I took this photo a bit of time ago during our first snow fall. It is my thinking place in winter when I first wake up and where I drink coffee and read and of course a good prayer space, as I watch nature at work. Don't tell anyone because it is illigal in Toronto, one reason why I can't vote NDP. The politician whom I never saw smile left being a councellor to representing the Province. Anyhow, please keep it quiet that I feed the squirrels. I love watching them munching away as they watch me, watching them. I think it is called love. Do you know that they always leave one morsal behind for another who may need it. Isn't that amazing? We have so much to learn from nature. This week I managed to do little and cancelled appointments as I am trying to get rid of this cold. Talking gets me into a coughing frenzy, so I am doing little of that. I am hoping to rid of it so I can get my flu shot. This year it is expected to be bad. Get your flu shot is my recommendation.
Last night on the news there was another protest ( I am so tired of the protests). This one is about getting rid of trustees and the Province taking over. What are my thoughts? I'm not sure. It all started because a group used funds to go to Italy to buy Italian art all paid by the tax payer and costing a fortune. Now one of them is suing the governement (all with tax dollars?) I am tired of seeing tax dollars being used by anyone to sue and think that is another waste. Use your own money. Of course I may be wrong? Anyway, there was a cheap shot directed at our Premier about him not having an university degree. So, I began thinking about all that. I remember one person I knew at University who told me she wouldn't date any man without a degree. That stemmed from her high school days when she felt bullied because of a disability and she equated that as being insufficiently educated. The teens who bullied her never went to university. I remember the high school retired principal who was chased home and tormented by two teens throughout high school being called a wop consistently. His armour getting an education which they never got. Getting an education is very costly. Ask me. Education is not cheap and growing more expensive with time. I remember a University Professor still paying off his from Harvard. I do think that education is important but I don't believe it encompasses the whole person. You can be very analytical and intelligent and open to learning and listening without an education. You can be educated and well..........Now we also have psychologists protesting because they are in the process of decreasing years of mentorship. It made me think of what I was hearing that we (psychotherapists) don't retire because of the time and education and hours to get us where we are. I thought that was interesting. I have decided to stay with one of my associations, CACFT as a retired member. My college doesn't have a retirement block, just resigned, which I told them is two different things. They will probably recognize that people do retire. Why do I want to retire? I am exhausted. Trying to sell my house, having it staged and not being able to see clients in person but on-line made me just want to have my house back and not share it. I didn't feel like I was growing anymore in my field either. I have attended so many lectures and conferences that some speakers didn't quite have the knowledge. I have not shared that with you. Everything I share on line is by people whom I consider well educated in their field. I need growth. I need to learn new things and I need to have fun. It wasn't fun anymore as more was on line. I need challenges and it stopped being that. How much education is required before we need another direction? How much becomes redundant? Also, I stopped having respect for something very important which I won't share at this moment. I am also letting go of AAMFT. I have been with them the longest. They called me as well, letting me know, that they have a retirement fee where I can still stay. I have been with them the longest, since I was a student working on my Masters and am more than qualified to stay with them. But, if I am going to stay with everyone, why retire? My own college warned that if I retire and change my mind, I have to start the process from scratch. How ridiculous. I'm still retiring, because I can - there. Do I really want to belong to an organization that takes that attitude? Nope. What I do know after retiring the first time, is that you need to move on once you make that decision. I am also stepping down from volunteer positions. Yes, it is no wonder I am tired so I am taking not a sabatical which I could have done, but actually resigning and retiring from all positions. I want to focus on my writing which is my favourite hobby where I have so little time for. I am tired of the two main things which is donating your time and money for different causes. Now back to politics. During Word On The Street last summer a black man in a suit approached my table, picked up my second book, For Love Of Country - Military Policewoman and broused through it for quite a while. It was nearing the end of the day. He then put the book down, said I was very political and walked away. He didn't ask me, he told me. I was surprised. I have had people buy my second book from all demographics, and religions both men and women. Jewish men and mostly men in the Canadian military have been my strongest supporters. I am probably speaking more about politics today than I ever have in my own history because I feel that democracy is in danger right now. That is what I was thinking about this morning, but then my brain went back into history and visualized how dark some periods were where it was thought that was it. This is not it. I love Christmas. It is a time for love and faith and yes hope. At a Holiday function (to include everyone's religion or not) I was given a small cotton made boot holding a chocolate bar and what stood out besides it being good chocolate, was the engraving of "hope" in huge letters. So, this morning as I was thinking, I decided we will be ok. There was a Soviet defector who once said that unless a person has a knife at his throat, he does not see the danger. That stuck with me. Perhaps because it is true. (I just got a call from a prison in Georgia. Then a voice came on stating a three way call was not permitted, so I hung up. Very interesting. I am not allowed to accept clients from the States because I am not licensed there. Actually, I am not taking on new clients because I am retiring). Anyhow back to education. I had a wonderful friend whom I liked taking walks with. He came from England and he couldn't go to univeristy which he desparately wanted. He came to Canada and when he got his first degree, he was so overwhelmed that he went to hide behind one of the university buildings and broke down and cried. My beautiful friend has died. He had gone on to more education and he loved helping others grow in their knowledge. Education is not always available to everyone. Education is also selective. At a function I spoke to a retired high school teacher and I was floored when she stated that Canada was a communist country. When I heard a Fox news reporter say Canadians need to be rescued because we are under Communism (Trudeau was Prime Minister) I was surprised that a professional reporter could be so stupid. When I heard this retired school teacher say it, I was concerned about who is teaching our students. I knew from her degree that she came from a communist country. She justified her thinking by saying that Canada has free health care while in her country of origin, if you couldn't pay for it you have none. She seemed content with that idea. That callous way of thinking concerned me. We can't have teachers teaching who don't even know what their new country is. Perhaps it is time to educate before citizenship.
I think we are going to be ok. Dictators do not live forever. They grow old and sick and poof they go to their makers and now good luck. Leaders who may not be educated, can choose people who are experts in their fields to fill in the gaps. My own philosophy is that I know nothing - simply because there is so much to learn and we will never be old enough to know it all. There are so many fields of studies where that expertise is learned and culivated through science which leaders need to appoint to positions.
Have a good weekend! Be kind to each other and pay attention to those who need it. This can be a very difficult time for some.
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