I once thought of myself as a triple threat, I could sing, dance and act. I was in some dancing musicals as a kid, the lead part actually. It's relevant to my story not as a brag (I know, "weird flex but ok") but because of how being in the spotlight constantly affected me. I'm still unravelling it in my work sometimes. I was groomed to be some kind of leader, to hold centre stage, but doing what?
On another note, I recently went down another rabbit hole researching an old bestie - someone whom I'd never been able to find an online presence for before, at least not one that offered any kind of contact. I found myself watching her being interviewed on a YouTube channel and marvelling at what different paths we'd taken and yet here we both were on YouTube.
Speaking of YouTube I hear its use garners about 3% of the world's energy use. Something to think about. Meanwhile the average leaf blower pollutes more in one hour as the average car does driving around for a week... doing deliveries.
Becoming conscious of what we are doing, how it affects us and how our choices affect others is crucial to making choices aligned with our goals, values and genuinely what's best for all of us. This is the process we get into in the groups and workshops. Speaking of which have you seen my latest video on YouTube (cringe).
I personally value the experience of sharing stories- talking to each other, person to person about what we actually have lived. That is one of the reasons I love being in the business of serving others, connecting with them and helping them to communicate their message to the world!
Recently I did just that with Elisabeth Smith a watercolour artist and retired yoga instructor from Vancouver Island. When the pandemic began, Elisabeth wrote haiku poems and shared them on social media. Her friends were inspired and started sending them to her and she collected them into a book. I was happy to format and publish this collection using my PoeTreeKicks publishing tools.
I've been having fun putting together Our Digital Life podcast and making T shirt designs and now hats, skirts, crop tops - a very exciting array from the Art of Where, so awesomely based in Montreal.
So I now have full capabilities to publish audio, video, print and make clothing ... my next hurdle will be 3d printing, I want a mini-me in all my various hats, like those blue plastic smurfs I used to collect. Web mistress, poet, inspirational speaker, doula of educators pivoting online, publisher, podcaster... I'm just getting started.