E. Jean Simpson's Blog: A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA, page 12

The Homeless Crisis STOP Forgetting these are Human Beings!

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 podcast and blog post centers on a serious crisis we have in the world today. It’s especially a good time to start discussing this as there is an election coming. I’m not political and think only of how Politics can be made a tool for social change. If you want to find out more, stay tuned…

I think I learned something with a crisis that became a developing news story in Atlantic Canada. I hope my thoughts get you thinking or tick you off…either way the Homeless will win because you will know they exist and you will give it some thought. The article I have attached a link to will give you some of the details of the situation, though not everything. (https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/halifax-p...)

The short story for those not in the know and don’t want to read the news story, Halifax police had to tear down a Homeless area set up by some Activists. It was in a downtown location. It was illegally put up, but somehow the police were to blame. I know that the activists intend to do something to help, but bear with me, there are some issues that it creates and doesn’t solve. There are solutions and they can all be part of it. The comments on articles were not helpful…either one side or the other. So, I’m going to just summarize some of the issues that made themselves apparent to me with the whole thing. You may or may not agree, but at least it will make you think about the Homeless as human beings rather than pawns. First of all, the Activists put up these shelters…obviously do not understand the potential for problems. It is not just housing but also lack of supports and sanitation at the very least. The surrounding rhetoric, if anyone dares to say anything against it, you get the tired old statements of…well, are you putting them on your place? Oh, and the terrors…why didn’t they just take them down (tents) and move them. Ok, first, these people are Homeless…they are not landowners, they are not city dwellers, they have NOWHERE literally to put their tents if they are indeed theirs. Someone else provided them. Homeless don’t figure in much of the political rhetoric, so if we don’t speak for them, who will? Apparently Homelessness does not result in time to make podcasts, blog posts or be involved in political activism…or anything else other than try to survive. The people setting up these things feel like they are doing something, but what are they actually doing? Following are some of the main issues.

1. It is illegal to put up these shelters as there is no sanitation, nothing to occupy the time of the people. They aren’t getting jobs while in the tents and they cannot have a clean place to sleep and this doesn’t put food in their mouths nor hydrate them.

2. When the police get numerous complaints, they have to consider the issues that are being brought to them. At that point, it starts to be about the created issue and public welfare.

3. Then there is the money after money that is spent on ‘shelters’ that have to be taken down. There are already existing charities that you can partner with and do things legally that may add some benefit to the Homeless. If nothing else, at least it will provide some food and water for the Homeless. This money spent on making shacks and buying tents has to come from somewhere while the shelters are desperate for help and money in any form and have to watch the train wreck in progress. I can’t believe that there is one shelter out there that didn’t know it would come down to police action.

4. Parks and libraries are often thought of as places for children to visit. How safe is a park that may have discarded items that could be dangerous potentially (needles and other biological waste).

I once lived in Edmonton and I watched as a Church tried to put together a Shelter for Men who were Homeless presumably trying to get back into ‘normal’ life. You would have thought there was a proposal to put in a live bomb. Local people freaked out. Finally the Church had to back down. It was sad. It is sad. The “Not in My Neighbourhood” attitudes are out there. Just try to put a shelter together in a middle class neighbourhood and you’ll see what I mean.

So, once again, another Captain Jack Sparrow “the problem is not the problem”. I’ve worked with people who had been Homeless or next to it. They were students in a college that dealt with adults in need of a High School education and also some Trades and skills courses. These are people who had nowhere to go. Some were First Nations people staying with family member after family member, some were kids or adults getting off the streets and some single mothers. Some were adults wanting to improve their situation and some not Homeless, but simply Grandfathers who wanted to be sure their Grandchildren got an education and so were acting as a role model. There were a variety of people and reasons to attend just like there are a variety of people who find themselves Homeless. Despite counselling, Native Elder involvement, learning disability services and community services as well as the drive of some to succeed, some did not. That is a heart breaking story on its own. However, a lot of the students did succeed. They learned some living skills, got some help for issues, dealt with addictions, with being different, with having learning disabilities, with traumas of street life and with self-esteem issues. It was wonderful to see them grow and take flight. So, this just gives a look at the subsection of the Homeless and near Homeless people. As Joe Maddon said, “People don't realize how many of the Homeless are single moms, and a lot of veterans, and people with mental illness.” In my humble author opinion, they are People like you and me. But people who have been allowed to fall through the cracks in the system. Some get found and go on to get educated and get off the streets. Treating them like cattle you can crate up and then … oh well, the crates aren’t working and the police have to tear them down…is not a kind option.

There are numerous causes of Homelessness. Ten of these are detailed in this article by Human Rights Careers (https://www.humanrightscareers.com/is...). With a large number of causes, then how can we think that only one thing is the issue and only one thing will fix it? Housing is only the tip of the ice berg. We need to think of longer term actions and longer term solutions and work together to make this a better world. The activists need to reach out to the charities. The charities that have worked with the Homeless have a wealth of experience and knowledge and know what can work. They need to help the charities provide proper supports. Government needs to partner with the charities and stop just ‘studying the problem’. Just tossing up housing or even shacks isn’t going to solve the problem. It doesn’t matter whether they are qualified to put up shacks…they need to make sure they are doing something that will give more responsible help. So, what happens when the young activists get frustrated with the ever torn down shacks. They walk and we’re back where we began anyway. Don’t they all deserve the ability to obtain some degree of success? We need to look at having some kind of lasting method of helping the Homeless. Not Band-Aid measures that frustrate the area, the charities, the activists and the police. I’m sure they don’t enjoy tearing down the projects, but they have no choice. The police resources to tear these down also cost money. So everyone loses. Money after money being wasted because people take action upon themselves without simply partnering with the charities and shelters.

Another thing which concerns me about the Activist method is that we have to determine the difference between enabling and helping. If people know that the activists will build a shack if they aren’t interested in getting help or take help offered, then why go to effort. Some people literally have to hit the bottom before they will go for help. So, are we enabling people to die of their issues rather than providing food, support and incentive to improve their lot in life? Are we robbing people of their ability to survive and become who they are meant to be? Are we just letting them continue in a spiral of addictions, or mental illness? Could we show them a better way? Things to think about when someone takes matters into their own hands rather than seeking input from charities. I’m sure, with funds, they could find a way to help more and offer advice that doesn’t end up in a protest and media frenzy. Then after that is over, no one thinks about it again until next time.

I hear the same old sorry saying that some people rather be Homeless than take help because there are strings attached to the help. This is illogical. Who would rather live in the cold and heat and suffer if they could have some place clean to live? Charities work on getting them pointed in the direction of better health. Further, there is NO such thing as NO strings attached housing. There are always strings. You have to either follow the local bylaws, follow what the insurance wants, follow societal rules or you find yourself in trouble. So, there is absolutely no such thing as no strings attached to any way of life. This includes the shacks and tents because when there are enough complaints, the police have to take them down. People scream…then there is choosing sides and no one ends up doing anything to resolve it. No one pushes the Government to do anything about it, because of course there are more ‘important’ things to place money on. What they don’t get is these are human beings. They are not cattle, they are not pawns and they are not ‘less important’. If they dealt with the problems and provided proper housing even rooms, proper help and proper resources, they might be able to end this problem. But again, everyone would have to work together. Government need to partner with charities and activists in order to deal with the whole picture not just one portion. It would be worth seeing what having proper resources in general would do to end Homelessness. I mean up front before the child gets kicked out, before the youth goes into the streets before the addiction takes over. That’s a whole new area of thought and far from the purview of this blog/podcast.

I worked for a place that does some humanitarian work to help the Homeless. The first thing they did was partner with the local shelters. That might have been the most important thing they did. The hospital and clinics in the area were involved. There were a bunch of different things involved. It wasn’t the end to Homelessness, but they made sure that the Homeless got humane treatment. They were treated like people with as much respect as possible. It was an honour to work with them. So, you have a voice, you have knowledge. You have an election coming soon in Canada. Start asking the hard questions of the politicians. We need to deal with Homelessness but we can’t get that done unless people who do have a vote care enough to use it to help those who may or may not get a vote. Oh many say, I already give to charity. I already support a shelter. That’s great. They need your support and that means to support them with your votes and ask the politicians the hard questions. Keep forcing it into the daylight. Everyone deserves a safe, clean place to live. But, the place to live doesn’t address the addictions, learning barriers, mental illnesses or whatever else led to the Homeless status. They aren’t generally born Homeless…something happens along the way and they become Homeless. So go out and ask your local politicians what they are going to do for the actual Homeless. We need to insist on having the Homeless treated with every bit as much respect as anyone else.

I know many will notice that I spell Homeless with a capital ‘H’. I do this on purpose to call attention to the fact that you are dealing with a group of Human Beings and not just a term. They are diverse as are all groups. You can’t cure a diverse problem with a Band-Aid. I know the Activists want to cure the problem, but they can’t do it by themselves and neither can the charities. They need to partner with the existing charities and with Government. If we can get people in places to live and encourage them to be the best they can be, then there is a good chance that many will also become voters, tax payers, and citizens. We all need to do whatever we can. Some donate, some volunteer, some point out the issues and suggest solutions. We all have a part to play. Make your part count for as much as you can!

Thanks for listening to my 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. https://www.tckpublishing.com/2021-re... 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.

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...

My e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...

Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! Currently working toward getting my e-books up on Smashwords and will be an affiliate when I do! We’re always working on something! E. Jean Simpson

Simple is often More Complicated and Vice Versa

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!! Today’s podcast and blog post centers on a phenomenon I have noticed in life. When someone wants to make something simple, it really is more complicated and if someone wants to make it complicated it really is simpler. If you want to find out more, stay tuned…

I find that often, to quote Captain Jack Sparrow, “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.” For example; I had seen some news on a local incident where some children were bullied over sexual identity. It was made out to be so complicated. The teachers tried to do what they could and it was more or less made a ‘problem of the school’. In the spirit of Captain Jack, the problem was not just a ‘school problem’. What made it complicated is that there are some children who are instructed in the dislike of anyone who is not of their faith, belief system, race, religion, different in any way from the norm. Of course there are other complicating factors as well. This results in bullying and the school is held at fault. There is a spot light put up on the school and the Government goes into a frenzy trying to solve the ‘school’ problem'. Well, to begin with, where do you think the children get this attitude? As Nelson Mandela so eloquently states, “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” So, this is not simply a ‘school problem'. This is a societal problem and if we want to deal with it, it will take everyone being involved. The children are the place to start, but without church, state and families, friends, coworkers, etc. all being on board, then we just regress into more ‘school problems’.

So, first, where do the children get this attitude? Where do they first decide that someone who is different is not acceptable? Schools aren’t teaching it, but if they are, this needs to stop. Hmmm…where does it come from, then you ask? I’m just going to leave you with the thought and present some ideas. According to the Mayo clinic, (https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-li...) children develop their own sexual identity by age 3, but do recognize male/female etc. as young as 18-24 months. So, though it is not unusual for children to show interest or claim to be one or the other gender, or neither at given points, but if it remains consistent over time, then one needs to examine the idea. Further to be honest, people have developed different gender associations throughout history. This is not something new or unheard of. According to HRC Newsletter (https://www.hrc.org/resources/seven-t...) they have found evidence of different sexuality existing as far back as 5000-3000 BC and has been accepted in the First Nations peoples and are termed two spirit people (https://www.dictionary.com/e/gender-s... ) CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/06/health...) suggests that children learn to categorize as a way of making sense of their world and will, of course, replicate what is rewarded and this may result indirectly to some negative learning. So, is it language, is it what they hear around them? Either way, what we have is a problem that we all need to work with. Otherwise it will stay a ‘school problem’

I remember in my childhood that they made a big deal of Smoky the Bear and "Give a Hoot don’t Pollute" campaigns. Now, this is where schools come in. They really did a push on not tossing rubbish out the windows. They had catchy little sayings…like “Give a Hoot Don’t Pollute” using cute little woodland creatures. This was, of course, directed at the children. They did note that this did make a difference and people were less prone to litter because they got told by their kids. Sorry, I was a child and don’t remember much except what I was told by my parents then. So, yes, the schools are instrumental in the change in society because the children will teach the parents.

I also remember going back to school for my second degree. When I did my first paper, I was made to re-do it. Yes, re-do the paper. The talk went something like, “I know you haven’t been back in a bit, but we’ve started to get rid of the gender specific language”. At first, I found it annoying, as it changed the whole method of writing and I had to learn to change the words and it was hard to change how I talked about things. But over time, it got easier. Then I also took a Woman’s Sociology course. I learned a lot and started to see how changing one’s language could change what we see and how we see things. Sure, it’s hard to change things over night. It took a lot of extra work and editing my papers…but in the end, I could see how it made it possible for woman as well as men to have done great things and it wasn’t all just masculine terms. I remember the term project for her course. Everyone was complaining about how they would have to hunt to find enough ‘women’s issues’ to do a whole paper. I literally found a binder worth. I could see how the language, how the terms, how everything was working against female involvement. I had the biggest project and got a great mark on it. What was the difference between me and others in the class? Well, most of them went through with the change of language and this might have been just overlooked. Where I had to make the effort, I could see clearly the logic and where it came from. This is the sort of thing that we need to do when talking about gender, racism, and a lot of issues. Keep our minds open and be willing to understand that somehow we might change things by simply changing how we talk about things and how we see them. It was the defining moment for me. It made me realize that what you say definitely has an effect and how you say it may be formative in any movement. People will complain, it will be resented, but in the end you will learn a ton of stuff and you will change the way you talk and see things forever.

I think mostly what I would encourage is that we look at ourselves, our attitudes and our biases. We need to acknowledge them and work at informing ourselves better. We all need to work on this problem. The one thing I can tell you is that children are only in school for so many hours in a day and only so many days in the year. School doesn’t get to work with kids until they are about 4-5 years old. They get out of school, unless they go through secondary education, when they hit Grade 12. If we want our children to be bias free and tolerant, happy, well-adjusted people, we can’t just rely on the school sorting out all the problems or blame the schools when they don’t meet what we expect. We, as a society and as a community, need to stand together in not supporting intolerance of any sort. We need to be awake to the possibility that what ails society is not fixable at only the school level. It needs to be fixed at ALL levels. Schools may be instrumental in addressing it, but they are not the only ones who need to be involved. Everyone needs to treat all people respectfully. You should not be treating the person who is non-binary differently from the person who is cisgender. I believe that we can achieve a society that is happier, well-adjusted and more tolerant. We may have to be willing to be less judgmental and more tolerant. We may have to think about what we say for a short time. It isn’t impossible, but it will take effort on the part of everyone. I think for a better world, I’d be willing to put in the work.

Thanks for listening to my 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. If you have a moment, we could use some votes. https://www.tckpublishing.com/2021-re...

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-...

My e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...

Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! Currently working toward getting my e-books up on Smashwords and will be an affiliate when I do! We’re always working on something!

E. Jean Simpson

The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature

I Don’t Know What is Popular but I Can Tell You What Tempts me to Follow or Not on Twitter

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!! Today’s podcast and blog post is going to deal with the things that make me want to follow someone on Twitter and what doesn’t. I don’t have tips and tricks as such, but I do know what I do and don’t like. I don’t pretend that I have all the answers, but I do know what I avoid. Remember to think of your account, especially if you are a creative, as a beautiful rosebud. If you care for it properly, it will yield a beautiful rose. If you over or under water, it might never come to fruition. If you want to find out more, stay tuned…

I know there are a zillion give or take different blog posts out there that tell you what the tips and tricks are to drive more people to your page on whatever forum you choose. I don’t feel that it would do anyone any extra good for me to do the same. So, instead, I am going to just focus on the things that I look for when deciding to follow someone and the things that I find hard to continue following.

First, I look to see if this person is sharing anything of their own or are they just focused on sharing everyone else’s posts? There are also ones that seem only to share stuff and get others to put their page on to have you share back. I’m getting less and less likely to do these as I don’t tend to post a lot of stuff I haven’t created. If they are sharing everyone else’s posts and it is stuff I can already see, I’m less likely to focus on the post nor am I as likely to follow them. However I’m more likely to follow them than ones that are political or economic in nature. This is not the fault of the Tweeter, but just because it isn’t really something that interests me. There are a few other things that I don’t follow. This, again isn’t the fault of the Tweeter, but due to my areas of interest. If you like political type posts, then you might want to ignore that part. If the person sharing others’ posts only has some fresh stuff, it’s about a 50/50 whether I’ll follow.

Another thing I find very overwhelming is if someone shares literally 35+ videos, pictures and YouTube videos in a day and does it over and over and takes half the feed for 10-20 posts at a time. They may be good ones. It doesn’t matter, they would be better served to share maybe 10 give or take and cycle through and time them through TweetDeck to go up at different times during the day. If you want a how to, I use TweetDeck and I’ll do a separate blog post without podcast on it…or both if you like. Let me know in comments. I think I read something about 5 Tweets or so a day. Some days I make it and some days I don’t. However the prolific video Tweeters tend to burn me out. I like a bit of variety. Not that they are doing anything bad, I’m sure they are happy with it and they have tons of followers. I’m old and weird, it tires me after seeing the same cycle over and over.

Another thing I might suggest is that one credit the video person or picture person if they share. If they share as is, that is likely good as they will show up as they are from the original poster. However, embedded videos should show the source. I know, that’s just a picky thing of mine. If you are the creator, then that is wonderful. Remember, if it is your work, you’ve put a lot of work in and should be able to put your name to it. If you are putting someone’s work up, then you likely should credit them. It will keep you out of trouble with Twitter and the creator. One of the sites I follow does just this and shows who the creator of the picture is and gives credit and links.

The one thing I do look for in whether or not I follow someone is whether they have any of their own work up or anything different. Generally this is easy to find with photographers. There are a variety of amazing photographers online. I have a slightly different criterion for authors because of course they have different work. I tend to follow those that are supportive and not dismissive. If all you have are retweets of retweeted stuff or just your work and nothing added or an empty page. I may be less likely to follow. I follow the original one that has done the tweeting of Indie Author e-books as they generally do it to support other Indie authors or authors in general but even there, I don’t repost reposts of reposts unless it seems worth reposting. I don’t repost anything without thinking about it first. I’m not being mean. I just find that if it’s been tweeted by the original tweeter, I don’t need to see it numerous times and liking it seems to keep it in my page. I am not entirely sure what my pages looks like to others though. I take a look to see if you comment on anything or show interest in anything other than putting up your stuff for sale. Yes, I agree, it is important to do that, but it’s also important to show an interest in something. It balances out the selling stuff.

Of course that brings me to the point of, don’t just post your e-books for sale and nothing more. You have interests, you have personality. Show some involvement in something. Even if you don’t comment much or don’t have much to do or say, give people a taste of who you are. There is more going on in your life than just being an author. I manage a blog post, podcast, e-books, photographs and I have a taste of it on my page. I do interact somewhat but sparingly. People get to see some of what I do. I share some of the renovations, crafts when I do them and a variety of things going on at A & J PEI Treasures. My e-books are the only for pay thing I share but not half as often as the rest of my stuff. Put something up to inspire you or others. It doesn’t take a lot to inspire interest. Being just an author with only posting of your e-books/books just shows me that you can write and not always sure that it is you as the writer. Remember there are a lot of fake accounts out there. Sadly not everyone has a huge budget and not everyone can be published by a traditional publisher. Not everyone is honest in who they are.

Anyway, these are the sorts of things that I look at in my foray into the world that is Twitter. I suspect that the same can be said of most things. You will, of course have your own criterion for what you look for in trying to navigate the Twitter universe, or whatever forum that you choose. If a person has a variety of things they do or shows some interest in something other than selling, you get a glimpse of the artist’s world…even some of the things they share tells you something. Unless you are a news agency, then the need for having more than a dozen Tweets in any give hour seems a bit excessive. Unless they are shorter and quickly read. Otherwise, I find it overwhelms the feed and takes it over. I can understand comments and replying if you so choose, but fresh posts for over an hour…just too much.

One other thing that I look for and do check from time to time. Not everyone in the world is who they purport to be. So, sometimes I do check out … not just links, but to see if the person is for real. Otherwise, they are just pretending to be someone they are not. I don’t reward that. If they are not honest about who they are, then what are they going to be honest about? So, that is just another thing that I look for. I want honest, authentic people. I want artists and artistically inclined and share facts or some bit of their interests, not false facades. If it is a fantasy, then they need to be explicit that it is a fantasy. If you want to impress this author/artist, then all you need to do is be yourself!

I hope that these suggestions are useful for people to give them an idea of how to work well in Twitter (or whatever forum) you choose to work in. I am sorry if I offend anyone. I’m sure that there are exceptions to the rules. News Media for one, they need a lot more Tweets than the average person but most of those seem to keep it to no more than 4 at a time. They are giving news. The Weather might have need for more from time to time. It’s not easy to navigate the do and do not in the World Wide Web Social Media forums. Thanks for listening to my 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. If you have a moment, we could use some votes. https://www.tckpublishing.com/2021-re...

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-...
My e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! Currently working toward getting my e-books up on Smashwords and will be an affiliate when I do! We’re always working on something!

The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature

Why I Should be An Influencer: Fame is Fleeting and Wasted on the Young

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!! Today’s podcast and blog post is part serious and part tongue in cheek. I think I would make a great influencer and I can give you multiple reasons why. If you want to find out more, stay tuned…

The two quotes that seem to join in this blog post/podcast are: “…Fame is fleeting and it changes” by Author, Debbie Allen and “Too bad that youth is wasted on the young” by Author, Mark Twain. I put them together and find they state the purpose of my podcast/blog post which is that often Fame is fleeting and wasted on the young. It’s actually very sad to see the ‘influencers’ mostly young kids (at my age, that also includes those 30 and under) do something that gains them favour in the spotlight. What is sad about it is that a lot of them are too young to handle ‘fame’ and end up in trouble. I sometimes think that it would be safer for these kids to get a good grounding in reality before they go on to try to gain ‘fame’ via whatever forum they join to try to go ‘viral’. It’s just sad to see them killing themselves and sometimes literally for a few minutes of ‘fame’ and then some self-destruct and think they are untouchable and lose everything. So, my apologies to all those I offend with this blog post/podcast, but I think some of it needs to be brought to light to save a generation of people whose only thought is how can I make myself more ‘famous’ and go ‘viral’. In essence, to keep kids from dying trying to be ‘special’ when they already are. We have to stop our children from destroying their lives over a few minutes of fame. We need to let our children know that they are valuable and beautiful and we need to help them focus on being themselves rather than some image they think is ‘cool’. I truly believe that there is only one YOU in the entire known universe and first and foremost kids need to know that being themselves is better than being some copy of some ‘influencer’ or ‘star’ or ‘viral’ person. I see most who stop worrying about ‘viral’ tend to do better than those who are deeply concerned with being ‘viral’. The ones not worried about ‘viral’ do their creative best and often that is better than they would do otherwise. So, be creative, but be you.

Of course I realize that some ‘influencers’ do put their best foot forward, but they are not the ones I’m concerned about. Hopefully they are putting aside money for when the fame ceases because it will not last forever. I’m not sure what it means now to be an ‘influencer’ or to go ‘viral’. I’m in that crowd that instantly makes things uncool by thinking they are cool. I am almost convinced that ‘influencers’ should not be kids because they still have so far to go. Thinking through their actions doesn’t necessarily happen until much later. So toward this, I would sacrifice myself for the betterment of the youth of today by becoming an ‘influencer’ myself! I know it’s real selfless of me to offer my life up for the betterment of others. Did they mention anything about making money by being one??

Why do I think I’d make a good influencer? Well, in no particular order.

1. I don’t tend to have the usual bad habits (drinking, smoking etc). Vaping isn’t even something I consider. So, I won’t be hawking the latest crazes.

2. I have an education. This means that I won’t tell your little Einstein in the making, to eat Tide pods, or try to sell them on wearing the top of the line whatyamacallit. I don’t know what it is they call it anymore and it’s of little interest to me. I don’t care what they wear as long as they are decently covered (something that seems lacking these days). Also I know enough that medical advice doesn’t come from me, it comes from medical personnel. I won’t try to convince them to use *insert miracle cure here*.


3. I’ve already made a lot of the foolish errors pre-YouTube, etc. and thus won’t encourage your kiddies to jump off the roof, wear their pants down around their ankles or yoyo diet. I also know not to eat Tide Pods!

4. I tend to stay away from profanity (though to be honest, I did remember some of those words when the dog’s gate crashed down on my ankle, but I don’t publish them). So I keep things clean on my posts.


5. I won’t try to convince them that they want to go ‘viral’ and other such nonsense. I encourage them to be creative and be the best they can be. (No eating Tide Pods for example. Yeah, I know its passé…but I’m old and haven’t caught up to the latest foolish stuff yet). 15 minutes of fame, is not a lifestyle and fame is fleeting. Also the emergency ward and funeral homes are full enough already!

6. I won’t push the latest scam fad or fad scam. No such thing as get rich quick. It takes work, but then there is always the Government for jobs.


7. I am not one to encourage racism, sexism, bullying, harming others or bad language. So, your kiddos, if they follow me will learn that it’s OK to be different and that they don’t have to put someone down to be ‘cool’. Further on ‘cool’…I’m not sure what it means, but I know I’m not…which is cool…’savvy’? To quote Captain Jack Sparrow.

8. You will be able to find out what I’m up to as I have my Twitter account, WordPress, GoodReads, YouTube, Anchor FM, Podchaser, iHeart Radio Podcast and my Amazon and Smashword pages. If nothing else, it makes me look busy and the kids will see that I have a lot going on and being an adult isn’t all fun and games…you got to actually do something. I do encourage being the best that you can be. Everyone should realize that they are the only one like them in our entire universe and stop trying to be something other than who they are. Also don’t eat Tide Pods!


9. I live in the middle of nowhere in a small Island Province so you don’t have to worry about me wanting to steal your kids because we live in such a small place, that we don’t have room for visitors at our house. I’m not a huge people person and with COVID, I’m avoiding people entirely due to a weakened immune system. After COVID, I’ll just go back to avoiding people in general.

10. Lastly and most importantly, in the immortal words of Grandpa Simpson, “I’m old…gimme, gimme, gimme!” Oh yes, and don’t eat Tide Pods or other indigestible stuff!


Thank you. I think that my chances of becoming an influencer are quite good….almost good…mediocre at best since I’m not going to try to sell stuff…oh, other than my e-books some of which are targeted for kids. Plus, I’ll encourage them to read…not sure how good that will go over. Though with the necessity of reading with regard to the internet…that might not be that bad a thing. Thank you for following me and making me your very own ‘influencer’.

Thanks for listening to my 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. https://www.tckpublishing.com/2021-re... The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature. If you have a moment, we could use some votes.

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-...
My e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! Currently working toward getting my e-books up on Smashwords and will be an affiliate when I do! We’re always working on something!

The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature

Summer Pastimes

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!! Today’s podcast and blog post is more a stream of consciousness because there is a lot going on in my world and I’m busy sorting my thoughts so I’m like a computer with all the tabs in my head open and different ideas popping out. You never know what will go on in the zany world of this Indie Author, Blogger, Podcaster and Social Media person. If you want to find out more, stay tuned…

It’s been a strange summer. We’re still in holding pattern with regard to COVID. Our second vaccines are scheduled for early August. We’d have gladly gone and gotten them earlier, and my husband attempted to schedule an earlier date, however he was told at the desk that they were sticking to the schedule. So, no moving the shot ahead for us. We await the scheduled appointment. I’ve had family enquire. It appears that other areas are scheduling earlier. But, not here. So, we’re staying pretty close to home since they have the changed policy that one is not required to wear masks and it’s a mix of people wearing them and not wearing them. Though of course, the CDC has now announced with the Delta Variant they are suggesting masks inside. For those of us with weakened immune systems, it’s safer to stay out of the way.

I haven’t let that slow me down. It’s been a weird summer though. Earlier in the summer, my cell phone broke down. I got locked out of my Facebook account. Now the codes didn’t come to my new cell…which is the same number. So, I have started to request for Facebook to remove my account from Facebook and delete my personal account, my messenger account and my business Facebook Account. The only one I could still access was my Instagram Account which I deleted myself before they had a chance to lock it up on me too. It’s been frustrating and I’m still asking them to remove it? Any advice on how to make it happen, leave a note in the comments.

Then I found that some of my e-books were still up and should have been down long since. They came down for a time, and then went right back up. They were under the old company that I left. I have tried to get them to pay attention. I literally know some of them are the wrong e-book as I changed the cover and these have the old cover on them. I sent them back the information but it seems of little relevance to them. Even if they did sell my e-books, I would get nothing from the sales. I’m not sure why the old program didn’t take down my books after I left and deleted myself from their site and stopped using them. It seems questionable. So, if you change self-publishing companies, as an author, I would recommend that you carefully check. This would be especially imperative if you were considering going fully with Amazon with Kindle Select as they don’t take kindly to finding e-books on other companies when you sign on for Select. This could, in itself, have caused me a lot of trouble. Thankfully I didn’t go that way or I could have been cut off entirely. Bad enough there is no way I’ll be paid for my e-books sold through the company that has the old version up. I shouldn’t have to put in this much work. I took my e-books off their forum, yet I still seem to be stuck cleaning up after them. I’m considering whether or not to continue putting e-books up on Smashwords until the whole thing is sorted out. Sorry, Smashwords, it’s not your fault, but the previous experiences have left me rather nervous. Currently taking a break from putting anything further up until I can get things sorted out from the last stuff. I thought I had, but obviously still finding stuff is most frustrating.

On to happier things. I love the spring and summer flora and fauna and the sea life. So many different flowers insects and butterflies. Seashells, little fish and star fish. The smell of water. Even the smell of rain is lovely. The scent of the beautiful wildflowers in the area. We had our little tree swallows and once they fledged, they disappeared. Now we have our hummingbirds back and they are having battles over the feeder. It sounds like dive bombers in miniature. The only thing I can really find annoying is the mosquitoes, but with the tree swallows and other little birds, they certainly seem less than they had in the past. It’s an amazing time of year for someone who does photography. In winter, though I do take some pictures, it is generally too cold to stand for long to do pictures. I don’t get to stand by the water to take pictures in winter as the wind coming off it can be quite raw. In summer, I can, when I want to take a break, sit out on the front porch in the screen tent and enjoy the weather and a good book. If you wonder about the screen tent thing, see the comment above on mosquitoes. Spring, summer and fall are always full of changes and exploration. The variety of flowers and flowering plants and fruit trees and vegetables. There is just so much to see. Sam our dog gets more regular walks. Generally he gets 3 at least and sometimes 4 walks a day. In winter, we try to get to 3 a day but sometimes it ends up being two on really stormy days.

Of course, there are still things that have to be done on the house. Many things have been already completed. Now we have the counter tops to refinish. They are a little aged. We chose to refinish rather than replace as the counters are well set up and we really don’t see the need to do anything more than refinish. That will take us about a week or more. I hope to remember to do some pictures or some videos. It will be a bit challenging because there are some areas that got damaged…so those will have to be filled before we can get onto the refinishing. But, it’s an exciting prospect to have refinished counter tops and a backsplash added. It had to wait because there were far more important things that had to be done first. This year is a little less demanding than the past few years. We have one roof that needs to be done on one of the sheds and a bit of finishing work which may wait until after things sort out with the pandemic. We’ve even gotten some of the furniture fixing and building done.

I think the reason I am doing this type of blog post and podcast is because it gives everyone the knowledge that every artist, author, blogger and podcaster and everyone in general has a life other than what you see on the surface. You see that they are doing a blog or podcast or e-books or books or whatever art they do and you think they have it made. No one sees the person as they are. They are generally busy presenting some put together appearance to the world and no one sees that they are a normal person just like everyone else. They have trials and tribulations. They have good times and bad. They don’t have it ‘made’. They have to deal with life the same as everyone else. Because we have a limited budget, we’ve had to do a lot of the work on the house and property ourselves. I think I have said this on other blogposts and podcasts, so don’t need to go into detail here.

We came up with the name A & J PEI Treasures, not because we were rich in the conventional sense of the word, but because we appreciate what we have and we see every sunset, every flower, and every project, everything that is around us as a treasure or something to treasure. As Henry David Thoreau said, “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” In that way, life is a treasure and we have found many treasures! Once you understand that with our choice of name, it makes a little more sense.

Just one more thing. I have one of my children’s e-books up for a 2021 TCK award Category is General Non-Fiction. https://www.tckpublishing.com/2021-re... The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature. If you have a moment, we could use some votes.

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 and also accessible through iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
And now on Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/e-...
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!

Why make Introversion Something to Cure?

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 lovely Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! Today’s podcast and blog post explores how different personality types are now viewed as though they are a ‘dysfunction’ and need to be ‘overcome’. This is a strange idea which puts value judgement on people who do not fit the mold. Over the past year or two, I have observed many people trying to ‘overcome’ being an introvert. They talk about it like it is some sort of disease. They use terms like shy and socially awkward or anxious. Social anxiety and shy are not the main meat of what introversion is. In reality, it is just that there are different ways of dealing with life and interacting with the world. Neither one is specifically ‘dysfunctional’ but either one can be taken to extremes. If you want to find out more, stay tuned…

As a confirmed introvert, I tend to be self-motivated. I tend to look at things and observe and think about things. I don’t tend to enjoy groups very much. I’m not one of the ‘in crowd’ and never was. I have very little interest in fitting in….As, Nolan Gould said, "In this world, one thing you should definitely strive for is originality. Just be who you are, and be your own person. That's what will make you stand out.” So, I’ve never seen being an introvert as a ‘disability’ or a ‘condition’. I’ve seen it as simply another way that people operate in the world around them. Unlike a lot of extroverts, I’m not big on jumping out of planes, which is an extreme version of the extrovert interest in having adventure. My definition of adventure is going for a walk and seeing what I can find to take pictures of or working on my latest book or even going to a museum. I’m not a party girl. On the other hand, I tend to be willing to understand why people can see it as a disability. I mean, the ones that make the most noise and are the life of the party are the ones that tend to get further in certain occupations. Though that is a whole different kettle of fish.

I have often thought and said to some family members, if everyone was the same type of person, how would anything get accomplished? For example, if no one was filling shelves in the grocery store or cleaning the facilities because they all wanted to be manager, how far would we get in a grocery store? Nothing would be there. We wouldn’t be able to find our groceries or we’d have to stock the shelves or take them out of the warehouse ourselves. How long would the world last with that type of chaos?? Just as each person is unique, and no two are alike, different people are interested in different things. We can’t just assume one type of person is better than another type of person. It works the same for race, religion etc. No two people are alike and no one type of person is better than another. We say that over and over, yet we decide that some people are more important than others. The only thing that changes with regard to who is important is when something happens and then some other group is put down and another raised up. An example of this is all the memes floating around how certain groups (artists, actors, musicians, etc) are not doing anything for the pandemic but we should find store clerks and truckers more important. Not exact wording, but the idea. So, we just switch around who is important and who isn’t. Then what, switch back as suits? It’s not a step ahead in accepting the importance of each individual to the greater whole. There is no understanding of the interconnectedness of humanity. The mechanic for the Snow Birds, for example is every bit as valuable to the team as the Snow Bird pilots. They are interconnected as is all humanity. The stocking clerks are just as important as the grocery store manager…they just have different jobs and look at different things. We can’t all run the place. We can’t all be extroverts. Some of us have little interest in pursuing that lifestyle. Yet, often there is a push for people to be more “outgoing” or to “fit in” more.

I think it was in school that the ‘fitting in’ and the being one of the group was given the most focus. It results in a lot of unhappiness for those of us that are not really group people. We don’t dislike people. We just are able to enjoy time alone. We don’t feel the need to be part of the group. But it is something that we are all encouraged to do and be. We, like the birds, strike against the window and fight to be someone we aren’t. I found that, in the workplace, as I got older, I had less interest in socializing after hours. I also have a medical condition which makes me tired sometimes. Sometimes that makes socializing like walking through molasses. Tough sledding as they say here in Canada. Some people are social butterflies. They enjoy almost constant interaction with people and being entertained. They have to be around others constantly and find themselves bored and out of sorts if they are forced to spend any time alone. Some of us need down time. I think it becomes more evident as we get older and we get spouses and families that we can’t keep up a frenetic pace. We have to balance out a bit.

Though I don’t think that extroverts become introverts as they age neither do introverts become extroverts as they age. The extrovert still enjoys interactions in greater quantity than the introvert who always was more comfortable living their own life. We get labelled shy or socially awkward and we need to be ‘cured’. We need to go out and make speeches, go out and get into group activities, we need to experience life…apparently we don’t do that in the world of the introvert. I’m not sure what I’m missing out on, but it doesn’t feel like a great deal. I am an author, blogger, podcaster and social media for A & J PEI Treasures. I don’t need to have a whole group of people that I contact with to do this. I got to see a lot of the country. So, where others have to do this in groups, I do this with my husband. I’m quite content to live life more quietly.

So, be realistically unrealistic and know that it takes all kinds of people to make the world. Some people are comfortable with groups etc…and some are not. Not everyone can be the manager, some people have to do the work. Some do both. It’s not a contest. We are all on different paths going along doing what we do. The world doesn’t come off its axis because someone is extrovert or someone is introvert. As Stephen R. Covey said “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities”.

We are all interconnected and realizing that can make it easier to work together. Where I have strengths in one area, my husband has them in another. I don’t try to do what he is good at and he doesn’t try to do what I’m good at. Yet, we live quite well together, because we got to know what we were each good at and left the other do what they are good at. It is not the goal of life to become good at everything. It is not the goal of the world to all be the same person.

Now there is another serious author type issue that I want to talk about. It is sort of an author tip. It seems that there are people out there that actually take people’s works and do what they wish with it. It seems most prevalent in the e-book world where it seems it is easier to do this. One of the tips I would give is to make sure to check online and watch your online presence. Look out for scam sites. They tend to take your work you get no credit for it nor payment. They may put down how they take care of the work and if you find someone taking your copyrighted work to report it, but leave no method of contact if you have concerns. I’ve had to go to Twitter and see if I can get something done. I can’t contact them. It is work from an old publisher that got put up. I know this because of the places and write ups. I won’t give the name because I have had to clean up after the mess that working with them left and I don’t wish to affect people who may already be working with them. Most important tip for this is, keep an eye on your online presence. You can do Google watch, but I didn’t get warned by them. I did a manual check and found these things which suddenly appeared months after I left the publisher and started to get on another one. How are authors going to maintain their work if they are having it misused, tossed around like so much rubbish? If you do anything online, then I recommend that you keep an eye on your work and your name. It takes a little time. I’m still not sure how I got to be the one chosen…because a lot of my work is being messed with…so if you do e-books, I suggest you check and check often. The only thing that seems to really work is contact with your RCMP or police agency and even then it takes multiple tries for anyone to take it seriously.

Just one more thing. I have one of my children’s e-books up for a 2021 TCK award Category is General Non-Fiction. https://www.tckpublishing.com/2021-re... The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature. If you have a moment, we could use some votes.

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 and also accessible through iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
My e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! I’m always working on something! Up until my discovery, I was working on getting up in Smashwords. Another bump in the road…but if I can get five minutes together where I’m not being scammed or having my work taken without my consent, then I’ll get up and will be an affiliate.

The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature

E. Jean Simpson

Cookie Cutter World…Not for Me!

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 beautiful Prince Edward Island, Canada!! Today’s podcast and blog post centers on what I do when I can’t think of a blog to write and struggle to come up with a topic. I discovered much to my amusement that many just follow some topic lists that are given online. Thank you for the lists…makes it so much easier to find a topic. However, there are topics that deserve attention as well and if you want a better world, we all have to take part. If you want to learn more….stay tuned!

I have, from time to time, searched news and other things to try to find inspiration for blog posts. I find it in everyday life and events. Eventually something piques my interest and I follow up with my thoughts on the subject and how it relates to creativity, authorship, art and to people in general. It seems that there are about 100 to 200 give or take sorts of topics that bloggers focus on. That is all well and good, I suppose. I’ve seen plenty of blogs that focus on some of the topics….in fact multiple blogs center on some of those topics. It appears as Margaret Mead said, “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” So, I sifted through a few blogs telling me what topics were available for discussion. Apparently your own thoughts on a topic can be acceptable. Tips are available. Things that I see multiple blogs on like what to do or not do for blogs. I think that it is important that one find their own topics. Unless we look hard at ourselves and society, we stand to become just another cookie cutter form of art. What I mean is, if you remember the old cookie cutters that are used to make cookies, they only have so many shapes so all the cookies look the same. It is what art and authors have fought against throughout history. It led to such breakthroughs as those set up by Monet in the world of art, Martin Luther King Jr in the world of racial equality. It allowed arts and writing to flourish. It allowed for the great authors who are still quoted today such as Shakespeare who still had to deal with the need to appease royalty to create. Strip away the wannabes and you get those who are the true movers and shakers over the centuries. We still know of many of them.

It is important to think about the fact that you have chosen a topic or a blog to get your ideas across. Not to reuse the same old topics as everyone else. It’s to see something new and different. There are so many more uses for blogs and podcasts than just to repeat ideas or create conspiracies. We could tackle hunger, racism, and all that ails society. We could tackle the bigger issues. We are not just cookie cutter, one size fits all people. There is more to life and to moving ahead than tips and tricks and how to’s. These are, of course, valid niches and some who excel at it and they are to be congratulated for having such great blogs etc. It is a great niche, but not everyone should or can stay in these routes…it just gets over-done. Always know that there can also be a larger purpose and some will choose it. One has to decide whether they want to tackle the bigger issues or stick to the safe and well-worn blog posts. Some do this with varying levels of success. I think one should consider the blog post lists as potential styles of posts. Not the be all and end all to the list of what can be written about. It all felt rather mechanical. That’s the problem with something that everyone picks to write about. Or maybe I’m just looking at the wrong topic pages…which is also a possibility. I am not saying there isn’t a need for the current blogs and podcasts nor do I say that those are particularly bad, but that we could be doing more to better humanity if we so chose.

When I write, I err on the side of suggesting creativity. I know many authors may disagree and say write to sell and if that is what really matters to you, then follow their ideas. If creativity matters, then follow that idea. Neither one is better or more right. Here’s the thing. I don’t have to spend my time telling people I disagree. I find that the most difficult topic to deal with as a suggestion for a blog is calling down another author, blogger or podcaster. If all you want to do is put down someone else and their ideas, then you obviously have very little of value to offer. So, I would recommend skipping that as a topic for a blog post or podcast. I feel the same way about politicians. I’m not a political person, but if you have to put down the competition, I often wonder what you possibly have to offer and why you aren’t just telling me what you are good at and can do for people. I find it takes the focus off actual issues and just multiplies things with nasty rhetoric. Therefore, I don’t put down people. I do however, feel quite safe in discussing ideas. If I don’t like a particular idea, I will say so. However, it is not something against the person who said it and I don’t feel the need to call them out. It is simply the idea doesn’t fit my personhood. People have opinions. I discuss ideas. As Eleanor Roosevelt is quoted as saying, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”

There is so much that needs to change in our society. It is difficult for people to change as they get stuck in their ways. Yes, it is difficult. Most importantly we need to learn to treat all with respect and not decide that respect is only for those of a certain colour, race, religion, etc. We could work in tandem to have a world that would be something to be proud of. Someone being different should not be an impediment to showing respect. Working together with people to improve this world should be something that is seen as important enough to write about and to cooperate together for. It should not be left up to the particular group that was being treated in a racist way to raise their voices alone. We should also not accept racism in our daily lives and our pages. I heard about the game with players having racist comments hurled at them. Someone on the news talked about social media needing to do something about it. But, it should not be just social media doing something about it…of course they should, but everyone should. It should also be you, me, everyone saying, that is not right. Do not use that slur against another human being. It is not right that the settlers of Canada put First Nation children in schools where they died in the hundreds of hundreds. It shouldn’t be left up to just the news or social media or the Government. It is up to all of us. We all have a stake in society whether or not we like it. We all have to live together on this planet of ours. So, if you have a voice, use it. Don’t let some in social media and elsewhere create an atmosphere of hate and intolerance. If you aren’t comfortable with it, then block it or something that makes it not seen on your account. You control your social media feed while you have access. You control what you watch and what you don’t watch. You have a choice. You can make a difference. No one seems to understand that racism and hate are not going to go away if we let it continue. We are better than that! Please tell me that we, as a society, are better than that.

I respect that everyone has a right to an opinion, but freedom of speech is not freedom to harm others. It was intended to be freedom to do the right thing. Over the generations, it is obvious that the right thing has changed as more information has come to light. It has changed as people understood some things. We are still learning, but we need to be willing to learn and change and not to hate someone based on something they do not control. This is among the tenants of freedom of speech that I follow. Just a different view point for my blog post and podcast. Just a chance to give everyone a little something to think about. The world still turns, the clouds still come and go and the sun still rises and sets. Do we want the world to be a better place? That rests on our shoulders and those of each person in the world. I know what I would choose.

Just one more thing. I have one of my children’s e-books up for a 2021 TCK award Category is General Non-Fiction. https://www.tckpublishing.com/2021-re... The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature. If you have a moment, we could use some votes.

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 and also accessible through iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
My e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! I’m always working on something!

E. Jean Simpson

Begin with a Dream…and Repeat

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!! Today’s podcast and blog post centers on one of the philosophies I have of life. Begin with a Dream…and repeat. If you want to learn more about how this fits in with life and art, then stay tuned!

Most people have a dream that is unattainable or unlikely such as win the lotto. As they say, lottos are just a tax on people who are bad at math…though enough people do win to make it seems more easily attainable than some things. The thing about dreams that are not highly likely to be obtained, the person tends to get discouraged by not being able to reach it. Of course, one thing leads to another and they get sidetracked along the way. Things don’t always turn out the way you think they should, but dreams and goals still remain important. As C.S. Lewis said, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” So, when things take a downturn in your life, make sure you have a goal or a dream that keeps you moving forward.

I have always been a Maritimer. I was born in the Maritimes and even though I had to leave during a lot of my working life, I always knew I would want to come back to the Maritimes. I once told a cousin, I dream big. I want to move back to the Maritimes and have a dog and cat. I have attained that dream. You see what I mean about having a dream that has some likelihood of being reached. It is more motivational to have reached a dream that is realistic because then you can dream a new dream and set a new goal and sometimes make them ever more ambitious. Prince Edward Island was where I really wanted to come home to. So, now we have our little piece of land and are within a short walk to water. Though not everything is perfect, it is what I wanted out of life. I either am easily made happy or I have to get better at dreaming. I’ve never been all that into big or fancy. For example, my wedding dress was on sale $50…of course that was over 30 years ago too. Though a big house would be nice, it would require a lot of care anyway. So, I kind of tend toward realism with my general life dreams.

Now, you say, you are living in the Maritimes, and you have your dog and cat. Now what? Well, as one attains the larger goal, in our case, we found that the property needed work, so our goal is to get the place up to what we would want. Flooring, painting, roofing and all the renovation work has been part of our work projects and with limits on budget, we tend to do the work ourselves. It has allowed us to gain some YouTube videos for some of our projects. We have other projects that we’ve done for YouTube as well. We do all the video work ourselves and all the project work we possibly can ourselves.

Then with COVID, I was given an opportunity to reawaken a long forgotten dream which was to create some sort of artistic life for myself. I chose e-books as I had a very limited budget and had played with writing earlier in life. I have to complete all the work to do it, but I create. I can’t do designed book covers, I have to make my own. I don’t stop writing because it isn’t easy. I love all the creative work that I do. I believe that people are at their best when they are working on something, being busy and productive. People who do not have anything to do tend to get in trouble. I’ve seen it over and over again. They look for something to take up their time. They get into things that they generally wouldn’t if they were busy and generally not always the best things to be involved in. So, this is where goals and dreams are a good idea. Always keep one or two on the back burner. I highly recommend it. One is always happier when they are doing something productive. Destructive activity doesn’t really make anyone happy. Oh people think they are having fun while messing up someone else’s stuff or putting down someone or trolling. They think they are enjoying themselves, but how much can someone like themselves if they have to put down others to feel good about themselves? The other thing people get into is alcohol and drugs. It is better to be busy and working on something. It’s better to have a goal or a dream that keeps you on a path toward higher aspirations.

Then I decided that I wanted to bring our beautiful area and Province to life for others who could not be here. Not everyone can travel. It is a way to give people a look at the beauty that surrounded us. So, I now have my Twitter account and I have my e-books on Amazon and am working toward putting them on Smashwords as well. I have opened a blog post and podcast for the blog post thus giving people various options for accessing some of my work and bringing the beautiful Island of Prince Edward Island further into the view of the online world. It is life in the Maritimes that has reawakened my love of nature and photography. I write when I can. I also have to maintain the social media for our A & J PEI Treasures. So, my new dream was to open our area to the world who cannot be here and show what a lovely world we live in. I am able to show our beautiful area around Prince Edward Island on social media and in my e-books. All my work uses photography from various locations in the area. Some of my e-books show areas that we had lived in previously. They all tell a story; our story and the story of the areas that we have seen. You see, to me, writing is a creative life affirming project. It is creating beauty and allows people to see and create their own idea of what I have in my e-books and photography. I see so many who want to write to make money and this seems the overriding impetus. Not that making money is bad. I’d be happy to make money from my writing, but it is not my first thought when writing. Some also place focus on writing to have a top selling book. This is not bad, but it does make creativity and creating take a back seat to what is popular and what will sell. If everyone does that, then I fear we will become a cookie cutter world with nothing to offer but ‘viral’ stuff. High quality artists have always bucked the trends and the trends changed somewhat as a result. New ideas come to life. There has been the same sort of thing going on for generations, but within it lies the seeds of creative endeavours. They may take a lot longer to get notice or interest, and they may not. But, being creative allows you to put yourself into the art and your creativity may awaken others to a new or different method of being. Life is about what you make and give out. It’s not about what you can take or take from others. It’s about what you can give. At least that is my philosophy.

Of course media creation is not perfect either. I had things go wrong with accounts. I had to close some accounts. I had to follow up on some accounts. The problem with any online endeavour is that something can go wrong and some days it seems like it all does go wrong. I’ve had accounts messed up. I’ve found some of my work misused and misattributed. When this happens, I have, in the past, even had to file RCMP reports for anyone to take it seriously. There are perhaps some who make errors and they will take things down fast. The ones that intend to make what they can on the back of others will ignore you and hope you will go away. Those are the ones that I have had the most trouble with. They don’t have something they can do themselves so try to devalue the person who wants to offer what little they can to the world. Do not be fooled, these are not happy people and you must be wary of them.

I find that those who take the whole endeavour too seriously in the realm of money making tend to make the least progress. They are so busy trying to make a buck out of it that they lose something. The people who seem to have the more creative art of all sorts are those that create for themselves. Many of the great artists were not appreciated fully at first. Many kept at it despite the lack of appreciation for their skills. Some things are timeless. Some things are not. It’s up to each person to decide who they want to be and what they want to do with regard to art, authorship and in life. Few ways are truly wrong. I think if one does what they can and to the best of their ability, they often feel more at peace with their art form and their lives. It isn’t a hustle, it’s their aspirations and they follow their higher aspirations. Knowing right for them from wrong for them is a huge step and really isn’t that easy a step to take. It sounds easy. You hear the same complaints in the world of music where the musician is accused of doing it for the money and losing the art in the process in movies and reviews. This isn’t a new or unheard of concept.

What I suggest is that one forget the millions of voices telling you this is how you should be doing things. There are some things that you do have to follow. E-book formatting is not negotiable…you need to follow the formatting rules of the e-book. You need to follow the podcasting method that you choose. You need to have decent photographs or whatever art form you choose. You need to put the work in. This is not negotiable. But, be the seeker, the doer, the artist. I tried to read an e-book that was made for a course. It was offered free. I think I expected to see something about creative process. Instead it was a book full of how much money you have to spend, how you have to do it this way or that way. This is how you get passive income to get money to publish. Sure, if you can afford it, you can get things designed and done for you if you can pay enough. If you can’t afford to, then you do what you have to and often that consists of working hard to get your work out.

I’ve noticed some authors who try to follow every tip from every tip e-book/book. It didn’t make them better writers….it just made them frustrated and jump from thing to thing. They burn out, come back for a bit, and disappear again. Nothing is consistent. If you have a book or a painting or any other project in you and you want to do it, then do it. If you worry about following someone else’s formula for success, you may never get your art out of your head and onto a forum. Be courageous and dream big. Don’t let anyone take your dreams away. Fight if you have to, but keep your dreams alive.

That said, if your dreams change, that is a whole different thing. If you find that you aren’t happy with what you are doing, then it’s never too late to change direction and find a different way to process your life. As Joyce Meyer said, “It’s never too late for a new beginning in your life.” You can always turn around if you find yourself doing something not in keeping with your goals and dreams.

Just one more thing. I have one of my children’s e-books up for a 2021 TCK award Category is General Non-Fiction. https://www.tckpublishing.com/2021-re... The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature. If you have a moment, we could use some votes.

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 and also accessible through iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
My e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! I’m always working on something!

The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature

Flexibility the Necessity of Life

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!! Today’s podcast and blog post centers on the need to be flexible in your approach to situations. If you want to find out more, including how I approached a very negative social media happening in my life then stay tuned!

It’s imperative that one have boundaries and be able to move forward when boundaries are being crossed. I spent a good part of two days trying to get one of my social media accounts back. I don’t know what happened, but it seems that the account may have been hacked or who knows what. It would not allow me to sign in. Of course, my cell phone was broken so the code they sent me didn’t get to me. Then they wanted more information than would be required to work for our Canadian Civil Service. If my account was disabled, it should have said so, but it didn’t and codes looked like they wanted to be sent, but I wasn’t getting them. We tested my new cell and I was able to get texts. One must consider, then, would I have confidence in their being able to keep my information safe if they couldn’t even keep my account from being hacked? I used my husband’s professional account and what parts of my account that were left up to say goodbye to followers, friends and family. Well, followers and friends because my personal account essentially had disappeared totally, I didn’t get my account back. I have yet to get access and am still making requests for them to close the account.

Of course, that would leave a social media void in my life, but at the same time, it felt like a chance for a new beginning. It was both exciting and scary. My first thought was how to fill it. I did some reading. I looked at options. Finally, I decided that I would switch to Twitter. Note when they say never give up, they never said to stick with a plan that is just causing more and more pain. I can’t be hamstrung for long when it comes to social media. Social media is a necessity for authors, bloggers, pod casters and other artists and businesses. I switched because, it was the other forum’s refusal to give my account back to me after my cell was fixed and I complied with giving information which they rejected…one had a picture. Who are they, Government? So, I am very flexible when it comes to leaving things like that. I also have my limits. Once I reach the limit, I look for some other way. One of my mentors earlier on said “If at first you don’t succeed, give up and try it another way”. Thanks Reg. I still remember that piece of advice. One thing I feel about working on social media is that it shouldn’t be a struggle or feel like a struggle. It should be interesting or enjoyable. That is my choice for social networking. There are some things that aren’t incredibly fun, but it shouldn’t feel like pulling hens teeth. For those not in the know...they don't have them.

Sometimes I feel that big faceless corporations seem to think that they own people. They can make whatever requirements that they want and everyone should jump hoops. Where do we draw the line with people requiring information that should not be sitting around online? Do we jump the hoops or do we say enough? I drew the line after providing a picture ID and other ID actually two ID’s and some photos. I don’t chew my cabbage twice and I don’t play games. I don’t lie and I don’t make stuff up. So, they can do as they wish. I process the loss and go on to something else. In today’s world with high hacking percentages, people have to think twice about what information they put up online. There seems to be a big push to make people provide more information online without any guarantee that the information will be safe from hackers nor any real need for it. Social Media accounts should not require a passport or driver’s license for their records. This seems excessive and unreasonable. A lot of the younger generation seem to do things without thinking of repercussions and would provide it in a flash. Ask yourself this, “How much is too much and what is invasion of privacy?” One has to answer these questions for themselves. It isn’t up to me to answer this question for you.

The story hasn’t ended yet. I have tried to get the accounts closed; to close my accounts both A & J PEI Treasures and my personal account EJ Stoo. So far it’s been very difficult and unproductive. I am not sure how far I will have to take this to get it removed. I guess I could get an RCMP affidavit which would be a lot of work. I know I’m no longer comfortable being in that forum and have opened my Twitter account https://twitter.com/EJS08026749. Feel free to join me on Twitter…the plus side to starting over is that you have a clean slate and can re-share some stuff, reintroduce yourself. The downside is that you’ve lost all your followers. At the same time, I’d rather walk alone than find myself going in the wrong direction.

Be realistically unrealistic and understand that the only person that has to live with your decisions is you. However, one bad decision, one wrong piece of information being given online and you could find yourself in a lot of grief. So, what happens when the faceless entity gets hacked? Your information ends up in the black market or stolen. Who pays for it? Who has their credit rating screwed up? Who loses? It isn’t the big faceless corporation, it’s you that gets the short end of that stick. As Stewart Stafford said, "The Internet is the most important tool for disseminating information we've had since the invention of the printing press. Unfortunately, it's also one of the best ways of stealing or suppressing information and for putting out misinformation." This is one of the reasons that we need to be responsible in our decision making and not let the big faceless corporations make the decisions for you. Be ethical in how you deal with your followers or friends and family. They are the ones that are caught in the cross fire in sad cases like this. They are the ones that got you where you are. They are the lifeblood of any author, blogger, pod caster or other artist or business. I would not have inconvenienced them if the problem could have been resolved. The issue could not be resolved. You may lose out on the interactions, but peace of mind needs to be more important.

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 and also accessible through iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
My e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! I’m always working on something!

Trifecta of 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 wonderful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! Today’s podcast and blog post will give you some thoughts to ponder. If you want to find out more, including what my take is on the trifecta of opportunity, challenge or disaster then stay tuned!

In any situation you will come upon as an artist, author or even in general life, you will have a choice on how to react to them. These choices take the form of a trifecta which include accepting it as an opportunity, secondly you can see it as a challenge or thirdly you can see it as a disaster. How you react will depend on how you see the situation. Let me give you an example that may help it make more sense. When COVID began, we all knew it was not a good thing. It was the situation. I also knew I would be locked up for a goodly portion of the time due to a weakened immune system. Now, I could have seen it as a disaster and I would have driven myself out of my mind and everyone around me by feeling miserable about it. Whining about how it was ruining my life. On the other hand, I could see it as an opportunity or challenge. The challenge for me was that I knew I needed to try to see what I could do. I am not one to sit around and do nothing. The lockdown thing was a fact. It wasn’t going away. So, what could I do while I am at home? I also know that once the vaccines are done, there will still be some danger because there are still rare occurrences of it with two doses of the vaccines. So, I will likely have to be patient until the vaccines and time have more or less taken care of the problem. With the challenge of finding something I could do, I found the opportunity which was to work on e-books, develop my blog posts, social media channels and photography and all the work that goes with the social network channels. It’s not perfect, but if we expect perfect we’ll be sadly disappointed. Nothing in life is perfect

So, you see, there are at least three ways to see any situation. Of course they are also not the only ways, but I have to keep things within about ten minute time frame. They can lead to moving forward. But there is possibility at least one of them can keep you stuck. But none of the ways is inherently right or wrong because each person reacts differently and are motivated by different things. However, you may find you’re happier if you don’t see everything as a disaster. Also by not looking for the disaster first, but searching for a logical answer you may find things more manageable. If you see a situation as a disaster, you might have prepared for worse to come and work on things from that aspect….but you might have stayed stuck in survival mode as well. No matter what the situation, you have to first accept the situation as it is. You need to acknowledge that the situation is there and you can’t make it go away and ignoring it won’t make it better. Once you do that, you can take it as either an opportunity, challenge or a disaster. People who don’t understand that they have choices are the ones that are most miserable in any negative situation. As Deepak Chopra said, “No matter what the situation, remind yourself, I have a choice.” You may not find the choice to be one of the three that I mention here. There are various levels and various degrees, and various choices, but many fall under those three categories. Either way, you have to make a choice. If you see that you have a choice, then you are half way there. You may not have a choice about the situation, but you do have a choice of how you handle it even if the choices don’t look all that great. You still have choice. Knowing that you have choice is the most important thing in helping you to be able to move forward. Everyone has choices. You don’t always like the choices.

The interesting thing is that someone who accepts things as an opportunity or challenge can make a bigger difference than anyone could expect. If you want to have one example, Joey Moss fits the bill. He had a lot to teach people who wanted to learn. Everyone has the capability of teaching people something good. They have found a wonderful way to honour his memory and I for one am ecstatic about it, they are naming a kindergarten to Grade 9 School after him. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont.... If you ever wonder if one person can make a difference, or can one person make a huge impression, then obviously the answer is yes. Not everyone is Joey Moss, but everyone can work toward making the world around them a better place. He made an impression on a whole major Canadian city (Edmonton, AB) and across Canada and the hockey world in general. He made an impression to the point that they are going to name a school after him. He never gave up, he always showed up and he always did his best. His family is partially responsible for it as they allowed Joey to develop his own passion and his own career and didn’t tell him he couldn’t. He might have gotten the job because of Wayne Gretzky, but he kept it because he made it a spectacular career and did a great job of it. One person can change things if they just keep working at being themselves and doing the best they can. If everyone worked as hard at being a role model, we’d have a much better world. Yes, he was special. It’s wonderful to see that the world is starting to accept that special comes in all shapes, sizes, backgrounds and ability levels. We no longer see special as being one type of person…this, in my humble opinion, is a change for the better. Making an impression on people takes being oneself and keep on trying and working while keeping enthusiasm for what you do.

It might sound easy to take things as a challenge or opportunity rather than a disaster, but it isn’t. No one can do this perfectly, but with practice one can reduce the negative outcomes. Another way to develop this skill is to think about a situation that didn’t really go as you would have wanted. Then practice how you would deal with the situation in future. Sales is a great example of where you get opportunities to practice skills daily. Say you lost a sale because of how you dealt with a customer. Well, this is something that colleagues might be able to help with. You could work out how you’d like to better deal with the situation in future. Find a way to say things so that you are honest in your approach, but diplomatic enough that you can give truth while still not alienating the customer. One example I could give is the approach to the cell phone from my last blog post. The one where they lost our confidence by telling us we bought a piece of crap. In future, they might approach it saying that I’m sorry, the cell is rather older for cell technology as it is changing so fast right now and the success rate of fixing it is really limited and it can be costly. Might I help you explore getting a new cell rather than fixing something that might not work? What price range are you interested in? You might still lose the sale, but it will not get a negative reaction from the customer. The other option might be to refer them to their service provider and hope for future sales to the customer for other things. Or once the cell isn’t fixed, they may come back…that one is tricky as you’d have to show some interest in serving the customer in future if the fix didn’t work.

Be realistically unrealistic and understand that you always have choices when it comes to how you react and act. It is very important in any career that you develop skills. No career or path is as easy as people working at it long term make it look. You can become better at any job over time and with experience. Many people focus simply on success rather than understanding that there are steps that have to be taken and success might not happen overnight. It might take time and continued efforts. It all depends on how people look at the situation. Is it an opportunity, challenge or a disaster? I know that I try to look at things either as an opportunity or a challenge. If I see there is something not working for me, then I look at what resources I need. It is important to look realistically at what resources I am willing to work with and decide which one will help me to make choices such as the current one of moving to another publishing company. I knew I was feeling stale. I haven’t gotten things back up and running, but I’m in process. I am still on Amazon and intend to stick with that avenue but am in process of moving over to another forum that will allow me a little more freedom for other formats. You can still find me on Amazon. I hope the next home for my e-books will give me the opportunities I need to grow and move forward. I manage my social networks so that I can be out there for people to see my work and get a taste of A & J PEI Treasures. I’m one of those behind the scene types. Not everyone likes being in front of the camera…some like being behind the scenes. It’s up to each individual to figure out what works for them.

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 and also accessible through iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
My e-books can be found on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E.-Jean-Simpso...
Keep watching for more e-books and more formats! I’m always working on something!

The Big Kids Magical Path to Colours in Nature