The Passionate Voice

Airplanes: A Destination for Silence

• Communication, Lifestyle, Social Media

There aren’t many places where you can now fully disconnect. Places where you can’t access wifi and be hooked to the internet and your smartphone. Places where you can totally be #offline.

Thinking back to my first trip to Europe in 2009, I couldn’t call home on my cellphone, let alone get a wifi signal to use my cell (notice I called it a cellphone not a smartphone, that dates me already!) That was less than a decade ago. Oh how technology has advanced in such a short period of time!

While in Europe, I had to go to Internet cafes or use pay phones with calling cards to call home to let my parents know I was safe and sound. I remember taking photos with my camera here and there at the most memorable tourist attractions but I couldn’t be bothered with documenting my entire trip through the lens of my camera. I wanted to experience it all in person. And let’s be serious, even if I wanted to document it all through the best filters and apps, my flip phone didn’t even have the capabilities to take photos. God, I really am dating myself. 

Fast forward almost a decade later, and you can now connect almost anywhere in the world at any time of the day. They even now offer wifi on some planes which seemed like the last place we’d ever see access to internet introduced. I always thought it interfered with the airplane signals?! #GuessIwasWrong

On most flights where they now offer wifi, they at least have put a price tag to access wifi. Its a hefty price tag, but I am glad they put the price high so it discourages me to pay for internet. 

Here’s why….

Airplanes are one of the last places where we can put boundaries or restrictions on using our smartphones and accessing social media. Its one of the last remaining places where we are guaranteed silence. Where we expect to be left alone. Its one of the last places where we are forced to sit alone with our thoughts… scary I know.

Its where you can read a book quietly or watch a movie… with no dings, no alerts, no vibrations.

On airplanes, I get some of my best ideas. Its where my creative juices get a flowin’. Its where I pull out pen and paper and write down blog post ideas, work on my editorial calendar, brainstorm content for upcoming presentations, process ideas and thoughts and let my mind wander. 

Its one of the best feelings.

I’ve come away from my recent trip visiting my in-laws in Manitoba with many blog posts written and random thoughts documented. Some samples from my most recent two hour personal brainstorm session plane ride?

  • Agriculture faces a re-branding challenge. I tweeted about this idea this week. Its one of the biggest challenges I believe we face in the industry I grew up in and love to work in. I’ll be elaborating on this thought later this week when I serve on a Co-operators ag panel.
  • On the topic of agriculture, it just recently dawned on me that for the better part of my political career, I have been the minority. Working in agriculture in downtown Toronto, surrounded by consumers who don’t know much about agriculture and farming is where I’ve realized I’m not the majority. When I was a kid growing up, I just naturally assumed everyone knew about farming because hey, that’s what everyone did right?! Do those who work in agriculture sometimes forget, including me, that we aren’t the majority anymore in the circles we need to be selling our industry too?! And are we comfortable being the minority?
  • Social media is changing the operational functions of customer service departments for companies and businesses. Both good and bad. I talked about this at a presentation I gave earlier this week from a customer service experience I witnessed on Twitter recently. Blog post written on this = check.
  • A ‘Someday File’ – we all have one. Places we’d like to travel too; things we want to buy; books we want to read; things we want to learn. What holds us back from doing any of it?! After reading more of Mark Manson’s ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck’ it got my mind racing on so many topics he writes about and my own ‘someday file’ and why I keep making lists but don’t DO alot of them.

So many thoughts I know for a two hour flight 😛 So much writing, so little time. Also, here is to our first successful trip and plane ride with Blake. Thankfully it was a smooth ride and experience. Thanks little man for making this mom feel like she hit the baby jackpot #MotherWin 

Sunday’s are for Thanks

• Inspiration, Lifestyle, Social Media

Sunday’s for me are a day of reflection and for gratitude. I realize everyday we must be grateful but Sunday’s in particular allows us peace, calmness and clarity to see through the busyness of life to realize how fortunate we are. I think we all struggle with gratefulness in some form or another – especially in the social media age of keeping up with everyone’s perfected instagrammed lives, it can be hard to keep our brains focused on what it is in our lives that is good.

For the first time in a while, we weren’t road warriors this weekend with Blake. We stayed put and enjoyed the things that we love about the city we live in. It made me appreciate the small things we did that had such a big impact on why our weekend was so awesome. Here is just a sample of our weekend that has me full of gratitude….

  • The best news from friends
  • Catch ups with friends by a fire outdoors, reminding us of the last few summer weekends we have
  • Free tomatoes from a stranger/neighbour down the road whose garden was too plentiful… something I think many gardeners experienced this year with their tomato crops
  • Trying this alternative version of a 7-layer dip from Alberta Milk that was super quick to make (still haven’t tried it, its chilling in the fridge!) and a new chocoloate zucchini bread recipe (baking in the oven as we speak!)
  • Sunflowers to brighten the kitchen table
  • Watching your newborn discover new sights and sounds in the most simplest things
  • Prepping for an upcoming social media presentation this week and loving every minute of it!
  • Working on an exciting social media project that captures the social media usage of Ontario agriculture stakeholders.. its in its early stages but the results are going to be interesting to say the least (have I mentioned how much I love figures and stats when it comes to social media?!)
  • Reading Magnolia Journal on a Sunday morning with a coffee in hand and a sleeping baby in my arms
  • A bike ride on the most gorgeous Sunday evening… this weather couldn’t be more perfect!
  • Fulfilling my promise at the beginning of the week of blogging every day this week which I am happy to report I did.. 7 for 7! And the best part?! More ideas are a brewin’ so watch for more to come!

I’m trying my hardest this year to practice gratitude, its why I’m proud to have kept up with my commitment and one of my goals for this year of writing down one thing each day I’m grateful for. Let’s just say that my #365DaysofGratitude jar is overflowing. I can’t wait to read them all at the end of the year.

A line from the latest Magnolia Journal said it best, “Gratitude turns what you have into enough.” Amen to that. Happy Sunday!

“Gratitude turns what you have into enough.”

Click To Tweet

Controlling the Narrative

• Communication

I think most of us pop-culture junkies were surprised when Taylor Swift dropped new music two weeks’ ago out of the blue. Talk about being able to manage a secret THAT big with that many people on your team #FiredifyouLeak?

I’m sure her new music is something you’re adjusting too. It wasn’t what we were expecting at all – it is a lot more dark and edgy than her typical cheery, upbeat music that we all know her for.

Her new music is catchy and definitely growing on me #OnRepeat. Whether you like her new sound or not, I had to give her mad props for the new video she released with her song, Look What You Made Me Do.

Did I expect T-Swift to be dancing around in high heels in her new music video? No way. Did I expect her to make fun of herself and her public image as much as she did at the end of her video? Absolutely not.

And that is what I appreciated most about the new video. It reminded me of two important lessons to keep in mind when communicating:

  1.  Laugh at yourself – There has to be something said about someone who is self conscious enough to know what people are saying about them or what people are expecting from them. And in turn, they poke fun at themselves. Hats off to people who can laugh at themselves and don’t take themselves THAT seriously. It is a reminder for us all in the most uptight, tense situations, both personally and professionally, that humour helps in any situation. We aren’t going to solve the world’s issues over social media so let’s not take ourselves TOO seriously.
  2. Set the tone – Whether we like it or not, people are going to talk about us regardless (both good and bad). This is true whether you are a pop star, manager or social media enthusiast so you might as well accept the fact and control what people are going to say about you like T-Swift did at the end of her video. And what are we talking about now instead? That Taylor Swift made fun of herself. By setting the tone of a conversation, it puts you in the drivers seat as to what people are going to say about you, allowing YOU to be the person that controls the narrative in whatever you do.
[Photo Source]

Take Your Goals Seriously – Get Organized

• Career, Lifestyle

We’re 8 days into September, our second New Years or as I’ve been calling it, New Years 2.0. Oh and Christmas is 108 days away. Crazy, I know.

I’m not sure if its the teacher in all of us but most of us appreciate the ‘reset’ that September offers. Places like Chapters tug on all of our organizational heartstrings and all the new planners come out on the display racks. I personally love it. I joke to Andrew that if I am ever lost, he can find me in the stationary/organizational section. The stationary lover in me fan girls over the latest planners every year when they are released.

If your actually serious about (finally) tackling your goals or getting your side hustle or daily work organized for 2018, a new planner is a good start.

As techie as I am, there is nothing like putting pen to paper to keep everything organized. I haven’t yet been sold on fully transitioning my calendar completely to my iPhone calendar or through an app. I have an electronic calendar but also manage my appointments, commitments and to-do’s through a hard planner.

One of the best feelings in the world is checking off your to-do items in your planner when they are done and accomplished #Check #Done #KickingButt

Here are 9 options (some of them I’ve tried!) to try and put on your  planner wishlist:

[1] Emily Ley’s Simplified Planner – I’ve heard rave reviews about this planner. Emily Ley is a #GirlBoss herself and many fellow #GirlBosses I follow have ended up choosing this planner as their go-too.

[2] Day Designer – I had this planner for 2 years and LOVED it, just didn’t think I needed a page per day but otherwise loved this planner.

[3] Plain Notebooks from Chapters – If you don’t need anything fancy, too expensive and want to just ‘do it yourself’ with your notes, you can always refer back to the good ol’ notebook where you can make your own planner like this one or this one (The message on this one is SO true in my world of too many tabs open on my laptop!)

[4] Danielle Laporte’s Desire Map Planner – I’ve never personally tried this planner but if its anything like Laporte’s books, I’m sure it is an amazing planner packed with tons of inspiration and kick a$$ motivation!

[5] Rifle Paper Co Planner – Love all the details in this one including its 17-monthly calendar year and the beautiful floral design typical of Rifle Paper Co. It also has so many delicate touches inside.

[6] Kate Spade Planner – I have tried this planner but needed more space to write down more to-do’s each day. I still loved the details though in this planner including how each month had tabs and the pocket included inside.

[7] Eccolo 12-month planner –  This is the planner I used for 2016 (a larger version) but this exact version is what I used for the majority of 2017. I actually didn’t purchase mine from Chapters though, I was introduced to Eccolo in the Winners’ check out line where I bought the first planner for $9 #score

[8] Erin Condren’s Life Planner – I love how much you can personalize this planner and how colourful and bright her designs are. How can you not get creative when you get to open up that beauty every time?!

[9] Bullet Journal – I contemplated doing this for 2017 but at the last minute, chickened out. It seemed like a little too much work for me, but I swore to myself that if my current planner failed, I was going to give it a try!

Food for Thought [volume 8]

• Food for Thought

+ Most of us believe my generation, millennials spend the most amount of time on social media but what if you learned that Gen X actually consumed more content online?!

+ The majority of people equate success to wealth, status in their jobs/careers or their happiness. But is our generation of millennials redefining success differently than previous generations because of our hunger for work-life balance? Ask yourself what success means to you after reading this article by Careergasm author Sarah Vermunt.

+ A valuable reminder for us social media users to keep in mind – don’t feed the trolls. Dairy farmer Tim May who does a fantastic job on his social media feeds as ‘Farmer Tim,’ makes a great point in this blog post that there is no point in wasting time and energy in arguing with extremists.

+ I was so intrigued after reading this piece, I ordered (and will hopefully soon!) read Canadian YouTube sensation Lilly Singh’s new book – I’m sure there are going to be some awesome laughs!

+ With all the conversation around the buzzword “Fake News,” I thought this was clever of Facebook to share a number of tips on how to spot fake news especially on a platform like Facebook where a majority of us derive our information from each day. This couldn’t be more timely. Its hard to believe that the phrase ‘Fake News’ wasn’t even a thing 5 years ago…

+ After recently starting to read The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***, I discovered Mark Manson’s podcast which is brilliant. These podcasts about “What’s the Problem with Feminism” and “What’s the Problem with Men” have a lot of truth to them and make you really think about the role women and men play in typical gender roles.