Broken wings
I was a school teacher for six years. I was also a military wife. I was one of the lucky ones. My husband had survived four tours overseas without a scratch. It wasn’t until his return from his final tour overseas that he fell from the sky and would never be the same. Like a bird with a broken wing, he was unable to fly anymore. He had broken his back and instantly became paralyzed waist down. He was a parachute instructor for the Canadian Armed Forces. On June 30, 2005, he would no longer be able to use his wings but he would learn to fly again!

I was always a creative person like so many of us. I always made handmade gifts for the people in my life … cards, hand painted boxes filled with trinkets, dolls, and scrapbooks even before they were called scrapbooks. I expressed my love for others by making things with my hands.

My tool for survival
Throughout the years, creativity was not only a passion, a love, but also a tool for survival. I needed creativity like people need food. I needed to express this part of myself regularly, and without it I would get sick … at first emotionally and then physically. For me this artistic expression was a vehicle for my emotions, my fears, my pain, my dreams and mostly my love. It became apparent to me that teaching elementary school was no longer fulfilling my need for everything artistic. I was teaching grade six for three years straight and was strongly encouraged to teach in a manner that prepared the students for the provincial mandatory testing. My wings were broken. I could no longer fly the way I needed to explore this beautiful world. My heart was tired. I needed a change. I decided to throw caution to the wind. I decided to join the world of entrepreneurship and open up a store called Creative Balance: A place to nurture your creativity. I planned to offer workshops in beading and have artists give workshops in painting watercolor, acrylics and mixed-media. I was alive again. I was soaring…

Through all these years of creating, the deepest part of me knew that I was an artist. My soul wanted me to paint on canvas.

But sadly, two weeks before opening the doors to Creative Balance, my husband would fall from that beautiful clear blue sky and the sun would shine on his body lying on the drop zone. I never did have a chance to inhabit that store. Four months later, after the operation, rehab and many days walking the streets of cities I did not call home, we returned to our nest.

A wonderful local woman offered to buy the contents of my store so I was able to rid myself of the debt I had incurred. Six months later we moved back to the northern city of our childhood. The one we called home.

It is here that I continued to use creativity as a tool for survival. I signed up for a creative writing class at the local university that allowed me to express my pain and my loss. I wrote three short stories in this class. Two of them are now part of a collection of short stories that I hope to publish. These stories express my truth, our truth as a Canadian military family in modern day. All the stuff you don’t hear about on the six o’clock news.

I continued beading. I continued creating. I decided to try my hand at the entrepreneur thing again. I had unfinished business. One year after returning to our home town, I opened another store called Mimi and Lulu: Handcrafted Designs and Studio. This time with a partner, a cousin who was also a dissatisfied teacher. Here, we offered workshops in beading, sewing and felting. We sold supplies and offered a place where women could come to nurture their creativity.

Giving birth to my dreams
It was a great run, but a short one. After working extremely hard for two years our lives were going into different directions and we decided to go our own ways. She would give birth to her beautiful baby boy Remi, and I would give birth to one of my deepest dreams. The one of becoming a visual artist.

There are some things you feel in your bones in your DNA. Through all these years of creating, the deepest part of me knew that I was an artist. My soul wanted me to paint on canvas. But for years I let my fear of not being good enough, to lead the way. Until now.

Pushed to the next level
Three months ago, I started to paint. Every day, I put paint on that bright white canvas and made it my own. With sheer determination, the ugly ducklings eventually turned into swans. One month later, this small town Canadian girl traveled to North California to an Art Retreat called ARTful Journey where I met my tribe, my soul sisters. They helped push me to the next level. They said yes with so much love that I believed them, and upon my return, I created Her Painted Word. I am now painting everyday and selling my work on Etsy. Less than 12 hours after listing my paintings, I sold an original to a woman in England.

The Universe said YES. Since then, I have been living my creative dream, blogging and painting and sharing. My artwork is inspired by the journey of the soul, the dreams in the pockets of our hearts and the struggles we endure and overcome. Art heals. I am living proof of this. Without this creative expression, I would surely be unable to flap my wings over the meadows and grassy hills. Art saved my heart from the landfills. Hallelujah.

Note: My husband has learned to fly again. While he still sits in his chair to view the world, his perceptions have been blown open. He participated in the Beijing Paralympics and is now working towards his degree with hopes to enter medical school. We are blessed. We are happy. Art  heals. Art saves.

Danielle Fraser is a mixed-media artist who lives in Ontario, Canada. To learn more about her, reader her blog at lepetitstudio-woolf.blogspot.com, and visit her Etsy shop at etsy.com/shop/herpaintedword.

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Through programs and art events, KAB Canada strives to eradicate the disease by inspiring young people to adopt lifestyle choices that have long-term health benefits.

Breast cast exhibitions, one of KAB Canada’s key fundraisers, consist of creating plaster forms of the female torso, which are customized by leading artists then auctioned raise funds for breast cancer awareness programs worldwide.

KAB, its loving moniker, has been heavily active in the United States since 2001, and became a legal charity in Canada in 2008, after its first appearance at the three-day Pemberton Festival.

Co-founder Shaney Jo Darden said this about why she launched Keep A Breast all those years ago: “When our co-founder’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, we wanted to do something to support the cause, but we weren’t sure what. That’s when we realized there wasn’t really anything out there for us. We’d been doing art exhibitions and fashion shows for years, so we decided to go with what we were good at. We started doing plaster casts of breasts, sent them out to artists to be painted, raised money by selling them, and it really took off.”

With the support of recognized surfers, snowboarders, skateboarders, musicians and artists, KAB is able to reach out to youth and continue to raise awareness through educational programs. KAB has participated in various festivals and concerts, including the Vans Warped Tour, enabling them to impact thousands of young people.

KAB Canada is working towards a financial goal, which will allow them to produce the programs they have designed to directly involve and educate Canadians.

Next time you see someone walking down the street wearing an I ‘heart’ Boobies T-shirt (or bracelet), don’t be quick to judge, as it is in fact a Keep A Breast T-shirt, and it’s a great conversation starter.

Learn more about Keep A Breast and their mission to eradicate breast cancer through art, music, education and awareness.

You can check out Keep A Breast online at www.keep-a-breast.org or join the KAB Canada Facebook page.

Michelle Murray is on the board of directors for Keep A Breast Canada after becoming involved with the charity during the 2008 Pemberton Festival in Pemberton BC.

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Le retour sur scène du groupe CANO a été un moment de symbiose et d’émotion entre les musiciens et la communauté francophone. Des larmes ont été versées des deux côtés. Ce fut un spectacle magique et inoubliable.

Cette prestation historique a été suivie par les groupes de la relève. Les étudiants de l’école Saint-Nom-de-Jésus de Hornpayne, gagnants du concours  d’écriture de musique Exprime-toi!, étaient accompagnés sur scène par le musicien Antoine Tremblay-Beaulieu. Ils ont été suivit des groupes Le Jeudi Soir, Le Bistro et Leïla, respectivement Finaliste, Lauréat du Prix du public et Lauréat du Prix du Jury de La Brunante 2010. Ils ont démontré les talents des jeunes Sudburois. Le segment de la relève a été entrelacé par des interventions de slams poétiques écrits et récités par des anciens et anciennes du programme d’Arts d’expression de l’Université Laurentienne, Miriam Cusson et Daniel Aubin ainsi qu’un texte de Guylaine Tousignant “slamé” par Alain Lauzon.

Le segment de la relève a été suivit par le segment de la nouvelle musique pour les jeunes et les jeunes de cœur de la communauté. Tricia Foster a réalisé une prestation extraordinaire avec style baroque, sa musique moderne et ses anecdotes amusantes. Les Trois Accords ont terminé la soirée avec leurs chansons populaires et leur style désinvolte.

La fin du spectacle de Les Trois Accords a été annulée par une alarme d’incendie et l’évacuation de l’Auditorium Fraser de l’Université Laurentienne. Cet incident demeure inexplicable. La Nuit attend un rapport écrit du Service de la sécurité de l’Université et du Services des incendies de la Ville du Grand Sudbury. Oui, une Nuit de grandes émotions.

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It has never been more important to stress the need for companies to embrace consumer driven social networking; a method of communication that demonstrates how marketing and PR on the web can help cultivate strong relationships with clients. Internet campaigns via social networks offer the ability to deliver targeted messages that cost a fraction of big-budget advertising costs.

Anybody looking for ROI would agree that this signifies a need to transform marketing strategies to focus more on a web-enabled marketplace. It’s all about customization and interactivity, to use the web to educate and engage people with valuable and authentic information. With blogs and online press releases, you can communicate directly with your audience and avoid the traditional roadblocks. To be successful though, you will need to write content that highlights expert ideas; information that can easily be found in news search engines, such as Google News, and vertical content sites.

From an SEO stand point, each blog post and forum comment becomes search-engine marketing food that then drives more traffic to your site.

Well-written and targeted content will also help elevate your company to a position of importance, enabling you to gain credibility and loyalty amongst your customer base. In addition, well-organized content leads your clients through a user-friendly sales process,  to the point where they are ready to make a purchase or commitment. From an SEO stand point, each blog post and forum comment becomes search-engine marketing food that then drives more traffic to your site.

Thanks to search engines, blogs can be the most effective way for people to discover your company. Individuals will look for information you blog about, and there are even blog-focused search engines, such as Google Blog, and Technorati. The ROI of blogging can generate huge returns for anyone who is prepared to create an interesting blog and posts on it regularly. We know that in any market category, potential customers look online to conduct initial research. This is an opportunity for your company to deliver a targeted message at the precise moment your customers are looking for it.

In the past, traditional marketing strategies have failed to recognize the potential of their websites, and the online market in general. Don’t let your marketing strategy do the same. Start blogging your way to success.

A local to Sudbury, Tammy Graham currently works in Toronto directing the web marketing and communications strategies for Canada’s leading provider of executive suites for extended-stay. Competing within two of the most challenging online industries, hotel and real estate, Tammy draws on her many years of experience in digital communications to successfully increase brand visibility.

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However, with regard to marketing potential, many businesses have yet to figure out a business process that can leverage their popularity and potential reach. The problem is, no single business process will work equally well for every business or every social network. If upper level management were to devote time to “getting their hands dirty,” they would see that each social media network caters to and focuses on distinct social networks. To develop a successful business process requires an understanding of how these social networks represent very specific target markets.

Facebook and Myspace, for example, offer highly expensive on-page advertising solutions, yet studies have shown that there are fewer traffic conversions with this form of paid advertising, than campaigns that have harnessed the power of social networks to increase word-of-mouth recommendations. As complaints increase about how social networks are unable to monetize their sites, businesses must heed those warnings.

As this new social media continues to emerge, it is clear that social network sites are more than just a passing trend.

Paid advertisements and the ‘old school’ model of blatant sales and marketing messaging across social networks, are not well received by community members. It’s not even an issue of reaching the right market, because in many cases they have. It’s more about communicating their messages in a way that break through the resistance and skepticism present in today’s, prosumer-generated, mass-collaborating, content-sharing world. When you hear words such as buzz marketing, viral messaging and word-of-mouth marketing, what you are witnessing is an evolution of marketing and advertising that focuses on communication, and, more specifically, two-way communication.

When businesses are considering how to leverage consumer-generated media networks, they need to consider how to build an actual community, and not just an email database, or a friends list to which advertising messages can be fed. Today’s prosumers are seeking conversation, belonging, and a place where their ideas and opinions are heard; they are seeking dialogue, not one-sided information. So, to businesses looking to leverage the reach of social networks, the solution is this: “get your hands dirty,” become a part of a community, and learn what it takes to create dialogue with your target market, because it is those conversations that generate interest, create buzz, and build your community reach.

A local to Sudbury, Tammy Graham currently works in Toronto directing the web marketing and communications strategies for Canada’s leading provider of executive suites for extended-stay. Competing within two of the most challenging online industries, hotel and real estate, Tammy draws on her many years of experience in digital communications to successfully increase brand visibility.

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This Native social work degree is the first of its kind in the Sudbury area and is available on a full or part- time basis. Our department, located at the University of Sudbury, is honoured to announce the successful graduation of 204 students, as of October 2009. Of those 204 graduates, 22 have obtained their degree through the Laurentian University Envision program on a part-time basis.

Graduates have enhanced their career choices by obtaining further schooling in education (B.Ed.), legal studies (LLB), graduate studies (MSW) and post-graduate studies (PhD). Graduates are eligible to register with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Services Workers (OCSWSSW). They can also apply to the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Almost half of our graduates possess their MSW. One student has completed post-graduate studies (PhD) and three are currently completing their PhD studies at the Universities of Toronto and Laurentian University.

With a 95% employment rate, graduates are recruited in both First Nation and mainstream settings in the following areas:

• child welfare
• Native child welfare
• mental health
• provincial and federal corrections
• Ministry of Community and Social Services
• community development
• administration
• direct service delivery or front line delivery
• policy development
• research and development for policy and program development
• education training and management
• health care

Everyone is looking for a rewarding and satisfying vocation. Come to the School of Native Human Services and make your career choice today!

Sharon Corbiere-Johnston, BA, BSW, MSW, is the Access Supervisor for the Laurentian University School of Native Human Services. She looks forward to working with you.

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Lynn Boeswald carefully clips the stems of fresh yellow spring tulips, lavender hyacinth, plum crocus and lemon balm. Their bright colours and scents are uplifting and remind her that spring weddings are underway. These mixed fresh flowers create a wispy, welcoming and relaxed environment – there’s nothing like lavender to soothe a bride-to-be on her wedding day.

Apple Cart Collectables is a full-service event design and décor company employing a talented creative team, including designer, Lynn Boeswald, who is dedicated to orchestrating every aspect of an event, professionally and with flair.

Breathtaking bridal bouquets, boutonnières, centerpieces, and thank-you giveaways: Lynn has unique ideas that will complement your day perfectly – those extra special touches.

Apple Cart Collectables takes pride in focusing on its clients. For 18 years, Lynn has ensured that each client’s needs are carried beyond décor alone, to produce the most stunning events & centerpieces imaginable, and to create a truly memorable occasion.

Her services include: home décor, fresh flowers, event consultation, décor design, production, delivery, staging and set-up.

Written by Lynzy Boeswald, Community Relations, Apple Cart Collectables.

For more information, please contact Lynn Boeswald, Designer, Apple Cart Collectables, at 705-674-2604 or big_apple_ideas@yahoo.com

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However, like dating, the job search of the 21st century has become unconventional. No longer do we look towards the tried and true methods of job searches past. We change jobs more often, and for the most part, competition is fierce. Not only are older job seekers competing against one another, but there is the younger generation heading into the workforce. Sitting back and waiting for would-be-suitors to come to you is now a thing of the past.

With all those people and all those resumes stacked up against you, how do you stand above the crowd? How do you get noticed and get that interview? When education and work experience isn’t enough in today’s workforce and your volunteering skill set doesn’t relate to the job at hand, what do you do?

Be creative, because outside-the-box-thinking, paired with a polished resume and reliable references, are, I believe, the only way to get that job.

Social networking sites like Twitter and LinkedIn are becoming favourite avenues for networking and informing people of your desire for employment. Blog sites and websites give you the chance to showcase your talents. The question is, how do you attract the right employer?

I have been on the job search campaign for over two months. I’ve let my intentions be known through Twitter and word of mouth, and I have created a website dedicated to my talents. With over 90 applications sent out and only three interviews under my belt, I’ve had to ask myself, “Am I missing something? Am I doing something wrong? Why can’t I snag that first date or interview?”

I read somewhere not to judge the success of your search by the number of resumes you have submitted, but by the number of interviews you have had. In that case, my job search technique is in need of some serious CPR.

At the end of my ropes and a millisecond away from putting up a table outside the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, I have decided to re-focus my intentions with another barrage of social networking hype. The first being this article stating that unconventional methods of job searching are passé: http://hirethisgirl.webs.com/.

Those of you who are looking for work can relate to this. The hours spent emailing and job searching from home are not producing results, and pounding the pavement is putting a dent in your pocket book (i.e. gas, parking and resume printing). So, what is the next step? Take job hunting to the next level. Be creative, because outside-the-box-thinking, paired with a polished resume and reliable references, are, I believe, the only way to get that job.

Stop waiting and start networking!

Michelle Murray is an experienced event coordinator and executive assistant, who has returned to Sudbury after living in Pemberton/Whistler BC, and is currently seeking employment.

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Money has been known to tear people apart. It’s not uncommon to hear of estranged families fighting over a sizeable inheritance. Big businesses adopt practices that compromise our environment because it’s cheaper than changing, and it’s the shareholders of those companies who are profiting. People want as much money (i.e. power) as they can get.

From my point of view, the best clients I have are those who trade services with me. I feel like we are each giving just a little more of our selves to each other, instead of just opening up our wallets.

I recently met a new client; a man who owns a beautiful home and a successful business to match. He’s a local guy, and as we talked I realized that I’m a regular at many of the businesses that lease property from him. In particular, a favourite weekend breakfast spot has seen a lot of my cash pass across their tables. I enjoy the best home fries I can get anywhere (and, let’s face it, anyone can cook an egg…).

Try to think beyond what your money is doing for you, and focus instead on what your financial ‘energy’ might be doing for someone else.

So, as I’m learning about his business and his life, I look around his home and suddenly I realize, ‘I helped build this’. Think of all the dollars I’ve spent on delicious breakfasts, dollars that then lay in the hands of his tenant. From there, those dollars made their way into the rent cheque that was then deposited in this man’s bank account. Later, the money diffused outwards; to build his business, his home, and maybe even purchase something for a loved one. When it’s all said and done, the money I spent on something as simple as breakfast has contributed to building a life for someone, and because that someone has chosen to do something constructive with his money, my financial ‘energy’ has touched more people in this city, country, and maybe world, than I will ever know.

What a fantastic revelation to realize that something many of us fight with, fight over, and fight to keep, is the one thing in our western world that joins us all. There are subtle connections between all of us and our realities, whether it be energy, thoughts, or money. Try to think beyond what your money is doing for you, and focus instead on what your financial ‘energy’ might be doing for someone else.

Jessica Brugess is a Certified Kinesiologist and Health Consultant dedicated to educating the human community on the importance of personal, social and environmental responsibility in the quest for health and well-being. Visit her at www.jessicabrugess.com.

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You will find that people may try to talk you out of achieving your grand scheme. They may ask you questions like, “What are you doing?” or, “Why are you wasting your time on that?” or, maybe, “There’s no way that that idea is worthwhile.”

Us creative folks have to develop thick skins because, if these are the comments being made to our faces, then you can only imagine what is being said behind our backs.

Meet the naysayers, or grunts. These people have their values and identities cemented into place with unbreakable force. If an idea or thought doesn’t fit into their ideals, the hair on the back of their necks stands-up, their endorphins kick-in, and, like a pack of hungry sharks swimming in a pool of negativity, they create a whirlpool and attempt to pull you and your creative self under. Pretty dramatic, huh?

Only by completing your goal can you find out if it was worth it.

I suggest you use these negative comments as the fuel to positively progress with your ideas. Your success will be even sweeter when your goal is met. Still, keep the naysayers, some of which are friends and family members, at arms-length. Though sometimes harsh, the things they say are, for the most part, out of love. Respect their opinion, but, at all costs, stay true to yourself.

Brent Wohlberg owns and operates Artifact Media, a recording and multimedia studio located in Sudbury, Ontario.

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