Category: Themes
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Our Theme For This Month Is TRANSFORMATION
Visit our full selection of featured posts on the theme of Transformation by clicking here. “We are all butterflies. The earth is our chrysalis.” LeeAnn Taylor.
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Our Music: Out of Our Bodies
by Susanne Maziarz, Music Director at Neighbourhood Music transforms us. It can wake the sleeping, change our awareness, let us exist in more than one place at a time, heal the sick, bring us into movement and lift our spirits. To create music, our physical bodies create vibrations — we make music out of thin air!…
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Families Growing Together: What if Transformation is Letting Go?
by Margaret Evans, Director of Lifespan Learning Transformation had never been a concept that I considered at this time of the year. I contemplated transformation at the beginning of a school years and for New Year’s resolutions; these new ideas usually remaining only in my head. In my experience, May had not screamed “Change!”, aside…
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Our Music: Strength in Enthusiasm
by Susanne Maziarz, Music Director at Neighbourhood How do I choose music for the Spirit Choir? Is it good music? Does it have educational potential? Will the choir be able to learn it in time? Do the lyrics reflect Unitarian Universalist values and the theme of the month? Does it help to fulfill the choir’s…
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Families Growing Together: Cultivating Strengths In Our Children
by Margaret Evans, Director of Lifespan Learning Have you ever noticed how easy it is to point out someone else’s strengths … but the moment you are asked of yours, you draw a blank? Interviews are prime examples of this. Employers want to know if you have an honest opinion of yourself without creating unnecessary…
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Our Music: The Gift
by Susanne Maziarz, Music Director at Neighbourhood I’m inspired by people who are able to elevate a community simply by doing work that is caring and thorough. As I write this, a piano technician named Jamie Musslewhite is painstakingly restoring an 85-year-old Toronto-made grand piano for our congregation. He is taking it apart to replace,…
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Families Growing Together: Creating Space for Inspiration
by Margaret Evans, Director of Lifespan Learning I have heard that there are two different kinds of people when it comes to career choices. The first group chooses a career as a means to an end; they work to play. The other are people who choose a career they love; in this case, their work…
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Our Music: Risky Fingers Make Beautiful Music
by Susanne Maziarz, Music Director at Neighbourhood My dear friend Sarah John likens performing classical piano music to waltzing through a mine field. At any moment, with a small slip of the finger, you could end up setting off a big bomb. When she first made this analogy, I laughed until I cried because it…
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Families Growing Together: What We Don’t Tell Our Children
by Margaret Evans, Director of Lifespan Learning Success comes from taking risks. Rewards of risks seldom leave us displeased, resulting in self-esteem boosts and other personal benefits. A risk would not be a risk if it did not have the possibility of failure. I sometimes wonder if we are doing our children a disservice by…
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Families Growing Together: Family Dynamics Are Like Shadows
by Margaret Evans, Director of Lifespan Learning The dynamics of family life are complex and complicated, beautiful and frustrating. We are born or brought into one familial unit; as adults we may create another. Family dynamics are like shadows. They follow us around for most of our lives and seem to come out in full…