today the inequity between the classes causes anger, hopelessness, loss of self esteem or a sense of belonging which ultimately leads to anarchy which leads to revolution. To function at our best we need to have the opportunity to achieve our greatest aspiration, be rewarded for the effort and loyalty we demonstrate and have a sense of autonomy in our lives.

I go to AVAAZ.ORG   to restore my faith in a world where individuals want to behave towards others in the way that they would like to be treated themselves. Where we help our neighbour and the world in which we live – as a whole – not just in the service of self. Ah yes, you say, one of those bleeding heart liberals. But social media is providing the hitherto silent conscious population with a voice and that voice is getting louder.

Avaaz was founded in 2007 by an ex pat Canadian in New York. I signed up then and remember when we reached the one million member mark. As I write this in the middle of January 2015 Avaaz  has 40,819,740  members worldwide in 194 countries. There is no defined number of countries in the world but there may be between 196 and 206 depending on the criteria one uses. That is a pretty major world representation considering you need internet access and can read and understand one of the 18 languages that the website offers.

So who are these people who sign partitions and believe in people power? The list is long but here are the first 10 by the numbers… continue reading on the blog post

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) which combines old Chinese acupressure and modern psychology to rid ourselves of  behaviours which are negatively impacting our lives. EFT is a powerful self-help method based on research showing that emotional trauma contributes greatly to disease. Clinical trials have shown that EFT tapping is able to rapidly reduce the emotional impact of memories and incidents that trigger emotional distress. Veterans in the US are being helped to overcome their post traumatic stress disorders by using tapping. Other people are controlling cravings for food, fear of public speaking, pain, low self esteem, sleeplessness, migraines and so on.

I am very impressed by what this technique has to offer – literally at our finger tips.

Watch these You Tube videos to learn more about the technique and how to apply it.

Get Your FREE 60-Page EFT Tapping Mini-Manual by going to the EFT Universe website .

If weight gain is your issue – why not check this out?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Sue

Susan M Ellis                                                                     www.KeyLifeJourneys.com

SME Productions                                                               Sue@KeyLifeJourneys.com

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