Posts Tagged ‘Women’

I see that Chatelaine has managed to go through another editor. Sara Angel is citing “personal reasons” but that explanation is as weak as the magazine’s generally lackluster content .

Like many readers I let my subscription lapse a few years ago but I do pick up a copy every now and then in the hope that it is finally starting to have a sense of direction.

Until it does get a sense of where it is going Chatelaine will continue to turn over editors and staff. The powers that be need to recognize that today’s woman is not the housewife of the past, she is instead sophisticated and well rounded. Probably running a successful business from her home office, raising two kids and trying to meet the needs of her aging parents. She wants to be well informed, know what other women are up to (not just those in Ontario) and yes, she is also interested in make-up & clothes that will give her quality and not break the budget. She tries to put a quick but balanced meal on the table (and doesn’t have time to bake those cookies that you are always pushing) before rushing off to her book club or her daughters soccer game. And she needs an article complete with related resources on where she and some girlfriends can go for a weekend in February.

With Chatelaine’s budget & experience they should be able to pull together a magazine for today’s Canadian woman. In January, I am taking my online magazine and reshaping it into an autonomous business and website separate from my coaching company. It has grown not by blindly pushing content at my readers but through listening to them. While I will honestly admit that I am hampered by lack of time and money (I use income from being a Coach to support the publication) ……… what is Chatelaine’s excuse?

I couldn’t help it, my mind just went there; I had to ask myself “what would I say to Paris Hilton if she were my client?”

1. When you leave jail, travel in the real world. There is more out there than the filtered version that you have seen through first class hotels and your reality TV show.

2. Mentors: Meet with women whom you admire, seek their advice, ask questions

3. Sort through the people in your life, get rid of the sycophants.

4. Make decisions about what you want to do with your life and set goals but don’t parade them like another publicity stunt. Instead start to work on them quietly and with sincerity.

5. You live in a different world and parties are part of that lifestyle, but look at attending functions where people talk and interact. Meet with people who can help you with your new endeavors.

6. Create a team of competent people to help you. Treat them with respect they are not there to get your lattes or walk the dog.

7. Learn how to use the press, the way that that Princess Diana use to. She knew how to have them show up so that the attention was on minefields or the victims of aids.

8. Trust your instincts, your mind and what I suspect is a kind heart. You can enjoy a life of privilege and give back to the world.

1. Victoria’s Secret’s cotton panties 5/$25. Great colours and they wear well.
2. Bagged spinach and lettuce – so convenient & quick!
3. Books:
   • A Breath of Snow & Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
   • My Camino by Sue Kenney
   • Iris & Rudy by Rosie Thomas
   • Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
4. Dark chocolate & Starbucks coffee
5. Online banking – I love paying bills in my slippers
6. Amazon’s Used books – saves money (especially on business books)and they are usually in great condition
7. Hiring a house cleaner – even if she only comes in once every two weeks it is a huge help
8. Body Shop’s Satsuma Soap
9. Style at Home Magazine – with a 1979 house in Alberta that needs updating & a circa 1823 house in Nova Scotia that needs everything, I am grateful for their articles and great photographs.
10. Boston Legal – while it isn’t my beloved West Wing it’s quick and edgy

This list appeared in the Too Real Women blog, that I share with friend & Psychotherapist,Vicki Wolfson. We also have a Too Real Advice blog.

Each year since 1975 Nicholas Nixon has taken a group portrait of his wife with her three sisters.
This book of those photographs is testimonial to what time means in a woman’s life. Each picture is set up the same; what is different is clothing, hair, facial lines and the subtle changes to their expressions and body language.

A fasinating look at four women & a great gift for yourself or a female friend.

Amazon.com: The Brown Sisters
Amazon.ca: Nicholas Nixon – The Brown Sisters

I am humbled by women like Rosa Parks. Her single act was not only defiant but dangerous in 1950′s Alabama. When I feel fear in the face of a difficult step or a new life path I think of how insignificant it is in comparision.
The only way that I can honour Ms. Parks and women like her is to stand strong in my convictions and realize that fear is fleeting; it is the change that is significant.

Rosa Parks February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005