A Reconciliation Opportunity for AUTHORS!

Hello, you absolutely amazing person, you. So I have two kind of unrelated things to share with you today. If they have anything in common, it is not letting the world tell you you can't do something and finding your way to do it or the proper way to do it. And that's probably a lousy way of explaining it. So. So let's just talk about it. Bonjour. 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 in case you didn't know this, well, if you follow my channel, you probably figured it out. I don't have a score schedule of video topics that I'm going to talk about for the rest of 2024. Meh. That doesn't happen. For one. That would be an ego trip. That would be me deciding what I'm going to say. It's all about me. It's got nothing to do with you. I think that's a lousy way to live. And I also think that goes directly against my teachings. So that's not going to happen. Instead, I let life show me what I should talk about. So a conversation will happen during the day. I will read something, I will realize something, and that becomes the basis of my video. So I shoot the video one day, you see it the next day, it's scheduled for the next morning. So that's the turnaround time. Going to get interesting when I start traveling again. Yeah, might see some videos. Well, you've seen videos on my treadmill, so if they're in a hotel room, I don't think you're gonna mind. So the first thing actually started happening yesterday when I had to clear my schedule. And the reason I had to clear my schedule is because of a very exciting opportunity. So ages ago. The amazing Julia Gibson. She's gonna kill me for making this video, but whatever. Wrote a book called Copper Magic and I don't remember when it's released. I could look it up, but not really relevant. Bottom line in the book are some characters that are indigenous. And when the book came out, Julia received backlash. Being a non indigenous person writing these indigenous characters and in the opinion of the critics, misrepresenting those characters. Probably a strong word to use. But you. I think you understand my point now. This is where I love Julia and I consider Julia friend. Now, I had. I didn't know her then, but with that kind of feedback, that kind of backlash, which has to happen as part of reconciliation, if we're going to stop the harm. Indigenous people need to be able to say, this hurts. So. But what happens so often is the specter of white fragility. So we let someone know that word is offensive or we don't like what you did. And they get all up in arms because as white people, they're not used to being challenged. We get challenged for everything from the day we're born, but they're not used to being challenged. So they get very defensive, very hurt, whatever. And I don't know if that's how Julia first reacted, but what I do know is she didn't stay there. She could have just said, well, fine, I'm never writing a book again, and gone off in a huff. And trust me, I see that kind of attitude on a daily basis. Instead, at some point, I don't know how much later, she actually reached out to me and she explained to me, now we have Josephine Mandamin, my amazing friend and elder in common. Julia knew, knew Josephine, I believe. Yes, definitely knew of her, but I believe she knew her personally. And so she felt that, that trust and kindred spirit kind of thing. She reached out to me and asked me if I could read the book and give her my honest feedback. I thought that was an amazing opera for one. Kudos to wanting to learn. She did like, don't attack. Tell me what's wrong. What, what, what's the issue? So I thought, well, this is going to be interesting. And I read the book and I can honestly say I understood why the pushback. And I sent Julia my notes, understanding it now crossed the center of the feather. What she does with that is totally on her, that I have no control over, that I don't take any ownership or that. So I wasn't worrying about that. Leaving it with Julia. Fast forward. Julia and I have worked together to rewrite the book. And what I have to do today, it's over here on my desk so I can grab it, is I have to reread the manuscript of the first of the rewritten book just to make sure we got everything the way we wanted to do it. So I am so pumped. Like, talk about an amazing opportunity, which is why I'm sharing it in this video. So to all the writers and authors out there who want to include an indigenous character in their stories, and maybe they're hesitant or maybe they've faced backlash, you have the opportunity to build a bridge with an indigenous person that you know and if you don't know any, work on that. What a beautiful way to work. Together to build a bridge to be open to learning, to back to back teaching. I just think it's a wonderful opportunity that way more authors need to take. So that's why I had to clear my schedule to do that. I had to finish my other reading. And if you follow my podcast, you would have known that I was reading the Power of One More by by Ed Mylet. Absolutely no one is shocked that I'm following Ed Mylett. He is definitely one of my, definitely someone I take guidance from at this stage in my career. I've taken guidance from other people at earlier times. You know, mentors come and go, but that his work resonates with me right now. So yesterday, took a lawn chair, sat out front of my house enjoying the sun, doing my reading. And then as it always happens, I read something or something happens that like there was something in this book I don't, I didn't see coming. And it resonated on such a deep level and maybe to give no, you know what? I'm going to start by just sharing what I read and then explaining why it it struck so deep. So anyone who follows and Mylett's career, watches his videos, listens to his podcast, reads his books, whatever the case may be, he's pretty open about the fact that his father was an alcoholic. He's lost his father now, but in Ed's younger years he was, his father was actively drinking and then he went into recovery and, and just it was such a beautiful example for him. So we're at the end of the book and, and he's doing this section, he's talking about his dad and how so much of the man he is is because of his father. So I highlighted a part I wanted to share with you, and again, this is in the Power of One More by Ed Mylett. His drinking happened for me because most of the skills I use to this day are because I was raised by an alcoholic father. For example, I learned to read body language, tonality and facial expressions as a young boy. I first developed it by learning how to read. Which father would come home from work? Would it be a sober and loving father or an intoxicated and detached father? Ed Bylat is not complaining about having an alcoholic father. He is highlighting how because of that trauma, because of that situation, he has developed skills that make him the number one inspirational speaker right now that he can read the room and he can change. He can feel the change in the tone. So rather than complaining, he realized that the skills that he developed became his superpower. Now why would that resonate with me for when I do not have. Did not have alcoholic parents? So that's not the point. But I am 60 years old, and I grew up in a time that was. Now, this is my interpretation on this. Obviously, other people are going to have different interpretations. Maybe it was just my family, but I grew up more with the that's just the way he is, as opposed to a label. So if someone was not good at math, they were just not good at math. That didn't make them better or worse. It was just the way they were. If someone spoke slower or struggled with slower speaking, that's just the way they were. Right? So it was kind of like, these are the cards you're dealt, and what are you going to do with the cards you're dealt? And for a lot of years, I had a problem with labels, labeling someone, adhd, labeling someone, you know on the spectrum, whatever the case may be, because to me, it was always. It came across as a restriction. It wasn't. It's just the way they are. It was, you cannot do things because of this. Which is why Ed's quote resonated so much with me. Anyone who knows me personally, I have not been diagnosed. I have no interest in being diagnosed. But my closest friends, including my family, will tell you there's a really good chance I have adhd. That has never been a negative. I know how fast my brain works. I know first thing in the morning, it's going 100 miles an hour, which is why I do all this work in the morning. In the afternoon, when it slows down, that's when I go into meetings, because then it's easier for me to follow a conversation. It has never been a negative, and it has never been a barrier to what I could and couldn't do. And I know. I just saw a meme on Facebook that one of the Olympic medal winners, gold medal winner, listed off. They have adhd, they're dyslexic. All of this, and it's like, what I am has no bearing on what I will do. And I think that's the important part. Acknowledging that you have ADHD or whatever the case may be, so that you can get the supports you need to achieve. Bonus. But just like with internalized oppression, if you believe a label stops you from doing something, the problem is not the label. The problem is your belief. So whatever your challenge is, what if your challenge is your superpower? What if what you went through gave you the skills you need to be? Who creator sent you here to Be One of Ed's most popular quotes is you are most equipped to help the person you used to be. Ed helps people and his heart is 110 in it because he watched his dad help people through AA, through the system of AA for years after to the point that his dad was in his hospital bed and still making supportive phone calls. It's in the book. Check it out. You should read this book, but quit telling yourself, you know what, maybe you can't be an Olympic athlete. Did you really want to be an Olympic athlete? But maybe that's not your path. Look at the skills that your life gave you. Don't complain about your life. Look at the skills it gave you. And then what can you do with those skills? I've been writing for as long as I can remember. I was writing extra stories and projects in grade one. I distinctly remember that. So writing has been how I made sense of my world because I understood being indigenous in Canada. The world I saw was different than my non indigenous friends. Writing helped me sort that out. Writing is the basis of this career. The fact that I'm direct in conversational English and outgoing and, and my mom used to be like ah, do you have to talk to every single person? And now that's the exact same reason I'm, I'm successful in my career. Because you are a friend I haven't met yet. And hopefully creator willing, our paths will cross and we do get to meet. So we got to quit focusing on the other side of the feather, the things we can't do and instead step back and look at the skills you have. Start figuring out why creator gave you those skills. Someone needs you because of the skills you have. Find that path as I'm pretty sure that's where your happiness, confidence and wisdom are waiting for you. So a kind of all over the map day video today. I am so looking forward to reading Copper Stone, the new version the Power of One more. Highly, highly recommend. Maybe I'll put an Amazon link in the the video notes just to make it easier for you. No, I am not sponsored by Ed. I just happen to think, I just know that his words work for me and I needed that reminder that the skills I have, even the skills I have the same skills not because I had alcoholic parents, but because I'm a 10 year domestic abuse survivor. I can sense a tone shift. I can sense when there's a problem. I can sense when they're tension. I don't consider those bad skills. Those are excellent skills. Do I think myself paranoid? No, I Don't overreact. But I can sense when something needs to shift, and that's how I can keep an audience engaged, because I can tell when they're not. And then I'm gonna do whatever within reason to bring them back. My seminars are not boring. Why? Because of the skills I have. So what skills do you have? I. Maybe you develop them in a dark place because of a trauma, because of a negative. But the skills aren't a negative, and the path you can take because of them is definitely not a negative. Food for thought. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye. Excuse the way I look. I was just outside enjoying my backyard. But a little while ago, I shared how my son was now starting on his entrepreneurial journey. And for years now, I've been focused on legacy. What can I teach other people to do after I'm gone? What wisdom can I share with people that carries on after I'm gone? And now I can see that helping my son follow his own dreams while I'm here to pass on my experience is part of that legacy. So now I'm shooting this video today because you have a chance to help me support my son. So his very first project I shared a little while ago was what we call the house planter box or the house number planter box. What would you call it? It has house numbers on it, but it's a planter. So now I want to show you what it looks like in real life. Here it is. Isn't it awesome? As you can see, it's really big. But the best part is these things slide out, right? That one, this is heavy and big, and this one, so you can put the soil in it and plant whatever you want with ease. You can change it. And of course, the numbers changed based on your house. You have a chance to win this. Now, of course, we're going to change the numbers to match your house. They may have to be smaller if your house has three numbers or four numbers even. But for $10 a ticket, or 20 for three tickets, you get a chance to win this beautiful planter. Trust me, it's gonna last. It is built to last. And I love those planter boxes. Buy your tickets today. As soon as we sell, I believe 50 of them, we have the draw. And I'll be doing updates on my Facebook page and in my YouTube community. Isn't this beautiful? I love it. Get your tickets today. Bye. Bye.