A New Chapter (Inspiration for Those at Odds with a Sibling)

Please forgive me as I interrupt our regularly scheduled programming. Hi everybody. What did I mean by that opening? Well, if you're on my email list, then every Sunday you get a preview of the videos I'm going to do for this week. This video wasn't on that list because a little while ago I told you about how when I first started my career, if an inspiration hit me, I would just race to my computer, shoot the video and release it. It was from the heart. It was in the moment. It wasn't scheduled or pre planned. And I honestly believe that is so much closer to what I offer in seminar when I'm answering a question from the heart or a story comes to me from creator and I know he's telling me that someone in the audience needs to hear that story. I want to share something with you today. I made a decision lately and I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but you make a decision and it turns out a million times better for totally different reasons than what you originally thought. That's the life I'm living right now. And I am. My heart is so full that I just had to share it with you. Especially if you happens to be someone that has come from a broken home or who has challenging relationships with your siblings. I have a story to share with you, so let's talk about it. Hi everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory in Northern Ontario. And I am, I want to say, the luckiest person alive. But I know it has nothing to do with luck. And I don't want to minimize a blessing to make it sound like a, you know, a win at bingo. Not that that's not a bad thing or not that that is a bad thing for anyone who's followed my career for a while. And if you've been on my YouTube channel for a while, thank you so much. If you're new here, welcome. I really, really hope you take something from this video. And if you do, please subscribe. Because this is the recipe for the future. As I was saying, anyone who follows my career or has for a while has heard me say I am living proof that your past doesn't have to be your future. That as a 10 year domestic abuse survivor, there was a time that I wouldn't have had the guts to. To even attend a conference with a bunch of people and sit at a table with a whole bunch of strangers. And there's no way I Would have been able to engage in a conversation with them. And look what I do for a living. Now. I stand on a stage in front of thousands of people. I do a video that goes out to hundreds and hundreds of people every single day, and I answer their questions via email. And I absolutely love my life. But as Anishinaabe, as an indigenous woman, our culture is one of significance or meaning. Rarely do we bead something or paint something or share a story that doesn't have a deeper meaning. A color placed in a certain place in a picture is there for a reason, Everything for a reason. And because of that teaching, a long time ago, I realized that the teachings I share, the stories, the wisdom I share is important and helps so many people. But so does the fact that I'm standing on a stage as Anishinaabe kwe. When indigenous young women see what I do, it inspires them. Not necessarily because of what I'm saying, but because I have the confidence to say it, that I have the confidence to look through an indigenous lens and share that lens without shame, Knowing it is different, knowing it is new to many people, but not less than that. I have done so much decolonizing work, so much unpacking, that I can once again remember who we were before the others came, Even though that journey still continues. So the life I live, the authenticity and vulnerability I put into my videos, I know that. That how I deliver is just as important as what I deliver. I knew that. I just didn't know it could apply to other areas in my life. So again, if you're on my email list and we keep talking about it, why are you not on my email list? But if you're on my email list, you would have received a different kind of email yesterday Introducing the expansion of my core team. I introduced you to Anita, who's my rock, my right arm. I introduced you to Anna, who's my social media master. Introduced you to Tara, who's new to the team, and she's my salesperson. And then I introduced you to Ernie, my brand new general manager, who also happens to be my oldest brother. And this is one of those spontaneous videos because yesterday was his first day on the job. Yesterday was on the job training, where I talked of the culture that I have built here in my office and the things I teach to my seminar participants. And in the conversation, of course, we talked about oppression, we talked about racism. But what happened in that very colonial process of training a new employee? What happened was the sharing, the sharing of the deeper understanding we both now have of our parents, considering we're both in our 60s. The racism that my brother had endured that I knew he probably had, but to hear the words he heard is at such a different level. To be able to share so honestly, openly, authentically, vulnerably, was just so heartwarming. As I shared with a friend of mine, it reminded me so much of a sharing circle. Not that we were just dumping our trauma on each other. It wasn't like that at all. It was just sharing our life experience and the wisdom attained through it. And I've always respected my brother. He's as success. He has managed offices for I don't know how long, which is why I was thrilled to bring him on the team. But to experience what we did yesterday, I didn't envision that at all. And I couldn't help thinking I am an author first after all. I couldn't help thinking of the chapters of our lives. And the first chapter was together in the home our parents built, pretty much hanging out with each other because we had no other choice. That's the reality of siblings when you're young. And then going on our different paths. And the chapters that we were apart and then years later the chapters that we came back together with significant others now and then again because of life experiences and things that happen. Chapters that we were apart only to come back together again in what I believe is the best version of our relationship. And I'm going to do this without making myself cry. So why I wanted to do this video is not only to share my absolute joy with you, but to give you hope. Because if you have a sibling that you're at odds with right now and maybe is in part of your life, and maybe you're even one of those people that had to cut out a toxic person, don't do the judgment. Just understand that's the chapter they're in right now. And it's okay if the chapter you're in right now isn't a part chapter, but never lose hope that there can be a together chapter. Never lose hope that people grow and mature and change. My ex husband, my children's father didn't win any awards, at least given out by me for the dad he was or definitely not the husband he was dad, he definitely got more points, but he crushed grandpa and my brother. I've always loved and adored even in the apart chapters, but I absolutely love that this is a together chapter. So don't ever forget that a chapter is not the whole book. And that if you truly want to heal relationships. Speaking to the indigenous specifically here, because almost all of us, I don't want to say all of us, but it wouldn't be far off the mark, come from unhealthy families because of the environment we've tried to grow in. I've said it a million time. Indigenous people are flowers trying to grow in soil doused in gasoline. And that soil is Canada. We were taught unhealthy things. Our parents and grandparents experienced unhealthy things. And without the opportunity to heal, that doesn't change. It just gets inherited. But if you do your part and you pray that your siblings are doing their part, you could have a pretty amazing chapter too, like the one we're writing right now. I cannot even imagine the amazing work my brother and I are going to be able to do together with the support and partnership of the rest of my amazing team. Creator, yeah, did yourself this time because this is so much more than I could have hoped for. Until tomorrow, my friend. I hope that resonated with you. If you know someone who is struggling, struggling, or their heart is breaking because they are at odds with a sibling or a friend or whomever, send this video to them. Remind them it's a chapter. Don't ever think you know what the future is going to hold. Because even if you think it's amazing, Creator can show you something even better. I passed my dreams five years ago. I'm still riding the bus to and enjoying every single blessing Creator sends my way. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye bye.