Shannon Russell

We all perceive, process and navigate life in different ways. It doesn't mean people are bad or wrong because they think or act differently than we do The other evening I was heading home from the city on the Perimeter highway and it was dark with some blowing snow. The temp had also dropped which made me think the road could be frosty from the temp change. I set out at a speed I was comfortable with - based on my previous experience with winter driving and my comfort leve...l with handling these road conditions (around 80km/hr) - I set my parameters which are unique to me I noticed how different the other drivers were handling the road conditions. This is what I noticed: - some people were super slow with hazard lights on - some were driving like it was no big deal and were going at/over/close to the speed limit - some were going my speed - a couple people had pulled over to the shoulder with their hazard lights on - one person had hit the ditch As you can see, there was a wide range of driving comfort levels, but we all were doing what felt right to us at the time. Was I driving wrong because I wasn't going as fast as the fast people or as slow as the slow people? Nope. Were the fast and slow people driving wrong because they weren't going my speed? Nope Were the people that pulled over wrong? Nope. Was the person that hit the ditch wrong? Nope. It serves no purpose to make people wrong or bad for the choices they make. Everything is cause and effect on its own, without people turning against each other. Personally, I feel sharing our experiences and educating people with what we have learned throughout our life to be a much better option than making people wrong or bad because they don't have the same perceptions, they don't process things in the same way and they don't navigate their life with the same choices you make in your life. To each their own. Respect each other and our differences. Be kind

Sometimes exercise, sunlight and fresh air are what we need the most... I was at a loss of how to shift my mood these past few days. None of my methods or techniques were working and I was starting to wonder what it was gonna take to get out of this internal funk I was in. Who knew it could be so simple as letting Mother Nature help me out

My mom helped me have a huge realization yesterday - I LOVE realizations!!! You see, I have been struggling A LOT this past year with what has felt like loss of freedom which then has felt like loss of life as I desire to live it - and that has stirred up some pretty BIG stuff within me... My mom said a term in our convo yesterday that I have never heard - or I had forgotten - and that term is Libertarian. She described it as 'you do your thing and I will do my thing and DO N...OT force me to do your thing or tell my how to do my thing.' It's a live and let live based on our own inherent morals and values without too much interferance from outside authority type of approach... So I did some research on this Libertarian term and found this article which describes it really well: https://www.cato.org//commenta/key-concepts-libertarianism For some people it is a standpoint on a political spectrum, but for me it is literally ingrained into the essence of my being as they way of life that I desire to live... and I have been triggered as F this past year because it feels like that way of life is being taken away from us - and that has set my spidey senses into freak out, fight and flight mode BIG TIME Maybe all of this is only temporary - but what if it isn't? Maybe the c-vid will magically go away in a couple months - but what if it doesn't? Maybe the gov't will back off, let us get back to our jobs and give us some breathing room - but what if they don't??!?!?!? Anyone with too much power over the people should NEVER be fully trusted. We don't need to look too far into human history to see the effects of what too much centralized power does to the middle and lower classes of society. I just don't think we should give up too much of our freedom. We have already given up so much of it and it has definitely gone beyond the 'freedoms and abilities to think and act for myself' that I am ok to give up for any length of time

I just don't understand how some businesses can still be deemed unessential... ALL businesses are essential to the people who own them, the people that work at them and the people who are customers or clients of them. There is a large group of people being drastically financially, mentally and emotionally affected because their businesses are still deemed unessential eventho other businesses that were in the unessential category have been given the green light to reopen. I ...know and understand that restaurants, pubs and night clubs are likely on the high-risk side of the group of businesses still deemed unessential, but from what I have read, businesses like gyms and photographers are not high-risk spreaders... so why not let them open in some capacity??? Some of this makes sense to me and some of it REALLY DOESN'T. And I really struggle and am perplexed by the parts of this that don't make sense My heart hurts for those who are at the mercy of what the gov't decides is essential or not. I wish there was more we could do to help you

For those of you (myself included) who are missing summer and are really sad about not being able to go anywhere warm and sunny this winter, I have a solution for you I created this for myself and it works pretty darn good!!! The mind is a powerful visualizer and can be super helpful in desperate times like this when we can't physically BE where we want to be Here are the steps to my 'Tropical Paradise Technique'. I would love to get your feedback after you have tried it ... 1) go up to a window in your house that has sun visibly shining through it (you may have to check your windows at certain times of the day to see when the afternoon sun is shining through your south or west facing windows) 2) turn on tropical music / soothing waves, breeze or bird sounds 3) uncover as much flesh as you are comfortable with other people potentially seeing - at least your arms, face and lower back - the more skin the better!!! 4) Ignore everything going on around you in the house. Stand or sit as close to the window as possible, close your eyes and focus your attention inwards. Take some niiiice deeeeep breaths 5) hear the beachy sounds/music and imagine you are sitting/laying on the beach at your favorite destination - or imprint the amazing image I have included in this post into your mind and imagine you are IN that image 6) imagine what you see and hear all around you - waves, trees, sand, breeze a tropical beverage beside you. What do you see and feel and hear? Be as conservative or as wild as your imagination wants you to be - have some fun with it!!! 7) feel the sun on your face and body. Feel the warmth and vibrant energy the sun gives us and SOAK IT IN 8) rotate from front to back depending how long you stand at your 'Tropical Paradise Window' 9) when you feel ready, slowly open your eyes and thank the sun for being glorious, thank your mind for having an awesome imagination that was so vivid you FELT like you were there, and thank yourself for being willing to experience your own Tropical Paradise 10) repeat this technique as often as possible as it helps rejeuvenate and energize your mind, body, heart and soul If you enjoyed this, please share and brighten someone else's day