So I was thinking some deep thoughts when I was shoveling yesterday. When I was shoulder deep in snow, I realized that shoveling in snow storms was a great metaphor for life and the choices we can make.

Orange Shirt Day is going to be very different this year for many reasons. For me it has to do with the holiday, the actions that (I hope) non Indigenous people will be taking and the systems change that will result from it. What are you doing to make a difference?

The recent discovery of 215 children’s bodies in an unmarked grave at an Indian Residential school in Kamloops BC people are rightfully horrified at the news. I have been struggling with this and have not been sure what to say - is there anything I could say that I haven’t already shared many times before? Ultimately, I wish for a day where stories of the success and happiness of Indigenous people are more plentiful than the stories of our pain.

Christine M’Lot is a Anishinabe educator who has developed a fantastic series of 3 videos around goal setting and the medicine wheel. After checking them out myself, I can tell you that you would benefit, especially as we look to 2021, from making sure you are setting goals in a good way. This tool allows us to do just that.

It is on the rest of us to take these documents and notice one very simple thing: they don’t have recommendations. They have calls to ACTION and calls for JUSTICE. I know that this detail is at the heart of what Indigenous families are asking for.