I just arrived back in Saint John from a weekend trip to Charlottetown. I noticed that the light was staying around for longer as I would normally be in darkness by the time I pulled into Saint John. It was a great weekend trip. I try to make it home for all the birthdays and it was my Dad's birthday on Saturday. We went out and had "all you can eat" Chinese food. It seemed like a good idea at the time but I think I am beginning to regret it today. Unfortunately, I was assaulted in Saint John on my Dad's birthday 6 years ago so it is also the anniversary for that incident. It seems like so long ago now. I had my cheekbone busted in three places and required emergency plastic surgery in the middle of the night. All that for leaving a gay bar at the wrong time. It is funny to think back now because I feel that Saint John (and even the world) has come a long way since that night. Things are beginning to get better for marginalized folks.On a more positive note, I spent a lot of time over the past couple weeks working on my term paper for the management course I am taking. I can proudly say that I mailed it last week. I thought it was great so hopefully the marker does as well. It was titled, "Does political decision content alter the decision making process: decision making in the political charged health care environment." I also had a successful FUSION Saint John Inc. Community Engagement Committee meeting last week. Our committee has decided to move forward with an idea around engaging young people in the City in volunteering. The idea is borrowed from Ontario but essentially involves having businesses purchase art from emerging artists and then putting each piece of art up for auction with the bidding being volunteer hours to a specific not-for-profit organization in the City. If you want to get involved then give me a shout.
A little over a week ago I had the opportunity to attend a photo exhibit by the Urban Core Support Network. The exhibit took place at the Saint John Arts Centre and featured works by local women living in poverty. They took pictures of what poverty was to them. It was a very powerful look at poverty through the eyes of those living the experience. A great chance for people to remind themselves of the human beings behind some of these social issues. Often, I find that people get caught up in the work around making changes and forget about the people affected by the work.
Last week I also began physiotherapy for my back and neck. I have already tried massages, acupuncture, chiropractors and yoga so I thought I would experiment with something new. Now I have a bunch of exercises I have to do each day. I figured that would happen but it seems sort of weird to be paying someone to give you exercises to do. On another health note, this past weekend has marked one month of not smoking. Hopefully this is the time that I stick with it.
Some highlights of the coming week include a FUSION Saint John Inc. Steering Committee meeting tomorrow night. It will be the first one since the new committee has taken over so it will be a long one but very positive I think. On Tuesday at work I will be followed by an Occupational Therapy and Social Work student so I will have to be on my best behaviour.
There has been much media coverage lately on the topic of retention, repatriation and attraction of youth to our province. I would enjoy hearing people's ideas on how to solve this problem in the province.
Have a great week everyone!! If you have an comments or suggestions on my posts please feel free to contact me.
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