[bc_video video_id="6255974525001" account_id="2226196965001" player_id="rkljM4WDEg"] It seems like we rarely have phone conversations anymore.  Everything is done over text so when you’re dating or getting to know someone, how can you flirt in writing? Sexologist and Author of The Game of Desire, Shan Boodram, teaches us the art of flirting via text! How-to start: If you're not that exceptional at flirting, flirting over text is your save and grace. To put it simply flirting is communication plus sparks. Try and think about how you would normally communicate with someone and add a little something in there. Can even be an emoji.  If you were to say to somebody, “How’s your day” “oh my days doing great” plus sparks would be “my days doing great and better now that you’ve reached out.” Or “my days doing great, I keep thinking about the last time we hung out whenever I get bored and you pick me.” How to flirt in a non-sexual way:  When you flirt with someone it's important to know what the end intention is. For instance if your end goal is someone that can be a mate to you the "plus sparks" you could text would be "I loved getting to know you" or "I read the book that you suggested and it really moved me." The plus would be the intention that you set for the relationship. You can also do this by making the text intimate.  Being intimate has to do with 3 different areas: Passion, Connection and Commitment. You can make a text flirty by alluding to any of those, it doesn’t have to be about sex. Flirting do’s & don’ts: Do: Use humour, dating apps show that humour is one of the leading qualities that people base compatibility on. would absolutely be to go a little bit above what somebody gave you. Don't: Use self-deprecating humour, putting yourself down does not put you in the best light possible. Do: Use emojis, they can help as punctuation tools. They can help show your texting partner what you are trying to hint towards. Don't: Use emojis as your primary tool of communication. A lot can get lost in translation. Do: Try to advance the intimacy. Approach flirting like a poker game which means that you want to go a little higher than the person called out.  If somebody gave you a compliment, you want to give a compliment and add a touch neutral. For example "I love that colour on you", "Thank you, that shirt looks great on you! Can I touch it?" Don't: Be too obvious. For example, if someone complimented you on your shirt don't respond with "Thanks, but your pants would look better on my floor." Show some restraint.

[bc_video video_id="6255974316001" account_id="2226196965001" player_id="rkljM4WDEg"] Relationships a very impactful part of everyones life. Romantic relationships especially cause wear and tear on our emotions and feelings. When marriages end it causes a huge relationship change for both people involved and the individuals they surround themselves with. For many exiting divorce it is very hard to enter into the dating world again. Some people come out of 10, 15, or even 20-year marriages and haven’t dated in years. There is a period after the divorce, that you can’t really rush through. You need to take the time to emotionally heal and grieve the loss. Jumping back into dating too soon can leave you too raw and vulnerable. Marcia reached out to dating expert Carmelia Ray when entering the dating world. During her first date she began to get asked personal questions that she realized she was not ready for. Marcia ended up having to leave the date due to how vulnerable she felt. It’s not surprising to at all that Marcia broke down like that on her first date out the gate. When she came back to Carmelia, a year had passed, she was in a way better position to handle the dating process. When should you start dating again? Well in some cases these things can take a while, even years – by the time a settlement is reached. We are talking about establishing a co-parenting schedule, the division of assets, and maybe the sale of a property. Typically the default time would be 6 months to 1 year. You need to give yourself enough time to process the change emotionally. The biggest recommendation is starting again with a clean slate. What are the steps to take when trying to start fresh? 1. Think about yourself first, who are you now? Get comfortable with the new you and own it – and give this new you a profile! Dating yourself is important to get comfortable in your own skin. 2. What are you looking for now? Your needs and wants have changed so you might have to adjust who you are looking for. Learn the lessons from past mistakes and avoid dating similar types who are not good for you. 3. Finances – You’ve already probably dealt with so much, you gotta figure out when to talk about money. Most people are coming out of divorce with either a traumatic experience involving money or maybe they are in a really good position when it comes to finances. No matter what the position, you need to get a sense of where the other person is at. Ask questions that give you insight into the kind of life that they lead. This way you can identify their lifestyle and money habits. Some example questions include, What restaurants do they like? What kind of gifts do they give loved ones? Do they participate in expensive hobbies or interests? What is their attitude about money? Are they frugal or do they like to splurge?  4 – Co-parenting – I would highly recommend you not only put it on your profile but you make it a priority to talk about right away. Depending on the situation, it can affect your dating schedule. How much time you are willing to put in or can give to this new person and vice versa if they have kids. Always trust your gut and don’t be afraid to ask qualifying and clarifying questions. Set strong boundaries and don’t compromise on your deal breakers when there’s strong chemistry. You want to make sure you get it right this time!

[bc_video video_id="6255923961001" account_id="2226196965001" player_id="rkljM4WDEg"] Discrimination and police brutality are nothing new, but last summer we saw a racial unrest unlike anything we’ve seen before. This forced more of us to confront Canada and the United States' long history of racism. Public opinion of racism quickly shifted in the wake of the protest, with a huge jump in support for the BLM movement and acknowledgement of institutional racism, especially on social media. Has any of that support resulted in meaningful change? Dr. Moya Bailey, author of #HashtagActivism and Sandy Hudson, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement presence in Canada, discuss performative ally-ship and hashtag activism. What is hashtag activism? Hashtag activism is tool that leverages people’s use of digital media to support the activism that they are already doing on the ground. It’s a combination of using digital platforms to increase and bolster messages that are happening in real life or, IRL. One classic of hashtag activism that people can immediately recognize is the use of the names of people that have been killed by police violence. This has been a way that people have understood hashtags as an important means to get a message out and across. Last summer was different as there was a succession of these hashtags used in a few weeks, the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and in more recent times, Makaia Bryant. #BlackoutTuesday: helpful or harmful? In a few hours more than 14.6 million black squares flooded onto Instagram feeds. The impacts of black out Tuesday can be thought of positively in the sense that any sort of feedback from mainstream media and culture is helpful and it shows a level of support. When people are interested in doing something, by seeing others post it takes away a sense of nervousness about taking a position on something. However, the negative impacts is that it’s so easy just to put up a black square and stand in solidarity, compared to actually speaking up against the issue. Asking the government to make concrete changes-that’s a lot riskier but shows you stand in solidarity. Accomplice or solidarity actions that are built by those not following the lead of those most affected usually fall flat. In addition, many of these posts used the hashtag “#blacklivesmatters” in their captions drowning out actual BLM posts. Being in-line with activists  When activism becomes popular the inclination is to jump in and do good. What we cannot forget is that there are people working and preparing for these moments in the in between times when activism is not popular. They have done so much work to move forward, it is so critical to check in with these people if we do want to make the best contribution to “do good”. What work have police forces taken to show accountability and what still needs to be done?   The problem lies within the fundamental operations of police, so the individual police forces are not expected to do much. What needs to be done is changes from governments and policy makers. They need the ones taking action. There has been concrete changes made in Canada after recent events in 2020. For example, the city of Vancouver recently decided to remove cops from all schools. Changes like this show that we are in the right direction. Has traditional media contributed anything meaningful to change? During the freedom struggle of the 1960’s the traditional media had an important role to play in broadcasting to the world- the acracies that were happening and how black people were treated. Dr. Moya Bailey’s newest book, the Misogynoir Transformed discusses more about the transformative justice practices we can see in the media that people create for themselves. For instance, Black women are now using YouTube and other platforms to create the media that they want to see.

[bc_video video_id="6255927797001" account_id="2226196965001" player_id="rkljM4WDEg"] Creating real change and equity in society starts with white people owning their privilege and becoming true allies in the fight for social justice. University Professor of Education and author of Witnessing Whiteness, Shelly Tochluk, shows us what this looks like and what concrete actions need to take place in order for this to happen. Build our listening skills:  To be an ally, it’s important to build your listening skills- learn to see past the headline, digging deeper to understand while keeping an open mind. “Both/And Thinking”, means that one thing can be true and not true for you all at the same time. It’s all about expanding your understanding and listening to a truth that you many not believe or understand but must accept as a truth. Build our knowledge:  Building our knowledge is crucial, assume that there is a deeper analysis and with this seek out information from leading voices in a movement. This helps to make connections and understand its historical relationship and theoretical basis. With this it’s important to make the acknowledgment that racism exists, and is very deep. We are swimming in the waters that have been permeated by racism. Let your defensiveness fall away and accept that conditioning exists and these are the societal structures that we put in place a long time ago. Build our capacity:  As a white person do not stay engaged with strictly only other white people in discussions of race, allow people of colour into the conversations. Build your capacity of knowledge. Conflict avoidance is apparent in the white community, if you spark an emotional response from a person of colour do not jump to the immediate defensive. Remember that racial history is about repeated trauma. Build community:   Get active in your own community by joining in local collective work to make an impact. Personal grounding is very important as it’s how we can stay emotionally balanced. Our entire history of racism has been one of trauma and dehumanizing.  

[bc_video video_id="6255268384001" account_id="2226196965001" player_id="rkljM4WDEg"] Heading into summer, it's great to have BBQ options that cater to everyone's liking. This summer is going to be all about YUZU! Yuzu is a staple in Japanese cuisine that brings fun, funky, and citrus flavour. It has quickly becoming one of the hottest new food trends, but many Canadians aren’t aware of just how easy it is to #DoYouYuzu at home. President’s Choice has created new innovations that include eight new yuzu-infused products! There’s nothing quite like the first time you try a new flavour and it’s an instant hit. The yuzu fruit is going to be the 20-21 summertime game-changer. So many different ways to incorporate this flavour into your summer meals and snacks.