Bye-bye 2020

3 Books Published

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 19:49:53 GMT

Lee has published three new books in 2024!

This has been a busy year for me!

I'm excited to announce that I have three new books now available on Amazon.com:

Unlocking the Mystical : Guide to Oracle Card Magic

All of these books were formulated to assist readers in sourcing ways to succeed, which is precisely what I strive to do with every one of my clients.

How does your leadership meausre up?

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 20:00:17 GMT

How does your C-level leadership measure up on today's energy landscape?

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Clean Sheets

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 19:12:10 GMT

"Fresh" and new

Welcome to 2024! At least that's what everyone is chiming these days.

A new year is like a fresh bed with clean sheets -- the sheets may not be new, but the feeling you get when you crawl into them is vibrant and comforting.

So, let's begin a new year on a similar note with only minor checks in the rearview mirror at 2023. For so many it was a difficult landscape to navigate, what with the economic challenges to markets that trickled down to how much we pay for our pound of butter and a litre of petrol and a long list of tragic catastrophes and wars peppered throughout the world.

That said, we are all in this together, like it or not.

I've made some subtle changes to my own approaches to how I shop and how I deal (or do not deal) with the daily onslaught of media, which I watch much less of these days. Essentially, everyone has an opinion (and so they should) about all that goes on and how most matters could be better, or less ....or more. But in the end, what matters most is that we have our own gauges that lead ourselves, and those we love, into cleaner, safer, healthier spaces where we reside every day of the year.

It's my wish to you all that you find these spaces wherever you go and at the end of each day celebrate the joys and the simple comforts of a safe home, a loving family, a healthy lifestyle .....and of course those fresh clean sheets.

Happy New Year!

Liane

Chat or Shat?

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 21:14:47 GMT

Are you a fan of Chat GPT?

No one can escape the hot topic of Chat GPT, especially now that it’s quickly gaining traction and speed. This handy household tool is infiltrating virtually every industry in countless shapes and forms.

Is it morally right? Is it appropriate to utilize and advocate to your staff? Is it accurate, meaningful and beneficial?

You can answer those questions yourself, but what it is, is this: here to stay!

With this knowledge, we who are not bots, and we, who are curious and smart, can take this new artificial intelligence (AI) tool and catapult our results by creating so much more in so much less time.

It’s true that bots are not able to ‘think’ but they are very capable of gathering and spewing data in warp time and presenting it at the same rate to the requester. When I was introduced to Chat GPT by one of my university tutor students, I needed a bit of a tutorial as the concept alone was slightly difficult to grasp. I, as a copywriter – someone who gets paid to create meaningful and effective copy – felt slightly threatened initially by the general concept. After my session with this student, I proceeded to explore in my own private space the notions of this free tool.

Here's where I sit with this notion half a year later:

AI is not artificial at all.

I’d love to hear your take on Chat GPT and share with me how you have (and do) apply this tool to your own life. Please leave a comment below.

Ciao,

Liane

Changes ...in a positve light

183:829506047 (Liane Angerman) — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 20:23:21 GMT

�� How well do you manage change? ��

For me, it’s been a very rewarding summer thus far. After nearly a decade living in my previous residence, my life partner and I did what most people who are planning to grow a future together do: we combined our assets and purchased a home together where we’ve planted some new seeds to enhance our mutual dreams. It’s been a year now since the realtor unlocked the front door of our together home and we haven’t regretted our decision to make this lifestyle change.

With change comes discomfort and the need to grow new ways to do old things.

How about all of us who have become accustomed to the work-from-home lifestyle, but really weren’t too sold on it when it was initially mandated? What did you learn about yourself? Probably that you are very capable of change when it is required. I found this article in MediaBistro, which is really just a pithy little checklist to measure if you are right for working from home, or not . Some of us are definitely not cut out to work from home and that's okay. And now that the option to return to a more formal work environment is in front of us, many are jumping at the option. But the vacancy rates in many commercial buildings in downtown cores across the world are proof that many of us are resisting returning to a formal workstyle because we’ve adapted to the changes and are now reluctant to leave the conveniences of work-life-home balance that we’ve worked so hard to create.

Life’s biggest changes come in tiny packages.

A year ago, just after this big move, our first granddaughter was born. As with most grandbabies who are the first to enter the landscape of the greater family, she became the center of all our lives. Having a small helpless baby to dote over, talk about, care for and love is a great way to detract from one’s own challenges. There’s always an excuse to shift the priority to the baby. I quickly remembered how much energy it takes to care for a small child. Being “Glamma” has forced me to examine my own fitness, health and lifestyle.

Distractions are awesome!

With the introduction by a close friend to Dr Joey Shulman’s diet ("The Cityline Diet"), I made the choice to eliminate gluten from my diet. My friend, who is a Cancer Conqueror Extraordinaire for more than a year now, was proof of how successfully one can shed pounds this way and was the key accelerator of the process of my own initial weight loss. After losing my initial 10 pounds and several inches, I hit a proverbial roadblock and felt a bit stuck, so I took it upon myself to switch up the program. I discovered The Livy Method (Gina Livy) via my hair stylist (and a closet fitness junky) who shared with me the core concepts of increasing water intake to ignite detoxification, the trick of eating often to stimulate metabolism, eat selectively and specifically to create healthy patterns of digestion and detoxification. I’ve lost 20 pounds so far and a total of 13+ inches of fat across my body! I find myself smiling more now that I feel better in my own skin and keeping up with my one-year-old granddaughter is now much easier, too.

Job changes are very stressful and consuming.

More than a year ago now, just before the big house move, I was contracted to work full-time for a business development/incubator agency as their senior copywriter. For me, this was a new space to live in every day as I have been independent (self-employed) my entire career. Flitting from client to client, team huddle to team huddle, industry to industry was a huge learning curve for someone who’s been running her own ship for more than 17+ years. Truthfully, the challenge was very rewarding, and I did learn a lot about myself and how others perceived me as a teammate and professional. When my contract ended on my one-year anniversary there, I was showered with love notes and praises from all corners of the teams. My heart was sad but full. Undaunted, I know full well that the changes ahead would advance me in some positive way, so I never mourned the loss of my salary. Since then, my resume writing business has accelerated; I’ve been able to spend a lot more time as Glamma and so much more time outside enjoying our huge new yard where I have planted several gardens. I have also joined a new corporate team as a professional writer.

Keeping up with technology is imperative.

One of the gifts of securing this full-time salaried role was the abundance of access and exposure I got to new technology, all of which looks great on my updated resume. A few years ago, I was a huge fan of spin classes, but that changed and that industry is working very hard to regenerate. Many of you may have jumped on the Peloton bandwagon during the past couple of years to maintain your own fitness. I have heard amazing things about the program and its options but have personally never tried Peloton. Just this week I read, however, that the entire Peloton organization is laying off more than 800 employees due to profit loss and restructuring.

So, in the thread of changes and positivity, I am grateful for the many changes this past year had brought me because it has forced me to be uncomfortable, frustrated at times, not always in control, and required me to create new ways to do my normal stuff …like where to walk my dog every morning, or which markets to shop for the freshest foods in my neighbourhood, and learn the names of my new neighbours, or adjust to the sounds on the street outside my window while I work at my desk: the laughing of small children at the child development center across the street, the wailing of sirens and the rumblings by of diesel trucks and motorcycles on the busy street in front of my residence.

I hope you all have embraced change positively also. We’ve all heard the cliché many times:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

In peace,

Liane

The Tides are Turning!

183:829506047 (Liane Angerman) — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 22:02:30 GMT

The Tides are Turning!

Liane's hiatus is over ...here's the latest addition:

Okay, so it’s been ‘‘a while’’ since my last newsletter was released. If I am being honest, I have been avoiding writing a new edition …for quite some time now, but it has been on my mind. Truth is, I was really hoping that there would be some incredible excitement amidst the aftermath of ‘the (pandemic) elephant in the room.’ Some might argue there is, so let’s roll with this then and start a dialogue.

I am not a raving feminist -- despite the fact I’m proudly female and believe in empowering oneself, regardless of gender -- especially in the light of imbalance and unfairness. But I don’t set out pushing my agenda on topics at the risk of looking (shall I say possibly) biased or belligerent. Nonetheless, this read I happened on republished recently in Axios.com showcasing the strides made in media with regard to placing women in key leadership roles is notable. Certain industries, like sports, hard sciences, technology and even media are often led by mostly men. Another noticeable breakthrough with the same trending thread has been in sports, particularly over the past couple years, where powerful, intelligent women are making strides on the main screens and media casts.

Sportsnet has truly gained incredible value and a broadened viewership with the brilliant addition of the beautiful Jennifer Botterill, an Olympic ice hockey champ , Harvard grad and multi-awarded former Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) forward. As a hockey analyst during NHL games, she is a fresh voice, easy on the eyes and above all else, an exceptionally articulate and educated athlete on the topic of hockey. Oh, and did I mention she just happens to be elegant and beautiful , too. I’d be remiss if I did not mention the two most recent additions to both the Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Maple Leafs are also women!

If I may take a wee sidestep here, not in the name of being negative, but more so in the train of pointing a finger at some women who may be very powerful leaders but fail to be complete successes in business based solely on their own greed, misdriven agendas and a callous disregard for those they victimize. I’m talking about Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos and now in the slammer convicted of four counts of fraud (out of 11 charges!) by the US Justice System after years of legal deliberations. A Stanford University dropout in 2003, this tech entrepreneur (with the guidance of her ex- and said-to-be abusive lover successfully duped bigtime savvy investors like Murdoch and Ellison (and others) to raise $900M to endorse her technology. Once on the cover of Forbes Magazine (twice!!), with the promise that a few small drops of blood (as opposed to the usual syringe needle extraction process), when scanned was fully capable of identifying hundreds of health issues as a screening device. Her previous value of $4.5B is now worthless as she lives out her 20-year prison sentence contemplating some very dangerous tactics of a once very powerful woman in a leadership role. Her sour legend is being amplified with the upcoming movie starring Jennifer Lawrence , who’ll be playing Holmes’s character.

Most of us (women or otherwise) live at the street level. In no regard am I implying this with a derogatory slant, rather the contraire. I am merely saying that to be respected, sometimes even revered, but mostly to be able to look at your own reflection every morning, we must all conduct ourselves in accordance with the parameters of the laws of our society and those of our own personal scruples. There will always be rebels, who think they’re above the law, like Holmes (and an ex-boyfriend stalker/predator of mine), but I am a firm believer in the adage that no wrong deed goes unnoticed …or unserved. Karma is a real element of invisible retaliation and like I did, it’s imperative to trust in the systems that bind and govern – they’re the ones who can hand out the restraints that help keep the ugly monkeys (such as Prince Andrew and his nasty cronies ) from continuing to wreak smelly havoc when they’re behaving totally outrageous. In a nut, trust the system to prevail and serve.

One of the reasons I’ve been quieter on the blog front is a cause of a new full-time role I’ve been committed to since last June. While in the initial lockdown, I forged my way through a copywriting course and secured a really cool gig as senior copywriter for a small but growing agency. The very first project I was tasked to write the entire web copy for turn out to be one of Hollywood’s most exciting new developments in delivering full-length feature films to its audiences in the form of an non-fungible token (NFT). ZERO CONTACT is the movie starring Academy Award Winner, Anthony Hopkins . My meetings included the producers, directors, Hollywood A-list media magnets …the list goes on. What makes this movie exxtra cool is that it was filmed exclusively via Zoom during the pandemic itself. In fact, the sequel is currently being shot (as I type) in another first-ever format: in Antarctica ! No other film crew has successfully shot a Hollywood movie there before.

In addition to working on this project, one other client the agency I work with also promotes is the Barrett-Jackson auto auctions , currently going on in Scottsdale, AZ. When the vehicles go on the block, the photos that capture the live events are also sold to automobilia fans as original digital collectibles bought, kept and traded on the blockchain. I am curious to learn if any of you are familiar with NFTs and what your opinions about them are. It’s apparent that they are growing exponentially in popularity and expanding into other industries, like another of the projects I’ve been tasked to collaborate with, starring the Gold Chain Cowboy himself: Park McCollum!

All work aside, my new granddaughter, who arrived last summer, has totally transformed our family, like all new babies easily do. Being a grandma came with some preconceived notions about what it would be like, but honestly, I truly had no clue what changes would occur. I’ve been comically coined “Glamma Lee” and loving my newest role like I never knew I could.

In closing, I simply wish to thank you for signing up to my newsletter and for reading it this far. I welcome any and all feedback you may wish to share with me. I also want to express my wishes for all of you to continue to find joy in every day, to celebrate the wins, even if they’re small. The positive energy emitted when one smiles or lends a hand unasked can only create more goodness.

Keep smiling, everyone!

Sincerely,

Liane

(aka: "Glamma Lee")

PS: In my readings, I stumbled across this fun exercise/quiz that most of us are victims of: The Mandala Effect . It’s rare that one can get every question correct. I challenge you to a walk down Memory Lane in the process. I enjoyed it.

Reinventing Yourself Interview with ActionCoach, Julia Pho

183:829506047 (Liane Angerman) — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:20:35 GMT

Circumstances require self-evolution ...

Here is the interview with Julia , my ActionCoach coach about the importance of staying vital in your business.

Going Mental

183:829506047 (Liane Angerman) — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 22:04:56 GMT

Maintaining sanity within a chaotic landscape

Numbers, numbers, numbers …unsolicited, they keep coming at us from every direction: television, radio, financial advisors, employers, scientists, politicians ….Like it or not, we have all endured a year of measures. Beneath all these numbers lies a monster that evades access to precise measurement; that monster is mental health.

Our mental health is the invisible gauge by which we pluck out our daily options and the gauge to how we perceive ourselves, how we treat others, how we make selections and decisions, how we measure our results and go about our everyday. When we exist in a secure and stable frame of mind and reference, we are capable of making sound choices, making positive things happen. Contrarily, when we are feeling defeated, disadvantaged or denied, disconnected or down, we do not exude the same level of confidence and decision-making capacities; we may resort to poor decisions, thus creating further unhealth.

There are so many aspects that affect one’s mental health, for every one it may be different and thus immeasurable at the surface or at a societal level. Hence, the danger exists for the collective society and our communities …and those who love us. With governments forcing continued (and arguably unreasonable) closures of the services and businesses we all need to maintain a standard of ‘normal’ in our lives, these agencies are simultaneously feeding our angst and growing frustrations that fertilize declining mental health. We all know it’s imperative to help ourselves before we help others; we must make selfish choices (ie: self-care) to ensure we are of sound mind and health to support our families and continue to make positive strides in all aspects of life. Even access to our practitioners as we once had seems complicated now. But what of those who are overwhelmed with stress, impossible burdens and demands, sickness and messy family dynamics? How are we expected to make a difference when we have handcuffs and the whereabouts of the key to the handcuffs unknown. Despite these burdens, we must continue to operate our lives within this chaos?

I have alluded in previous blogs to shifting the power of our thoughts to where one feels in control, rather than obsess about the obvious and unchangeable. I have alluded to finding meaning in areas which would not otherwise be an option, if not for the chaos. For me, I embraced my passion for art, worked extra hard on home-based fitness, researched and tapped into some new forms of nutrition and supplements, performed a whole lot of cleaning and purging, completed unfinished projects, started new ones ….While these actions do feel good and are measurable, they do not remove the realities of our finances and the fact many of our personal earnings have slowed to a trickle, and they do not mask the reality that we cannot collect the hugs we really crave from our friends and families outside our cohort bubble, or play our favourite sport each week, to elevate our endorphins and raise our serotonin levels.

Frankly, this gig is getting stale and inevitably taking its toll on all of us. Perhaps there may be a small nugget of comfort in this collective phenomenon of societal despair …across the globe, with all its variants ...oh, good grief!

Recently, I came across a story that helped me shift my own emotional status. I hope I may bring value to you too. During times of immense challenge, it can be helpful to examine how individuals who operate at a high level of stress (people who choose this particular lifestyle) carve balance and keep level. Not that we may become immune to our stresses, because stress is unhealthy and often propagate disease, but rather to learn some practical ways we may be naturally equipped to transition our stresses in meaningful and beneficial ways.

Max Parrot , Canadian Olympic snowboard champion, a very recent survivor of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, started his chemotherapy during Covid in 2019. In an interview , he states “I am grateful for my cancer battle …” The 26-year-old took his cancer diagnosis and used it to his advantage. About his forced journey into disease, he says the following:

“I think one of the reasons why (I was so motivated to beat cancer) is because I was like a lion in a cage for the whole time. I was at the hospital and I just wanted to snowboard so bad and be back out there. So, when I fought against it (cancer) and won, they opened the cage and I just went straight to training and rode so much and was just really happy to be back on snow. So, I think that's the reason why I had such a good year last season.”

Alright, so no one reading this is likely an athlete being paid to train for the next Olympics to defend his Silver, but the point is that no matter how defeated and restricted we all may feel, we can penetrate some realms of our barriers to create a more positive foundation, even when matters may seem hopeless or out of our locus of control. In Max’s case, he changed the way he looked at cancer and negated the negative connotation most people have towards cancer.

“Choosing to have the right attitude in moments when you’re not supposed to have it,” …is the difference to creating positive results. This is what Max’s mental performance psychologist coach and international speaker, Jean François Ménard suggests to Max and all his clients.

In his many motivational speeches as an athlete himself and sports psychologist, he asserts that moving through adversity is about shifting your way of thinking: “ Attitude is everything ,” he says to his audience, some of which are elite athletes and well-known performers like Cirque du Soleil. If one can shift her perception about the topic on the table (such as work, money, relationships, goals, etc.), then change is ripe to occur.

“People with the right attitude are not only surviving in Covid times, they are thriving. Let’s face it; having an agile mindset and being open-minded to uncertainties have become necessary mental skills during this pandemic. The greatest minds know that if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change .”

Those who have garnered a stronger confidence, tapped into their higher selves, learned skills to rise above adversity are inarguably those who can assist us now by example with some of our own mountainous challenges. None of the notions JF Ménard projects are rocket science, but they are applicable to all of us who struggle with needing change and craving balance and normal. We are all capable of shifting our mental thoughts onto something different, something more positive in order to claim new results. It’s safe to say that we all know one thing: where the mind goes, energy follows. I took this application and applied it to one of my own personal challenges. When the pandemic robbed me of my spin classes and soccer team, with it went my balance and what replaced it was anger, frustration, tighter clothing and increased caloric intake. Intelligent enough to recognize these negative shifts, I knew I needed to find a new cardio flavour, because the cellulite creams were not working. Months ago, I took up high intensity interval training (HIIT) as research pegged me as someone who could benefit effectively and easily recover my missing balance. However, after only several HIIT workouts, I quickly decided I would rather get punched than endure the aftermath of the incredibly sore muscles HIIT gave me, most of which I neither knew I had nor really cared that I had them. The discomfort was too much, so I reverted to more walking instead, but with minimal results in the area of how my clothes fit me the imbalances persisted.

Realizing that change starts with self and if myself was not willing to commit to improving my own mental state and status, how could I expect all the other aspects of my life that needed addressing to change positively? I reexamined the values of HIIT and committed to making myself accountable for my own mental and physical health. What happened was amazing! In a recent blog I shared my new love affair with the fitness app DownDog and how after the free trial expired, I purchased a subscription. Well, within this application also lives other fitness options, such as a HIIT one. With yoga being my daily source of zen, toning, core strength and simulated daily pill for destressing, I shifted my approach to HIIT by using yoga as my rewqrd for every HIIT workout I completed. Where I normally do one hour of yoga every day, I transitioned my workout into 20 minutes of HIIT, supplemented by 30 minutes of yoga to unwind, release any of those stiff and unfamiliar muscles and round out my fitness in this newish frontier called ‘still and variant pandemic.’

My newfound self-care is a wonderful success, as I have shed inches, tightened my entire bod, tossed the cellulite cream, revisited my favourite clothes and reflect a confidence to those I am lucky enough to have within my small cohort group. My own attitude adjustment is proof that what Jean François Ménard recommends does create measurable results, and the ripple effects it conveys is the silver lining …or my own silver medal.

Yours in zenity,

Liane

Bye-bye 2020

183:829506047 (Liane Angerman) — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 20:19:52 GMT

Bye-bye 2020

Bye-bye, 2020!

Don't let the door hit you on your way out!

That is one of the most pointed and defiant comments one can make to another, but for the majority of us ....well, ALL of us, 2020, will be embedded in our minds as a year of challenge, horror, disappointment, shrivel, lack of hope and faith. I digress.

During negative times, I find it difficult to come up with positive sharings that don't sound forced or cliche, but as the year is winding down and the world is grasping a glimmer of hope for 2021, I feel the desire to reach outward to my readers and celebrate the little things we have accomplished.

I have shared some things with you over this year about how I established balance and ways to rise above the challenges that faced me personally. I hope that you also have weathered these storms and, like me, dream of the next vacation on the beach or an escape to your favourite secret hideaway -- the one the government denied you for a year now.

A hearty thank you to all my clients, old and new, for your support, business and commitment to me. As a freelancer, I rely on you to refer my great skills to others. So many of you have and I feel blessed.

This week I launched my first newsletter after a flood of interest. If you wish to become part of this list and keep up with what's happening in my little orchard of juicy fruits and sharings, please hit the sign-up button at the bottom of my web page.

I wish each and every one of you a joyous and creative Christmas whereby you find ways to make your celebrations happy, unique and a reason to start new memories and traditions.

Love and hope,

Liane

Asserting a Positive Attitude During Negative Times

183:829506047 (Liane Angerman) — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 23:46:27 GMT

Two negatives make a positive!

I consider myself a glass-half-full personality; I seek the positive aspects of negative situations – Covid 2020, included. My wish, however, was to write my next blog post on the other side of this damndemic, which is obviously not the current medical and social circumstances in the world today. Frankly, I am just tired of all of it. But two negatives actually make a positive, right?

In truth, the past eight months have garnered me a lot of opportunity, not in the professional realm of contract work, but more so in the areas that may have been neglected or not so relevant if my business had been buzzing along healthfully:

I welcomed a wee rescue dog, not having met him, into my life last February that allowed me the beauty of companionship and motivation to maintain my outdoor activities during lockdown. I continued to embrace my artwork and have painted more than fifty pieces in both watercolour and acrylic, and even managed to sell a few along the way. I also painted both the interior and exterior of my residence. I took advantage of the free online fitness classes and gained about five pounds in muscle and achieved a tighter physique. I joined a knit-a-long from Norway and learned how to do colour work. I managed some deep emotional healing of past scars and traumas dating back to my childhood, which have gifted me a lighter and much brighter recollection of my past. I reconstructed my vision board. I aided a friend in adopting a dog. I attended online webinars for authors trying to hone their craft. I have reunited with someone from my distant past who has swiftly and wonderfully changed the entire landscape of my life and my visions of my future. I have managed to golf more this year with the canceling of outdoor soccer league.

With my business income extremely thin and the job boards flooded with keen competition for every advertised role, I took my own advice from a blog past and continued to seek employment in the areas of which I am passionate. Last year, I signed up with Rover.com and managed to truly enjoy the benefits of canine companionship, leading up to the entrance of Mr Marco into my life. Once the pandemic hit and travel stopped and owners began working from home, my dogcare business shriveled with it. Last week, with the advice of a good friend, I discovered another dog walking opportunity and quickly signed up. To date, I have walked several dogs in different areas of the city. The rates I receive for my gas and efforts are terribly low, compared to working as a professional editor or communications specialist, but the rewards are plentiful. I have explored new parks, green spaces, pathways and escarpments of the city where I’ve lived for over thirty years, all the while practicing my zen energy techniques that dogs are so tuned into by nature.

With the fall yardwork all caught up prior to the snow that’s falling every day this week, I resurrected a few of last winter’s unfinished knitting projects and dusted off some books I’ve been itching to read. One of them being Cesar’s Way, written by the dog psychology expert himself, Cesar Millan. During the course of reading this book, I have learned so much about myself as a human, most specifically how positive and negative energy affect everything one does and reflects so accurately on those we encounter. Dogs, unlike humans, have the innate ability to constantly and effortlessly scan energies of all those they meet. They veer away from negative energy and sometimes respond defensively to it. “Strong assertive energy,” as Cesar describes it, is the best variety we all must harness to move through our life spaces most effectively and successfully. Since Mr Marco, the rescue, entered my life a few months ago, I have practiced this theory daily on our walks. He has never required a leash when we walk and I live on a very busy and well-trafficked drive on the edge of a provincial park. We encounter countless distractions, humans, dogs, wildlife, etc. ….and he is 100% attentive to my energy output as the dominant leader, which guides him along in order to maintain his own delicate balance, safety and confidence, all in full trust.

One of my neighbours has become exceptionally jealous and vindictive of this relationship I have developed with Mr Marco. As an owner of two greyhounds, both with behavioral issues quite likely a reflection of her own psychosis, she has yelled at me for not having my dog on a leash because she admittedly is worried her own dogs might kill mine. There has never been an incident caused by Marco, but she filed a formal claim against me with the city by-law office, telling them my dog roams at large. I admit that as frustrating as this issue is, it is also very laughable. I have achieved with my positive calm assertiveness what observers and other dog owners are baffled at: a dog who walks right beside me and never …..never instigates a negative encounter with other creatures. This, my friends, is the proof of all that Cesar professes and how dogs’ abilities to read energies is impeccable.

With Thanksgiving behind us for this year, Halloween around the next bend and Christmas on the horizon, I am remaining hopeful that foreign travel and vacations will be next on the dreamscape. In the meantime, I will imagine my next blog post will be about the reblooming of our economy, healthier, happier people, larger parties, sports venues and rock concerts sold out and bustling airports with travelers jetting to the destinations resembling of the images on their vision boards.

In health, warmth and positivity,

Liane

What makes you attractive?

183:829506047 (Liane Angerman) — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 19:35:16 GMT

Attraction is a relative measure

What makes you attractive?

It’s relative, right? What makes me attractive to you, or another, or even to oneself is all a definition of …well, self. Further, what appeals to me for a certain purpose relies on a subscription of definitions, derived both consciously and subconsciously, derived from our personal and historical experiences, applied very specifically to the circumstances.

So, here I sit, in my own backyard on a rather crisp, but pleasant, Calgary springtime evening, enjoying the surroundings of my ‘attractive’ back yard (because I created it) with all its zen elements. It’s Saturday night and I just finished watching BBCEarth and subsequently daydreaming of witnessing turtles hatch in the Yucatan (which I have been lucky enough to do once). I wonder when and where I might travel to again once the alarm of unhealthful circumstances of Spring 2020 relieves us all of our paranoia. What destinations will be attractive to travel to?

Despite all the prevalent darkness in the media, my backyard is an incredible oasis of beauty! Since the five years I have resided here, I have continued to experiment with horticultural techniques, from full-on organic bison compost for my new garden beds, to embracing an entire garden of hostas beneath the unforgiving limbs of shade the fir trees demand across most of my north-facing backyard.

Tonight, as I try in vain to relight my gas patio heat lamp, since the wind has declared a small war, I sit patiently waiting for the suggested reset period of “approximately five minutes before reigniting …” Lo and behold, as I wait patiently the effects of the wind grab hold of the new wind chimes I just hung in the garden yesterday, emitting calm. I hear the shrill chirp of a bird, one I do not recognize (which, is odd for me, because I proudly call myself “the Bird Lady.”)

Just as I rise to reignite the heat lamp, I witness the culprit of the foreign chirp: an American Goldfinch landing at my birdbath, his mate just metres away on the fence, on guard. Whilst American Goldfinches are not completely foreign to my own backyard, they are a true sign in light of a very cool spring, that my backyard is indeed attractive. I have no idea what made my yard more attractive than my next-door neighbour’s, who does a whole lot more work than I do to create colour and horticultural vibrance, but tonight I was the winner of the proverbial ‘chicken dinner.’

As the brilliant Goldfinch disappeared into the trees beyond and dusk took firm hold of my day, I could only celebrate that fact of my yard being noticed tonight, a huge sense of gratitude in its wake, for all the little touches I take daily pride in creating and maintaining, both for me and also for the small creatures I wish to selfishly attract to my small space on this earth.

Expanding the analogies of attraction further, into the realms of commerce, and following the past two days of hard labour of rebuilding two of my three websites onto new platforms (since I am not great at digital graphics stuff, this was huge), I contemplate what will set my business services apart from all my competitors. If SEO is liken to a clean birdbath or the appropriate bird seed or fresh nectar, then surely I have the most attractive space to visit …or do I?

Is quality the clincher?

Or is it grittiness?

Does the hungriest dog really always get the bone?

The question prevails then ….is being the most attractive the ticket to being noticed?

As my lamp ignites, I take a wee step back and recall moments in spaces where beauty of the human forms hold value, I can see visions of beautiful people performing on stages, or musical instruments being played to create an aural effect and know for certain that not all audiences appreciate the same forms of art. For me, opera is painful. I also contemplate past relationships and the elements of my chosen partners that were beautiful to me as well as the ones that repelled me and why.

With the economy in a sad state, employment confused and challenging, finding meaningful work for many (including myself) requires one to step up their game to be noticed and selected from the hoards of hungry competitors. If our world has changed so drastically, so must we. Our status quo no longer looks like it did just a few months ago; we cannot expect that applying sameness can have an effect like it once did. Go forth and be different. We are all in this together, but we all are unique and thus our very differences are our key elements of attraction.

Namaste,

Liane

Celebrate the joys in the present moment

Thu, 21 May 2020 22:42:00 GMT

Write about something you know. If you don’t know much about a specific topic that will interest your readers, invite an expert to write about it.

As we gather here today, witnessed by the world, we bid farewell to you, Dear Handshake. You entered into our collective lives a sign of respect and a promise of peace and sincerity, your history recorded as far back as the Greek and Roman eras. You have sealed countless deals worth fortunes immeasurable.

Today, in 2020, we bid you a fond farewell.

In your passing, we can assure you that you will be missed but most certainly replaced by new rituals. You will, however, never be forgotten. You may be replaced by a bow, a double-cheek brushing, a fist-bump ....future time will demonstrate. Rest assured, there will be many impostures seeking to replace you.

Those of us who lived during your lifetime will always celebrate you and in honesty, we may also come to laugh and mock you. But do not misunderstand that our mocking may only be an awkwardness that comes from within each of us. We will treasure having been witness to your lifetime.

Thank you, on behalf of the world, for your dedication to promoting honour, quality of intentions and promises of sincerity and genuine hospitality.

From all of us, Dear Handshake, may you Rest In Peace.

Spring ...and a shift in the Landscape

Wed, 13 May 2020 06:00:00 GMT

A Spring and a Shift in the Landscape

Spring has always been my favourite season, mostly because I dislike the cold immensely, always have. In fact, when I tell people I am allergic to the cold, they always smirk with the assumption I simply do not enjoy it. Wrong. I am clinically allergic to the cold; always have been: swollen digits, itchy rashes, painful (frostbite-like) burning ….

For me, Spring is the farewell of a painful season, named Winter. I welcome it with open arms. I know others also get excited when the first robin bird appears on the landscape. Usually, we hear its shrill warbling song from some unseeable perch, often the heralding of dawn around 4:30 am outside our bedroom windows. When the robin actually does appear, it marks the assurance that we have moved forward, that matters are right or normal. Nature’s confidence is irrefutable and equally comforting. But what happens when Nature brings along the unexpected? Are we simply supposed to accept it, or is resistance the key if it’s not suitable or healthy, or worst of all dangerous?

In light of the past several months, many argue profusely that Nature had nothing to do with our global horror and the crashing of economies, forcing us into isolation. Many will, in fact, attest to the contrary, the matter being a contrived tactic to control and shift landscapes in the name of hunger, greed and power. I won’t go there, not here. Check out my Twitter account. Rather, I’ll stick to my humble garden and Nature’s analogies instead. I am now seeing new species of birds that I have never witnessed visiting my back yard in the near three decades I have lived in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and a residence just metres from a provincial woodland forest. It thrills me to see a bobcat on my fence, a raccoon scratching at my window in the dark of night, a deer chewing my petunias for breakfast, and the return of the allusive brown bats and flying squirrels at my suet feeder late into the night. Last week I documented an unprecedented Evening Grosbeak at my feeder and fed a red-breasted nuthatch from my hand in the nearby forest. On the flip-side, it also saddens me to mourn the annual reduction in the sitings of hummingbirds, despite my consistent efforts to attract them. Although, I am told there is an abundance of them a mere 20 kilometres from where I live as well as the Mountain Bluebird. Nature seems to have shifted and it always will. It’s how we manage it that dictates our success when the shifts cause us measurable stress.

I shared in my last blog some of the ways I personally was attending to my daily balances in an effort to stay sane and hopeful recently. One of the measures I have always embraced (and recently ramped up) is meditation. For the past eight weeks, McLean Meditation Institute (Sedona, AZ) has been graciously gifting meditators all over the globe with free online sessions, twice daily. When I first encountered the power of meditation more than a decade ago, I’d just been diagnosed with a one-in-a-million auto-immune disease (Transverse Myelitis) and had to learn how to manage chronic pain so I could (at minimum) walk my dogs again, let alone play soccer, golf or ride my bicycle. Meditation then brought me the ability to destress, self heal and manage my pain. When our landscape shifts, we too must shift.

Resistance is healthy if your goals are to gain an advantage, such as denying the temptations of poor nutrition to achieve your goal to compete in a road race. But, sometimes resistance comes in surprising forms that may not even be recognizable but should be reexamined all the same. I am talking about my personal commitment to myself to “never own another dog again.” After the death of one of my long-time dogs (a Yorkshire Terrier who lived to be 14), I was left with a chasm of loss and loneliness. A year after Tony’s passing, I adopted a rescue (a Chinese Crested, named Daisy) to fill the void. Following a year of challenges and frustrations, coupled with a seemingly endless (and unsuccessful) effort to source solutions, I was forced to re-home her. Fortunately, she is now living a dream life with four other dogs in a palace on a hill named “Forever Home.” Whew!

So, on I went stating “never again will I own a dog.” However, with Mr. Winter being so long and relentless, I decided that I should consider shifting my love of dogs towards caring for them while retaining my promise not to own one. Thus, I commenced 'My Rover Life;' my online profile had an apparent tendency to attract only large dogs that needed daily walking, daycare, puppy training. Then along came Sadie, a Catahoula Leopard.

Her owners were off to Bali for six months and chose me to be her new mom while they were away. Little did I know how Sadie would shift my landscape. With her high demand to be active, we walked several times every day, whether cold or unbearably cold. With her donning her knitted sweater and me my fur coat, Sadie introduced me to the dog park, a beautiful place (a sanctuary, truly) to which I had never been in spite of a lifetime of owning dogs. One beauty of the dog park is that all dogs meet happily and without barriers there. Nature has empowered them with the skills to cope.

Near the end of Sadie’s stay, I encountered the owner of a five-year-old male Yorkie who was seeking a good home for him. In fact, he had seven other canine siblings living in the same dwelling. Remembering how I re-homed Daisy two years ago with pure intention, I offered to relieve the Yorkie’s owner, knowing it would be very easy to find a better place for him. I walked away from that scene committed to my promise to nurture the petless freedoms I had created. But something niggled me and stuck. The wee Yorkie needing a home had features so very very similar to my Tony. I resisted the pulling sensations on my heartstrings and focused all my time on Sadie instead. A month later, the Yorkie owner called me and asked if I still had a home for her dog. With very little hesitation, I told her of course. Sadie accepted the four-pound intruder in her home without much resistance. Sadie’s owners returned home a month early from their Bali adventures and I was left staring at my new dependent, Mr. Marco.

Two months later now, Marco and I have adjusted to our new partnership with absolute ease. What I did not know when he entered my life was that he would become my daily sanity, my rituals of sustenance and love, my best friend throughout some very long days of solitude during the pandemic when going outside was nearly a crime. As Spring breaks through the soil bringing forth crocuses, yesterseason’s perennials and the songs of birds shift from the winter varieties to the springtime tones, hope is the new blossom. A widening sense of gratitude prevails as I plant my vegetable garden while my new best friend and life partner lays his wee furry body in the garden soil warmed by the springtime sunshine.

As your communications specialist, I strive to make you look your very best.

Thu, 02 Apr 2020 06:00:00 GMT

Greetings!

It feels like it's taken me the equivalent (in water) of what it takes for a camel to cross a desert, all the while enduring silent hardship unbeknownst to its 'master' or in my own case -- myself.

The realization comes in knowing you've landed in a place that comes with a tangible sense of accomplishment and reward:

Here is now! Welcome to my world.

As a published author and dedicated editor, I strive to convey a solid message for any and all audiences. My dream is to resonate a sensation that may adapt any form of shift on my reader, whether the effect is like a few grains of sand falling into the impression left by a foot tread, or a barrage of water hitting a surface from a 100-foot icy waterfall. It's all about initiating positive change.

My passion for writing stems from being a listener -- a human who needs to know how my gifts can empower my subject. For most of my life I have tested my communication skills, sometimes to the point of failure, but oftentimes to the point of emotional euphoria.

My journey has brought me here to the point of introducing you to my next novel, a noir thriller, of which I am in the throes of seeking the ideal literary agent for representation. Not disillusioned by the reality of restricted access to the major publishers of the globe, I (currently) feel empowered by the alliances I've attracted and nurtured and the avenues I've selected to tread.

I welcome your insights, your diversions and your sharings, with the intent that we are all growing and that being enlightened is mostly a positive experience.

In positivity and light ....let's bring it!

Liane

Doctors & Doctrines

183:829506047 (Liane Angerman) — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 15:32:02 GMT

Take heed of one's own advice.

The processes of rebalancing, recalibrating, rectifying and reducing stress when life drifts off course often detract from the main plan ...as is my case ...

Since my last blog, I've strived to adhere to my personal doctrine to embrace my passions and create meaning from them. Nonetheless, my passion for soccer achieved me a double break of my nose and a major concussion; my dog care business saw me make a poor judgment call and sustain a major bite, both incidents sending me to urgent care and subsequent doctors appointments.

When these types of events force us off course, anger and frustration typically blend together establishing a negative disposition from which it is usually difficult to be productive and profitable. Over the years, I've tried to manage these life events in ways that are different from my past ways or patterned behaviours so that I can grow forward and ideally change my own DNA. Part of this process involves stepping away from the emotion of circumstances. For example, in the case of the soccer nose crunch and concussion, I managed the moment of the incident without retribution. I extracted myself from the game and attended to the trauma immediately by going to the hospital. In earlier days, I likely would have placed a stop measure on my bloody nose, ignored my ringing head and sought revenge. After all, right before the ball smashed in my face, I'd made a very poor decision to encroach illegally the regulation space between the free kicker and the space I was to block.

As for the dog bite, again I took responsibility for my own poor decision: normally when I bring a visiting dog into my home, I bring it through the side gate to the back yard so as not to place Sadie (my full-time care dog) into defence mode. On this particular day, I was in a rush and decided to bring Naja (a husky-shepherd pup) through the laundry room door directly from the garage after I went to pick her up. As I entered the house, Sadie greeted us both and decided she was not in the mood to host Naja this particular day and growled and lunged at Naja. Naja returned the favour and the two dogs began their war. Thinking I might be able to break them up with a knee chop beneath their snoots, I jammed my leg in between their snarling snoots and Sadie chewed right into my inner thigh. It required stitches and it's been more than a month and my leg still shows bruising and a lump beneath the surface.

I'll admit my first instinct was to take Naja back home and to punish Sadie for what she'd done to me, but truly the result of this incident was a fault of mine alone. I left the two dogs alone for a couple of hours while I went to urgent care to rectify my new wound and when I returned home again the two dogs were habituating happily together.

The next part of this process of change for me (after I excepted blame for both incidents) was to forgive myself in order not to feel stress or anger. I will attest that it is much easier to forgive myself than it is to forgive others, so that was a fairly easy process.

I returned to soccer this week after the headaches subsided just a couple days ago. The plastic surgeon suggested that due to my age I should consider surrendering the sport I love so much. I will admit I actually contemplating his advice ....for a couple days at least ...before realizing that my life without soccer would be like driving through life with the spare tire on my vehicle. The first game back was filled with apprehension, but I stuck to my promise to not head the ball and not block free kicks. These new rules I've instilled in my future games will not be easy as my nature is more aggressive, but I also know that "at my age" if I don't make these subtle (or huge) transitions into healthier ways, I might be left wounded, angry, unforgiving and essentially stuck in my own vacuum.

Onward,

Liane

Self-Heeded Advice

So, I took the advice I delivered in my last blog, the one about resisting the shrivel; how your work can rob you of your natural juices ….your essence:

As I’d shared, my regular work had become uncomfortably light in the past several months with the majority of my work arriving in the form of referrals. The mounting anxiety encouraged me to be creative in how to formulate a new income and heed my own advice:

Dogs have been a part of my entire life. In the presence of canines I have come to realize the pure value in being “in the moment,” and above all, of being accepted.

Dogs never pretend.

Dogs are emotional and act on the very moment within which they exist. In this light – and my new role as “Liane, the dog walker” I have learned more about myself than I’d imagined possible when I decided I needed to take a dose of my own medicine.

One of my first dog clients was Bailey, who came into my world several months ago when I first signed up on Rover.com. His owners, two professional psychologists, had welcomed a Viszla pup into their lives. They quickly realized that this breed of dog, with his high energy and the usual puppy demands and annoyances combined were a lot to manage in light of their busy agendas and own personal needs.

In comes my first request to board Bailey for five days. I laugh today as I recall the experience, mostly because it’s now faded and secondly because I’ve taken care of Bailey twice this week alone and three months since that day and will again tomorrow. Before I go on with this post, I will attest that Bailey has come a long way since that first super-long weekend we spent together.

Now to refocus on my own growth. When one is not operating within their full demand, feeling valued or being paid their worth, they have a lot of time to contemplate the void (or grey) spaces. In my case, since I do not advertise my business in the usual ways, the realization of the economy was pronounced; the contracts were few and far between.

Frankly, I was getting bored. I reminisced the days I would wake up and walk my dog, regardless of the weather ….and winter was quickly approaching. With it typically meant long periods of time ….sometimes days ….where I often would not leave the house since my work is freelance and did not require me to.

That was when my daughter told me about Rover.com.

For some time, as I repositioned my days into managing walks, with daycare and boarding and the odd writing contract that managed to find me, I tried my best to stay present and accepting, like my own gospel and a mirror, a reflection of how I saw the dogs whom I sat and fed and walked every day.

It was at the time of my first emotional meltdown – probably after a full day with Bailey -- the rambunctious Viszla – that I realized I scripted my very own evolution as I resisted my very own ‘shrivel.’

As it turns out, the canine-loving business has become quite profitable, if not a complete deterrent to my writing business (which is now picking up again). I’ve become quite selective in my ‘clients’ and decide just how long and how many I wish to manage on any given day.

I’ve recently adopted a larger dog for an extended period while its owners tour Indonesia for six months. Never having been a large dog owner myself, it has become an adjustment, but a very welcomed one. Knowing full well the hermit I tend to become when the weather freezes over and work slows down over the Holiday Season and somewhat beyond, I knew that caring for a large dog would force me to become more active and venture outside more than I typically would.

Today, I hosted Naja, whose owners are spending all of January in England; tomorrow (as I stated) Bailey will return to my doggy daycare while his owners tend to the psych needs of humans and Sadie, my adopted dog gal is going to be annoyed most of the day while wee Bailey plays with her toys and chews her new bone.

Me? I’m excited to report that I have a couple writing files to close off, a brand new one to begin tomorrow and a phone call from a prospective new client expected at 9am.

There is a New Moon rising tonight and with that comes the end of certain cycles and the promise of new beginnings.

Namaste,

Liane

Evolution of Shrivel

183:829506047 (Liane Angerman) — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 15:45:01 GMT

Only you can find your way ...get creative

Occasionally I wonder about those people (of whom I may have met two or three in my lifetime to date) who claim they love their work so much that they cannot wait to get out of bed every day. I wonder if they are just really lucky, or the hardest workers on the planet, or perhaps possess the most clarity possible, disillusioned, stoned. Or have they actually discovered their true professional callings?

Okay, I'll admit I am jealous.

As for the majority of us, we likely spend more time wondering how we are going to get out of bed and what we may do (or might have done) to be happier and more fulfilled with our careers. Have you ever wondered how much longer you can stay working under the helm of a tyrant who seems to believe that you owe him (or her) your best energy (or juices)? Have you ever dreamed of what I might be like if you weren't wasting your 'juices' on someone who does not seem to value what you bring to the boardroom table and how much more juicier you'd be if the results of your skills translated into profits in your own personal bank account and not your boss's?

Further examination of these lovers of their careers tends to pull on and pronounce a recurring word: “passion.” Herein, may be the answer to the prayers of all of us rolling from wakeness to sleepness in the fuzzy arms of mediocre day in and day out and shriveling like last week’s grapes left out on the counter in the process. How do we maximize our juice and resist drying up under the heat of our employers' radiation?

A recent discussion with someone who loves her work illuminated my theory about passion. This gal makes her living promoting brands, services and products of her clients by applying her connections to network these businesses whilst igniting all the available platforms of media (social and otherwise) and marketing with her results. She happens to be a fashion consultant, who will be the first to attest that her life is not as glamourous as it appears. I’ve watched her being interviewed on the local tv news, showcasing the latest models, their fashion wares of the most notable brand names and she herself looking as much like Shania Twain on stage in Vegas – every eyelash and hair in its most gorgeous places, donning fashion none of us can afford that hugs a body most women could only carve out in their dreams. Her work is not easy, but she makes it look that way. Her social media channels show clips of her being sent complementary product boxes from a vast spectrum of her clients, covered with bows and spilling with cards gushing praises of her talents while she smiles gratefully and flashes their brand names to all her loyal followers.

She admits her schedule is grueling, her personal time limited and even confesses that she wishes she had more leisure time with her small son, but she attests she loves her job: “Being surrounded by beautiful things, beautiful people and clients who are grateful to have me promote their businesses is very rewarding. What I give them (in exchange for services, pay and product) makes both of us very gratified and successful. I am passionate about my work and also passionate about my clients’ passions. Feeling that they need me is a profitable contagion; one that gets me up every day and feeds my lifestyle and my ego, keeps me aware of all aspects of how I live my life, my self-police, if you will.”

I myself have encountered a multitude of challenges this past year where my business is concerned. I’ve weathered a very tough economy and a constricting marketplace creating a shrivel of my business. Navigating these tough proverbial waters and torrential storms of uncertainty can create turmoil in all levels of one’s life. Pairing down the reality of circumstances and aligning your talents to opportunities are the key to sourcing your next career movement and being successful in the process.

If you are true to your own personal callings (here is where I turn to meditation and time in nature when I’m feeling lost in the chaos) from this tumultuous existence can emerge what you may have not recognized as your next career or extension of your current one. If you revert to the things you have always loved doing, the very tasks or movements that have caused you to feel whole, accomplished, then you know you are within your passionate realm and totally capable of completing the project with finality and finesse.

Once you identify what that is and how to get there, here is where you must work hard to stay in order to stay awake, nurture your self-juices and financial viability so you can fall asleep and happily wake up so very excited to get out of bed at sunrise.

Bye-bye 2020

3 Books Published

Lee has published three new books in 2024!

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Clean Sheets

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Chat or Shat?

Are you a fan of Chat GPT?

Changes ...in a positve light

���� How well do you manage change? ����

The Tides are Turning!

The Tides are Turning!

﻿

Liane's hiatus is over ...here's the latest addition:

Reinventing Yourself Interview with ActionCoach, Julia Pho

Circumstances require self-evolution ...

Going Mental

Maintaining sanity within a chaotic landscape

Bye-bye 2020

Bye-bye 2020

Asserting a Positive Attitude During Negative Times

Two negatives make a positive!

What makes you attractive?

Attraction is a relative measure

Celebrate the joys in the present moment

Spring ...and a shift in the Landscape

As your communications specialist, I strive to make you look your very best.

Doctors & Doctrines

Take heed of one's own advice.

Evolution of Shrivel

Only you can find your way ...get creative

�� How well do you manage change? ��