Women - In the Words of Aaron Paquette

Women, you carry so much for us. You carry our burdens, you carry our pains, you carry our fears. You carry us for 9 months and never stop. 

You also carry our hopes. You carry our dreams, and you carry the sacred fire.You carry the light of our future.

And the truth...the truth is you have been punished. Held down, and treated like second hand citizens. Any respect you have, any rights, you have had to work for, fight for and assert daily. You don’t get paid as much, you don’t promoted as often and your intuition has been mocked, and even punished.

You have suffered for centuries under the thumb of men who fear your power.

Because your power, your truth, your fire, when unleashed, will lead us into a an entirely new world. If it were your voices being heard these past decades our planet would be in a very different condition. We would have clean air for our young people as they run and play. We would have clean water for them to drink. And we would have clean soil to feed our children well.

The time has come: we need your voices, we need your strength, more now than ever.

You carry so much for us, now it’s time to lift yourselves. Raise yourselves, and speak. You are the true strength in the world: the strength of life.

And that’s what others fear. They fear that you will end the insanity we’re locked in because they can’t see a different kind of reality. All they see is: I gotta get mine before there’s none left.

Of course, they are talking about the total depletion of the earth, after which we will have nothing. It’s a path that leads to the destruction of the world as we know it.We need you - mothers, sisters, daughters - more than ever.

We need you. Our children need you. The world needs you.

You are beautiful, you are intelligent, and you are wise.

Men are not your enemies, they are your sons. And we need your love, your guidance, your intuition.

You can reshape this world. You can make it a paradise. You.

And you can do it without stepping on anyone else. You can do it in partnership, the way it is meant to be.

Step into your power.

And never, ever let anyone take it from you again.

hiy hiy



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words/art: aaron paquette

Definition for life - Alpha Female

Call her the “Alpha Female”: inspiring, confident, bold yet feminine, tough, honest and authentic.

Ask a scientist, they’ll tell you it’s all down to subtle differences in the way the male and female brain works: women possess a unique and powerful skill set when it comes to communication, intuition, the ability to nurture and empathize with others. What is now undeniable is that the same traits used over countless generations to parent can be applied to management of people and large corporations.

Do What You Love! How to Identify and Pursue Your Passions

I spent nearly 15 years working in nonprofit management, mostly in fundraising and marketing. I was good at it—people told me so all the time. It came easily to me, paid the bills, and was a very comfortable career path.

And yet, I simply didn’t love it.

Don’t get me wrong—it was okay. I learned a lot and worked with some great people. But I envied those folks who had a spring in their step on the way to work—people who absolutely loved what they did and couldn’t wait to roll up their sleeves and get busy on the job. I always wanted to be one of those people.

I finally went for it. I left my mediocre non-profit job and started my own corporate communications business. It’s been nearly a year, and while there have been many bumps along the way, I can now say with full confidence that I really love what I do.

As Confucius said, “choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” It’s great advice, but it’s not always that simple—it can be difficult to figure out what you love and how to parlay that into a viable business or job. So here’s a step-by-step plan for pinpointing your passions—and four ways to help you start turning them into your career.

1. Remember What You Loved as a Child

Often, our truest passions emerge in childhood, only to be squelched by real life pressures. So think about what you loved long before you had to worry about your career. Writing? Science experiments? Taking care of people? Getting back in touch with those instincts is an important step in finding your passion.

2. Eliminate Money from the Equation

If money were no object, what would you do? Would you travel? Spend all of your time with your children? Would you start a charitable organization to help abused women? Of course money can’t be ignored, but don’t let financial pressures dictate your choices. Your career should ultimately lead to financial security, but if financial security is the defining motivator, it’s unlikely you’ll end up doing what you love.

3. Ask Your Friends for Feedback

Sometimes you’re just not the best judge of what makes you happy. Ask the people who know you intimately when you seem the happiest and what you do the most enthusiastically. Their answers may surprise you.

4. Read through a University Course Catalog

Find some quiet time and see which courses naturally interest you. What would you study if you could do it all over? What courses do you think you could teach? Which subjects scare you to death, and which ones do you find boring? Revisiting these possibilities will help point you in the direction of subjects and topics that you love.

5. Identify your Professional Hero

Of everyone you know, either personally or in your extended frame of reference (from your dermatologist to Oprah), whose career would you most want to emulate? Reach out to her to learn more about how she got to where she is, or, if that’s not possible, read everything you can about her career and life. 

6. Think of What You Enjoy That You Also Do Well

After you’ve done these exercises, think about what you’ve learned. Focus on the things that you both enjoy and do well—whether you have a way with animals, make a killer lemon tart, or are crazy for origami—and write them down. Then, narrow the list to the top three or four things. Keep it handy, review it often, and use it as your jumping-off point when you’re plotting your career move.

Getting Started

Once you have a solid idea of what you love doing, it can still be a big leap to turn that passion into a viable career. Here are four easy steps to start making the change:

1. Talk to a Career Counselor

Career counselors help others figure out what they want for a living, and they’ll have insights and tools to help you zero in on the things you love most and do best, and also be able to offer ideas and guidance on how to find a career that best suits those passions. Take advantage of those resources.

2. Leverage Social Media

More than ever, we live in a social world. Once you’ve identified what it is that you love, get busy on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, connecting with people who share your areas of interest. Read blogs, join forums, and find out what it’s really like to do what you love.

3. Start Saving Money

Once you feel strongly that you want to start down this new path, start saving. A lot. The more money you have in the bank, the less finances will have to rule your decisions. And the less scary it will be if and when you do quit your job.

4. Just Do It

Ultimately, you won’t really know what you love to do unless you actually bite the bullet. Until you give it a go, it’s really just speculation. So, whether you take a small step like signing up for a class or you dive head-first into entrepreneurship, roll up your sleeves and do it. You’ll never know until you try.

I found my passion—and I’m grateful for that. But these tips are still serving me well as I go down this path, because it’s important that my work continues to be fueled by what I love most. And if that falls into place, I am hopeful that I’ll never have to work a day in my life.

This article is part of Ruth Zive’s column “Flying By The Seat of My Pants” 

Ruth Zive is a professional writer and blogger, wife, mom-to-five (plus pooch), designer handbag enthusiast, Ashtanga yoga practitioner, special needs advocate, and vegetarian chocoholic (not necessarily in that order). Read more at her blog, www.freelancewritingblog.com.

Shannon Murree Announces Charity Event in Barrie

What a great event is coming to Barrie....what is it? Check out this video from Shannon Murree of The Shannon Murree Team of RE/MAX Chay Realty Inc Brokerage

Walk a Mile in her Shoes: Gangnam Style

Heritage Park Barrie, Ontario - Sunday, October 14th at 11:00 am - see you there and watch these and many other guys 'Walk A Mile In Her Shoes"

Images of Women in Media

As a society, we are constantly bombarded by images from the media.  Many of these images are ones that objectify or involve violence against women.   Most of the images of women in the media portray them to be dramatically thin, abnormally beautiful, and successful in romantic relationships.  Women in ads and images are almost always overpowered by men.   It is also alarming that the media promotes these images and ideas.  We think since we see it so regularly in the media and become so desensitized to it, that it is alright to happen in real life.  When producers in the media try to “break through the clutter” and catch people’s attention with alarming images, we come to accept them; especially when they become more and more consistent. As women, we feel like we have to allow this type of treatment from men because it’s what we see all the time.  This image shows a female being controlled by a male, which is very common in the media today. 

 Another disturbing idea in media is the idea that women all women are thin, beautiful, and sexy.  In reality, no one looks this way without alterations and surgical enhancements.  The beauty portrayed in the media is unachievable, and when consumers can’t reach this level of beauty, we feel upset and disappointed.  In a way, this works to the producer’s advantage, because when we realize we don’t look a certain way, we talk ourselves into buying products in hopes of them helping us achieve the unachievable.   This turns into a cycle because we can never become what the products promise.  This is a danger to women too, because we go to extreme levels and do whatever it takes to be “beautiful”.  The media shows a very unrealistic image of the average women in this world.  This image shows a woman with unrealistic thinness and beauty.  These too, are very common in the media. (Guest Blogger)

DO SOMETHING! It's not just women. It's distortion of men too. Take a look at the above video.


Celebrities all the time fight to be "normal" when on camera and in the public. Lady Gaga Fights Weight Criticism by Asking Fans to Embrace ‘Flaws’ - turning the criticism about her weight gain into a tool to help others. Today on her social networking site, LittleMonsters.com, she launched a Body Revolution section to “inspire bravery” and ”celebrate with us your ‘perceived flaws.’
She writes: “Hey Guys its Gaga,” she wrote. “Now that the body revolution has begun, be brave and post a photo of you that celebrates your triumph over insecurities.”

Lady Gaga

Singer Adele called "Too Fat" by Chanel Designer

On film...Mila Kunis dropped 20 pounds off her 5-foot-two-inch frame to play a ballerina in 2010's "Black Swan." "I could see why this industry is so f*cked up, because at 95 pounds, I would literally look at myself in the mirror and I was like, 'Oh my God!' she told E! News. "I had no shape, no boobs, no ass .. All you saw was bone." Kunis continued: "In real life, I looked disgusting, but in photographs and on film, it looked amazing." 

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We need to highlight the victories of each and every woman. Sometimes we are harder on each other because we have to fight harder to get there. Perhaps we are less inclined to give another woman a break.  Here's a great quick video.