💔 Refusing a System That Watches You

🧓 Aging & Refusing

Now I’m 63. People ask: “Why don’t you just go back on social assistance?”

Because I remember:
- how my mother was treated
- how I was treated
- how my child could have been taken

Because poverty should not be a punishment. Because survival should not cost your dignity. Because I have already paid too much.

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⚠️ The System Isn’t Broken — It Works Exactly As Designed

It is designed to:

• 🟥 Keep people terrified
• 🟥 Keep families in chaos
• 🟥 Keep women desperate
• 🟥 Keep elders powerless
• 🟥 Keep trauma inherited

And then society wonders why:

• ⛺ Tent cities everywhere
• 🧊 Overdoses at bus stops
• 👶 Children taken into abusive care
• 👵 Seniors dying on sidewalks

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❓ Reflective Questions

1. What would you do if you lost a parent at 11 and the government threatened to take the rest of your family?
2. What if you worked 11 years until your body broke down — and then no one cared?
3. How would you feel if you had $22,000 in debt after 4 years of school, only not to be employed because of pregnancy, the dot‑com crash, or 9/11?
4. What if parenthood meant risking losing your child to the system?
5. Why are women punished for pregnancy but blamed for not working?
6. Why are seniors discarded when they’re no longer “profitable”?
7. Why are the most personal details demanded online when every major system has been hacked?
8. Why does “help” feel like surveillance, not support?
9. Why do we criminalize people trying to survive?
10. What if this happened to your child? Your mother? You?

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🎥 The New Surveillance: Job Interviews as Evidence

Today, almost every job interview is a video interview. And that means:

• 👀 They capture your face
• 📍 Your home
• 🔊 Your voice
• 📂 Your emotional reactions
• 🧠 Your trauma responses

What happens to that recording? Who is storing it? Who can access it? How long does it follow you?

The same government that demands deeply personal data online, now pairs it with your visual identity — forever.

If you are:
- disabled
- older
- racialized or Indigenous
- visibly poor
- traumatized
- desperate

…that video becomes evidence against you, not your worth.

This is another reason I refuse. Not because I don’t want help — but because help has become surveillance.

Some of us understand the system too well — and that terrifies them. People like us don’t fall into line. We question. We expose. We survive. Systems built on control don’t know what to do with survivors. So they hope we: 🕳️ disappear, 🧍‍♀️ give up, ⚰️ or die quietly. But we are still here. And we are not silent.

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🔥 We Must Demand Change

• 💥 Raise social assistance rates to meet real costs of living

Surviving the System: Childhood

💔 Surviving the System: Childhood to Parenthood

They always watch you. From your earliest trauma to your hardest decisions, the system waits for weakness. Not to help — but to control.

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👶 Childhood Trauma

I was 11 years old when my father died by suicide. 💔 My mother — devastated and alone — went on social assistance to keep us alive: me, my brother, and sister, ages 11, 13, and 16.

“Get a job or we’ll take your kids.”

That fear bonded itself to my bones — proof that help always comes with a threat.

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🔧 A Working Life, Cut Short

I worked 11 years in a hard, physical job. 💪 Until chronic tendonitis forced me to stop.

I returned to school as a mature student, paying for everything myself. I had a $15,000 credit rating, built on years of hard work. 💳

The program was supposed to be one year, but the college canceled programs repeatedly, turning it into four years. I had to keep reapplying for student loans — a trap designed to put students further in debt.

Then came the dot‑com crash and 9/11. 💥 I lost it all — my savings, my credit — because student loans defaulted.

And then… I found out I was pregnant at 40. 👶 A joy I have never regretted — but the trauma surrounding it was relentless.

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🍼 Pregnancy Under Surveillance

I returned to Canada pregnant. No one would hire me — visibly pregnant women were seen as a “burden.”

So the same system that once threatened my childhood now demanded compliance:

• “Prove over and over again that you’re poor.”
• “Give us your private information or you don’t eat.”
• “Comply or we will punish you.”

Every appointment felt like an interrogation. Every form felt like a confession. Every month felt like a test of worthiness to survive.

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💔 Forced On, Forced Off

They cut me off when my child was only 3. ❌ I scrambled to survive.

Then my mother — my mentor and protector — passed away. 💔 Grief forced me back into that system at 4.5 years old for my child, facing the same harassment my mother had endured.

Caseworkers didn’t see a parent doing everything for their child. They saw a file number, not a person.

Hospitals, offices, forms, checkboxes — all eyes on us. 👀 Even when I was doing everything right, they looked for reasons to punish.

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🧸 Covid, Childcare & Career Barriers

During Covid, no one would hire me as a nanny — even though I had just finished a 2-year contract in 2019. 🕰️ I was in my late fifties, and because of the age difference, I was seen as “too old” to be near a child.

💔 How many relationships, families, and careers were destroyed during this time? We are all living with this trauma, yet the system quietly brings in newcomers, finding them homes and jobs, while long-time residents are blocked at every turn.

One of the reasons I was so late having a child was no affordable childcare, leaving me trapped and waiting.

And because of all this, I had to change my career again. Now I have no tickets, no elder care, no ECE, no first aid, no food safe — all of the certifications and qualifications required to work, even though I laboured and educated myself for years.

Stay tuned for next post

The Weight of Compassion: Refugees, Trauma, and Responsibility

 Be Careful — Not Again: A Warning to Policymakers

To the Honourable Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and all policymakers shaping Canada's immigration future:

We watch the news, and it feels like a nightmare we’ve lived before. Starvation. Sleepless nights. Families ripped apart. Children scarred by violence they should never have to witness. 😢 And then we hear — they will come here, the refugees… and our hearts ache, not just with empathy, but with fear.

Fear because we remember. We remember the Syrian families, the Ukrainian families, the Vietnamese families — all seeking safety while we, as a society, struggled to support them. Hospitals overflowing. Schools strained. Social workers, nurses, and teachers stretched to their breaking point. And in the shadows, the echoes of past wrongs — Indigenous children taken, communities assimilated, promises broken — remind us how fragile compassion can be when systems fail. 💔

We do not have all the answers. All we have is the knowledge of what happens when decisions are made without care, without foresight. Housing ministers bring in hundreds of thousands of international students without homes or jobs. Governments promise support but leave the weight on the shoulders of ordinary people. And slowly, quietly, apathy seeps in. 😔

Consider the numbers: Canada accepted over 1.2 million refugees since 2015, including Syrians, Ukrainians, and others. Our hospitals, schools, and social services have been stretched to critical limits. Thousands of children arrive with trauma, and hundreds of professionals are burned out trying to help them. ⚠️

So we say: be careful. Not again. Watch history. Watch policy. Watch human suffering. Listen to the cries that cannot be ignored. Because the cost is real, and it lands here — in our schools, in our hospitals, in our streets, in the hearts of our children.

Reflective question for policymakers: 💭 How can Canada welcome those in need without creating unbearable strain on existing communities and public services? Are we prioritizing compassion responsibly, or are we repeating mistakes of the past?

Compassion is not infinite, but responsibility can be. Let us demand it. Let us remember. And let us be careful — not again. ✨

Why Justice Fails Young Women — And How Science Proves It

 🧠 When Is a Brain “Old Enough” to Consent or Harm?

Why Justice Fails Young Women — And How Science Proves It

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita
#BoycottHockey #EndRapeCulture #JusticeForSurvivors

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Most people can’t even remember what they had for dinner last week — but somehow, our justice system expects a young woman to remember, with perfect clarity, the night she was sexually assaulted seven years ago.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t just a legal issue. It’s a human one, and science backs it up.

💔 The 2018 Hockey Assault Case

In June 2018, a young woman (known as E.M.) went out for what should have been a fun evening. Instead, she ended up in a hotel room with five elite junior hockey players, all members of Canada’s beloved 2018 World Junior team.

She was 20. They were 19–21.
She says she was drunk, surrounded, filmed, and pressured to consent on video.

In July 2025, all five players were acquitted.
Why? Because the judge found her story had inconsistencies, and because the players showed a video where she says she consented.

But let’s stop and ask:

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🧠 What Do We Know About Brain Development?

Science now confirms:

• The human brain isn’t fully developed until age 25–30 — especially the prefrontal cortex, which controls:
  • Impulse control
  • Risk evaluation
  • Emotional regulation
  • Long-term planning
  • Moral reasoning

That means:

• E.M. was not neurologically equipped to handle high-stress trauma, especially under the influence of alcohol and surrounded by power and fear.
• The five young men, whose brains were also still developing, were likely heavily influenced by porn culture, group dynamics, and entitlement — but unlike E.M., they had the numbers, protection, and institutional backing.

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🎥 That Video Wasn’t Consent

Forcing a drunk, overwhelmed young woman to say she consents — on video — after being surrounded by five men is not evidence of safety.

It’s proof of how far rape culture has evolved.
Now it records itself — and calls it protection.

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💊 Alcohol, Porn Culture & Pack Mentality

E.M. testified she had about eight drinks that night. There’s no evidence she took any drugs. But toxic masculinity doesn’t need drugs to thrive — it thrives in locker rooms, on screens, and in silence.

We now live in a world where young men grow up on porn that often shows:

• Violence
• Group sex
• Dehumanization

If that’s the “normal” they consume, then no wonder they think forcing someone to perform on camera is acceptable.

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⚖️ Where Is the Logic?

There is none.

The justice system:

• Demands impossible clarity from trauma survivors
• Ignores the effects of alcohol, fear, shame, and shock
• Protects powerful young men at all costs — especially when a beloved sport is involved

This isn’t justice. This is a script.
And we’re sick of watching it play out.

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🔥 Call to Action

It's time to ask:

• Why do courts still treat 18 as the magical “adult” age — when science says our brains aren’t ready until 25 or even 30?
• Why do we treat trauma victims like unreliable narrators — but trust a video taken under duress as evidence of consent?
• Why does hockey, a sport loved by millions, keep getting a pass on rape culture?

✋ Enough.

• #BoycottHockey until there is accountability.
• Share the science — about brain development, trauma, and coercion.
• Stand with survivors, not systems built to protect their abusers.

We deserve a justice system that understands memory, maturity, and morality.
Not one that punishes survivors for being human.

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🧠💔✊
Written with grief, rage, and clarity,
Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita
zipolita.com | #JusticeForE.M | #EndRapeCulture

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Stupid Is as Stupid Does” — Labels, Warnings, and When Language Hurts

 “Stupid Is as Stupid Does” — Labels, Warnings, and When Language Hurts

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

I recently heard MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell call Donald Trump “stupid” on national television.
He didn’t stop there. He said Trump was “trapped in his stupidity,” launching into a fiery takedown that felt more like a performance than journalism.

And I thought—we’re going in circles.

This isn’t how news should sound.
It shouldn’t echo reality TV or viral outrage clips.
It should inform, not entertain at the expense of reason.

It reminded me of Forrest Gump:
“Stupid is as stupid does.”
That line wasn’t meant to insult—it was about actions.

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🌊 Driftwood, Name-Calling, and Breaking the Cycle

Just yesterday, I was upset watching someone hack up a beautiful driftwood log that had rested on our beach for over 50 years. In frustration, I muttered, “Trumpster…”

And then I caught myself.

Name-calling doesn’t solve anything. It just keeps the fire going.

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💬 My Friend Who Shouts “Ya Dummy!”

My 76-year-old friend used to say, “Ah, I’m so stupid,” every time something went wrong.
I gently encouraged him over time to stop saying that.

Now, when someone cuts him off in traffic, he just says:
“Ya dummy!”

Better, maybe. But words still matter.

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🔥 A Wound from the Past

A few years ago, I was in a reconciliation and carving program.
We were creating two powerful pieces:

• One to honour the children who never came home from Residential Schools,
• And another for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

It was emotional, intense, and sacred.

In a group chat, I posted something calling Trump a sociopath.
I didn’t mean to diagnose—I meant to warn.
But the word hit a nerve.

One First Nations participant, someone brave and open about their struggles and hopes, called me out.
They said my words were racist.
Another friend had posted a similar thought—and things spiraled.

I left the group.

Not because I didn’t care—but because it hurt so much.
And I realized: we weren’t just arguing about Trump.
We were navigating deep wounds.
Trauma. Power. Trust.

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🧠 Why I Said Sociopath

When I used the word “sociopath,” I wasn’t trying to excuse him.
I was trying to alert others to the danger.
But I now see that words like that—especially in cross-cultural spaces—can be misunderstood.

What sounds like concern to one person can sound like protection to another.
Especially when it's about someone in power who has caused so much harm.

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📺 Why Are Newscasters Talking Like This?

Why are American newscasters sounding like celebrity roasters?
Why are they stooping to name-calling—on air?

Is this really how we challenge authoritarianism?
By sounding like the very thing we’re fighting?

We need anchors and journalists who report with truth and professionalism, not sarcasm and soundbites.

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🔁 Closing the Circle

This isn’t just about Trump.

It’s about how we speak.
How we treat each other when we’re angry.
How we hold ourselves accountable when we mess up.
And how we try to grow—even when it’s messy.

We don’t have to be perfect.
We just have to try not to become what we’re resisting.

Even if all we can say in the heat of the moment is:
“Ya dummy!”
Let it be a reminder of our shared humanity—and our ability to do better.

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❤️ If You’ve Ever Felt Misunderstood…

I see you.
You’re not alone.
Let’s keep the conversation going—with truth, care, and courage.

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🔖 Keywords:

Trump, sociopath, reconciliation, language, Indigenous, media, namecalling, trauma, journalism, truth

Welfare Wednesday Shouldn’t Be Death Day

💔 Welfare Wednesday Shouldn’t Be Death Day

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

Every month in this city, we brace ourselves for "Welfare Wednesday."

For some, it means paying rent, buying groceries, maybe breathing a little easier—for a moment.

But for far too many, it means overdose. Chaos. Death.

We see people collapse on sidewalks, in alleys, on transit.

We see kids walking home from school past bodies.

We see the M.A.S.H. trailer on Hastings—people lined up for “safe supply,” but no real help, no healing, no hope.

And it breaks us.
It breaks the soul of this city.

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🧨 The Next Drug is Already Here

Now we’re told a drug 40 times stronger than fentanyl—nitazene—is being smuggled into Canada in PlayStations and basketballs.

It’s sold on LinkedIn and Adobe ads.
And a few grains can kill.

We can’t pretend anymore.
We are in a crisis deeper than most people want to believe.
And we’re losing this generation.

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🌿 What If We Tried Something New?

Locking people up won’t work.
Letting them die in the streets isn’t acceptable.
And giving out drugs without love, community, or purpose isn’t saving anyone.

So what if—just imagine—on Welfare Day, we did something radically compassionate?

What if we opened Community Healing Centres:

• Safe spaces with food, music, art, and warmth
• Staffed by nurses, elders, peers in recovery, and artists
• With beds for rest, support for withdrawal, and real human contact
• Where people could reconnect—not just survive

Because people don’t just need clean needles.
They need connection, dignity, and a reason to live.

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🔥 A Call to Those in Power

Stop playing policy games while people die.

Start funding community-run wellness centres.
Train first responders in trauma care, not just CPR.
Support harm reduction—but don’t stop at survival.
Fund healing. Fund hope. Fund art.

We’ve lost too many already.
And the next wave is already here.

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✨ We Can Still Choose Love

I’m just one voice.
But I’ve seen enough.
And I’m not willing to let another generation be written off as “too far gone.”

If you feel the same, share this.
Speak up.
Or just show up for someone on the edge.

Let’s turn Welfare Wednesday into something else—
a day of community, creativity, and care.

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#EndTheCrisis #WelfareWednesday #CommunityCare #HealingNotHarm #ZipolitaWrites

To the Ones Who Can’t March: I See You

  To the Ones Who Can’t March: I See You.

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

I see you.

I see you hurting, exhausted, and just trying to survive — too tired, too poor, or too sick to come to the rally.
I see you wondering if it even matters, if anyone will ever really fight for us — or if it’s just more noise no one listens to.

You’re not alone. I feel the same way.

For over ten years, I’ve tried to get help. Real help. Dignified help. And it never came. All I got was judgment.

“It’s your fault,” they say.
“Your fault for working too hard.”
“Your fault for having a baby.”
“Your fault for being sick.”
“Your fault for saying no to Big Pharma, even though you saw what it did to your mother.”

They blame us for everything.

We’re punished for being too old to qualify for student jobs, but not old enough for a pension.
Punished for being born here, but not qualifying for the supports offered to newcomers.
Punished for not being able to prove we’re Métis, and not being First Nations either.
Punished for not dying, for staying alive, for “existing wrong.”

They say:

“We worked hard for our money — we’re not giving it to lazy losers who sit around all day.”

But they don’t see the truth:
We worked hard too. We still are. We survived trauma, illness, heartbreak, homelessness, and hunger.
And now we’re just asking to live with dignity — and they call that laziness?

This is why many of us don’t rally. Because we’re too busy just trying to breathe.

And yet, we have to keep trying.
Even if no one changes the rates.
Even if they don’t listen.
Even if they call us names.

Because someone out there might read this and realize they’re not alone.
And someone else might stop and finally understand that this system is broken, and it’s breaking us.

If you can’t march — I march with your voice in my heart.
If you can’t shout — I’ll write it for you.
If you can’t speak — I see you. I hear you. You matter.

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#ISeeYou #EndPovertyBC #DisabilityJustice #WeDeserveBetter #ZipolitaSpeaks

COME TO RALLY!! End Forced Poverty

  End Forced Poverty: It's Time to Change B.C.'s Disability and Social Assistance System

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

In British Columbia, people with disabilities are being forced into poverty by government policy. To receive disability benefits, they must first endure the hardship of living on Social Assistance, which is far below the poverty line. This system is not only cruel — it's broken.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

• Social Assistance (Income Assistance) for a single person: $935/month
• Disability (PWD) support: $1,535/month or less, depending on circumstances
• Canada’s poverty lines for 2024:
  • MBM (Market Basket Measure): $2,066.88/month
  • LICO (Low Income Cut-Off): $2,448.33/month

This means even people who receive disability benefits are living $500–$900/month below the poverty line. And it’s even worse for those stuck on Social Assistance while waiting for PWD approval — many are homeless or living in unsafe, degrading conditions.

The System Is Designed to Fail

Before anyone can access disability supports in B.C., they must go through Income Assistance first. That means:

• Living on just a few hundred dollars a month
• Being unable to afford safe housing, decent food, or medical care
• Proving your suffering, over and over, through paperwork and assessments
• Facing wait times that stretch months or even years

This system deliberately traps people in poverty — all to prove they “deserve” help.

We Say: No More.

We’re calling for immediate changes:

1. End the requirement to go through Social Assistance before qualifying for Disability
2. Raise PWD and Social Assistance rates to match the poverty line (MBM or LICO)
3. Ensure access to safe, subsidized housing for all low-income and disabled individuals
4. Reform the application process to be trauma-informed, transparent, and dignified

Join The Rally May 29th!

BC Legislature 

We're rallying for change:

• Rally, Music, Cake & Postcard Campaign
• May 29th – Details to come!
• Help us demand the eradication of government-imposed poverty for people with disabilities in B.C.

We deserve better. Poverty is not a personal failure — it's a policy choice. And together, we can change it.

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#RaiseTheRates #PWDJustice #EndPovertyBC #DisabilityRightsAreHumanRights #ZipolitaSpeaks

Be a Rainbow in Someone's Cloud: Finding Hope in Dark Times

 As we step into another Monday in February, it’s easy to feel weighed down by the heaviness of winter and the challenges that life often brings. The days may be short, and the clouds may linger, but in the words of Maya Angelou, we are reminded of the power we hold to bring light into the lives of others: "Be a rainbow in someone’s cloud."🌈☁️

Maya Angelou, a beacon of hope and resilience, faced immense struggles throughout her life, yet she emerged as a symbol of strength and inspiration. Her ability to find beauty in adversity encourages us to look for the silver linings, even when the world feels dark. This sentiment is more relevant now than ever. We are all navigating our challenges—whether they be personal, societal, or global.

In these times, it’s vital to remember that small acts of kindness can have profound effects. A simple smile, a compliment, or a moment of genuine connection can transform someone’s day. Think about how you can be that rainbow for someone else. Whether it’s reaching out to a friend who might be feeling lonely, volunteering your time to support those in need, or just being a listening ear, your actions can create ripples of positivity.

Additionally, let’s not forget the importance of self-compassion. Being kind to ourselves is just as crucial as extending kindness to others. In moments of self-doubt or frustration, remind yourself of your own worth and the unique contributions you bring to the world. Embrace the idea that you, too, can be a rainbow in your own cloud, lifting your spirits even in challenging times.

As we move through this February, let’s commit to spreading hope and light. Share a favorite quote or a positive story on social media, engage in conversations that uplift, and practice gratitude for the small joys in life. Together, we can create a community where kindness flourishes, and every person feels seen and valued.

Let’s take inspiration from Maya Angelou and remember that while we may not be able to change the clouds around us, we can certainly be the rainbows that inspire hope and resilience. So, as you navigate this week, ask yourself: How can I be a rainbow in someone’s cloud today?

Reflection Questions:

1. What are some small acts of kindness you can commit to this week?

2. Who in your life could use a little extra support or encouragement?

3. How can you practice self-kindness and compassion during challenging times?

Embrace the light within you and share it with the world. After all, we all have the power to make a difference, one rainbow🌈 at a time.

Suggestions for Enhancing the M.A.S.H. Model:

 Suggestions for Enhancing the M.A.S.H. Model:

1. Housing First Model Integration: M.A.S.H. units could work with "Housing First" programs that prioritize permanent housing as the first step in recovery.

2. Mobile Kitchens: Incorporate food services to provide nutritious meals on-site.

3. Partnership with Indigenous Communities: Ensure culturally appropriate services for Indigenous populations disproportionately affected by homelessness.

4. Education Hubs: Offer resources to help individuals develop life skills, from budgeting to technology training.

5. Community Engagement: Partner with local residents to build trust and ensure everyone feels invested in the solution.

Guiding Principles: Avoiding Retraumatization While Helping

 How to avoid retraumatizing people while implementing the M.A.S.H. approach:

Guiding Principles: Avoiding Retraumatization While Helping

Homelessness often stems from layers of trauma—abuse, neglect, systemic failures, and societal stigma. When addressing this crisis, it’s critical to approach individuals with care and respect, avoiding any actions that could retraumatize them. The following principles are key to implementing a M.A.S.H. model that heals rather than harms:

1. Build Trust Through Compassionate Communication

Approach people with kindness, not authority. Listen first and understand their needs without judgment.

Avoid any language or behavior that feels coercive or punitive.

2. Prioritize Trauma-Informed Care

Train all team members in trauma-informed practices to recognize signs of distress and respond appropriately.

Create a safe, welcoming environment where individuals feel seen and respected.

3. Replace Uniformed Presence with Peer Support

Instead of uniforms or a military-style presence, teams should include peer support workers who have lived experience of homelessness or addiction.

This fosters connection and breaks down barriers of mistrust.

4. Offer Choices, Not Commands

Allow individuals to choose how they engage with services. For example, instead of forcing someone into a shelter, offer multiple options that align with their comfort level.

Respect personal autonomy and emphasize collaboration in decision-making.

5. Acknowledge the Emotional Toll of the System

Understand that many people experiencing homelessness have been repeatedly hurt—by abusive relationships, unsupportive families, and the failings of government systems.

Acknowledge their resilience and treat them with the dignity they deserve.

6. Respect Privacy and Personal Space

Avoid invading personal spaces in encampments unless invited.

Conduct conversations in a way that respects individuals’ privacy, ensuring they don’t feel scrutinized or dehumanized.

7. Tailor Responses to Addiction and Mental Health Needs

Include addiction specialists and mental health counselors as core members of the M.A.S.H. team.

Provide harm-reduction resources such as safe-use supplies and access to treatment when the individual is ready.

8. Avoid Forced Relocations Without Support

Never dismantle encampments or move individuals without first offering immediate, better alternatives such as temporary or permanent housing.

Ensure that individuals can bring their belongings and maintain connections to their support networks.

9. Cultural Sensitivity is Critical

Provide culturally competent care, especially for Indigenous and marginalized populations disproportionately affected by homelessness.

Engage local Indigenous leaders and communities in planning and delivering services.

10. Focus on Healing, Not Control

The goal is not to “fix” people but to create an environment where they can stabilize, heal, and reclaim their lives.

Winona LaDuke interview with Democracy Now!

In a powerful interview, Winona LaDuke links historic oil extraction on tribal land to intergenerational trauma among Native Americans: "90 percent of my community, generally, I would say, is just trying to survive."

Healing Journey Across Canada- Sylvester Daniels

Have you heard about Sylvester Daniels. He is on a healing journey and I hope you will give him your support.

May 1st Sylvester Daniels walking across Canada as a means of healing from trauma and addiction one step at a time. Walking from Chehalis BC to Winnipeg MB

Learn more about his journey on Facebook

 Healing Journey Across Canada
https://www.facebook.com/Healing-journey-across-Canada-480431628820304/info/?tab=page_info

Sylvester Daniels

To  understand why he has started this journey click here to watch a video. https://www.facebook.com/leeroy.duncan/posts/10157151209790713

Sylvester Daniels

Can you imagine. I went for a long walk yesterday, it was about 6 miles. I changed my normal route and I saw very interesting things, heard and saw beautiful things. I can only image what Slyvester's walk is like. I pray the peacefulness calms his soul and erases the negative and hurt and heals his pain.

Do you remember last year when the Lion's Gate was blocked off. Sadly Slyvester was thinking of leaving this beautiful world, his beautiful son and family. Thankfully he didn't and now he is on the journey of a lifetime. A HEALING JOURNEY ACROSS CANADA.

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Berry (Sylvesters road manager) & Sylvester and my son Leroy — with Kafs Kamloops.

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Sylvester and his friend Dennis. He is staying with his friend in Hope B.C. until Wednesday, on Wednesday be will be going towards Princeton which will be an estimated 5 day hike.

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Healing journey across Canada

Empathy and Fort McMurray

I must say I was shocked that people would even mention "climate change" during the horrifying exodus of the city of Fort McMurray. (And I am always on about that...)

For 4 days now... 4 or more...I have been sharing tweets and info on the #FortMacFire

It started when I saw this tweet,  then saw her other tweets and was trying to figure out if it was real.

Flames across the highway 😔 #ymm pic.twitter.com/YqQ1SwZW4d

— Kimberlee Clemens (@BloomKimberlee) May 3, 2016

All the other news stations reports were from earlier in the day and I was suddenly not sure if I should retweet it and at the same time feeling the shock, terror and grief of  of Kimberlee leaving.

I started following all the tweets, you can see here and the horror of the day was revealing itself quickly as people shared photos and tweets that the news was not even aware of yet. 
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/05/fort-mcmurray-evacuating-ymm-ymmfire.html

Pics I took just before this campground burnt to the ground 😔#ymm pic.twitter.com/yW4RKXlArL

— Kimberlee Clemens (@BloomKimberlee) May 3, 2016

My poor city before the flames reached it 😔 #ymm pic.twitter.com/8qWqgzLFIS

— Kimberlee Clemens (@BloomKimberlee) May 3, 2016

After seeing these and searching other sites the realization of what was taking place was overwhelming. While I had the option, to get up, step away from the computer, eat something, use the bathroom, make some tea....horrors were happening.

It was too much. At points in the evening I broke into tears as I watched tweet after tweet telling us and showing the insanity and terror of the situation.

Perhaps if you just saw the photos after, you could be sort of numbed by the inferno that raged in the city and against the desperate people racing to escape...

But if you say anything at this time against these people and their apocalyptic reality, then I am sorry to inform you, but it's about time that someone obviously did, but you lack empathy. You need to watch the videos below.

Please friends text me when you are safe very worried haven't heard from some of you ❤️❤️❤️#ymm

— Kimberlee Clemens (@BloomKimberlee) May 3, 2016

So this is terrifying. She's trying to flee the flames in Fort Mac pic.twitter.com/jzboxQOI9t

— David Cochrane (@CochraneCBC) May 3, 2016

"@jstuffcocrimlaw: My harrowing drive evacuating #ymm praying for my friends pic.twitter.com/ngiFG8gFto" Couldn't imagine, be safe.

— Robert Rafuse (@RobRafuse) May 3, 2016

Let me just say that while I am no expert on Karma, I don't believe it works that way.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/05/05/fort-mcmurray-fire_n_9851942.html

Two, people who are enlightened would never speak such things. Three and this is the weird thing that I wanted to mention.... did we make it happen.



Did the collective minds of the world, send such negativity to the place ....did it create the turbulence of nature...and if we did then it's time to meditate and shut that fire down with lots and lots of rain.




I'm not saying we wished harm to these beautiful souls but just that a collective minds we wished that Tarsands to not be there... we had all seen so much negativity about it, ...and that's just me, the Aquarius...


And the last point I wanted make, if you have ever been through a fire, then you will have huge empathy for these poor souls who have lost everything and will be traumatized for years. Seriously, they are going to need a lot of help.

My sweetie's well worded account of his time at #ymmfire Holy hell. #ymmstrong #FortMacFire pic.twitter.com/Itf6QoZ99e

— Jessica Evans (@westofjess) May 6, 2016

Through tears and with a heavy but grateful heart, I wrote it out. This is my story of #ymmfire #ymm https://t.co/fvhaxCxON3

— Theresa E Wells (@McMurrayMusings) May 5, 2016

FOUND HORSE WAS NOT MYA. MYA AND PESO STILL MISSING #ymmfire #ymmhelps #FortMacFire #AlbertaStrong pic.twitter.com/t2C0bunY4r

— TiggyCat (@KatyaBella) May 6, 2016

Reading these triggered old memories of the fire in Zipolite, Mexico, running down the street, no shoes, terrified that I was almost trapped in a court yard because the fire was in the palapa across the street, and hot embers were about to rain down (it would burn straight back...burn the whole town...or so I thought in the chaos of it all. )

I was confused standing at the end of the street, thinking I need to go back for my stuff but it was all about to go...and the other tourists standing there with me, with nothing on their backs. Later meeting the locals who lost all as the cars gas tanks and propane tanks would explode and the wind would whip the flames higher and more voracious. Wind- it's the bad guy in the fire.


You don't forget that kind of thing and every little fire experience will trigger you, some more than others. Every time you smell smoke, you will be at attention, and I didn't have insurance, so I never had anything replaced. I lost a lot of material things, that's the important thing right, I wasn't burned, I didn't die. Still the sense of loss, the grief will haunt you for a very long time. I have great empathy for all the children, their mommies and daddies, the grandparents, the animals, everyone and everything.
http://zipolitefire2001.blogspot.ca/

Fire in Zipolite 2001

http://zipolitefire2001.blogspot.ca/

So anyone to even consider anything other than love, compassion and understanding at this fragile and mind-numbing time, really needs to study up and practice empathy. 

Just to note, not all can...learn it, some sociopaths lack the capacity.
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2015/06/whos-sociopath-and-how-to-protect.html

And for people like Kimberlee, where is the help, can the RED CROSS reach out to Kimberlee.

@redcrosscanada   

Has anyone even heard from Red Cross I've met hundreds here that haven't and are getting scared ? #ymm #yeg #ymmfire #notcoolgiveushope

— Kimberlee Clemens (@BloomKimberlee) May 6, 2016

Where is it ? https://t.co/nYAFQC71bT

— Kimberlee Clemens (@BloomKimberlee) May 6, 2016