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The Passionate Voice

2016 {the year of many firsts}… and the best is yet to come in 2017!

January 14, 2017 • Agriculture, Career, Lifestyle, Public Speaking, Social Media, Travel

While we’re 14 days into 2017, I couldn’t look back on 2016 more fondly as a year that I considered ‘the best year yet.’

Until this year….. more to come on that so read on!

I made a commitment last year to make 2016 ‘different’ in everything I did – personal, professional, my business, my hobbies AND my attitude. One of those differences that inevitably fell into my lap was embracing firsts, something I may not have been so open too in the past.

Embracing ‘firsts’ teaches you so much about yourself – what your capcity is for courage, strength, spontaneity, adventure, experiencing news things that you’re not use too or comfortable with and just how open you (and your attitude) are to welcoming firsts, in the first place!

I really tried to continue living by the motto I shared back in my 2015 Year in Review, “Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone.” Some firsts last year weren’t easy, but man did they feel good after they were done, knowing I had set my mind to doing them!

To reflect on what some of those ‘firsts’ were for me and others close to me, I thought I would highlight some of the memorable ‘firsts’ from last year (there were surely more but not enough time to capture everything!):

  • Travelling with my family on our first out-of-province trip to receive our second Holstein Canada Master Breeder award in Banff, Alberta
  • Horeseback riding in the Alberta mountains
  • Hiked a mountain (Tunnel Mountain in Banff)
  • Explored many new towns, cities and destinations in our very own Ontario including the Muskokas, Bayfield, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Lake of the Woods/Kenora and Bobcaygeon (home to the infamous Tragically Hip song!)
  • Worked with new clients both in and outside of agriculture – learning about new industries is fascinating (and what agriculture can learn from these industries is invaluable!)
  • My family started building their first robotic dairy barn, which will be completed this winter
  • Andrew and I took our boat through the Trent Severn Waterway liftlocks in my hometown of Hastings
  • I visited my first-ever cranberry and shrimp farms
  • Met so many new, amazing #girlbosses including Canada’s own Conquer Kit writer & speaker, Natalie MacNeil
  • Flew in a helicopter, experiencing the beautiful fall scenery of the Muskokas
  • Saw my mom featured on the cover of a national dairy magazine, The Progressive Dairyman (way to go, mom!)
  • Experienced many amazing new firsts at work as a Press Secretary, I feel so fortunate to do what I do in the industry I love
  • Saw the Northern Lights for the first time while visiting Manitoba last summer
  • ….. and the best “first” of 2016… Andrew and I found out we’re expecting a baby in 2017!

What I thought was the best year yet in 2016 is certainly going to be topped this year with the incredible gift that Andrew and I have been blessed with.

To be given the the gift of parenthood is going to be by far the greatest thing we’ve ever done come May, 2017 and we couldn’t be more ready (despite doing this ‘thing’ called parenthood for the first time!).

Let the countdown begin for the BEST ‘FIRST’ EVER coming up in 2017! 🙂

2015 Year in Review

Leave a Comment Agriculture, Career, Lifestyle, Public Speaking, Social Media, Travel 2016, 2016 Year in Review, 2017, Agriculture, Alberta, Baby, Banff, Blog452, Blogger, Blogging, Boating, Bobcaygeon, Business, Career, Change, Christina Crowley-Arklie, Communication, Conquer Kit, Cranberry, Cranberry Farming, Crovalley, Dairy, Dairy Barn, Discover Ontario, Explore, Fall, Family Farm, Farming, Firsts, Girl Boss, Hastings, Helicopter, Hiking, Hobbies, Holstein Canada, Horseback riding, Kenora, Lake of the Woods, Lifestyle, Liftlocks, magazine, Manitoba, Master Breeder, Muskokas, Natalie MacNeil, Northern Lights, Parenthood, Personal, Pregnancy, Press Secretary, Professional, Progressive Dairyman, Robot Dairy Barn, Shrimp, Shrimp Farming, Side Business, Side Hustle, Social Media, The Passionate Voice, Travel, Travelling, Trent Severn Waterway, Tunnel Mountain, Water, Year in Review

5 Things Vacation Will Teach You About A Break From Social Media

August 30, 2016 • Communication, Social Media, Travel

Internet Free VacationHow is it the last week of August? I mean, really…. where has summer gone?

Not that I am entirely sad though. I always enjoy the beginning of summer and then eventually want a ‘start fresh’ with September since fall is my favourite season.

I recently blogged that I enjoyed a week of vacation to Manitoba/Kenora/Lake-of-the-Woods (wish I could go back!) and that due to no internet connection while on holidays, I didn’t have access to email or social media.

Considering social media is what I do for a living, having no access to it seemed like a problem …..  or so I thought. 

After a few days of worry and not knowing what to do with my phone (it is normal to have the shakes at first when you’re on withdrawl, right?!) I finally adapted to what life felt like without a phone. And man did it ever feel good! So good in fact that I wanted to share with you in this separate post, the reasons why it was so refreshing to step back from social media and take a break from it when its something you do for a living.

Ironically, I read this article before I left about why you shouldn’t check email while on vacation and I can honestly say, a week without social media/email was one of the healthiest breaks I’ve taken in a long time.

When I try and think of when the last time was that I didn’t have access to internet on my phone at my fingertips, the last time was 2009 when I travelled to Europe. Yes we had cellphones (flip phones back then.. does that date me or what?!) but you couldn’t use them overseas as I suspect you can now with smartphones. I remember leaving my cellphone at home at the time thinking, well, the only way I can communicate to let people still know I was alive was through quick and costly collect calls or my laptop. The only way I could get access to wifi on my laptop while travelling was going to an internet cafe or paying an arm and a leg at the hostels I stayed at to connect to wifi.

My recent vacation made me realize just how dependent we are as social media users, especially since we as Canadians spend the most time on the internet than any other country in the western world.

“Canadians spend the most time on the internet than any other country in the western world.”

Click To Tweet

So what were those 5 things vacation taught me about a break from social media?

  1. Social media networks don’t justify that you ‘lived’ through something – Just because you didn’t document the moment or snap a photo to share with your network(s) of something you are experiencing that you think is cool, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Savour those moments with those around you and those your spending time with so you can truly be ‘in the moment,’ rather than thinking about what angle would be best for the best photo op.
  2. Set boundaries to not miss out on life moments –  If it is imperative that you be on social media during say long weekends, camping adventures, holidays, etc…. try and ask yourself if it is really necessary to bring the phone along with you. Set boundaries to your social media use – as an example, only check social media once or twice a day so you feel like you are in control of your social media habits, not the other way around.
  3. Use social media with intention and a purpose – This was probably the biggest lesson I learned while on vacation and then reconnecting after a week away. Was I really using social media for the right reasons before I left and in the most strategic way possible? Was I using it for professional reasons with a hint of ‘personal’ in there or was I just browsing social media to fill time that I should have otherwise been ‘guarding.’ Since returning, I’ve downloaded the app Moments to keep track of how much time I’m spending on my phone and on social media apps so I can cut back intentionally and use social media more purposefully.
  4. Choose to follow social media users and content that will better your life – After returning from holidays and catching up on things I seemed to have ‘missed’ while I was away, it was interesting to see how others chose to spend their time on a long-weekend in August and not for professional development or purposes that bettered them. It made me take a second look at the people and brands I follow and the type of content I am constantly indulging in to make sure that the people I follow and the content I consumer on social media channels adds value to my day whether it be from a personal standpoint (a funny laugh, a cute outfit, a good read, seeing other’s adventures and obviously my friend’s) and from a professional development standpoint (articles on social media, millennials, leadership, agriculture/food, business, #girlbosses, etc)
  5. See social media for what it is – likes don’t justify the means – My biggest takeaway from a social media free week? That I can still live and exist in a world without social media. While I may have felt like I was missing out at the beginning, the guilt eventually passed and I realized how amazing it felt to really ‘live’ without having likes justify the means of what I was doing each day. Being in control and having the power to put my phone down was empowering!

I’m proud to say that since returning home from vacation, I’ve made a more conscious effort throughout August to only post when I felt like I had something to say and not just sit around browsing my social media channels.

This new intention and purpose I’m using with social media has felt so good. Try it with me! 

[Photo Source]

Leave a Comment Communication, Social Media, Travel Business, Christina Crowley-Arklie, Communication, Discover Ontario, Email, Holidays, Internet, iPhone, Kenora, Lake of the Woods, Laptop, MacLeans, Manitoba, Passionate Voice, Social Media, The Passionate Voice, Travel, Vacation, Wifi

Where is the Pause Button At?

August 10, 2016 • Lifestyle, Travel

Say it with me… where is 2016 going?! Can we just push the pause button so we can slow this year down? And then on the other hand, I think of all the things I’ve did so far in 2016 and I’m not surprised we’re already into August.

2016 has been an incredible year of travelling and ‘firsts’ for me including trips and experiences enjoyed in Mont Tremblant, Quebec; Banff, Alberta; wine tours to NOTL and discovering new little towns across Ontario like Jordan. And there are so many more towns and adventures I want to see and do before the summer begins to wind down.

My husband and I typically get a chance to visit my in-laws over the holidays back home in Manitoba but this summer, we were able to head to the prairies to take in the beauty of the western skies and canola/sunflower fields during the beautiful summer months.

Another first I got to experience with my in-laws was visiting their cottage on Lake-of-the-Woods near Kenora, Ontario. The views were spectacular.. as fellow blogger and friend Jen commented on my social media accounts when I posted the top photo, it looks like a photo from the group of even artists. Experiencing the beauty of the wilderness in the heat of the summer was so refreshing.

One of the best parts about my recent trip to Manitoba and cottaging in northern Ontario, besides seeing family and friends of course, was enjoying Lake-of-the-Woods and the outdoors without internet connection. I’ll blog about this in a follow up post to elaborate more but the thrill of not having to answer emails and social media accounts was a healthy blessing in disguise for a society of people that now depend on these devices and mediums to keep us stimulated throughout the day.

Because of that, I was able to fish, canoe, finish the summer-fiction best seller ‘The Nest’ in two days, enjoy Ontario craft beer at the local famous brewhouse, Lake of the Woods Brewing Company, hike to Rushing River provincial park, and see the Northern Lights for the first time in my life! The pictures don’t do these moments justice.

Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful summer… I think I can smell fall in the air already!

 Manitoba 2016

Leave a Comment Lifestyle, Travel 2016, Banff, Canoe, Canola, Christina Crowley-Arklie, Cottage, Craft Beer, Discover Ontario, Fall, Fall 2016, Fiction, Fish, Holidays, Internet, Jordan, Kenora, Lake of the Woods, Lake of the Woods Brewing Company, LOTW, Manitoba, Mont Tremblant, Northern Lights, NOTL, Ontario, Passionate Voice, Prairies, Reading, Rushing River, Social Media, Summer, Summer 2016, Sunflowers, The Nest, The Passionate Voice, Travel, Vacation, Western Canada





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