For years the only type of tests I've needed to take have involved my eyes, and after the first one of those, I figured out that I didn't really need to study much to pass them. But this past weekend [...]
My family got together last week to mark one-year since my extraordinary grandmother — the quintessential immigrant-family matriarch — passed away. When she and my grandfather left Ireland in 1957 with their eight children for a new life in Canada, [...]
Yes, this blog is about another special "International Day of..." event. I've recently written about the UN International Day of Peace and Mental Illness Awareness Week. But this week, on October 11 to be exact, the UN will mark the world's [...]
A remarkable thing happened to me last week. I was at an International Day of Peace event in Whistler, sharing the Hello Pledge and encouraging participants to sign on to the Hello movement. It was a lovely event, with shared [...]
Labour Day is fast approaching and summer is winding down. While I realize that summer officially carries on to September 21, our social perception of summer tends to wrap up with Labour Day weekend. Kids head back to school, new [...]
This time last week I launched The Hello Pledge. It’s shaping up to be the little initiative that could. Over the past week I’ve experienced the following: Several people have come up to me to say a very intentional “Hello [...]
Drum roll please…. (just play one in your head)… Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Hello Pledge. Ta Da! This week’s blog will be short and sweet as all I want to share is the Hello Pledge. After a few [...]
I live in a small town, the kind of place where people usually say hello — to friends, strangers, dogs, bears (cautiously) — to whomever or whatever passes you on the street. I also spend a lot of time in [...]
Community discussion, connection and engagement are essential to building a healthy community. And sharing your voice helps local government and other community service agencies understand your concerns, giving them an opportunity to consider your ideas and respond accordingly. However, there [...]
Last week the Vancouver Foundation released a report called “Connections and Engagement” (find it here), the results of a survey of almost 4,000 people in the Metro Vancouver region. The survey asked people questions about their sense of connection — [...]