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Patricia Sands

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August McLaughlin

Live to your true potential … #BOAW16

May 2, 2016 by Patricia Sands 25 Comments

Waterolor beautiful girl. Vector illustration of woman beauty salon
Watercolor Vector illustration of woman

August McLaughlin! Congratulations on organizing this fabulous blogfest for the fifth year! Kudos to you and everyone participating.

As I continue to age … and I’m so glad I do … I become more aware of the years ahead of me and the possibilities that exist. I also find myself seeking mentors older than I am, ahem … 70, who will provide inspiration and motivation so I never stop being a possibilitarian. Through the past 10 years, this has been my philosophy.

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Age is not a barrier to following your dreams, beginning new adventures, helping others, setting goals, making a difference with your words and actions. Push aside negative images and stereotypes. Love yourself and let others know you love them. 

The BOAW blogfest is a good opportunity for me to break away from my writing to spend some time thinking about unrelated topics. I love checking in on all the other contributors to enjoy their posts and learn from what they are sharing.

In considering women over 80 and 90 who influence the world through writing, art, photography, politics, and a multitude of other endeavours, it was encouraging to realize just how many there are. A book could be written!

Longer life expectancy is trending all over the world. Statistics show women in developed countries are likely to become octogenarians, with life expectancy reaching an all-time high of 81.8 years in 2013, up from 77.9 in 1990.

Wikipedia photo
Wikipedia photo

This year I want to honour the gracious global activist Dr. Jane Goodall, 82, a beautiful woman on the inside and out. She continues to travel the world sharing her wisdom and inspiring others of all ages.

Here is her Wikipedia description: “British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 55-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots program, and she has worked extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues. She has served on the board of the Nonhuman Rights Project since its founding in 1996.”

I recently listened to a commencement address Dr. Goodall delivered at the University of Redlands in California. She spoke about knowing at the age of 10 that she wanted to go to Africa and study animals. She counsels to never give up on a dream, to know it may be more difficult because you are a girl/woman, to be strong in your goal and to, in her words, “live to your true potential”. Her mother was a strong influence and support in her achieving her dream. Be that.

I could write pages about this accomplished woman, but nothing would be more effective than you taking 20 minutes to listen to this moving, intelligent and inspiring video by clicking this link. I hope you find the time do to so. Her talk begins at 6:53 on the video.

If nothing else from this post, please take these words of Dr. Goodall’s with you.

“Every single one of us makes an impact on the planet every single day, and we get to choose what sort of impact that is,” she said.

“Respect”, says Goodall, “is the solution.”

“We may have different colored skin, we may be from different cultures, we may eat different things and wear different clothes, but wherever you go in the world: If you cry, your tears are the same. If you’re happy, you laugh, and the laughter around the world is the same. … Within each one of us all around the world, the human heart is structured the same.”

I’ll leave you with this heartwarming video of Dr. Goodall and a chimp they were releasing into the wild, from two years ago. It’s quite remarkable.

Follow Jane Goodall here: Facebook page and  Seriously Good For All News website.

                                  Celebrate beauty every day! 

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Be sure to make some time to drop by other BOAW blogfest pages by clicking here for the list.

If you have participated, please leave your link in the comments below. I can’t wait to spend time reading your posts.

Were you familiar with Dr. Goodall before this?

 

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Filed Under: Blog, News, Social issues, Uncategorized Tagged With: activist, Africa, August McLaughlin, beauty, Beauty of A Woman Blogfest 2016, BOAW 2016, BOAW16, chimpanzee research, Dr. Jane Goodall, Patricia Sands, Women

Believe in the beauty of your dreams~BOAW2015

February 23, 2015 by Patricia Sands 36 Comments

Artwork by the fabulously beautiful Renée Schuls-Jacobson
Artwork by the beautifully talented Renée Schuls-Jacobson

Here we come again!

It’s the fourth anniversary of the Beauty Of A Woman blogfest hosted by the talented women’s activist, journalist and writer, August McLaughlin. I hope you will find a quiet time in the next little while to visit all of the participating blogs. The messages are inspirational, informative, entertaining and … well … beautiful. You might even be enticed to join us next year! Bonus: check out the beautiful prize list too!

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt

This year’s BOAW challenge has me focusing on my 5-year-old granddaughter who is a real girly-girl with long strawberry blond hair and stunning turquoise eyes. She is also smart, feisty, strong-willed and curious.

I worry about the world today, where the media focus is more frequently on stereotypes that deliver a skewed vision of “beauty” to fertile young minds. I want my granddaughter, and all girls, to grow up in a world that is safe. A world that gives the right messages. I want girls to grow up proud, confident, educated, and kind-hearted, with a strong social conscience. Why not? I want them to understand that beauty exists in many forms. I want them to listen to Eleanor’s words and believe in the beauty of their dreams.

It gives me hope to know there is a girl raising her voice and making a difference in the world. A girl who can be the best kind of role model for all girls and an inspiration to women of all ages. She’s a girl who believes in the beauty of her dreams: Malala Yousafzai.

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Today I want to dedicate my post to the beauty of Malala’s dreams, along with some organizations that work tirelessly to end violence against women. The dedicated people behind these organizations deserve to be recognized and supported for all they do to improve the lives of women and girls. Their messages underline the beauty and importance of the strength and potential of every single female. They truly work to bring about change so that every girl and woman may know she is safe and have the opportunity to believe in the beauty of her dreams.

It’s heartbreaking to think of the countless numbers of young girls and women in tragic situations around the world who struggle just to get through a day. We should never let up on our efforts to bring change to their lives.

Let’s all do our part to support the dreams of the future..

Because I Am A Girl

Canadian Women’s Foundation

Bring Back Our Girls

Vday.org 

#OneBillionRising

Each year I am simply blown away by the variety of perspectives, opinions and beautiful words found on all of the participating websites. You can link to all of them right here. Fest away!

It’s been a pleasure to take part in the BOAW blogfest all four years. May I be candid here? I know I can with you … I’ve loved each of my BOAW posts because August’s challenge to us has caused me to look at certain aspects of life in ways I might never have written about on my website. Thanks, August!

BOAW 2012 ~ You’re Beautiful Just The Way You Are

BOAW 201 ~ She Walks In Beauty

BOAW 2014 ~ Hear Us Roar

~~~~~

Thanks for joining me today. If you like today’s post, please use the share buttons below. It all helps!

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Filed Under: Blog, Social issues Tagged With: #OneBillionRising, August McLaughlin, Beauty of a Woman Blogfest, Because I Am A Girl, BOAW 2015, celebrating women, girls, Vday, Women

Beautiful and Brave – tattoo follow-up

February 20, 2013 by Patricia Sands Leave a Comment

Last week I posted about the stunning tattoo that covered a woman’s mastectomy scars.

As I mentioned in that post, I had been unable to track down any real information6a00d834710a0e69e201543448174a970c-800wi about the photo. Well, I don’t need to remind you that the internet can be a wonderful place. One of my readers forwarded my post to someone she knew. That person had, quite amazingly IMHO, recently seen the website of the woman to whom this tattoo belongs and she kindly forwarded it to me. To quote her, “Coincidences abound”.

Please click here and see Inga Duncan Thornell’s blog. Centrestage belongs to her today and rightly so.

I also want to add a shout-out here to August McLachlan’s fabulous BEAUTY OF A WOMAN BLOGFEST. Kudos to her for organizing this event again on Friday, February 22nd. The response last year was amazing and this year will be bigger and even more beautiful. You can sign up for it by clicking on this link. Join your blog to the list of participants. Not a blogger? Then raise your voice and pass the word around. We are all in this together!

Don’t miss her blog today in which she talks about the documentary Miss Representation. A film every single person, young or old, should see. I believe it should be mandatory viewing in high school.

miss-representation-cover

 

Are you going to participate in the Beauty Of A Woman blogfest? How do you feel about the way women are represented in the media? Are you happy with the improvements in gender equality you see in your world?

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Filed Under: Blog, Social issues Tagged With: August McLaughlin, gender equality, mastectomy tattoo, Miss Representation, Patricia Sands, Sundance film festival, Women

Did you know this about Dickens?

February 11, 2012 by Patricia Sands Leave a Comment

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Excusez-moi! First an apology – OMG, this is my FOURTH post this week!!! Holy S***!  I normally only post twice a week so – to you wonderful subscribers – please don’t hate me.  I promise not to bombard you with posts this often ever again … or  … at least hardly ever. You know, sometimes stuff just happens. I really wanted to support Darlene Jones with her exciting novel launch on Monday, and then there was the Queen’s Jubilee stuff happening on Tuesday (how could I ignore that?)  and August McLaughlin’s fabulous Beauty of A Woman BlogFest could not be missed. I hope you had some time to check in on that! You will want to bookmark that blog and return again and again to read some amazing stories – some funny, some painful, all true. Great writing!

Here, does this help you feel better? If I could I would send every one of you on an all-expense paid trip to Paris for putting up with my extreme blogging this week!

This week also celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of  Charles Dickens (Feb. 7th) and the planned festivities rival those for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee! Take a look at the official Dickens 2012 website here. It’s quite remarkable … but very fitting for an author who influenced the entire world.

I really wanted to mention a bit about Dickens this week but couldn’t fit him in until today. So then I wondered how I would tie him into something about France.

Bien sur! Of course! A Tale of Two Cities  is one of my favourite novels. How about you? Set in France and England, I thought I would focus on where Dickens visited in Paris while he was gathering his research, right? After all, isn’t that what we all do as writers? We visit the places about which we are writing, n’est-ce pas? Of course today we do it via the internet more often than not.

I was sure there would at least be plaques around Paris saying that Dickens slept, or ate, or cavorted at such and such a location, since Paris has changed considerably since the Revolution! Well, mes amis, I’m shocked to tell you it just isn’t so! At least not that I could discover and I did a ton of googling! I’m going to do some more to make sure I haven’t missed anything but it appears he spent very little time in France. He did travel there a bit to do some readings but he disliked the Continent intensely and didn’t stay long. Apparently everything he wrote about France and Paris in A Tale of Two Cities, he wrote from England. He relied heavily on the writings of his good friend Scotsman Thomas Carlyle for much of the physical detail of the Revolution. Dickens’ brilliance in this novel came from his understanding of the roots of the Revolution and his incredible insight into human nature. However it was really Carlyle who wrote extensively about the actual Revolution. I found all this quite fascinating! If you want to read more click here for an excellent article about it.

A little back history on Dickens – He was born on February 7, 1812, the son of a clerk at the Navy Pay Office. His father, John Dickens, continually living beyond his means, was imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea in 1824. 12-year-old Charles was removed from school and sent to work at a boot-blacking factory, earning six shillings a week to help support the family. This dark experience cast a shadow over the clever, sensitive boy that became a defining experience in his life, he would later write that he wondered “how I could have been so easily cast away at such an age.” For a long time he could not forgive his mother who had actually tried to keep him working at this child labour even longer.

This childhood poverty and feelings of abandonment, although unknown to his readers until after his death, were a heavy influence on Dickens’ later views on social reform and the world he created through his words. Don’t you think he might have felt better if he had spent some time researching in Paris and enjoyed some French wine and ladies of the evening  or Can-can dancers?

So I’m feeling badly that Charles .. I don’t think he was ever a Chuck or a Chaz or a Charlie, do you? Charles just sounds so right for him … anyway, I’m feeling badly that he never loved Paris or really even kind of liked it. I’m sure if he were to come back today he might feel differently. He might enjoy strolling the lanes of Montmartre with all the artists working their craft for everyone to get suckered into buying enjoy … well, it is pretty touristy I’ll admit but still fun and there are some very talented artists in the mix.

Sorry it’s a bit drizzly there this day but no one ever minds in Montmartre. 

He would have missed the amazing Sacré Coeur and those delightful carousels the French have even in small towns. No matter how Dickens felt about Paris and how little time he spent there, I’m sure he did visit Notre Dame  (below) which was very much a landmark even then. It was begun in the 10th C  for heaven’s sake, although it was badly damaged during the Revolution.

Too bad the Eiffel Tower wasn’t there for him because that would have won him over for certain! Never mind, for someone who didn’t like France he was still a most amazing writer whose legacy will last forever. I’m sure he would forgive me too for using him as an excuse to put a few of my Paris photos in this post.

Speaking of amazing writers … pardon the segue … for the next two months, the fabulous Wana711 group of writers (graduates of one of Kristen Lamb’s fantastic blogging courses – sign up now if you haven’t taken it!! )has organized a blog tour. I’d like to introduce to you this week’s line-up of awesome budding writers and truly amazing published authors.

First up is Natalie Hartford. This ball of energy will keep you in stitches as she talks about life and just plain fun. This week she’s featuring Elena Aitken an author who writes some amazing stories that touch on emotions most would rather not admit. Check out both of these blogs. If you comment on the interview you could win one of Elena’s books. So hurry on over and have a visit.

Next is Angela Orlowski-Peart. Born in Europe and living in the United States gives her blog an international feel. This week she introduced author and friend Traci Bell who writes adult paranormal and fantasy. If you answer this week’s question you could also win a free copy of Traci’s book.

You only have today and tomorrow to get in on the two contests, but I guarantee you’ll enjoy the experience of these wonderful women.

Are you a fan of Charles Dickens? Which book is your favourite? Can you believe he didn’t spend time in Paris researching?  I know,  it’s shocking isn’t it? Ohhh sorry, it’s been a very long week of writing. I think I should go to bed now.

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Filed Under: Blog, France, If it is France... Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, A Tale Of Two Cities, Angela Orlowski-Peart, August McLaughlin, Charles Dickens, Darlene Jones, Elena Aitken, ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year Finalist, Kristen Lamb, Montmartre, Natalie Hartford, Paris, Patricia Sands, Queen Elizabeth, The Bridge Club, Traci Bell

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