Category: Entrepreneurial Wellness

June 2025 Vol 7 Issue 6

Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):

Teaching English-as-a-Second Language to Economic Immigrants

Let us help you tell your story!

 Welcome Mid-June, 2025!

As I prepare this issue of “Tell Your Story” Newsletter, my readers will know that Northern Saskatchewan has already endured a terrible forest fire season. Twenty-three active wildfires were counted last week and 258 over the season so far, well ahead of the average of 147 fires over the past five years.

The Canadian Red Cross has registered evacuees from more than 3,700 homes and from more than 10,500 acres of at-risk land in our beleaguered province.

More urban-based Saskatchewanians have watched with worry, noting the frequent air quality advisories and warnings and knowing how much worse conditions both evacuees and firefighters have faced (some of the latter coming from Europe and Australia to help us). Thank you to them!

Last Saturday, after many parched weeks, we received the grace of some steady rain: what firefighters, farmers and river-boat captains (on our beloved South Saskatchewan River) wouldn’t do, for some more of the same!

Yet, not disregarding these challenges, the month of June (with the official start of summer) marks what we often call the “good weather” in our province! Glorious flowering trees  have flourished.  Busy gardeners are overseeing seedlings, bedding plants and perennials, longing for more heat and rain.

I keenly anticipate generous gifts of plums, berries, zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes and potatoes from the gardens of friends this summer, some of whom read this newsletter!

Yesterday was Father’s Day and I hope each you you found time to spend with your (or someone else’s–lol) father, grandfather or other family members on that gorgeous, sunny day.

Recently, I opted to shorten “Tell Your Story Newsletter” to focus on one article (instead of two), to reduce reading time for you (and to free myself to engage in memoir writing, on-the-side.) But please know that occasional snippets of word stories and jokes may still sometimes return, under the moniker of “Storytellers’ Corner!”

This month, I visit two high-achieving entrepreneurs’ reflections on diversity, a concept democratic countries like Canada must daily fight for, given the state of world politics:

American tradesman-turned-professional gardener, Paul Avellino, and beloved Canadian celebrity investor, Arlene Dickinson, have weighed in on Facebook and Linkedin, respectively. I share their gripping commentary in full-length, because it reminds us of why we must make a stand to preserve democracy, in a world beset by violence and chaos.

Although spring this year began as a season of loss for me (with my elderly mother passing one month ago), I am equally grieved by the nightly news. And yet, I find through the multi-layered nature of grief that slowly, light, love and laughter do seep in.

May the summer that is unfurling around us bring you JOY, good reader. While losses must be faced, I also wish you prosperity in your relationships, in time spent in nature’s diversity, and among the diversity of family, friends, colleagues and newcomers–now and always.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

Principal

Storytelling Communications

www.elizabethshih.com

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IN THIS ISSUE:

 MAIN ARTICLE: On the value of diversity from Paul Avellino and Arlene Dickinson

SHOP NEWS

ABOUT US

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Main Article: On the value of diversity, from Paul Avellino and Arlene Dickinson

On Facebook recently, my former entrepreneurial coach and valued friend, Deanna Litz (of Powerful Nature Coaching and Consulting, Inc.), shared some philosophy from American farmer, Paul Avellino, aka “The Garden Guinea.” Avellino is a self-described “gardener, writer, chef [and] father.”

Avellino is a former tradesman who took up domestic farming (he prefers the understated term “gardening”) during early Pandemic times. He’s an advocate for growing one’s own food and for living with kindness toward the earth and each other.

Avellino recommends what others call “forest bathing” or time spent in nature, where humans­­–especially in these deeply troubled times–can quickly appreciate the health that comes from ecological diversity. He writes:

“Take a walk through any thriving forest, and you won’t find uniformity­—you’ll find balance through variety. Trees of every kind, fungi laced through the soil, insects, birds, predators, pollinators, and plants that bloom at different times, all playing their part. That’s not an accident. It’s a blueprint.

 

Diversity isn’t something nature tolerates. It’s something it requires to survive.

So when people talk about human diversity like it’s a threat to stability, or when systems are designed to flatten, exclude, and erase—remind them that ecosystems collapse without diversity.

That monocultures breed disease, and closed loops break.

We don’t thrive despite our differences—we thrive because of them. Just like the forest, just like the coral reef, just like the world we’re all lucky [or blessed] enough to be part of.

Diversity isn’t a threat. It has always been the plan.”

Avellino shares wonderful memes, pairing his philosophy and work on Instagram, which I encourage you to visit! . . . . .

AND, also this week, in a more urban register, immigrant investor, entrepreneur, author and pioneering “dragon” on CBC’s “Dragon’s Den,” Arlene Dickinson, shared her insights on our communities’ diversity on Linkedin.

Dickinson wrote about the need we as Canadians have for diversity as part of our cherished sovereignty, and when false but alarming fear and anxiety are stoked by autocratic politicians who fill the media newsfeed (notably in the US and beyond):

“Do we need to feel fear as much as we do, watching the TV news, these days?“ Dickinson asks.

She continues: “In the USA, fear is now the central tool of politics. Immigrants and migrants are being blamed for economic hardship and crime. DEI [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] programs are painted as dangerous and divisive. Judges, educators and journalists are all being framed as threats and people we should distrust.

In Canada, over 33% of biz owners are immigrants. In the USA, it’s a fact that immigrants commit fewer crimes than citizens born there. Undocumented workers pay more than $20 billion in taxes yearly, including into Social Security (which they don’t even receive). And, by the way, being undocumented isn’t a criminal offense; it’s a civil violation.

These people are contributing to society, not taking from it. They are building America, not destroying it.

But fear is way louder than facts, because we don’t feel facts.

We feel fear. So immigrants become political pawns not because the facts support it, but because fear gives [greedy] people power.

The same fear is being used against DEI. The fact is that diverse teams make better decisions, build more trust, and outperform homogeneous ones.

Transgender athletes are another manufactured threat. Fewer than 10 transgender athletes are competing across [more than] 500,000 college student-athletes in the USA, but somehow, they’ve become a national crisis. It’s absurd. And it’s cruel.

Democracies weaken with fear. Fear of each other, of our differences, and of imagined threats.

What frightens me isn’t immigration or diversity. It’s how fast suspicion about each other spreads. How easily neighbours become enemies. How many people fall for the lie that inclusion is dangerous?

I’m so proud to be Canadian. Proud that we’re a mosaic, not a melting pot. Proud that we value difference, not sameness. But that only matters if we’re willing to protect it.

Immigrants aren’t the problem.

Black people aren’t the problem.

Women aren’t the problem.

Gay people aren’t the problem.

Trans people aren’t the problem.

The problem is the super elite in power [i.e. autocrats and oligarchs] who believe they’re entitled to control the rest of us. Who weaponize fear to hold on to power and money.

I’m tired of it. I’m tired of fear. I’m tired of seeing each other as enemies instead of as decent humans trying to survive and live with dignity.

There’s real evil in the world for us to fear and focus on. Hezbollah, Hamas, The IRGC-Quds Force, Al-Qaeda, ISIS. The Wagner Group. And I could go on.

We should fear and fight factions like these, not the people who are escaping from horrors in order to save their lives and live in peace.”

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These fighting words from Avellino and Dickinson rewarded me for visiting Facebook and Linkedin last week, when so often social media elicits only doomscrolling, undue anxiety and despair from consumer-readers.

In my work teaching ESL to economic immigrants and newcomers, who Dickinson rightly says make more than one-third of the business owners in Canada–including in Saskatchewan­–I regularly meet diversity and the strength it brings. When I speak to newcomers about values of mutual respect, understanding of each others’ cultures, values like hard work and responsibility,

 And now it’s your turn: What is happening in your family or circle of friends to help to cultivate and recognize diversity–and to oppose the homogenizing forces of the world? 

What tangible things can we do to overpower the injustice of manufactured fear and despair, in our times?

 

Please write in; I’d be delighted to hear from you. 

 

SHOP NEWS:

I ended this month’s “main article” by asking how each of us can outdo the injustice of manufactured fear and despair, in these times.

Some of my colleagues and friends have been answering that, notably through our most recent Federal election in Canada. Falsehoods and fake news of many kinds were  ably exposed and subverted by entrepreneur Silvia Martini and writer Michael Robin, to name but two. Thank you to them.

Thank you also to my long-term friend, writer and former fellow U of English student,  Paula Jane Remlinger, for penning cogent analyses over Facebook on the hateful machinations of Trump and allies who threaten our weary world.

Other “thank yous” go out this month to friends Beth Brimner and Lenore Swystun for reminding me that even–or especially--in such times, we find (and need) JOY.

Joy can exist, even as we oppose the violence of Russia in Ukraine; Israel against Palestine in Gaza; North versus South Korea; China versus Taiwan; Afghanistan (the Taliban versus ISIS and insurgents [NRF]); and Sudan (the Sudanese military versus the paramilitary), to name only a few of our global “hot spots.”

Thank you and congratulations to my South African friend, Christel Jordaan Schlebusch, for pursuing Canadian midwifery certification, when her significant skills and experience are greatly needed in Saskatchewan.

The popular English TV program “Call the Midwife” (viewed here on PBS) depicts some of the extraordinary work of midwives in saving infants, mothers and their families from medical and other risks.

Thank you to two remarkable correspondents whose messages are always heartening, even in trying times and as we all age–English Professor (Emeritus) Bob Calder; and former Managing Editor of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Wilf Popoff.

And thank you, good readers, for continuing to read, share and respond to this monthly newsletter, some 14+ years after I started it as a copywriter and editor, and now as I teach English-as-a-Second Language (ESL).

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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 economic immigrants to get better jobs or secure larger contracts by improving their  English language skills (by my ESL classes). And, when time allows, I also edit memoirs and legacy stories of individuals and major companies.

Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my website (www.storytellingcommunications.ca).

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

Meantime, please tune in next month for another issue of “Tell Your Story Newsletter!”

 

May 2025 Vol 7 Issue 5

Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN)

Teaching English-as-a-Second Language to Economic Immigrants

Let Us Help You Tell Your Story

Welcome Mid-May, 2025!

In the 2020 film, “Wild Mountain Thyme,” based on John Patrick Shanley’s play, Outside Mullingar, the male protagonist, Anthony Reilly, recalls the death of his mother as a time “when all the colour went out of the world.”

I can relate to that observation these days, as I grieve the recent passing of my mother, Bernice Shih, a long-time supporter of my work as a writer, editor and teacher.

I dedicate this simple issue of “Tell Your Story Newsletter” to the memory of Bernice, who died peacefully in her sleep earlier this month — and to all of the amazing women including mothers who read this newsletter, many of whom have known such loss.

Although Bernice and I did not agree on everything in life (who does?), she was a devoted mother.

I will always remember her gentle, kind nature and her deep commitment to her Christian faith.

“Death is not the extinguishing of light;  it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come”–Rabindranath Tagore

Rest in Peace, dear Mum.

Elizabeth

www.elizabethshih.com

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In This Issue: 

Article One: From loss to laughter, with Susie Dent–In memoriam: Bernice Shih

Shop News 

About Us

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Article One: From loss to laughter with Susie Dent

Laughter can provide tremendous medicine when one has been grieving a loss for a while, or a loss that has been expected. Laughter can bring life to a survivor’s weary mind and spirit.

I don’t mean that we should force or rush our ways through times of grief to laugh, but only that tears and heartbreak can gradually give way to humour and hope.

My sense of humour has been influenced by years of reading, writing and teaching English literature and language. Some of that humour I shared with my mother.

So this month, with a nod to my ESL students past and present, I will share ten humourous–or ironic–“curious words” or phrases, their histories and meanings. Each is vivid and often light-hearted. They can inspire us to apply them lightheartedly in daily life.

These words (and many more) have been collected by celebrated British lexicographer, Susie Dent, in her 2023 book, Interesting Stories about Curious Words: From Stealing Thunder to Red Herrings. (John Murray Press).

(1)   “Right foot foremost”: Historically, in the West, it has been considered unlucky to enter a house, or even a room, on one’s left foot. In ancient Rome, a boy would be stationed at the door of a wealthy homeowner, to caution visitors not to cross the threshold with the left foot!

(2)   “Pecksniff”: This irony-laden term refers to a “hypocrite, who speaks pompously about morality” while doing “heartless things ‘as a duty to society,’ and forgives wrong-doing in nobody but himself. “Pecksniff” is the name given to the arch-hypocrite in Dicken’s novel, Martin Chuzzlewit (1843-44).

What I find humourous with this word is the very sound of the term and the absurd clash between the appearance and reality of such characters’ personalities.

(3)    “Shaggy dog story”: This phrase refers to a “supposedly funny story, told laboriously and at great length with an unexpected twist at the end. It is usually more amusing to the teller than the hearer and is so-called from the ‘shaggy dog’ that was featured in many stories of this genre in the 1940s.

Etymologist Eric Partridge shares a classic “shaggy dog story” here:

“ ‘Travelling by train to London from one of its outer dormitories, a businessman got into a compartment and was amazed to see a middle-aged passenger playing chess with a handsome Newfoundland [dog]. The players moved the pieces swiftly and surely. Just before the train pulled in at the London terminus, the game ended, with the dog victorious.”

The businessman commented: “‘That’s an extraordinary dog, beating you like that—and obviously you‘re pretty good yourself.’ –‘Oh, I don’t think he’s so hot; I beat him in the two games before that!’”

(4)   “Yahoo”: This is the name given by Jonathan Swift, in Gulliver Travels (1726), for people with human forms and vicious propensities. Swift may have based the word on a blend of the two exclamations of disgust, ‘yah!’ and ‘ugh!’”

But in common speech today, “yahoo” conveys humour, arguably due to its unpolished sound.

(5)   “Salad days”:  With this phrase, Shakespeare refers to “days of youthful inexperience, when people are very green or naïve”: “My salad days,/When I was green in judgement, cold in/blood, /To say as I said then!” (Antony and Cleopatra, I.v. (1606).

This phrase could also work on a seasonal restaurant menu . . .

(6)   “Mrs. Malaprop”: This name comes from the female character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s play, The Rivals (1775), who frequently misuses words. “Malapropisms frequently flourish,” Dent writes, where naïve or ill-read people “try to use technical or professional language.”

Dent continues: “In The Times newspaper (4 May 1985), writer Philip Norman “reported a miners’ leader who denounced his bosses as ‘totally incontinent,’ and a parishioner who complained to her vicar about the church’s poor ‘agnostics.’”

Dent writes that “medical terms” are often “prone to malapropism [with] examples including ‘teutonic’ ulcers, ‘malingering’ tumours, ‘hysterical’ rectums and ‘Cistercian’ deliveries.”

The phrase comes from the French, “mal a propos,” (“not to the purpose”).

(7)   “In the groove”: This phrase refers to being “in the right mood; doing something successfully, fashionable.” From this comes the “dated slang word ‘groovy’ for something fashionable or exciting.” The term alludes “to the accurate reproduction of music by a needle in the groove of a gramophone record.”

Resurrect this expression and you’ll earn the scorn of everyone who hears you (lol)!

(8)   “When the fat lady sings”: This term refers to a time when “everything is finally over. The full expression runs: ‘The opera is never over till the fat lady sings.’”

This refers to “the final act of the opera, in which the heroine often re-appears. Opera singers are stereotypically endowed with figures as full as their voices,”  Dent adds. Politically correct it is not!

(9)   “Pope”: This word is more evocative than funny. It “derives from Old English ‘papa,’ from ecclesiastical Latin, and Greek ‘pappas,’ a child’s word for father” (just to add to the mix of this issue on women and mothers)!

“Pope” may not be a humourous word, but it is very evocative and timely, as Dent writes that “the smoke that emerges from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel during a papal election is known as the fumata.”

She adds: “Black smoke indicates there is no clear majority; white smoke is issued when a final choice has been made.”

This resonates for us, given the recent election of Pope Leo XIV; and with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent comment that “no white smoke” rose from the White House chimney during his recent meeting with US President Donald Trump!

(10)  “To visit the Spice Islands”: This phrase is one of many euphemisms for using the toilet, and, Dent says, was “favoured by the Victorians” (who else?!).

She further writes that “In the 1800s, those caught short would ‘play arse music,’ ‘use the thunder jug,’ or even ‘starch the potatoes.’”

Contemporary Western culture discourages “bathroom humour,” sometimes referred to as “little boys’ humour,” among adults. And yet, the influence of such idioms, often from Victorian culture, persist.

Dent adds that “in the last hundred years we have turned to” expressions like “‘emptying the anaconda’” for such bodily functions (!)

Many of the words in Dent’s book (including most above) are onomatopoeic, meaning that they phonetically imitate, resemble or suggest the sound associated with it. This may be the main basis of their humourous effect.

Each of the words in Dent’s book carries at least one–or several– stories, as she illustrates in her collection. Words remain the building blocks of all stories and therefore of all of our communication.

Very often, sharing certain words and stories (from an early age) provides the building blocks of our relationships with beloved adults, especially our mothers.

And now it’s your turn: What curious or “gem” words do you use in common speech? Do any of them come from talking with your mother or another family member? 

Please write in; I’d be delighted to hear from you. 

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SHOP NEWS:

In light of family bereavement and related matters, I have temporarily slowed my ESL teaching for a few weeks. But I look forward to welcoming new students in upcoming weeks.

Regarding my mother’s late life care, I want to thank St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church’s parish nurse, Laura Van Loon, for her extraordinary and very compassionate service to Bernice and to my whole family.

Laura helped to intervene when Bernice endured falls, hospitalizations, assessments and moves between care facilities, as most failing seniors do.

While I’m sorry that my mother didn’t live long enough to attend the Mother’s Day lunch I had organized for her, I’m grateful to the staff at Saskatoon Convalescent Home for all of their diligent care for her and so many other seniors.

If you are seeking a long-term care bed for an elderly relative in the city, I encourage you to consider the Convalescent Home, where kindness is evident each day.

The home’s building may be older (some renovations have occurred, with more forthcoming).  But the staff have been remarkable.

There are daily activities, usually six days per week (unlike other long-term care or private care homes), and a beautiful, garden/courtyard in the spring and summer, where residents can appreciate the good weather.

I believe deeply in such an approach to elder care.

My family and I also thank Rev. Roberto De Sandoli and members of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, the late Ted and Mrs. Audrey Gilroy and especially Greg Gilroy; Dani VanDriel; Lesley Bens and other close friends who have supported me through these past years of caregiving.

Thanks, too, to the care staff of Sunnyside Adventist Care Home, Luther Heights Intermediate Care Home, The Franklin Retirement Home, City Hospital (Geriatric Care Unit) and Saskatoon Community Clinic, for their service.

I’m deeply grateful to Ben Nussbaum (of Nussbaum and Associates) and Lance Bergen (of the Saskatoon Funeral Home) for their help when dealing with estate or memorial matters.

Thank you to the members of Saskatoon Freelancers’ Roundtable (my writers’ group) for the messages of condolences they have sent me, and for their compassion during times when we as creatives face adversity.

Finally, I thank all of our extended family and friends who wrote, called or visited my mother during the past few years, especially folks affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Canada (and St. Andrew’s, Saskatoon) or with the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, where my mother volunteered or worked for most of her adult life.

Mother’s Day has passed. But during the month of May, or whenever you can arrange to share physical space with family and friends, I urge you to pause whatever you’re doing to  hug those you love.

We never know how much time any of us has left.

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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 land better jobs and economic immigrants to secure greater contracts by improving their English skills.

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

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

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

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April 2025 Vol 7 Issue 4

Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):
Teaching English-as-a-Second Language to Economic Immigrants
Let us help you tell your story

Welcome Mid-April, 2025!

Welcome, Spring and good riddance, Winter!
The past half-week has finally brought Saskatchewanians relief from the burden of another long, prairie winter!

Saskatoon has lately alternated between warm sunshine (on the lovely, vivid
blue water of the South Saskatchewan River); and cloudy skies and grey water
made more inhospitable by cold winds.

But good news! The snow and ice have virtually all melted, songbirds have
returned and we have booted “Ol’ Man Winter” through the “exit” door for
another year! Hurrah!

And we have entered Holy Week in the Christian calendar: in a few short days
Easter will arrive, causing many of us to pause and reflect. Life brings such
challenges to us–economically, geo-politically, in “elected” leadership, in
unethical challenges to truthful voting, communication, trade negotiations and
more.

So in “Article One,” I share reflections of young American theologians, Kate
Bowler and Jeff Chu, who shared a podcast recently on “living deeply” in
difficult times. They refer to a life that involves love, career, hope, grief and
even a compost heap!

Suffering is nearly universal in these times. But Bowler and Chu provide some
insight on the invitation we face to grow in courage from the suffering we
endure, so that we do not fall into despair and drudgery.

And since I continue to work with economic immigrants in my daily work of
teaching English-as-a-Second-Language, “Storytellers’ Corner” this month
presents a subtle but fluid distinction between the verbs “to immigrate” and “to emigrate.”

Whether you observe the Christ’s Resurrection at Easter, another religious day, or spend next weekend as a secular time, I hope you will be among family and friends, good reader, and that these early days of spring bring lightness and hope to your lives.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth Shih
Principal
Storytelling Communications
www.elizabethshih.com
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IN THIS ISSUE:
ARTICLE 1:
On “living deeply”: love, career, hope, grief and a compost heap from theologians  Kate Bowler and Jeff Chu
STORYTELLERS’ CORNER:
“GrammarGirl” Mignon Fogarty on the difference between “immigrate” and
“emigrate”
SHOP NEWS
ABOUT US

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Article One: On “living deeply”: love, career, hope, grief and even a compost
heap from theologians Kate Bowler and Jeff Chu

For years, like many Saskatchewanians, I have struggled with the oh-so-long
corridor of late winter that spans from early February through to Easter (this year, on April 20th). The province is inevitably blanketed in severe cold for much of this time, notably by fierce winds and bleak, grey skies. The joys of Christmas have long ago faded, and seasonal depression for many can supplant them.

Many of us fervently plan (and re-plan) our gardens or flower beds, hoping for an early spring. We eagerly seek seed packages and fresh tulips, when they first appear in grocery stores; local farmers and producers dig deeply into seed catalogs, knowing in February that it will be months before they can sow.

“Lent” is, of course, the name given in the Christian calendar to the 40 days
leading up to Easter. For many Christian traditions, it is a time to reflect on one’s life, repent for sins and prepare for Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection at Easter. A valued mentor, Silvia Martini, wrote on social media, on Palm Sunday: Christians “are invited in this Holy Week to grow from our suffering; to grow in courage with grace, humility, kindness and generosity.”

That growth takes much energy and devotion. As American theologian, Duke
Divinity professor and best-selling author, Kate Bowler, writes, Lent is often a
particular time of emotional and spiritual pain: It is “the season where we sit in the heaviness of life. For 40 days, we stop pretending things will suddenly get better and face the truth: life is fragile, and so are we.”

Before you click away from what sounds gloomy, I promise that I won’t turn this newsletter of 14-years into religious proselytizing, or a “self-help” spring
improvement page for busy entrepreneurs!

Bowler reminds us that through the suffering that life can throw our way, we may come to understand what it means to be fully human—and through that find the most encompassing and deepest kind of Love.

Life is full of paradoxes that she calls the “hard parts” of life. These are times that “invite us to stop pretending we can hold it all together and instead sit with the weight of what we carry—the grief, the regrets, the messes we can’t untangle, no matter how much we try.” And we rightly keep on trying.
However, as we have emerged just days ago from the dregs of another late
Canadian winter, I want to visit some of the insights that come from one of
Bowler’s podcast episodes, “Everything Happens” (i.e. a play, of course, on “sh*t happens”). When snow competed with our first crocuses and snowdrops, what did we make of the heavy ordinariness of living Lenten days in SK?

Bowler writes, “Life is this strange, tender mix, isn’t it? Joy and sorrow. Love and loss. Big wins and even bigger failures. We cling tightly to the beautiful moments, but then the phone rings, a diagnosis drops, or some creeping ache reminds us that everything—everything—is so much more fragile than we’d like to admit. Life can be too much,” sometimes.

We all suffer or carry hurts of diverse kinds, while also seeking hope and
belonging for ourselves and those we love. This kind of philosophy or theology was evident in a recent episode of Bowler’s podcast, when she interviewed fellow theologian and friend, Jeff Chu, a gay, married, Chinese-American minister, who left behind a prestigious career in fashion journalism in New York and London to join a “farminary” at Princeton – to become a modest church minister.

Chu speaks of his dramatic career change from journalism to ministry as his
answer to American poet Mary Oliver’s famous question: “Tell me what is it you
plan to do/ with your one wild and precious life?” Chu found his answer in a
seminary class where students went outdoors to dig into a compost heap, which became what Bowler called “an extended metaphor for living deeply.”

Living deeply can mean living on a small scale, and not only a drop in salary. Chu finds “appropriate smallness” in his new career, a modest claim of “who I am, what I can do, and surrender to.” He finds beauty in being “small” at a time when the world operates on grandiosity and noise (e.g. Donald Trump, and his oligarchy). In the “smallness” of a pastor’s life, Chu says, he “gets to be part of love out there that is . . . great and transformative.”

Bowler laughs that Chu carries an electric rice cooker in his suitcase as he criss-crosses the country’s parishes, cooking delectable Chinese meals for his theological friends. He says that meals are part of “small and ordinary graces that create belonging” among others. Here is growth from suffering!
Facing his conservative parents’ rejection of his gay marriage and his non-Asian husband, Chu speaks of the “real grief” of living life apart from his parents, explaining that he still makes what space for them that he can when he’s alone.

Developing a career and life he believes in, apart from his parents’ approval, has been painful. But Chu believes in a “Grace and Love that is greater than any one of us.” He cooks these dinners, for friends who affirm him and his values–and he does this a lot during Lent!

Chu says that digging in compost piles (to grow some of ingredients to facilitate his cooking) is about respect and compassion for others, building love-in-community and making the world better. Our daily lives need not involve “revolution” or impossibly big dreams.

But we also can’t do anything solo, Chu adds. Striking out on one’s
own, as a “hero” in any career, he says, is a “false narrative.” “Instead of chasing
small loves that don’t love us back,” he finds “conviction in a Love that’s bigger-than-us” and encompasses everyone, if we allow it in.

During Holy week and for those of us who are Christian, this “Love” is rooted in a spiritual source, such as Lent and shared meals. For others who are not, “love” may be deeply set in family ties. Which kind of Love allows you to grow courage to cope with suffering?

Kate Bowler says it took years of her youth before her future husband’s family
would recognize her as his serious girlfriend, by writing her nameplate on the
family dinner table in pen, instead of in pencil! She says she struggles daily with shame from many sources and continues to receive uncertain immunotherapy treatment after being diagnosed, as a young mother of 35, with stage-four colon cancer. She’s clearly also no stranger to suffering and writes and speaks (via podcast) on the personal work of grace, kindness, humility and generosity.

Bowler and Chu admire the story of a minister who celebrated her birthday by
sharing tea and cake with local church women. Why? Because that small act of
sharing was rooted in a kind of Love that helped all of the women present to feel known, seen and cared for.

Across the miles, Chu mails Bowler Chinese snacks (“food can be a Love
language,” and “bountiful food reflects hope and possibility,” he says), while she sends him insightful text messages and stories.
Chu says that an all-encompassing Love allows us to grow courage to meet the suffering and hard work of daily life–and with the harsh weather of interminable Saskatchewan winters!

Bowler observes that Chu “chooses to be changed by Love, career, hope, grief and compost, and [a] very, very stubborn belief in God,” that anchor him during often dark days we pass through, during Lent.

She concludes that spiritual “hope looks like compost—it’s slow, surprising,
quietly transforming what was into what could be. So maybe the best we can do is let ourselves be changed by Love, grief, dirt-under-our-fingernails, and by small, ordinarily acts of Grace.”

She continues to her listeners: “May [each of] you remember your smallness is not insignificance, . . . “that Love is fundamentally expressed” in friends’ gifts of food, “in text messages, and places at the table: it’s all still Love.”

This is a practice that we can keep during and beyond the 40 days of the Lenten calendar—long after winter’s lateness is eclipsed by spring’s possibility.

The hope, belonging and growth that most of us seek may be best grounded in
spiritual Love, as well as in the most generous bonds of family and friendship that we can make, in and for each other.

And now it’s your turn: Do you observe Lent or another time of emotional and
spiritual meditation, at spring-time?

And how do you grow in courage from the suffering you’ve experienced?
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STORYTELLERS’ CORNER . . .

 

STORYTELLERS’ CORNER: Words, Stories, Riddles and Jokes on Writing
and Editing . . .
This month: The subtle difference between the verbs, “to immigrate” and “to
emigrate”

Most writers and communications specialists think we’ve mastered the rules
distinguishing between the verbs “to immigrate” and “to emigrate.” “To immigrate” refers to going into a new country to live (note the matching vowels, as cues), while “to emigrate” refers to exiting a country to go live someplace else.

So one can “immigrate to” or “emigrate from.” But not “immigrate from” or
“emigrate to.”

Easy peasy, right?

Well, not so fast! In a recent podcast, Grammar Girl (Mignon Fogarty) says the
terms “immigrate” and “emigrate” do not refer to different sets of people
undertaking different activities.

The distinction between terms has been muddied in many “declaration of
intention” papers of the 19th century in New York State and in congressional
records from the late 1970s (to name only a few places), where people are said to emigrate to one place from another.

One of Fogarty’s contributing freelance writers, Brenda Thomas, writes that
“most, if not all, dictionaries say that an immigrant is a person who enters into a country to reside elsewhere. But that does not mean that immigrants and emigrants are two different types of people who undertake two different activities. Emigrants who leave one place and settle in another are also immigrants. Or, to say it another way, immigrants who settle in a new country are also emigrants of the country they left.”

The online Merriam-Webster Dictionary shows that the words have been used
interchangeably in the past, are used with “overlapping prepositions” and that “the borders between these words are somewhat porous.”

Fogarty suggests that while these words’ spelling and meaning differ, it is “not
something to be dogmatic about.” She concludes that “even though [the words] have different meanings, they refer to the same person and event, which is a person who moved from one country to another to take up residence.”

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SHOP NEWS:

While pink tulips, blue hydrangeas, chocolate rabbits and Easter eggs may boost our spirits these days, I’m aware that recent weeks have weighed heavily on friends and colleagues, whom I think of in this issue.

Some are facing cancer diagnoses, cancer treatment, medical errors, extended waits for test results and treatment, the premature passing of family members . . . and on and on life can sometimes go.

Each of you is on my mind and will be part of my Easter observations, this year.

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I’m particularly grateful this month to William Wang, CEO of Indigenous
International Trading Group of Canada (IITGC), for corresponding with me and
sharing his contacts and clients, as I seek new students for my English language classes. William’s talent, work ethic and unwavering commitment to serving the communities of SK, AB and his birthplace, China, are inspiring!
Thank you, good friend, for promoting my teaching services among your clients. I’m so grateful for your support.
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I continue to benefit from conversations with Monica Kreuger, Chair of the Board of Luther Care Communities, Chief Visionary Officer of the Praxis School of Entrepreneurship and of other entrepreneurial ventures from her offices in Craik, as well as in Saskatoon.

I’m always grateful for consultations on strategy, opportunities for collaboration, and of the gift of generous friendship, too.
Thank you, as ever, Monica.

++++++
Thank you to small business lawyer, Ben Nussbaum, for moments of insights
shared even on the busiest of days.

You remain a guiding light for entrepreneurial ventures and processes, for which I’m grateful.

++++++
Thank you to colleagues at Pro-Tax Consultants, for their prudent and timely
preparation of income tax, over many years, including answering of many tax-related questions.
++++++
To the staff of my family member’s long-term care home, where compassion and kindness make most days more bearable for residents.

Other factors include delicious and varied meals, pet therapy, daily activities that engage seniors’ minds (while parking wheelchairs before large television screens for hours is elsewhere the “norm”).

For this care I am especially grateful: thank you!

++++++
Thank you to Coordinator, Maggie Li, of Luther Care Intermediate Care Home,
who assisted me in finding a great home for excess senior supplies, after a family member moved into long-term care.
Thank you for your kind support, Maggie!
++++++
Hearty CONGRATULATIONS to my friend Dani VanDriel, who recently retired
from facilitating the purchase of “Action Battery” by EastPenn Canada.
We’re past due for several ice cream cones, now that spring has come . . . .
++++++
Similarly, CONGRATULATIONS to Michael and Jackie Robin, local
communication experts who have also retired from their day-jobs, and stay
mentally and physically active, sharing values and adventures on LinkedIn and
Instagram. Somehow the stars must align for all of us to meet, also assisted by copious amounts of locally made (haskap?) ice cream . . .

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And “thank you” to you, good reader, for your interest in this issue of “Tell Your
Story Newsletter” and in the stories and ideas it shares, some 14 years after I
started it . . . . Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

May this season bring peace and fulfillment, wherever it takes you, near or far.
See you again in Mid-May!
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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 economic immigrants to get better jobs or secure larger contracts, by
improving their language skills. I help newcomers move “from surviving to
thriving.”

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 talk further with you!
Please visit my website for more information: www.storytellingcommunications.ca).

See you again, in mid-May!
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