E. Jean Simpson's Blog: A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA, page 10
January 15, 2022
GIGO Science
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. Today I talk about a venerable term of GIGO and how it fits in the modern world, science and what makes it more complicated than one would think. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…!
Years ago in one of my University classes, the Professor came up with a term GIGO. Being newbies to research and such, we tried to think what GIGO was. The Professor made it easy for us and defined it. Garbage In/Garbage Out. It’s a term that essentially says, what you ask for in a research question can have an effect on the answers you receive. So if you ask a question that is essentially garbage, then the information you collected will not be useful either…at least not to answer the question you want answered (https://marketbusinessnews.com/financ...). There is another concept called social-desirability bias (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social-...). Both of these things can figure into any question asked. For example, if people are asked would they like to reach net-zero emissions by the end of the year, of course they would like to. That’s the socially acceptable answer…it’s the desired answer. There might have been more educated employers who knew that it was not entirely possible to do in a year. This is one of the reasons that science insists on replication of results and on thorough research construction. This helps science to determine if the answer was due to the question asked. Research also, at the university level, need to give information about the weaknesses to their study and what things might be changed to get better and more pure results. This is not to say that the research was not good, but that there might be something that someone else could do to get more accurate results.
Let me follow the emissions question a little further. What issues does the question not take into account? To begin with, at least with companies that make product or any farm, you either have to have seeds or components or buy seed or components. That requires stuff shipped in. If you use a truck or if you fly it out, get product by rail or ship, you have a carbon footprint. They have found that with regard to airlines, there is not really many ways to cut back on emissions (https://www.theguardian.com/environme...) so if they expect to reduce emissions, it seems tied to buying credits. This doesn’t actually reduce emissions as they just use credits earned by other companies. There is the factor of how realistic is it to get net-zero emissions given that most companies need to transport goods unless they are totally run online, but if they drive anywhere, then there is still some emissions just to name one thing. Of course any production using gas etc. power creates more emissions. Smoke stacks can find ways to reduce, but they create emissions as well. Under current conditions, transportation is not removed from the equation for any product being made and shipped.
Now when we look at statements, there are several things that we look at. There is face validity or does it seem to make sense on the surface. As far as it goes, that is an easier type of validity to show. The emissions do look good…it’s great that so many people are interested in environmental conditions which is realistically the only thing it is actually showing. (https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/t...). On the other hand, we need to wonder if we are looking at social desirability bias…where people are more likely to answer in the direction that is wanted by the study. There is a good possibility that this is what we are finding with the emissions study. There is a good possibility that people will answer yes and may even hope that there will be grants available to work toward this, whether it is possible for them to meet criterion or not. There may be other factors that encourage those who answer to answer in the positive.
I can give another example of questions that may be answered in the positive, but not really be possible to achieve for everyone. If someone asked would you like to fly into space like William Shatner? There would likely be a lot of people who would say yes. Now ask the question can you afford to fly in space like William Shatner, the answer would be very different. In other words, desire to do something does not always equal action taken. That’s essentially the problem for scientists. The question may have some component that makes the likelihood of a certain answer. Science isn’t as easy as it seems on the surface, now is it? There are different elements each of which can skew results (make the results less accurate or go in a certain direction). This is why they encourage replication (creating similar studies to see if the same results happen) and exploring the area further. It might seem simple, but there may be discoveries that come along that change the way we see the question. All science begins with trying to answer a question. Then try to quantify or give numbers to the question and the responses. In other words, try to make the question in a form that you can collect answers that can be numbered and analyzed. It’s a simplification of science, but it also explains why science can be so complicated.
There is also the factor of unintentional bias and the article describes several different types of bias. (https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusi...). With this kind of bias, you have the problem of something either being accepted or rejected because it agrees or doesn’t agree with something you already believe. So, you might not want to know that there seems to be socioeconomic factors in the deaths from the COVID pandemic and would try to find information to the other side rather than finding out what the situations is and why they are saying that. Along with this bias, when things and conditions change and they try to use similar numbers, they are no longer using the same types of numbers and the numbers are not as accurate for the purpose they were previously used. For example, in Canada, some of the Provinces are changing how they are recording the COVID numbers. They no longer have the same meaning and it will make it difficult to track progress and analysis might change as a result. This is something that may affect reports and outcomes. Time will tell.
This is not only why science and answers change with more data but also why it is hard for people to understand what it is they are looking at. If they think that COVID is not dangerous, they will find all the articles that agree with what they think. Even when the articles are disputed and proven wrong, they will think it is some conspiracy. The general public does not have a background in scientific method except maybe a little exposure to chemistry, biology and other sciences in high school. However, that scientific exposure tends to be more about element table, physics formulas, chemical compounds and possibly dicing frogs and less about ethics and validity (at least in my day). I have to say, I haven’t been in High School for something like 40 years, so I’m not sure if topics have changed since my day.
As you can see from this quick and dirty crash course in scientific method, there is a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to scientific data and looking for answers. It is a complicated and multi-faceted area of study when it comes to scientific data. The changes in real time science makes things more confusing. It is not to say that a person cannot try to find what they can to make decisions, but also realize that they should investigate the why and wherefore things changed so that they aren’t sent on wild goose chases and getting caught up with kinks in the road. The road to science is full of them and not easy to distinguish.
Another thing that may make the evaluation of studies and their results a little easier to understand is that when you find results that agree with what you think and there are many who dispute it, look at the studies that are disputing it. If there are more disputing it than agreeing with it, then it is important to find out why they are disputing it. I found one item that was being passed around, they had since discredited the study with a more up dated study, but people were sticking with the old study even though it had huge issues with it. There might be a very valid reason for it to be discredited. See the more recent research and what other scientists are saying to determine whether or not to stick with the old study. The other thing to be aware of is that if you are reading studies about something, it is better to go for the better known sources. This is an easy mistake to make. For example, when it comes to medical information, then I would suggest the Mayo Clinic because they tend to follow the research and will tell you what they have found on various supplements and items (https://www.mayoclinic.org/). They don’t care if it is good, bad or indifferent, they tell you what has been found…not what they wish or what they theorize or what the next door neighbor or the controversial rhetoric says. They tell you the science and what is shows. Even there, if you are in doubt, definitely research more. No one site is perfect, but I have found that the Mayo Clinic tends to give the good and bad on various items.
As John Donne said, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.” So ultimately, unless one is a scientist, we are left deciding which types of information to trust and which ones not to trust. There is so much misinformation that it makes things difficult. Hopefully understanding some of the pitfalls and some of the challenges of science will make it a little less scary and help you develop some critical thinking for dealing with challenges that life will throw at you. Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
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E. Jean Simpson
The Big Kid's Magical Path to Insects in Nature
January 8, 2022
Winter Wonderings
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. Today I talk about a variety of things going on in a sort of stream of consciousness article. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…!
It’s been pretty crazy here lately at A & J PEI Treasures. At the end of December, I wanted to get a lot of my work caught up so I could start the year fresh. I was varying degrees successful. Of course that took up a lot of my time. Always seems that the New Year, New You thing kicks in and I try to get a lot of last minute stuff done. Then New Year hits and the reality is that I did get a lot done, but I still have lots to do. Mostly now working on new projects. I wonder if lots of us lose our sanity at least once a year at the end of one and beginning of another. I’m still not sure what made up my mind to update all my works. I had to change the beginning and end matter. Not really much changed otherwise. But, I had changed some of my pages and it wasn’t doing me any good having the old information up. So, now that’s all done.
Things haven’t really changed a whole lot between last year and this year. We’re still in COVID, we’re still mostly staying locked up. I try not to add to the pandemonium out there. If I don’t have to be out, I don’t go out in public. Though sometimes that is a bit wearing. However, that seems to be a general consensus and there is nothing to be gained from following that avenue. I think it’s been done and redone. So, better that I not add to that conversation. The most I can say about this is hang on folks, it’s a bumpy ride and it’s not over yet.
I have found that in winter, I focus a little less on the photography and more on writing. However, I’m less motivated this year, so far. I do want to get back to it. I have some projects that were longer term that I need to continue on. I also have some craft projects I enjoy working on. I’ve always been a person who hates sitting with nothing to do. So, to have many projects is not unusual. I will go back and forth between different projects over different time frames. So, it’s pretty much one of those things where you’re never sure what you will find coming out of A & J PEI Treasures. I do try to stick with certain standard things. I do the weekly blog post and podcast. I’m active on Twitter. I have Pinterest and LinkedIn in which I also maintain a presence. These are things that I do to keep in practice.
I often find myself wondering about things. Things like, where has common sense gone? Why does it take multiple appointments to get one thing done? Where has the day gone? Those and other things seem to make the day fly by. The other thing that we have that ensures good healthy exercise is Sam the Wonder Dog. He usually gets 3 walks a day which breaks up our days. It also breaks up Sam’s days. He’s very happy with the arrangement. He also has a sense of humour about things. He’s the only dog I know that will pretend to have no interest in a walk, when you know by the actions that he is happy to be going out. He likes to be begged to do stuff. He looks like he is laughing while you stand in frustration trying to encourage him to come over to have his harness put on. Yet, he is quick to go to the door and understands the words walk walk. He also understands the word no…not that it does much good. We love our pets.
Ramses on the other hand is laid back and likes to nap all day. Then he gets in the mood to cuddle in the middle of the night. Sam thinks he owns Ramses. If I tell Ramses to get down off something, Sam is right there nudging him off. There are joys to having pets. Of course there was also the clean up the day Sam decided to get sick. It’s more unusual for Sam. More usual for Ramses to cough up a hair ball from time to time. So, I’d recommend if you are going to get a pet, understand that there will be quirks and clean-up is a distinct possibility. If you can’t handle clean-up, then I would suggest to think twice and maybe get a nice robo pet. Ramses thinks he owns the place. Sam allows that one to go. If Ramses is on the couch at bed time, Sam lies on the floor. They share sometimes, but it seems not always. They do like to settle down for nightly routine. I’ve determined that most pets like to have a bedtime routine. It apparently also works for children or so I’ve heard. Sam begins to look for bed time routine at about the same time every night. He also has a morning routine that he follows every morning. I didn’t realize how important it was to him until I accidentally forgot to bring in one of his treats and I went out to the mud room just to retrieve some. His reaction was one of shock and a surprised yelp. So, he doesn’t like even the slightest change to his routine. Ramses is also a routine lover and expects cat grass either delivered as he lounges or when he wakes up and comes out. So, I highly recommend a good routine for the pets when possible…also for kids. Apparently they work on similar types of schedules.
As Stephen Sondheim said, “The worst thing you can do is censor yourself as the pencil hits the paper. You must not edit until you get it all on paper. If you can put everything down, stream-of-consciousness, you'll do yourself a service.” I am never sure when I do these stream of consciousness type articles if it is doing anyone a service. I never know if it is because I have so much going on in my head, that I can’t just stick to one topic or if I just want to see what will come out. It gives me a chance to clear out the cobwebs of the mind. To put out some tidbits of information of how things are going here at A & J PEI Treasures and to gain some idea of where things will go. I try to give some organization to the world around me and hopefully let people know that it’s OK to think about things. It’s OK to not know and it’s OK to have to work toward a goal without having a huge five year plan. I think sometimes it is good to take it day by day and sometimes to plan far ahead. It depends on the circumstance and upon the people.
Right now, with the current situation, it is not really all that possible for us to plan ahead. It seems the situation changes and things get closed. The situation changes and things open. There seems to be nothing reliable at this point. So, my goals are short and I sometimes have to organize what I am doing in order to continue moving forward. Of course, during winter here, there can be bad weather that makes it necessary to do some preparation in case of outages and such. This is something that also exists in fall. Some things seem cyclical and some things feel straight line. I think it is the same for anyone. Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
This podcast: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
Our Blog Posts are available on
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Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! We’re always working on something! Thank you!
E. Jean Simpson
January 1, 2022
New Year, New Logic? The Illusive Dream
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. Today I talk about the most illusive of dreams. It seems what is logical and what isn’t changes and moves over time. Wrap it all up in a big bow and you’ve got my New Year’s blogpost and podcast. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…!
According to https://www.dictionary.com/browse/logic there are several different definition of logic. In this case, “I refer mostly to “reason or sound judgment, as in utterances or actions.” I’m sometimes left to wonder if there is any logic in a lot of the stuff that goes on in the world. Perhaps I’ve seen too many fail videos. I find that the stuff that gets millions of views seem to be the ones that make no logical sense. As in why would anyone even think to do this? It seems that people think it is better to risk illness and death, which I guess is their prerogative. The main problem I have with this is that they tend to take people with them on their defiant journey. If they were just a risk to themselves, then it might not be so bad, but current conditions means that it risks others as well.
However as Ambrose Bierce states, “Logic: The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding.” May clear up the confusion over the seemingly huge lack of logic that one finds these days. Everything from politicians making threats online to people spreading misinformation. There is a malaise these days, maybe from being stuck in too much, from being unable to do most things that they would normally do and other factors. It is pervasive and everyone can get caught in this cycle. People ask questions, but not always the question that needs to be asked. People make assumptions that are faulty and assume that they are put upon by being requested to follow medical advice. The advice does change from day to day, but most of the people trying to lead have not had the experience of a huge all-encompassing pandemic. Of course there is the past to fall back on, but those who do seem to get confused and make faulty assumptions about the information they find using medieval times as a sample. This is not even a close comparison. There were not half the standards that exist today. Even a closer look at the 1918 Pandemic (also misnamed the Spanish Flu) will give you a better idea than going to medieval times.
Then, of course, there are the social network sites where there are all sorts of opinions, some of which seem to want to create more dissent. Now, the most interesting thing about that is if you have an interest in history, you will find https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish... very illuminating, since it appears we’re in the middle of a historic repeat when you read the problems of the time. As Edmund Burke is reported to have stated, “Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.” So, if you want to share information, be sure to know what you are sharing and understand what the actual history story is. Seek out valid information, seek out information that has replications of the same facts. If you do look, you will see parallels and you will also see that they suggested that deaths were actually cut by the use of masks. Also there were people who fought against them. It’s not new folks…it’s been there all along.
It seems the use of social networks, for some, is an avenue to share positive and uplifting messages. For others, it is one to find fault with everything and everyone. So, my suggestion for the 2022 year is let’s all make the effort to try to make this a more pleasant and meaningful experience. As I have heard said before, it is what it is. We are where we are, we have what we have. Things might have changed for the worse. We’ve lost people, we’ve lost time, and we’ve had to be locked up. At this point, it seems we aren’t turning a corner, but we’re increasing cases. Let’s use compassion, let’s use logic. Let’s keep our elderly and those of weakened immune systems safe. Let’s work toward being as well as we can be. Rekindle your passion in learning or in doing charity work or in helping your fellow people. Find a way to educate yourself about different groups and different beliefs. Everyone has the ability to do something of value that is positive. Allow 2022 to be a positive year no matter what happens or what changes. You’ve got this! You can make it a better year for yourself and for everyone around you. This is a whole New Year in which to make a whole new start. Each year gives you this gift.
Let’s start the New Year 2022 by learning a few things that might help make this a better time. I’ve had a couple of articles that I found about behavioural activation. It’s a different way to see the world. It doesn’t mean stuff doesn’t suck. It doesn’t mean that we enjoy what is going on in 2021. It just means that we choose to move forward and make a more positive 2022. It also doesn’t mean that one should not feel what they feel or express what they feel. It just means that you recognize that negative all the time is not working for you. You can move forward to a better 2022! We all can. The articles in question are: https://trailstowellness.org/material... and https://www.verywellmind.com/increasi... it give both a children’s explanation to use with your kids and some tips to using it. No matter what 2021 threw at you, it will give you a start to a more positive and mindful 2022!
Sometimes a New Year can result in a New You. Every new way of being adds to your tools to move forward in a happier and more positive 2022. It can move you forward toward a happier and healthier New Year and new understanding of yourself. I leave you with a couple of quotes of the New Year! “New year—a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately we write it. The choice is ours.” —Alex Morritt. Of course one should always remember that a New Year is a chance and, “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go. They merely determine where you start.” —Nido Qubein
Every day and every year is a new chance, a chance to grow, to learn, to move forward. Every day and every year is a new chance to become what you always wanted to be. As C.S. Lewis said, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” I hope this will motivate you to find your best self in 2022! Happy New Year!
Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Our Blog Posts are available on
WordPress: https://wordpress.com/sites/aandjpeit... and
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Podcast are available on Anchor FM in a variety of formats: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/e-...
Amazon: https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/879a...
All my e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Smashwords (my Affiliate link): https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! We’re always working on something! Thank you! Happy New Year 2022!
The blog post can be found: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
E. Jean Simpson
The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature
December 25, 2021
Holidaze Podcast
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. The holiday version of the blog post and podcast appropriately focuses on the Holiday. What you read or listen to here might shock you. I hope it does. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…!
There are multiple sides to the Holiday season. Yes, I call it Holiday. I know there is Christmas, New Years, Hanukkah, Yule and Kwanzaa just to name a few. That is, however, not the only thing about Holiday. I don’t use the term holiday to offend people. I use it because I want to include everyone who is celebrating this time of year. I don’t use it to make a statement, I use it for courtesy. If someone says Merry Christmas, I say Merry Christmas or even Happy Holidays depending on the context, if they say Happy Holidays, I say Happy Holidays. But, this isn’t exactly the point of this post. So I will leave that part here.
I have long felt that it was a lot of pressure to put on one time of year. It is the time of year where most charities see the bulk of their donations. It is the time of year when most money is spent. It is also a time when scammers are trying to get your money too…though that last part is year round. However, we forget that not everyone had great families growing up. There are some families that are dealing with abusive situations, homelessness or loss. At the same time, it is not hopeless, there are things that can be done. https://www.samhsa.gov/homelessness-p... I thought this was a good article from the US Government that explains a bit about the drawbacks for the homeless and potential suggestions. I don’t know about homelessness, but I can imagine that it would be a difficult time of year. It is a difficult time of year for those who have lost close family during the year and are remembering what was and what no longer is. It’s difficult for people who have experienced trauma and know that things are not how they were.
Of course another issue is for people who maintain sobriety for whatever reason. This article gives some ideas on how to cope. https://lifehacker.com/how-to-maintai.... Not everyone drinks. People seem somewhat more accepting of it now…but I remember the day of “well, one won’t hurt”. What people didn’t get is that for some, one could hurt. There are a variety of reasons people choose not to drink during the holidays. So, if you want to make sure of the well-being of your guests have some non-alcoholic options available. This will help everyone to be able to stay in their comfort level. It will remove stress. Another options is just having non-alcoholic options in the house. This one is up to each individual and whether or not there are reasons for not drinking. For example, some medical conditions they suggest you don’t drink. My condition, the specialist was very pleased when I told him I didn’t drink. Apparently if you are not helped by blood thinners or taking certain medications, drinking alcohol should be off your Holiday list of things to get.
I’ve seen different ideas about family violence during Holiday Season. There seems to be some conflicting ideas, however, they do point out that families where there is ongoing abuse may still experience it. This article from the USA gives some information on this. https://www.violencefreecolorado.org/...
Of course there are some people who find the stress from the holidays, loss, etc too difficult to deal with. There are resources and here I will list a couple of articles that give resource numbers and sites both in Canada and in the USA. In Canada, https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronav... and https://www.ccmhs-ccsms.ca/mental-hea... and for Americans, https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/index.html may help. In any case, reach out to someone and talk and if nothing else, 911 will help get the family member a safe place. Things might seem dark now, but it doesn’t mean it will stay dark. There is always hope.
Sorry, everyone, not really trying to be a Debbie Downer, but the fact is that holidays can be tough for some people and those are the people I would want to reach out to. For some Holidays and Christmas are a fantastic time and a treasure trove of memories and making memories, but for some it is a time of memories of loss, of anger and sadness, of loneliness and feeling forgotten. You have to understand that not everyone is a big fan of the big Holidays. Not everyone is Christian and not everyone has had the fairy tale lifestyle from the Hallmark card. Remember this when you don’t get the ‘standard’ excitement or answer from people around this time of year. It might have nothing to do with you and everything to do with struggling with demons.
When you give during this season, remember to think of those who have little or nothing and donate to the appropriate charities. Avoid the scams. Give to the food bank, give to the homeless shelters. If you aren’t rich, you can always donate your time to make someone’s life easier in any of these. The spirit of the holidays was always one of helping the poor and unfortunate and making their lives better in any little way. It was never about buying stores out or drinking and partying.
I leave you with two quotes. The first is: “Every piece of the universe, even the tiniest little snow crystal, matters somehow. I have a place in the pattern, and so do you. Thinking of you this holiday season!” –T.A. Barron. The second is: “Christmas is forever, not for just one day. For loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away.” –Norman Wesley Brooks. I’ve always believed that there is goodness out there and that we should make the Holiday idea of giving an everyday thing and not just one day or month of the year. I sometimes feel that people tend to go all out the one month, burn out and then think they are done for the year. Poverty, however never takes a break. I think that is my whole deal with the Holidays. It’s simple to say love one another as I have loved you, but seems much more difficult to actually follow it. No one is perfect, but we could make a better world if we try.
Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Our Blog Posts are available on
WordPress: https://wordpress.com/sites/aandjpeit... and
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Podcast are available on Anchor FM in a variety of formats: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/e-...
Amazon: https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/879a...
All my e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Smashwords (my Affiliate link): https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! We’re always working on something! Thank you!
E. Jean Simpson The Big Kid's Magical Path to Insects in Nature
December 18, 2021
Attitude Determines Altitude
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. Today’s blog post and podcast I focus on factors that determine success and what success is. I also explore failure and its link to success and the place of attitude in this. All 3 are linked in ways one cannot imagine. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…!
According to Lou Holtz, “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” This is a factor for success. But then we are left wondering what success is. This term seems to have no real answer. This is because everyone sees success differently. So, it is something that you’ll have to define for yourself. For some it is simply getting a task they want to do finished. For others, it is a business term that means that they have a company that is doing well financially. For others, it is exposure in their chosen art. For some, it is doing a job and doing it well. There are many different forms of success. Success is often taken as the opposite to failure. This definition is problematic. As William Arruda points out in a Forbes article, “Failure is not a step backward; it’s an excellent stepping stone to success.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/williama.... What happens when one makes failure the opposite to success? We find ourselves fighting against admitting a failure. Doing this only keeps the wounds fresh and we do not find a way to move forward. We do not find where the changes need to be made nor do we learn the lesson that can come from it. You don’t even learn that there is one way that doesn’t work. To move forward, one must always deal with failures to find out what went wrong. So, failure actually can be part of finding success. Unless you take the Thomas A. Edison attitude of “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” You may find yourself stuck.
The ideas of success and failure being inextricably linked is quite fascinating. It gives us a chance to become a phoenix that rises from the ashes rather than the catastrophic end of the Great Fire of London. Though even London rebuilt and this time more intelligently so I guess this is a good example of learning from failure. It gives a chance to hope for better, to move forward but this time more intelligently. It gives us a chance to make success out of failure. It gives us a chance. Which brings us to the importance of attitude to both success and failure. If one feels that they have failed, how hard will it be to get back up and keep trying? It is important to find a way to explore what went wrong and to see where you can begin again more intelligently. A way to chalk it up to learning and learn a different way to be. If one refuses to learn a lesson from failures, then one will stay where they are and not move forward. It is forward movement that defines those who have been successful. They don’t give up after the first failed attempt. They explored what went wrong and then they decided what they need to do to move forward, this time more ready and capable of meeting the challenges than they were before.
As Thomas Fuller said, “All things are difficult before they are easy.” This seems true of any and all learning. It is also true of life in general. Almost no one gets out of bed one morning and decides to be a symphonic artist. It takes years of learning and practice. No one becomes an artist or writer overnight. It starts out slowly. Even my writing did not start out overnight. I had some experience writing as a kid. Nothing published, but I had experience. Then in University, I had years of writing papers. There were not the opportunities that there are now. My first works were hand written. We didn’t have computers. I had to research in card catalogues in a library. Was that time wasted? I don’t think so, I learned that you can use different search terms, and there are tons of choices. I learned to write longer papers. I learned about research. I learned that you can find social constructs in all literature then you can find out a lot about things by reading. Whether you read or you use a reading app or audio books, the information is available.
So, when one considers it, altitude is determined by attitude. If you think only of a setback as a failure, you will feel defeated. Some people continue to feel defeated. This is where you get problems. You lash out, you hurt people. You hate yourself. Things seem dark. If you realize that a setback is just that, a setback. If you determine where things went wrong and focus on how you would do things if you could, then you have a goal and a backup plan. Then it is not a catastrophe, but a chance to continue on, to change direction. It’s a chance to let the wind fill your sails so that you can move forward in a better and more thorough way.
As Harry Golden said, “The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.” It is nearly impossible for success to happen without a lot of hard work. It is the rare person who experiences success throughout life without having to put in a lot of hard work. Sure, it does happen, but as they say, easy come, easy go. Often easy success ends up being something that is fleeting. It does not last. In the immortal words of Thomas A. Edison, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Edison may have had his failings, but giving up was not among them. According to Wang: https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.... in which Wang suggests that: “the lesson is clear: people should place a high premium on feedback, as well as on lessons they learn through failure.”
So, as Winston Churchill famously said “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Failure and success is all in the eyes of the beholder. But, what you do with it is what makes the difference for you and for others in your life. It may also make the difference between becoming better and becoming bitter. I hope you’ll decide to make the choice that will lead you to happiness and success! Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
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Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! We’re always working on something! Thank you!
E. Jean Simpson
Latest addition!
December 11, 2021
Environmental Factors
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. Today’s blog post and podcasts I will focus on the little respected world of environmental allergies. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…
On one of our daily walks with Sam the Wonder Dog, I was reminded abruptly about something that I had almost forgotten. I smelled something akin to skunk. Within seconds I was disabused of this skunk notion, however by the growing feeling of nausea. Some things that no one would expect to be a problem because it’s freely available and not illegal, is a huge problem to me. This is marijuana. Of all the things one can have an allergy to, this is one of the worst things now. Literally seconds of exposure can leave me nauseated and unable to spell or actually function very well. I retain this for days. Right now, I struggle through this blog post/podcast trying to form coherent thoughts and spell them. I actually just want to go lie down and curl up in a ball. But, dear readers and listeners, I have an obligation to do a blog post for you weekly and won’t let you down.
People seem to take these types of allergies less seriously than they do others. Even allergies to pollen are received better. I mean, you get the “oh you just don’t like the smell”. “You just want to be a buzz kill.” You get the disbelief, they must be making it up. But, no such luck. I really do wish I was. My life would be a lot simpler. It’s miserable and it is each time I get accidental exposure. Now, if I had an allergy to peanuts, would people think that way? I doubt it. I’ve known people having to be rushed to hospital over peanut allergies. Though my allergy is not serious in the same way, it does pretty much knock out several days to a week of my life. So does my wheat allergy. I call it the two w’s…wheat and weed. Both are very bad for me. Either are taken less seriously than other allergies.
I’m pretty certain that most people do not experience this or there would be a lot more furor about the legalization of weed. To be honest, I don’t care if people smoke it or not. I just have an issue when it is smoked near me. Obvious reasons of course. I lose days to a week of my life for each exposure. It kind of makes a mine field of my world. I never know when someone will drive by after smoking. If I can smell it, whatever I have an allergy to finds its way into my system. Then I’m doomed to several days of illness. I admit that many people think it is a weird allergy. No, I’m not happy about it, though I have no interest in using it. I sympathize people should be allowed to live their own lives. On the other hand, I kind of like to not lose a week of my life every time someone is living their own life. The earth is all our ancestral homes. We have to live on it together. If it is being taken for medical reasons, I sympathize even further. It still doesn’t make the allergy go away.
As, Daniel Handler says “If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if the thing is cats.” So you see, very often allergies are a misused and joked about and the average person has no idea of how bad it can be. The real allergy. The one that leaves you sick and unable to function properly, these are less funny, at least to the sufferer. When you put the actual symptoms to an allergen, then you can separate allergen from just don’t like it. For example, “I'm allergic to a lot of fruit and veg, but if I hide them in a drink, somehow my body doesn't notice.” by Lolly Adefope likely does not demonstrate actual allergy rather a dislike. The fact that we misuse the term makes it harder for those who have true allergies. Then we wonder why people don’t always take it seriously. However, at the same time, there are people who genuinely have allergies and exposure to the allergen is either painful or deadly.
I often think that the first hints of difficulty with wheat were evident in childhood. I was not a fan of pasta. I tended to eat the spaghetti sauce and then try to get through the spaghetti as a kid. I never had exposure to the other thing until later in life. I literally would leave parties where they had it. But, the first real exposure I got was going to a concert. We didn’t drive very far before my husband had to pull off the road so I could be sick. Thereafter, I could not figure out why it would be popular with anyone. It always made me sick. Now, even a little exposure someone driving by or someone walking out in stores, if I smell it, I get sick. I’m done for the week. It takes very little of wheat as well. I realized it was quite serious when I was sick after having a few dots of bread get into my margarine. I felt like I was out of energy. Then there were the ones who were ‘allergic’ but took their chances as it only gave them a tummy ache. If only that was all I got.
It doesn’t get better from there for me. If it is bad enough reaction, it can also trigger my medical condition and sometimes this can make a month before I can get things under control again. I can sympathize with general public because so many people claim allergy when they don’t like something. I don’t like lemon pie. I don’t claim allergy to it though. That would be a lie. I know claiming allergies is seen as an epidemic because before COVID, I went out to eat and the server asked me is it a real allergy…suggesting that maybe I was just one of those (eye roll here) customers who just didn’t like wheat product or one of those people on those weird fad diets. Believe me, if I didn’t get sick, wheat product is far more cost effective than wheat free/gluten free…though the weed allergy is far more cost effective overall….and I don’t feel like crap for days avoiding both.
The long and short of it is…likely this is rambling and nonsensical … which also shows what happens when I get exposure and still try to do anything. People need to understand that they may have the right to do something. It doesn’t mean that it would be something good to do around everyone. There are people who have strange reactions to different things. Some people are allergic to pollen, which here I can seem to tolerate a bit better. Yes, that is one of them too. Sometimes a person can outgrow an allergy. This seems to have happened with dogs and cats as I’m supposed to be allergic to them, but tolerate both Sam and Ramses very well. So, though I did outgrow some of the allergies, I still persist with some. Of my existing allergies, I’ve had the odd accidental exposure and it has led me to become quite ill. True allergies are not a lot of fun. We don’t do it to make your life miserable. It is there and painfully real. As they say, it is what it is. I don’t blame people for accidental exposure, but I certainly wish I didn’t get exposed. So, understand that people have a right to live their lives, but it doesn’t mean that one should expose others to the allergen. I stopped wearing perfume in public for the same reason.
Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Find this in podcast via: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
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Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! We’re always working on something! Thank you!
E. Jean Simpson
December 4, 2021
Utopia or Dystopia: Life Choices
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. Today’s blog post and podcasts focuses on the importance of making a choice on what you see about the earth you live on and how you want it to be. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…
It seems, with the advent of COVID a view of humanity has started to be propounded that we’re on our way to going to heck where did that handbasket go a la John B. Calhoun and others (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B....)! I’ve seen everything from mice experiments on overcrowding that is sure to point out homosexuality to be evil (I don't know why), to the conspiracy theorists who go around telling us that ‘big brother’ is watching. It is a full menu of death and horrors. It’s not like COVID is not depressing enough, but we have to go about giving people depressing scenarios to try to manage? We need to have less putting people down. We need to have fewer forms of intolerance, yet in some circles, there is more.
According to Myra Hudson “Learn to accept your past, whether good or bad. It happened! Just focus on not making the same mistakes again. Once you have accepted your past, you can live in the present and focus on the future to come” Many of the dystopian type views are brought up due to lack of understanding of life, history and humanity. Every time there is a disaster or a plague, in the historic past, there have been those who thought that it was not real. There were those that thought we were in the ‘End of Days’. There were those who endangered their fellow humans because they had the power to and did not want to believe the situation. This is not new to humanity. Plagues have been around for centuries. Naysayers have been around for centuries. Now, we just have the media with the ability to pass it around with the speed of light. I say, if you enjoy reading dystopian views, at least balance it with some understanding of the history of plagues and the death of people from plagues. It is not a punishment from a Higher Power or Higher Powers. It is not because someone was homosexual or bisexual or any other orientation. It was because a virus or bug spread a disease that was deadly. I’m not talking the form of writing, some people like that form of literature. I’m talking real life views.
Nothing will create ‘End of Days’ faster than people who think they have the right to put down someone due to race, creed or other societal variables. Nothing will create a dystopian future faster than the inability to accept that there is good in the world and that we should do the best we can to accept each other and our differences, while keeping healthy boundaries. If we want to, we can change the future for the better. We can change how we act and how we interact. We have to be the ones to choose to do so. We can’t do that without knowing where we came from as that will instruct where we are going. As John Quincy Adams says, “From the experience of the past we derive instructive lessons for the future.” Most who decide that there is little to no hope for society have not learned that we go through cycles. Pandemics come and go. They are real. There are those who don’t believe it and they endanger others, sometimes willfully.
I believe that there is a better way to live and I do my best to live according to that. My biggest downfall is having too much faith in people being able to resolve their issues, and dreams of them working together toward a better world. This can cause problems. People have the habit of not following their own beliefs in any reliable way. They say tolerance, yet only toward certain groups that are deemed acceptable. Others get so tired of the intolerant that they become free agents of sorts. So, even the ones who would love to see tolerance lose their tolerance of intolerance.
As Mr. Rogers is credited with saying, “I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ I think that it is important for everyone to realize, especially during the pandemic and during bad times, that there are always and will always be helpers. They have existed in places like Nazi Germany trying to save Jewish people. Despite confused beliefs that it was lack of freedom that was the big issue in Nazi Germany, it was the attempt to totally annihilate whole groups of people who they did not see as valuable that caused Nazi Germany. It was not silence of voices, as much as wholesale slaughter in trying to make a uniform society. In short and simple terms, it was hate and intolerance rather than freedom of speech. You could say anything you wanted as long as it ended in death to the unwanted groups. Haters and Helpers have existed in many different times and many different places. Some of them are easily visible and some keep behind the scenes. I think the dystopian view forgets that there are helpers. In experiments of overcrowding, they don’t mention the Ghettos in Nazi held territory where there were people smuggling out children to try to save them. People who were delivering food and help where they could. Mouse experiments do not tell the whole story as there were no other forces in operation and no one bothered to understand the differences. The only lesson that this gives is that having everything handed to one makes for lazy and violent situations. At least that is my take on the mouse thing. In Humanity, there are helpers. So, for those who want to give themselves up to the dystopian futurists who see doom and gloom forever, recognize that there are helpers. There are people right now working on cures. It is slow work, it is hard work. There is hope. Don’t listen to those who think only of money and monsters under every bed. Often when we search for that monster under the bed, we indeed find, that the monster is a part of ourselves that we do not accept.
The only other thing I can suggest comes from an anonymous quote, “When you choose love over hate, faith over despair and acceptance over intolerance, you are doing your part to change the world.” I think there will always be a part of me that will continue to want to believe this no matter what has been suggested by others. That we can improve the world, that we can change ourselves and our path toward the future. We are not trapped in some course of action. We can think about it and we can change who we are if we want to. Many people are forced to. Many people, when they hit rock bottom, they find that they are capable of making changes to live a better and healthier lifestyle. It happens daily. If it can happen on an individual basis, then it can also happen on a global basis and hopefully we don’t have to hit rock bottom first. Things like global warming, racial inequity, religious intolerance, gender identity intolerance. All these things, we can choose to behave differently. We can change how we behave and that will help to change how we think. We have begun to work on changing language that we use. This can help us to think about things in different ways. This is an important step in moving forward to a different future. In early England, there were words that were used that we no longer use. There are changes made over the centuries to language and ways of reacting. This is not a novelty. We move forward and learn from mistakes of the past.
There is a long history of things that have created disharmony on earth. Different things were tolerated at different times. If we look at the actual research and the actual history, things have changed. At one time, I thought I would be the only person who would feel pity for Anne Boleyn. Over time, history has discovered information and the whole idea of who she was has been changing. Life is like that. You have to look at the past, find what you can learn from it. Make changes based on fact. We tend to want to destroy that which we don’t understand. We create the monster under the bed. As Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
In all this, what do we learn? We can change the future by knowing where we came from. We can change how we think. We can learn tolerance. As Led Zeppelin said in Stairway to Heaven “Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run There's still time to change the road you're on. So, I leave you here dear readers and listeners to decide if you want to think about a better future. Be the better future you want to see. If so, you’re going to have to live that better future. I know which future I would like to choose. I can’t make the decision for you. You have to make that decision for yourself. I hope I have given you something to think about. I don’t think the answer is found in the extreme of either, but rather in an understanding of both sides and hopefully find something that meets in the middle. Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
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Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! We’re always working on something! Thank you! Today's Podcast is available now on: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
E. Jean Simpson
November 27, 2021
Winterizing our Lives
The Big Kid's Magical Path to Insects in Nature
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. Today’s blog post and podcasts focuses on winterizing of life and things that happen. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…
As I look out the window, it is grey and windy. I have noticed there are fewer and fewer flowers. As it progresses, it’ll turn to snow. The snow will cover everything. Life works in the same way. As you get older, one finds that your circle gets smaller. Your childhood slips away piece by piece and comes back from the bits of those lost pieces. People don’t really talk about it much except in studies. They call it part of the cycle of life or other euphuisms along with several others such as ‘passing away’. I would suppose fall passes away into winter. As with nature, things change over time. I remembering going to my old University home town and seeing it. Suddenly, instead of being a quaint place with a couple of malls, it was like every other town I’ve seen in the busy mall area. The campus hadn’t changed a whole lot what little I got to see, but there were not the same faces.
I came back to the Maritimes with the idea (I’m sure overly romanticized) of being able to visit with family or attend the odd family function. Instead, in the first year, I did get to see my parents and my brother. After that ‘Kaboom!’ COVID. So, I haven’t been off the Island since. I don’t want to risk the lives of loved ones by travelling and bringing anything to them. Many of my older relatives have health issues or weak immune systems. Even though I am vaccinated, not everyone is so it doesn’t seem responsible to be out unnecessarily. So, my family that I wanted to catch up with…well, that went away for the time being. However, life still has the habit of continuing on whether or not you can move from where you are. In that time, I’ve lost several family members. Some were Uncles and Aunts. With losing Facebook due to a dead phone and it not allowing me back in, I lost track of some family that way too. Just as the trees lose leaves in the fall, sometimes things in life fall away. You have to start new with something. Plant the seeds in the spring to have something come out of the ground.
I still contact with family via email. It’s manageable. Winter gives way to spring. I’ve found that I’m OK with Twitter. I have a lot less conspiracy theory stuff which was causing me most stress on Face Book. COVID can’t last forever…something is bound to change. That’s one of the other things about life and nature. There is always something that will be changing. As seasons change so do situations. I can never get back the time I have lost with family. But, like seasons, there is no real loss if one is feeling they are productive. You also have memories that will bring you comfort of childhood days gone by with family.
For me, this has just been a season of creative works. As Maree Dee said, “If you stay stuck in the past season or fixated on the future season, you will miss the one you’re in.” It often happens that people get stuck in a past season. They stick to it either because it is safe or because it holds some kind of meaning for them or they hold onto it out of anger or pain. Staying stuck, at least for now, in nature doesn’t happen. Seasons occur because the world turns. It is not possible to stay stuck long term in any season. If you do, then life begins to atrophy. Like the old building that rots out, the foundations of your life, your relationships, work, everything suffers and falters. The other side is that people have to decide when it is time to move forward, to change their personal season. This is an option that the seasons don’t really have…they have to come sequentially and they have an order. Though they do show that grief has its own order. That’s a whole other post.
No matter how one loves a certain season, there are always going to be four whether or not they are clearly marked. So, one has to know that seasons and change are inevitable. You cannot keep a season from happening any more than you can stop from losing people in your life or making changes in order to move forward. You can’t keep change from happening. You can’t turn back time (except once a year) and that’s being given a bad reputation at this point as well. Some areas are trying to get rid of the time change factor. It is rather confusing since Nature doesn’t work that way. There is also the fact that the pets are terribly confused by the changed meal times and you have to slowly move that. They get used to it, but it’s not natural to their state of being. Animals don’t turn their stomach clocks back an hour no matter what you have to do.
In artistic life as in all lives, one has to have some self-discipline to get anything done. I have to be productive in order to keep moving forward. I continue with my various crafts and writing, etc. I continue the blog and podcast and e-books as well as other crafts as it helps me find where I want to be in life and what sorts of things I want to do. I learn more and different things so that I have other skills to develop. I may yet find my magical season. If not, I’ll keep searching for it. That’s the goal of the magical path…to find the one that fits for you and that you can experience the seasons and continue to find joy. “Self-discipline is an act of cultivation. It requires you to connect today's actions to tomorrow's results. There's a season for sowing a season for reaping. Self-discipline helps you know which is which.” According to Gary Ryan Blair.
As Steve Southerland says, “I believe in process. I believe in four seasons. I believe that winter's tough, but spring's coming. I believe that there's a growing season. And I think that you realize that in life, you grow. You get better.” When you find something to believe in, it gives more meaning to your life. Find that meaning and follow it. If it is music, then follow it. If it is writing, then follow it, and as Martin Luther King, Jr said, “if it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, go on out and sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures; sweep streets like Handel and Beethoven composed music; sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry; sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.” We need to find some goal, something to keep going. We need something to believe in. Just as nature finds the flowers in the spring and summer, the wind and snow in winter…these are parts of its life and it finds joy in it. It does each job sublimely. Life is about joy and about finding what gives you joy. It’s about finding something and doing it well. It’s about doing the best you can and always moving toward being your better self.
Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Our Blog Posts are available on
WordPress: https://wordpress.com/sites/aandjpeit... and
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Podcast are available on Anchor FM in a variety of formats: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/e-...
Amazon: https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/879a...
All my e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Smashwords (my Affiliate link): https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! We’re always working on something! Thank you!
E. Jean Simpson
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. Today’s blog post and podcasts focuses on winterizing of life and things that happen. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…
As I look out the window, it is grey and windy. I have noticed there are fewer and fewer flowers. As it progresses, it’ll turn to snow. The snow will cover everything. Life works in the same way. As you get older, one finds that your circle gets smaller. Your childhood slips away piece by piece and comes back from the bits of those lost pieces. People don’t really talk about it much except in studies. They call it part of the cycle of life or other euphuisms along with several others such as ‘passing away’. I would suppose fall passes away into winter. As with nature, things change over time. I remembering going to my old University home town and seeing it. Suddenly, instead of being a quaint place with a couple of malls, it was like every other town I’ve seen in the busy mall area. The campus hadn’t changed a whole lot what little I got to see, but there were not the same faces.
I came back to the Maritimes with the idea (I’m sure overly romanticized) of being able to visit with family or attend the odd family function. Instead, in the first year, I did get to see my parents and my brother. After that ‘Kaboom!’ COVID. So, I haven’t been off the Island since. I don’t want to risk the lives of loved ones by travelling and bringing anything to them. Many of my older relatives have health issues or weak immune systems. Even though I am vaccinated, not everyone is so it doesn’t seem responsible to be out unnecessarily. So, my family that I wanted to catch up with…well, that went away for the time being. However, life still has the habit of continuing on whether or not you can move from where you are. In that time, I’ve lost several family members. Some were Uncles and Aunts. With losing Facebook due to a dead phone and it not allowing me back in, I lost track of some family that way too. Just as the trees lose leaves in the fall, sometimes things in life fall away. You have to start new with something. Plant the seeds in the spring to have something come out of the ground.
I still contact with family via email. It’s manageable. Winter gives way to spring. I’ve found that I’m OK with Twitter. I have a lot less conspiracy theory stuff which was causing me most stress on Face Book. COVID can’t last forever…something is bound to change. That’s one of the other things about life and nature. There is always something that will be changing. As seasons change so do situations. I can never get back the time I have lost with family. But, like seasons, there is no real loss if one is feeling they are productive. You also have memories that will bring you comfort of childhood days gone by with family.
For me, this has just been a season of creative works. As Maree Dee said, “If you stay stuck in the past season or fixated on the future season, you will miss the one you’re in.” It often happens that people get stuck in a past season. They stick to it either because it is safe or because it holds some kind of meaning for them or they hold onto it out of anger or pain. Staying stuck, at least for now, in nature doesn’t happen. Seasons occur because the world turns. It is not possible to stay stuck long term in any season. If you do, then life begins to atrophy. Like the old building that rots out, the foundations of your life, your relationships, work, everything suffers and falters. The other side is that people have to decide when it is time to move forward, to change their personal season. This is an option that the seasons don’t really have…they have to come sequentially and they have an order. Though they do show that grief has its own order. That’s a whole other post.
No matter how one loves a certain season, there are always going to be four whether or not they are clearly marked. So, one has to know that seasons and change are inevitable. You cannot keep a season from happening any more than you can stop from losing people in your life or making changes in order to move forward. You can’t keep change from happening. You can’t turn back time (except once a year) and that’s being given a bad reputation at this point as well. Some areas are trying to get rid of the time change factor. It is rather confusing since Nature doesn’t work that way. There is also the fact that the pets are terribly confused by the changed meal times and you have to slowly move that. They get used to it, but it’s not natural to their state of being. Animals don’t turn their stomach clocks back an hour no matter what you have to do.
In artistic life as in all lives, one has to have some self-discipline to get anything done. I have to be productive in order to keep moving forward. I continue with my various crafts and writing, etc. I continue the blog and podcast and e-books as well as other crafts as it helps me find where I want to be in life and what sorts of things I want to do. I learn more and different things so that I have other skills to develop. I may yet find my magical season. If not, I’ll keep searching for it. That’s the goal of the magical path…to find the one that fits for you and that you can experience the seasons and continue to find joy. “Self-discipline is an act of cultivation. It requires you to connect today's actions to tomorrow's results. There's a season for sowing a season for reaping. Self-discipline helps you know which is which.” According to Gary Ryan Blair.
As Steve Southerland says, “I believe in process. I believe in four seasons. I believe that winter's tough, but spring's coming. I believe that there's a growing season. And I think that you realize that in life, you grow. You get better.” When you find something to believe in, it gives more meaning to your life. Find that meaning and follow it. If it is music, then follow it. If it is writing, then follow it, and as Martin Luther King, Jr said, “if it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, go on out and sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures; sweep streets like Handel and Beethoven composed music; sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry; sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.” We need to find some goal, something to keep going. We need something to believe in. Just as nature finds the flowers in the spring and summer, the wind and snow in winter…these are parts of its life and it finds joy in it. It does each job sublimely. Life is about joy and about finding what gives you joy. It’s about finding something and doing it well. It’s about doing the best you can and always moving toward being your better self.
Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Our Blog Posts are available on
WordPress: https://wordpress.com/sites/aandjpeit... and
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Podcast are available on Anchor FM in a variety of formats: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/e-...
Amazon: https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/879a...
All my e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Smashwords (my Affiliate link): https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! We’re always working on something! Thank you!
E. Jean Simpson
November 20, 2021
The Big Disconnect: Self-Acceptance vs Being Accepted
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. Today’s blog post and podcasts focuses on how in this day and age, we still are less real than we were. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…
I find that often there is a disconnect between what society says and what people do. I am fascinated by these disconnects and sometimes troubled by them. People are always talking about the importance of being yourself. The importance of accepting yourself for who you are is given a lot of press. However, at the same time, they come up with ways of not showing who you are or being different and potentially more acceptable. The disconnect seems to be between people needing to feel accepted and the need to accept themselves is often at odds. I think it creates issues within society and negatively impacts mental health as well.
I sometimes spot check my follows. It just gives me a sense of who I am following and who they are and if I should follow them back. Some things I do not follow as they don’t seem appropriate to what I do or what I believe. Nothing against the people, just I know what things I’m happier to avoid. I tend to do a scan at the very least. I see what they post, but that isn’t always the whole story. My last spot check opened up a whole new world to me that I didn’t even know existed…and I’m not sure it is a change for the better. You see, as per usual, I did a check on the picture that was posted (sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised). Much to my surprise, this person did not exist…literally. I’m not making this up. They literally showed up as this person does not exist. There was a page that will give you computer generated faces. I’m not sure the use of them. I think what I found disturbing is that it is like a shield to hide behind and I don’t understand the utility. I guess in this day and age, I thought people were working toward being OK with who they were. We spout off enough about accepting ourselves and others. We throw fits if someone mentions weight because it is fat shaming, we blow gaskets over vaccinations and masks. We spout out how we should accept how we look. We should be who we are. Yet, we have all sorts of ways of hiding who we are. This was just one more example. For those who are unaware of these things…this is an article about it: https://nextbigwhat.com/nvidia-ai-thi... I found it flabbergasting that someone would have this available. I would suppose there are some uses for it. I found one as one of my followers didn’t exist. Obviously they did but not as the person in the picture that they presented. Which brings me to the question of how many people you follow or follow you don’t exist. It’s rather a daunting idea that you might have people posing as non-existent people. It gives a whole new level of arguments on the concept of reality and existentialism as well.
I don’t know if there are some people who have been taught to be ashamed of themselves and so they hide who they are, trying to scam their way into your life or for some reason are they shy and don’t want to be recognized. I don’t know if it is considered couture of pages. To be honest, I’m not a fan of putting my picture out there because I like my little bit of anonymity. It never, however, occurred to me to get a constructed picture of not me. I might have considered a caricature for fun…but the idea of using a picture that was created by a computer system never occurred to me. Perhaps I’m too dedicated to being modest to think of it. Perhaps under certain circumstances I might have considered it. It seems to me rather anti-be yourself. It tells us be yourself, but don’t be yourself. Be some idealized version of yourself. As Finja Brandenburg.said; "Accept that you are not perfect, but you are enough. And then start working on everything that destroys you. Your insecurities, your ego, your dark thoughts. You will see, in the end you're going to make peace with yourself."
Perhaps that is what concerns me most. The more we say that we need to be who we are and to accept ourselves, the more we come up with ways of being ‘superhuman’, we want to be accepted which is quite different from accepting ourselves. One is the road to perdition and the other to road to peace and acceptance. If we cannot accept who we are, how can we expect others to accept who we are? I’m not talking the odd thing to make yourself feel good. I dye my hair because I like to do it once in a while. It makes me feel like I’ve done something just for me. I choose weird colours because I can. It doesn’t change who I am and it doesn’t change how I look except cosmetically. It doesn’t change the slight limp when my hip gives me grief. It doesn’t change that my eyes are slightly different colors. It doesn’t change the person I am.
Perhaps because of my desire to be who I am and do what fits for me, I don’t use much, if any photo shopping on my pictures. If I have something that takes away from the picture, I cut back the picture, but I seldom make changes. I’m also particularly bad at making these changes. I have done it in cases where I needed number of items in a picture, but in general the pictures I put up are as they appear in their natural form. Nature in its glory and perfect imperfection. We have to accept nature for what it is…we cannot change nature and yet we find it beautiful. We love the uneven flower petals, the butterfly with the asymmetrical wings. Then why do we try to hide who we are? I would honestly prefer a picture of a keyboard or a sunset or a flower than a false picture of someone. I’ve seen so many people in my years on earth due to many different jobs that I sometimes find people familiar that are not. It doesn’t stop me from treating them or nature respectfully.
My advice to this generation who was born when you can change who you are dramatically with the flip of a switch is don’t do it. If you aren’t good enough as you are, then what will make you good enough? When will you be good enough? I think my wish for everyone can be summed up by two quotes. "You inspire people, not by showing them how amazing you are, but by showing them how amazing they are." From Alexander Den Heijer. You see, everyone is born on the same planet. We are all on this twirling rock together. We might as well act like it. I think this more or less brings the only other important point which needs to be taken in partnership and brings it full circle. The quote is from Brittany Josephina who said, "You are offered a new opportunity with each breath to think, decide, choose and act differently – in a way that supports you in being all that you are capable of being. You are not less than. You are enough." I think if people came around to those two ideas, the world might have no other choice but be improved by it.
Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Thank you to everyone who voted in the TCK 2021 Reader’s Choice Awards for my e-book!
I have finally gotten out my latest e-book which is The Big Kid’s Magical Path to Insects in Nature. It is available via Smashwords and I’m AFFILIATE there (https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...) in a variety of formats and through Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KKWT9ZD)!
Our Blog Posts are available on
WordPress: https://wordpress.com/sites/aandjpeit... and
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Podcast are available on Anchor FM in a variety of formats: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/e-...
Amazon: https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/879a...
All my e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! We’re always working on something! Thank you!
E. Jean Simpson
November 13, 2021
Weathering the Deluge
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the lovely Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. Today’s blog post and podcasts focuses on weathering the weather and some things that have hit the media lately. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…
I find that since I get older, the weather seems to cause me more trouble than it did when I was younger. Rain and such can result in me being a little slower. I now have a gimpy hip. It’s not unusual particularly in my family. One of my great Uncles had a perpetual limp. I didn’t meet him until his 80’s or more though. I just thought, in my case, it would wait till later in life. The day I work on my blog post, the weather was wet and unpleasant. Sam luckily got one walk already.
I sat trying to think of topics for my blog post. It isn’t that there is a lack of topics. There are just so many topics one could select, that sometimes my brain blanks or gets focused on something that I question whether or not I should write about it. Today I saw the most discouraging post out there. It was a news post. I think what is most discouraging about it is that a young woman died due to her addictions. She suffered from both mental health issues including addictions and was in a shelter. This is not completely uncommon, she could have been your sister, cousin, mother, aunt…she could have been anyone. What was most discouraging is that someone decided to record her and make her a ‘media sensation’. The worst thing wasn’t even that. It was that they had so little knowledge about addictions and mental health that they literally answered for this by saying, they were “helping” her by “sending her money” as if that made it alright. What they didn’t understand was that they were feeding her addiction. It also brings me back to this could be anyone including your mother, sister, aunt, or cousin. They were complicating at least one of her mental health issues. They were confused by the difference between enabling and helping. It wasn’t a kindness. What would have been a kindness would have been to have someone develop a relationship with her and maybe get her to the point where she might consider working on either the addictions or the mental health issue or both. Providing her with food or necessities. Of course, that wouldn’t result in media likes and shares. For those who do not understand addictions, except peripherally as some condition that anyone can stop at any time…it is a deadly condition. It destroys the person who suffers and creates pain for their families. It is not some fun thing to put up on social media and make a sensation of someone fighting with people and their own demons. At least I like to think that the people involved in this were lacking in true information about addiction and mental illness. I also like to think that they couldn’t foresee the resultant death.
A much better way to deal with these situations is to help them to find a way to live a happier and more productive life. Help them find a reason to get help so they can make their own decisions and have a solid chance of surviving. Some people seem to think that you can solve any problem by throwing money at it. Sadly, some problems are only made more deadly. Anyway, I think the moral of what I say about this case, is that they call it a ‘cautionary tale’. It’s not a ‘cautionary tale’. It’s a person’s life who tanked and people thought it worth it to keep tanking it so that she died of an addiction. Doesn’t sound quite so romantic and selfless when I strip away the glitz, glamour and romanticism used by the media and call it what it is; does it? Think about what you put out there in the world and how things could be handled to benefit someone in a difficult situation. She might have had a better story…though not one that got lots of follows on social media. Not all stories are a social media thing nor should they be. Some stories need help to be changed. Some stories need to be properly understood. Now this part is up to you, but I tend not to watch things that I find to be manipulation of people in a negative or harmful way. This is the power that everyone seems to forget that they own. The power to shut off inappropriate videos. I’m not talking ‘cancel culture’. I’m talking about, just don’t watch videos that border on enablement, abuse, etc. Otherwise, understand that by watching, you are accepting what the video shows. You have the choice in life to say, no and not watch it. No one seems to understand that part. I’m not talking harmless entertainment, though you have the right to not like it either. You, as a consumer of information, have the right not to consume information that has the potential to harm. That is the harder part of freedom of speech. Some feel they must watch it. I mean everyone else is. What this does is gives it at least surface credibility. You don’t have to and if you don’t those things will tend to disappear. I’m essentially saying to make good choices of what you follow and do. Your choices are important!
So, that was my soap box talk for the week. I think that there are thousands of stories in every area. We can create a better ending. We can’t change this story or the past story. Once the story ends, we can’t change the actions, we can’t change the outcome. What we can do is learn and change future stories. There is still so much stigma that this girl was just allowed to die slowly, and on camera, from time to time to entertain. Mental illnesses and addictions are not appropriate for your entertainment. Instead of entertaining using that, learn about the situation. Learn what to do to help in that situation. If you don’t know, find out. Find out who can help them.
Much like the weather, you can’t change the situation. You can make better decisions what to do. Videoing someone with a mental illness for likes and follows and not obtaining help or treatment for them is not helping them. I know we can wrap it up in pretty words, show pictures to inform about mental illness…but using the person for likes and follows is ugly. We need more people to encourage people in their healing, not in their descent into the abyss. As Mark Twain said, “If you want to change the future, you must change what you're doing in the present.” It’s important to consider this. If you want to give this girl’s life meaning, let it be deciding to find out more about treatments and addictions and mental health. Be determined to change the situation for another person. Don’t enable them, actually help. Give them a fair chance to change their future for the better. Don’t like and follow these things. The most important thing to do is ask what they are doing so that they can get their life on track. Ask what resources we need to work on getting available so that all people stand the chance of having a real and stable future. We are in an age of everything splashed across the internet, yet, on average, many know little or nothing about mental health or addictions. There is false information there as well. People still find it hugely entertaining to watch someone having meltdowns online rather than finding a good use for their time. Entertainment is wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but being entertained by watching someone’s life becoming a train wreck is not entertainment. We have one planet. We are the inhabitants. I would hate to think the world is getting so cold that they would find entertainment value in the death of a human being. It is sad that people would unwittingly enable someone on a path to disaster. We are given a mind to think with and a heart to feel with. I hope that this poor girl’s death will become a battle cry to learn how to treat each other with respect and not make other’s lives worse. I hope it will help people to be more determined to make people’s futures better.
Thanks for listening to my stream of consciousness podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Just one more thing. I have one of my children’s e-books up for a 2021 TCK award Category is General Non-Fiction. The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093K2FN4M/...). If you have a moment, we could use some votes. The contest ends November 13. I want to thank all those who vote for your help!
I have finally gotten out my latest e-book which is The Big Kid’s Magical Path to Insects in Nature. It is available via Smashwords and I’m affiliate there (https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...) in a variety of formats and through Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KKWT9ZD)!
Our Blog Posts are available on
WordPress: https://wordpress.com/sites/aandjpeit... and
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Podcast are available on Anchor FM in a variety of formats: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/e-...
Amazon: https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/879a...
All my e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! We’re always working on something! Currently have all my e-books up on Smashwords and I am an Affiliate on Smashwords (https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...). I now am going to work on getting all my e-books updated on Amazon. This consists of updating the end matter that has changed due to changes in my social media!
The podcast that is made from this blog post can be found on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
E. Jean Simpson
The Big Kid's Magical Path to Insects in Nature
A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA
A & J PEI Treasures is located on Prince Edward Island, Canada. We are a husband and wife team and our companion animals. There are a number of things that drew us to the Island…one of which was the n
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