Sandi L Boucher (Red Thunderbolt, Loon clan) presents a brief personal reflection on being "in balance." She defines balance as a cycle of public engagement (seminars, workshops, videos, meetings) and private rejuvenation, explains that an unusually quiet summer left her feeling sluggish because the interactive part was missing, and describes restoring balance by seeking social interaction. She frames this self-knowledge as empowerment, Anishinaabe wisdom, and a small contribution to reconciliation, and invites viewer feedback.
Questions this video answers
Sandi L Boucher (also identifies as Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan).
Seine River First Nation.
Treaty 3 Territory (Northern Ontario).
August 31, 2023.
Chapters
Now I'm wondering if the conversation of balance is something that happens in your world. You know, when your life is in balance, when you are in balance, when you're not leaning one way more than you're leaning another, does that make sense to you? What does it take for you to be in balance? Well, recently I discovered I wasn't and now I know what caused it. That's empowerment. Today, let's talk about it. Foreign. 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 today we're talking about my personal balance. And I'd be willing to bet there's a couple non indigenous watching this video thinking, what does this got to do with reconciliation? Why should I care about this? Because Indigenous are not just another group of people. We are people. And balance is important for everyone. And the emotional well being, the health and wellness of your employees or friends or neighbors or community members should be of interest to you. To you. So for me, recently, now I'm going to backtrack for a sec. When I'm in balance is when, obviously when life is going good. But for me, that looks like out there. I'm doing seminars and workshops, I'm engaging with people, I'm making videos, I'm having zoom meetings. The interaction is amazing. And then guess what? When the workday is done or the week is done, I'm not doing any of that. There's a really good chance I'm alone. I'm just enjoying the quiet and the peace. I'm rejuvenating and I do that on a daily basis. So the giving of energy and information that I love and then the rejuvenation that fills me back up. To be able to do it all again tomorrow, I am not exhausting myself. I actually find it incredibly invigorating, which you can probably tell from my enthusiasm. But this summer I pretty much had the summer off. Bookings were quiet, I had the financial means not to worry about that. So I just really enjoyed the downtime and allowed me to do a lot of work on my membership program. Check that out below. And it's just all the back stuff. I Honorary Indian decolonized is off to the editor. I finished my process, or my part of that process. A lot of good stuff happening, but the interaction wasn't happening. The people, the engagement, the high energy that I love. And over the matter of a couple of weeks, I started to feel sluggish and just me and just what is going on? I'm so lucky. I have the summer off. What's happening? And then I realized what's happening? My balance was off. I didn't have that engagement in interaction I needed. I had the downtime. I had the relaxation. But let's face it, I'm never going to be one of those people that quietly retire on a beach somewhere. That's not a cultural thing for me. I mean, the elders give back. They just change how they work. Life of service and all that fun stuff. Once I realized why I was out of balance, I was able to fix it. So I spent. I made a point to going out and seeing friends. And I had friends come to visit. And I did the interaction and I started to feel like myself again. So again I ask you, are you in balance? If you are, what keeps you there? Why are you in balance? And if you're not, what's missing? What do you need? That's self empowerment. That's healing. That's Anishinaabe wisdom. That is a piece to reconciliation. I hope that helped you. Let me know what you think. Thoughts. Give me your thoughts below. Don't forget to subscribe. That's so important. And I'll see you tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.
