Category: Entrepreneurial Wellness

July 2022 Vol 4 Issue 7
Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):

Specializing in Entrepreneurial and Organizational Storytelling
Let me tell your story!

Welcome Mid-July, 2022!

In sharp contrast to June, the last week of July has brought us hotter than seasonal temperatures in Saskatchewan, including one day of 36 degrees Celsius! But gardeners whom I know have been relieved to get some heat, after the cool and rainy days of June. Summer on the Prairies does not feel
“right” somehow, without at least one heat wave!

In Article One, in this issue, I share a new story from a different–more spiritual–perspective than usual. It features a recent visit to my church’s ecumenical camp on the southern shores of Christopher Lake (45 minutes North of Prince Albert, SK). Facing exhaustion and with depression looming on the horizon, I opted to carpool to camp, in order to “unplug” from teaching, writing and to generally escape urban life!  The insights from those five days have been an unexpected gift that I’m delighted to share with you.

In “Storytellers’ Corner,” I share what sounds like a hilarious grammar game (an oxymoron, you say? Maybe not . . . ) from American grammarian, Mignon Fogarty.

And in “Shop News,” I take an “artist’s date” along Valley Road and, in addition to the delights located there, I promote three unrelated businesses which do much to improve the lives of their clients and prospects.

My wish for all of you, good readers, is that this summer will give you time to renew relationships with family and/or friends; to restore your minds with creativity; and to leave you grateful for the blessings and benefits that grace our lives, even in challenging times.

Happy summer.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth

Principal
Storytelling Communications
www.elizabethshih.com
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IN THIS ISSUE:
ARTICLE 1: Are you still glad to live ‘on this earth?’: on summer renewal

STORYTELLERS’ CORNER: The grammar game, ‘Peeve Wars’

SHOP NEWS

ABOUT US
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Article One: Are you still glad to ‘live on this earth?’ On summer renewal

As an ESL teacher and business communications specialist who also contributes many hours as a family caregiver, I’m not someone looking around for things to do!

But coping with burnout and lost productivity, while also wanting to avoid the messiness of air travel in this (Covid) summer, I surprised colleagues by signing up for five days of “helping in the kitchen” at the camp of my church (St. Andrew’s Presbyterian).

Please understand that it’s not that I feel I’m “above” helping out at camp. It’s more that I haven’t expected what happens there to be relaxing–that is, a space of toddlers’ smelly diapers, kitchen fires and chaos, angry wasps, voracious mosquitoes and so on. But, hoping for something better and “itching” to leave town (haha), I made some calls . . . .

My church camp is simply called, “Camp Christopher,” and was started in the 1940s when the church purchased land on the southern side of beautiful Christopher Lake (45 minutes north of Prince
Albert, SK). For decades, the camp has run gatherings of women, men, children and families, as well as provided the meeting space for other, secular groups and organizations.

And entrepreneurs learn and gain so much when we can participate in charitable activities that are organized by capable staff. The time or labour we invest often exceeds any monetary value or payment, on both sides.

Camp Christopher is based on a spirit of “ecumenism,” or openness toward faith perspectives. Every summer, the camp provides (as its mission statement says) a “safe, caring community where all may explore faith, celebrate creation and grow in relationship with Christ.” Rooted in Christian faith, but without lapsing into dogma, fundamentalism or evangelism, youth and children’s camps are designed to build the skills and character needed for the “leaders of tomorrow.”

The camp offers a wide variety of supervised water sports, art classes, photography, movie and reading times, delectable food (three square meals plus yummy bedtime snacks!) and more. There is even “tuck,” where campers can enjoy candy and treats that return them to early childhood.
(Remember “Mr. Freezies” and blue whales, anyone?)

Camp programming has meant much to generations of youth and families, over the past 80+ years. For instance, two of the camp’s most mature counsellors–two indigenous young men from Prince
Albert–are coming into their own. Yet they declined other, more financially lucrative, summer job prospects, in order to return to camp, for a final year. Thoughts of “reconciliation” between indigenous and settler communities were open for meditation and discussion.

Donna Wilkinson (Camp Administrator, runs a group home for autistic men in Regina, working shifts that allow her to finance running the camp) and Nicole Lindgren (Camp Director and head facilitator for children and youth, who administers the property between May and October, and has worked with
youth for years) are deeply talented, resourceful women. They are also delightful to spend time with.

Hearing their memories and the camp’s “success stories” can make your hearts glow. As I found, volunteering at a grassroots camp (that still needs camperships and funds!) can help us to get “back the basics” of our lives while also helping campers to experience life-altering programming.

Camp Christopher helps participants to return refreshed and better able to make critical decisions, whether on career or family.

My five days at camp involved hard work: I helped the talented, red-seal chef Bev Redman in the kitchen (what she jokingly termed a “sous-chef” position), set tables for meals, and cleaned up afterwards. But the dramatic change of scene from Saskatoon and simple repetition of tasks helped me to feel restored, emotionally and spiritually.

I lived the comment shared by meditation expert, Sam Harris:

“Just look around you and take a moment to feel how
blessed you are—
you get another day to live on this earth.”

I hope, good readers, amid the long daylight hours of this season, that you have an opportunity to pause from the rushed pace of life, to observe summer’s unfurled beauty, and to store its warmth in your minds.
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To visit Camp Christopher, inquire about this summer’s schedule (camperships are still available), or to donate to its programming, please contact Donna Wilkinson at (306) 535-6916.

And now it’s your turn: How are you finding renewal this summer? Please share your experience with me; I’d be delighted to use it in another issue of “TYSN!”
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STORYTELLER’s CORNER . . . .

 

 

 

 

Words, Stories, Riddles and Jokes on Writing and Editing . . . The grammar game, ‘Peeve Wars’

Looking for another summer escape, without leaving the patio or pool deck? Grammar and writing specialist Mignon Fogarty recently announced that she’s developed a “card game for summer fun.”

It’s called “Peeve Wars.” The object of the game is to collect the highest number of grammatical “pet peeve” cards, to annoy your opponents to “death!”

“Hi, yous all,” “I seen that already,” “Irregardless, I’ll participate,” are only three of many, offending examples that come to mind.

Only grammar heroes such as lexicographer “Noah Webster” and the game’s resident librarian will protect you!

The game can be played by two to four players, requires strategy and promises to be “different every time.”

It’s available for $15.99 (USD) from The Game Crafter.

Do you have a story, riddle or joke on any aspect of communications? Please share it with me; I’d be delighted to use it in an upcoming issue.
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SHOP NEWS: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROMOTIONS and SHARING . . .

Since summer is best when it involves R&R (see “article one” of my time at camp), I thoroughly enjoyed a visit last week to Floral Acres on Valley Road, only a few days after returning from camp! Although we are now late into gardening season, with both annuals and perennials struggling in their
greenhouse, Floral Acres also boasts a huge selection of (happier!) houseplants, and lovely trade items that pertain to indoor and outdoor plant life!

Capping off the afternoon with a stop at The Berry Barn for some of their wonderful Saskatoon berry cobbler, I felt the time was what writer Julia Cameron calls an“artist’s date.” But in this case, it was enjoyed with a like-minded friend!

Have you explored Valley Road, lately?

In addition to the places we visited, it is home to Black Fox Farm & Distillery (with its famed wildflower farm), and the Robertson Valley Farm, a great source of fresh garden produce.

If you cannot leave town for long this summer, do please explore these businesses to leave behind the concrete and tedium of urban life!
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I’m delighted to update you on the success of digiSMART, the latest programming from Saskatoon’s own Praxis School of Entrepreneurship.

DigiSMART allows entrepreneurs of all kinds to “upskill” their digital knowledge.

The program’s first cohort has finished and are fast at work applying what they’ve learned.

Now: be honest. What skills do you need for your business, but haven’t had the time or money to invest in?

Taking digiSMART training has been made possible by provincial funding and so is even available FREE for business owners in and around Saskatoon!

Select from a range of 40 modules: Basic, Strategic and Specialized. Register for just one or four or 40 and build your skills toolbox.

It’s not too late to register for modules in Cohort 2, running from July through October!

Training is held at the start of the business day, from 7:15 am to 8:45 am, at 131 Wall Street (PSE Office, Saskatoon).

Going to the lake, you say? No problem! Join digiSMART via Zoom!

Special, in-depth seminars on SEO, cryptocurrency/ blockchain, podcasting, blogging and social media will be offered as the summer progresses (including by facilitators like me).

Contact Elaine (elaine@globalinfobrokers.ca) or at (306) 664-0500 to get the outline of modules and for information on how to register.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity of the summer (that will last long beyond): digiSMART!

And spread the news to other business owners who want to upgrade their tech skills in order to grow their businesses!
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A shout-out this month to freelance office furniture expert, Rory Perron, a fellow alum of the “startSMART” program at the Praxis School of Entrepreneurship.

Having years of experience in selling office furniture, Rory now leads “Local Liquidations,” acquiring and selling top-quality (pristine), matching pieces of hotel and commercial furnishings, at affordable prices.

He has the experience also to advise on layout, and can arrange for delivery and installation.

Cubicles and filing cabinets as well as smaller pieces (desks, chairs, window coverings, etc.) are available.
Rory is also appreciated for collaborating with others, including entrepreneurs at Prairie Office Moving and Installation (earlier featured in this newsletter) and has been known to run a marathon or two!
Find Rory at localliquidations.ca, or by phone at (306) 230-4177.
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Closer to home, I am enjoying teaching ESL students, involving detailed conversations spanning topics from the history of modern cinema (with a major on director, Ernst Lubitsch), to European opera to classical singing with my student, Eliane, who lives south of Paris (France).

I also teach the fundamentals of English grammar (focusing on reading and writing) to a newcomer student, who is a refugee from Eritrea.

ESL can involve such highly diverse teaching and students that I often wished I’d entered it before 2021, when I first received certification (from TEFL.org,
Inverness, Scotland).

I continue to be encouraged by TEFL’s professional webinars and blog postings that share some of the field’s diversity with those building experience, like me.

There are always new businesses and entrepreneurial programs to promote. Please write me to share your stories . . . . . .But this is a wrap for mid-July!
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ABOUT US:
Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.

Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.” I now help newcomers to Canada to secure better jobs by improving their language skills; I help small- and medium-sized businesses to close more sales by communicating more effectively; and I help major companies to
tell their legacy stories.

Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my CASL-compliant
website (www.elizabethshih.com).

After I receive your message, I’ll be pleased to discuss projects with you!
Please visit my website for more information (www.storytellingcommunications.ca)

March 2022 Vol 4 Issue 3

Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):

Specializing in Entrepreneurial and Organizational Storytelling

Let me tell your story!

Welcome Mid-March 2022! Spring is here!

Most Saskatchewanians know that winter often isn’t yet over when the calendar says so. (A blizzard could still occur in the next six to eight weeks. Last year, we suffered crop-destroying frost after the May long weekend.)  . . . Yet haven’t the last two weeks of moderate temperatures and bright sunshine been a balm to our winter- and pandemic-weary souls?

In my neighbourhood, dogs who are out on walks with their owners, now appear without their winter coats and booties. Children are out in rubber boots, gleefully jumping in the puddles. (Look out for the sinkholes!). Spring officially began last Sunday (March 20th) and I hope, good reader, that you’ve had at least some time outdoors to enjoy it.

While the relief of longer daylight hours, the fresh air and warmth that come with spring make it my favourite season, I’m publishing this month’s issue a week later than usual. The rigours of tax season and winter/Covid exhaustion are two reasons why.

In the news, burnout has risen for entrepreneurs and professionals across all industries. For some of us, elder and/or childcare is added to the mix. Think too of our province’s health care workers, who have laboured, flat-out, for the public over the past two years or more. What do they and we do, when our proverbial wells have run dry? What helps to relieve burnout?

In this month’s issue, as part of my newsletter’s theme of “entrepreneurial wellness,” I share some simple strategies for identifying and addressing the problem from the writing staff of the Mayo Clinic.

Then, in “Storyteller’s Corner,” I feature a poetic meditation that may speak to you in these challenging times.

The Calgary-based, not-for-profit organization, Soul Sisters’ Memorial Foundation (which provides education on mental health), recently featured the poetry of ullie-kaye, a St. Catherine’s, Ontario artist. Special thanks this month to coach and facilitator Deanna Litz for sharing that posting, over Facebook.

As we try as a country to address international atrocities such as the war in Ukraine and our global climate crisis, I hope this month that we also remember local and personal challenges, like “burnout.” Can we find strength in the love and community of family and friends? . . . And in spiritual observances, such as Lent, and the forthcoming Ramadan and Easter?

My hope, good reader, is that each of us knows that our thoughts, emotions and actions –and how we express them–matter. And may we also know that we are not alone in enduring the challenges of these times.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

Principal

Storytelling Communications

www.elizabethshih.com

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IN THIS ISSUE:

ARTICLE 1:Feeling burned out? How to recognize and manage it

STORYTELLER’S CORNER:

A poem from Canadian artist, ullie-kaye

SHOP NEWS

ABOUT US

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Article One: Feeling burned out? How to recognize and manage it

In a recent article on the Mayo Clinic website, staff writers define “burnout” as “a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.”

Yet “burnout” isn’t considered a medical diagnosis. Some researchers believe depression, personality traits, family and socio-economic circumstances determine who experiences burnout and how long it will last.

Across North America, business surveys (including Deloitte’s) report that between 52% and 77% of workers say they have experienced burnout at their current jobs. Entrepreneurs often report even higher numbers.

Further, 91% of corporate workers say that “unmanageable stress or frustration impacts the quality of their work, and 83% say that burnout can negatively impact [their] personal relationships” (my emphasis).

The “Harvard Business Review” cites that in the US, workplace stress leads to nearly 120,000 deaths and nearly $190 billion in spending each year. Statistics are not much better in Canada.

Indeed.com reports that burnout has indisputably risen in the past three years by about 9% from pre-Covid numbers, as boundaries of space and time, between work and home, professional and personal, have eroded.

When focusing on “job burnout,” the Mayo Clinic cites 10 questions to help you diagnose it. If you answer “yes” to any of them, the writers say burnout may be the cause:

(1) Have you become unduly critical at work (either of your own work, or others’)?

(2) Do you have to drag yourself to your desk/workplace and do you struggle getting started?

(3) Have you become irritable or impatient with co-workers, customers or clients?

(4) Do you lack the energy to be consistently productive?

(5) Do you find it hard to concentrate?

(6) Do you lack satisfaction from your achievements?

(7) Do you feel disillusioned about your job or business?

(8) Are you using food, drugs or alcohol to feel better or simply not to feel?

(9) Have your sleep habits changed?

(10) Are you troubled by unexplained headaches, stomach or bowel problems or other physical complaints?

Global pandemic circumstances can underpin work-related burnout, since Covid has made it difficult to control scheduling, assignments and workload. The pandemic has also brought a lack of needed resources.

Other factors precipitating burnout arise when work expectations are unclear, when you lack authority over your output; when you face dysfunctional workplace environments (such as bullying or micromanaging); when your work alternates between chaotic and monotonous, so that you need constant energy to remain focused; when you experience a lack of social support (in the office or at home) and a lack of balance between work and life.

Left untreated, burnout, as many of you know, can yield to substance abuse, heart disease, high blood pressure, Type-2 Diabetes and weakened immune systems (all the more worrisome in pandemic times).

So how can we manage work-related and personal burnout?  Many of the following factors from the Mayo Clinic will be familiar to you, but are worth considering:

(1) Discuss your concerns with your supervisor, business partner or client, “to change expectations or reach compromises or solutions.”

(2) Reach out to co-workers and friends, to seek support and collaboration. Corporate workers can use Employee Assistance Programs, or related services. Entrepreneurs are wise to take out medical insurance plans, often through their local Chamber of Commerce.

Counselling/psychotherapy may be the most crucial support. Remember that you are not reducible to the work you do, so that you do not feel your identity diminished by vocational struggles.

Be sure to allow yourself time to cope with emotional and physical pain. Bathrooms are sometimes outfitted with “headache” rooms, since repressing pain raises greater adversity over time. Psychologist Kristin Neff (whose work I have featured in prior issues of TYSN), has written that “suffering = pain x resistance.” So the more you resist/repress or fight your pain, the more you will suffer.

(3) Make time to practice relaxation activities, such as yoga, tai chi, meditation or hypnotherapy. Many apps are available, are low- or no cost, and can be used, even if you are on-the-go.

(4) Get regular physical exercise (Health Canada recommends 150 minutes of cardiovascular work, weekly) to help manage stress. You may find that watching a screen while exercising can distract your mind from work or family issues.

(5) In combination of the above factors, get plenty of rest. We all know that sleep restores well-being and protects our health.

(6) Practice mindfulness, by focusing on the flow of your breath and by allowing feelings and sensations to pass, without interpretation or judgment. Openness and patience can be gleaned from this process, which can help in workplace or entrepreneurial settings.

(7) For many of us, try to take a few continuous days of holidays, at least twice per year, when you can largely “unplug” from work-based messages and/or larger family circumstances. If you are heavily involved in caring for extended family, try to find a “substitute” or respite person, while you rest and recharge.

(8) My own tip to add is that spring has officially come and it can be highly therapeutic to take refreshing, daily walks in nature! By communing with nature in this good weather, engaging all of your senses in the new life that surrounds you, you can lighten mind, heart and spirit.

While most psychologists today suggest that “burnout” may be inevitable for most of us at some point, we need not stay stuck in a “burned out” state.

By recognizing symptoms and actively working to relieve them, our work and personal lives can be restored to health and well-being.

And now it’s your turn: Have you experienced burnout in the past two or three years? Have you found practicing the preceding kinds of tips to help? Please write in; I’d be delighted to hear from you.

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STORYTELLER’s CORNER . . . . 

STORYTELLER’S CORNER: Words, Stories, Riddles and Jokes on Writing and Editing . . .

This month: Some meditative poetry from Ontario artist, ullie-kaye

In keeping with the theme of “burnout,” this month, I’m sharing some poetry from St. Catherine’s, Ontario artist, ullie-kaye. She writes and publishes poetry that expresses loss and pain, even as she reaches forward toward inspiration and joy.

You can find her page, “ullie kaye poetry,” on Facebook, where she describes herself as a “bestselling author and empath, . . . [who] writes for a world that seeks repair.” She also has an Etsy shop where she sells her own artwork.

What follows is one of my favourite poems from ullie-kaye. I emphatically do not share it to cajole world-weary entrepreneurs, cubicle workers or political refugees to work even more, which would be grossly unfeeling.

Instead, this poem finds what we do to be part of a larger, spiritual force that recognizes our worth as human beings, even on days when we do not feel it.

Here is ullie-kaye:

“. . . carry on.

until you understand that life was not meant to be easy, or perpetually beautiful, or without pain or risk or loss. you will not know what miraculous things you are made of. you will not know to what extent your strength can push you through and what it feels like to build a bonfire inside your very own lungs that roars and billows and fights to the bitter end. you will not recognize the sound that tragedy makes when it begins to sing hallelujah into the vocal chords you believed to this day, were fast asleep. and you will never understand how capable you are to sit in silence and listen to the voice that says, ‘carry on, child, your work is not yet done here.’ ”

Do you have stories to tell in poetry or other writing? Please write in; I’d love to hear from you. 

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SHOP NEWS:

In light of the harrowing war in Ukraine, I want to thank two colleagues for lending their names and organizing support for our colleagues and friends in Eastern Europe. My former coach and friend, Deanna Litz, has promoted the work of the World Central Kitchen.

  

The WCK has served nearly one million nourishing meals to desperate Ukrainians who are fleeing Putin’s atrocities. Visit the WCK website to read more of the charity’s remarkable work in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.

 

My own spiritual group is responding to the humanitarian crisis  by responding quickly and keeping overhead costs down, so as to invest as much as possible in support for Ukrainians.(please consider donating to  https://presbyterian.ca/pwsd/2022/02/28/ukraine-crisis/),

 

And on a related note, another valued colleague and friend, Ukrainian- Canadian Christina Cherneskey, a PR, strategic media and communications specialist, has used her podcast platform to share the plight of friends in Ukraine, including an impromptu interview with marketing expert and artist, Meron Sembaliuk.

 

You’ll find the impromptu interview here, and on Christina’s Facebook page (“Christina Cherneskey”).

 

Christina also recently discussed the situation with Saskatoon’s own (equally amazing) Lenore Swystun, on Lenore’s radio show, “Civically Speaking” (CFCR 90.5 FM).

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In other, more workaday news, I recently passed the 10-year mark for publishing Tell Your Story Newsletter! Archives on my website date to 2014, but three prior years of issues live on a former harddrive.

 

My former coach, Steve Slaunwhite (of Ontario), and e-newsletter pioneer, Michael Katz (of Massachusetts), offered praise over LinkedIn: Thank you, good friends, for making my month!

 

Steve first coached me to begin newsletter production in 2011 and Michael’s seminal book on the topic taught me the essential strategy to do it. So I’m living proof of the collaborative process of business-to-business communications and marketing!

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Elsewhere, an overdue thank you goes to Julie Barnes of Julie Barnes’ Creative Services for sharing project leads and being an always positive, writerly colleague.

 

Julie’s work often appears in “Saskatoon Home” Magazine and online and in print.

Julie is a voracious reader, whose titles on “Goodreads” are always worth noting. I (not-so-secretly) hope that she will publish a manuscript of her own, to share her talents yet more widely! Meantime, her writing on her garden and work in it are truly impressive!

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And an energetic shout-out to Northern Ireland-based, ESL teacher, Carl Cameron-Day, of TEFL.Org.

Carl is an internationally experienced ESL teacher, tutor, exam invigilator, and—as I know him—a wise advisor, who hosts webinars for more recently certified ESL teachers.

When a work week takes me off the trail of the ESL teaching that I love, I am always the better for tuning in to hear Carl’s insights on the profession.

His wry sense of humour adds to his charm. 🙂

ESL types can hear recordings of these webinars on YouTube and on Facebook, filled with tips and best practices.

There are always new people and stories to promote in “Shop News.” But this is a wrap for mid-March.

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ABOUT US:

Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.

Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.” I now teach new and prospective immigrants to secure better jobs by improving their English language skills; I continue to write communications documents that help small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to close more sales by communicating more effectively; and I research and write chapbooks that promote the legacies of major companies.

Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my CASL-compliant website (www.elizabethshih.com).

After I receive your message, I’ll be pleased to discuss projects with you!

Please visit my website for more information (www.storytellingcommunications.ca).