The Rock.Paper.Scissors newsletter is out: resources related to a Canadian Abroad
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Diversity & culture
This month’s Rock.Paper.Scissors e-newsletter focuses on lessons I’ve learned as a Canadian living abroad. Missed the article? Check it out here. (Not on the monthly e-newsletter mailing list? Sign up for free here.) As is tradition, with each enewsletter article I write, I include resources – both serious & tongue in cheek. On with the […]
Tags: centre for intercultural learning, derek sivers, jim carrey, karl pilkington, life lenses, ricky gervais, south africa, ted talks
The Rock.Paper.Scissors newsletter is out: a Canadian Abroad
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Diversity & culture
This month’s Rock.Paper.Scissors e-newsletter focuses on lessons I’ve learned as a Canadian living abroad. (Not on the monthly e-newsletter mailing list? Sign up for free here.) 1. Living in Africa has been a wild & wonderful adventure. Kind of like the traffic. It’s a big deal to navigate in a city with the 4th worst […]
Tags: culture, kenya, westgate
Warning: reflections in this mirror may be distorted by socially constructed ideas of beauty
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture
Our reflections, what we take in & process from our external world, are wildly distorted. Period. End stop. After all, in the Victorian era, plucking a woman’s upper hairline, in order to give one a large forehead, was considered beautiful. Our impressions are distorted by our culture, our sense of place, our geography, our time […]
Tags: beauty, culture, perception
100% human – Labels are for clothes
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture
Labels are great. They can take what’s complicated & simplify it. They can create community (any other mothers of teens out there? any other Canadians living in Kenya?). They can be shortcuts that bring ease. They can define & delineate. Like assessments. Like Life Lenses™. Labels can also be dangerous. They can bring shortcuts that […]
Tags: diversity, labels, perspective
Everyone smiles in the same language
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Diversity & culture
Life Lenses™ is all about building bridges across different perspectives. Bringing appreciation to ‘other,’ to ‘different.’ Frequently, when conflict is rife, when tempers are hot, when differences are many, when time is short and resources are low, differences can be the only thing on our radar. While differences are vital, in fact it’s what makes […]
Tags: communication, culture, differences, similarities
Home is a pregnant pause & expat ‘um’
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture, Travel
Kenya is my new home. I’ve moved here after living my entire life in Canada. I find myself asking people, on a regular basis, where’s home? If you’ve lived overseas for any length of time you’ll understand the pregnant pause that happens when you ask someone where’s home? A few ums are thrown in for […]
The ‘Middle Wife’ by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture, Humor & comedy
I checked this story on Snopes & turns out it’s an urban legend, however, it’s too cute nonetheless. It’s a great example of how, when your perspective is different (that of a child) things can get turned around in the most hilarious of ways. I’ve been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two […]
Tags: humour, perspective
Women multiply
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture, Humor & comedy
If you’re a frequent reader you know the Life Lenses™ blog is all about perspective how we see things & how that view affects who we are, how we act & what we prioritize as important. Our perspective affects what comes onto our radar easily, naturally & comfortably, as well as what flies below our […]
A perspective on gender identity
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture
This image is from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. I think it speaks volumes. ‘nuf said. ~~TGIF- each Friday I rejig & re-post a blog entry from my www.life-lenses.com blog, which is about enhancing our perspective & worldview.~~
Tags: diversity, perspective, worldview
Fact chimp – just the facts ma’am
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture
Ancient Egyptians believed that onions would keep evil spirits away. The band Duran Duran got their name from an astronaut in the 1968 Jane Fonda movie “Barbarella. In Belgium, there is a museum just for strawberries. Reindeers survive in the extreme cold by eating lots of moss. The moss contains a special chemical that helps […]