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Jen's Journal

Living Your Dreams

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things at TIG have been really stressful for me lately -- from a 'fundraising' perspective. i have been working with vanessa on trying to create several proposals for: the Laidlaw Foundation, the Canadian International Development Agency, YMCA, Trillium Foundation, Human Resources Development Canada etc. We are also trying to develop sponsorship packages for Microsoft, the Royal Bank, McDonalds, 3COM, Erricson -- and other corporations who might be interested in sponsoring our Global Gallery, Workshop Kit, Technology Development, Global Youth Advisory Team, Packages for International Youth reps and Zone coordinators...etc. etc.

It feels like everything is stalled -- or just suddenly pushed to a pause -- in the midst of fog...grey skies...with streaks of bright yellow light that give hope -- but as soon as we draw near, suddenly seem very distant...

in the midst of the slowness, powerlessness, fear of 'UNSUSTAINABILITY', fear of being put in the position where we might not be able to keep doing what we love...fear of having to give up living a dream that is so beautiful - that is changing people's lives...because we don't focus on $$ or structures or the 10 year plan -- but rather -- the community -- the people -- the ideas -- the vision.

in the midst of being torn, i realize that people are living their dreams. I am living my dream - today - this very moment in time -- because of people like you, who are actually reading this update...and because of people like nordine, ashley, derek, manny, emily, ben, vanessa, vittoria, amanda, amity, martin, jarra, michael...(THE LIST GOES ON!!)...people who BELIEVE in themselves enough to live their own dreams -- and share them with people like me -- so that we can live our dreams together.

here's what i mean:

'Making Connections' - tonight (july 25) Ashley conducted her first workshop ever called 'Making Connections'! She did research on what organizations are out there involving youth from across Toronto and created a workshop to allow the different groups to connect, get to know eachother and build potential partnerships / relationships. While we went around the circle to get feedback from all the participants (about 20 people in the room!!), just watching Ashley's face light up with confidence and satisfaction based on the fact that everyone got something valuable from the bit of time that we spent together -- WAS INcREdIBLE!!

'Creating Opportunities for Yourself' - This morning, Derek, Vittoria and Martin co-presented and gave a workshop at St. Stephen's Employment and Training Centre about getting inspired, informed and involved with TIG and how to create opportunties for yourself. Here's a quote from Suelyn (the teacher who invited TIG reps to come and speak): "I've been teaching for quite a number of years, and rarely have I attended any workshops that simply leave me speechless! Once again, TIG has got me all choked up...This morning's presentation was absolutely fantastic! I really appreciated meeting Derek, Martin and Vittoria (great seeing you again) and listening to their dynamic 'dialogues'. Thank you ALL for taking the time to address this audience at St. Stephen's...I know your presence this morning made a substantial impact on my students."

'HTML Workshop' - Nordine organized a workshop for marginalized, inner-city youth at Serve Canada's training Centre on Monday and several TIG members went as part of her support team...every word of feedback from this workshop has been extremely positive!! From what I've hear, Nordine had people creating web pages within a few hours and totally related to people -- she played loud hip-hop music, was wearing a a bright basketball jersey, was loud, energetic and really engaged her audience!! I'm looking forward to reading the 'diary entries' that she writes about her experiences as a workshop leader.

aside from the people who have already conducted a workshop -- there's people like Ezekeil from Ghana who will be promoting the Global Gallery contest to youth in his country through an Arts Council that he runs -- and will be conducting a workshop called 'Building a Global Community "thru" Networking with TakingITGlobal (GHANA)

Manny (who was born in India and is currently in the Netherlands) has also fully motivated me after our chat on msn yesterday!! We talked about how he could start a TIG project in his community and after our discussion, he posted an update about how he felt excited about making things happen!!

THIS is what TakingITGlobal is about.

WOW!!

yes.
life is tough.

every choice we make, has inevitable concequences that we can't always foresee. but everything we experience today, is the result of a seed that we planted yesterday.

we do not have very much money flowing in because we don't focus on making money. we have new members joining every day, we have people posting updates about their experiences, we have people sharing their artwork, conducting workshops, passing by the TIG office for a visit, people holding meetings or discussions about tig in their own communities, people browsing through our site and looking for new initiatives to get involved in, people GETTING INSPIRED...because we have invested our time, energy and FOCUS into creating community.

we aren't there yet -- far from the vision that we are truly striving for...but this week...i really feel one step closer - towards that streak of yellow light...and i just want to share this moment of joy, hope and perspective with those who are interested -- and with myself -- in the future -- for the next time that i feel down or frustrated...

[ps. the pic is of me getting a bit stressed -- but the good thing is that i'm living my dream -- so it's all good]

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