AwareNow: Issue 11: The Hindsight Edition

AWARENOW

ISSUE 11

T H E AWA R E N E S S T I E S ™ O F F I C I A L M A G A Z I N E F O R C A U S E S HINDSIGHT LISA BOWMAN

(ON THE COVER)

THE ONLY TIME YOU SHOULD LOOK BACK IS TO SEE HOW FAR YOU’VE COME

THE CONSCIOUS OUTLAW MIKE DIAMOND

REAL-LIFE WONDER WOMAN AALIA LANIUS

POWER TO YOUR PEOPLE DAN PRICE

BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE ISABEL WANG & MARGOT BELLON

PURPOSE IN THE PAUSE ELIZABETH BLAKE-THOMAS

HAPPY HEARTIVERSARY DR. DELA TAGHIPOUR

AUTHENTIC BEAUTY DAWN CAMPBELL

20/20 VISION

ISABELLA BLAKE-THOMAS

THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

INSIGHTS & LESSONS FROM 2020

SUICIDE IS A PREVENTABLE MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS. YOU C A N BE TH E O NE TO STA RT TH E CONVERSATI ON .

H F T D.O R G

THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

AwareNow™ is a monthly publication produced by Awareness Ties™ featuring exclusive interviews and personal stories to raise awareness for causes. In partnership with Issuu™, AwareNow serves a global audience of over 16 million monthly readers with access to interactive content featuring embedded videos and clickable content where awareness is raised one story at a time.

O6 THE CONSCIOUS OUTLAW

38 HAPPY HEARTIVERSARY

70 DEAR DR. JENNY

10 HINDSIGHT

44 PARTNERS IN PURPOSE

72 RESILIENCE REFRAMED

12 POWER TO YOUR PEOPLE

48 20/20 VISION

76 THE CAPTION OF MY SOUL

16 REAL-LIFE WONDER WOMAN

50 SUNDAY DRIVE

82 MY SPOON

22 A MUSICAL EXERCISE IN HINDSIGHT

54 YOU NEED TO LOOSEN UP

86 BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

26 GRACE IS THE PLACE

58 LIVING THE DREAM

94 ARTICLES WITH ALEX

30 AUTHENTIC BEAUTY

62 CREATOR’S CALLING

98 GLOBAL GOOD

34 PURPOSE IN THE PAUSE

66 TIME TO SHINE

DR. DELA TAGHIPOUR

MIKE DIAMOND

ISSUU + AWARENESS TIES

LISA BOWMAN

ISABELLA BLAKE-THOMAS

DAN PRICE

PROVIDENCE BOWMAN

AALIA LANIUS

NED STRANGER

DR. ROBERT PACE NICK BOTTINI

LORRAINE D’ALESSIO

OGIMAA, CHIEF & KNOWLEDGE KEEPER

DAWN CAMPBELL

DR. JENNY MARTIN JOEL CARTNER STEPHANIE

MIKE DIAMOND ISABEL WANG & MARGOT BELLON

MICHAEL SPURLOCK DAVIS/ALEX TAYLOR 2020 GLOBAL YOUTH AWARDS

TIFFANY KELLY/TANITH HARDING

ELIZABETH BLAKE-THOMAS

I AM AWARE NOW.

www.iamawarenow.com

AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

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www.IamAwareNow.com

In 2020, hindsight is something we may never take for granted again, these are a few things I’ve learned (in no distinguishable order)…

I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved.

I've learned that no matter how much you care, some people just don't care back.

I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I've learned that it's not what happens to people that's important. It's what they do about it.

I've learned that no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides.

I've learned that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I've learned that it's not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts.

I've learned that it's a lot easier to react than it is to think.

I've learned that you can get by on charm for about 15 minutes. After that, you'd better know something.

I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words.

It may be the last time you see them.

I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do.

(Continue reading on page 25 & 97.)

ALLIÉ McGUIRE Editor In Chief & Co-Founder of Awareness Ties allie@awarenessties.us Allié is a Taurus. She started her career in performance poetry, then switched gears to wine where she made a name for herself as an online wine personality and content producer. She then focused on original content production under her own label The Allié Way™ before marrying the love of her life (Jack) and switching gears yet again to a pursue a higher calling to raise awareness and funds for causes with Awareness Ties™.

JACK McGUIRE Production Manager & Co-Founder of Awareness Ties jack@awarenessties.us Jack is a Gemini. He got his start in the Navy before his acting and modeling career. Jack then got into hospitality, focusing on excellence in service and efficiency in operations and management. After establishing himself with years of experience in the F&B industry, he sought to establish something different… something that would allow him to serve others in a greater way. With his wife (Allié), Awareness Ties™ was born.

www.IamAwareNow.com @AWARENESSTIES @AWARENESSTIES @AWARENESSTIES www.IamAwareNow.com

AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

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IT’S TIME TO TALK.

TUNE IN VIA KNEKT.TV OR AWARENESSTALKS.COM

Becoming a conscious outlaw wasn’t something I chose. It chose me.

MIKE DIAMOND

TV PERSONALITY, DIRECTOR, SPEAKER & INTERVENTIONIST AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

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www.IamAwareNow.com

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MIKE DIAMOND

THE CONSCIOUS OUTLAW AN AUTHORITY ON AUTHENTICITY

Mike Diamond is a Television Personality, Director, Life Coach, Author, Speaker and Interventionist. Known for his work on the hit TV shows NY Ink and Bondi Ink Tattoo Crew, Mike is also known for inspiring complete strangers (such as Jack and myself who are strangers no longer) with absolute honesty and admirable humility. Over the course of a single interview, we knew that we wanted Mike to be a member of our family. So it is, that we are proud to share that Mike Diamond is now our Of cial Ambassador for Addiction Awareness. -Allié M. Allié:

You de ne yourself as a ‘Conscious Outlaw’. (Love this.) De ned as ‘one who is calm, secure, doesn’t

complain, blame and is never a victim’, please do further describe this title and when you claimed it for yourself Mike: Becoming a conscious outlaw wasn’t something I chose. It chose me. In 2017, I came very close to dying when my appendix burst and I went into septic shock. I wasn’t sure if I would make it out of the surgery. The recovery was brutal and really humbled me. It was a life changing experience. While recovering slowly, my son Orlando came 7 weeks premature. I was thrown for a loop and had to sit quietly and really look at myself and my life. I didn’t get a lot of support growing up and didn’t want to be my parents. I looked at people I admired from Victor Frankel to Socrates and what they stood for. What did they value and more importantly what were the rules to those values. I realized that to reach my full potential I had to live to a high standard and create a manifesto, rules and powerful values to live by to reach my full potential. The Conscious outlaw is that person.

THE CONSCIOUS OUTLAW EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MIKE DIAMOND

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“Every moment is magic if we choose it to be.”

Jack: You don’t meet an ‘interventionist’ everyday. You are the rst I’ve met, in fact. Love to hear your story about how you found this calling (or how it found you).

Mike: Being an interventionist, sobriety coach wasn’t something I thought I would be. I was so obsessed about trying to feed my ego and was stuck in a self-serving x, shooting TV shows that I honestly didn’t really care about. I was either going to pursue a career in comedy or help people get sober. After sitting with the idea of both career choices I knew that serving others as an interventionist was who I really am. I do love comedy and use my comedic talent when I’m delivering a keynote talk. I like to keep things motivating, inspiring and fun. I actually use some of my comedy jokes in my motivational talks and have no issue laughing at my past mistakes. I think it’s important to serve others whether it’s with comedy or as an interventionist Allié:

You do and have done so much, Mike. On TV with ‘NY Ink’ and ‘Bondi Ink’, in print with ‘7 Steps To An

Unbreakable Mindset’, with highs as an actor and stand up comedian and lows as an addict to cocaine and alcohol, what has been your highest high and your lowest low Mike: That’s a great question. If you would have asked me that ve years ago, I might have said my TV appearances and book. Now, honestly, it’s the day to day work I do with people as a sobriety coach, life coach interventionist and motivational speaker. It’s more rewarding now to see someone reach their full potential than make a TV show for my ego. I try to do projects that empower people or help them expand their maps to see what’s possible. I’m currently working on a series now called ‘Back from Broken’. I sit down and interview people who have come back from being broke or broken. I co-host the Recovery Today Magazine podcasts with the Chief Editor of the magazine, Rob Hannley, and I also have a series called ‘The Conscious Outlaw on KNEKT TV Jack: In hindsight, 2020 consisted of many losses but there were still gains to be found. Where did you nd a win?

What is your ‘next’ as we move into 2021 Mike: 2020 has been all wins for me. It’s a global reset, and that’s ok. I don’t take it personal. It’s a global pandemic, not a Mike Diamond pandemic. I wouldn’t have written a new book, started a supplement company, helped create the Recovery Today podcast or be doing a weekly show with David Meltzer called the DOSE with David and Diamond. If we focus on why things are happening in a negative way, we don’t see how we can grow from the adversity. We have to become palm trees when the hurricanes of time show up. Then we learn to bend and not break in the storms. There will always be stress, but under stress we grow. It we reframe our perspectives it becomes Post Traumatic Growth and Post Traumatic Stress. We grow from the appropriate stress. Every moment is magic if we choose it to be.

Remember this story. There are two men in a prison cell together. It’s night time. They both look out the window. One sees the mud and one sees the stars. What we focus on expands. So if we focus on the process and the work that has no end, daily we will always shine.

Get to know more about Mike www.awarenessties.us/mikediamond

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We grow from the appropriate stress.

MIKE DIAMOND

TV PERSONALITY, DIRECTOR, SPEAKER & INTERVENTIONIST AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

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www.IamAwareNow.com

I may not look back on you with fond memories, but I will look back to see just how far I’ve come.

LISA BOWMAN

CHIEF MOJO OFFICER OF MARKETING MOJO & AWARENESS TIES OFFICIAL ADVISOR

10 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

PERSONAL STORY BY LISA BOWMAN

HINDSIGHT

THE ONLY TIME YOU SHOULD EVER LOOK BACK IS TO SEE HOW FAR YOU’VE COME When Jack and Allié asked me to write this piece for the Hindsight Edition, of course the rst thing that came to mind was “Hindsight is 2020”. And truer words have never been spoken at least for me. Not in the typical sense of what this phrase means—that we see the past with perfect vision, but in the sense that 2020 is in the rear -view mirror. And for many of us, myself included—it needs to be.

This was indeed a year from hell for many of us. Lives lost to COVID, the very fabric of our society unravelling at the edges with social and political issues. A shattered economy. Environmental devastation from hurricanes and wild res.

And we’ve blamed it all on “2020” because it’s just been that kind of year But there is bright ahead; the hope of a vaccine that will allow us to return to normalcy-whatever the new normal is. A return to a calmer, gentler place where decency and doing the right thing matters. The restoration of life ahead While many of us simply cannot wait for the clock to strike 12 midnight on December 31 to leave this year behind-I actually WANT to look back at it; simply to realize how far I’ve come My year began, on January 9th to be exact, with being terminated from my job. My dream job no less. Not because of workforce reduction. Not because of my performance. Not because of anything I had failed to do. But rather, because of what I DID do—which was to follow our company’s policy and report sexual harassment. And for doing the right thing, I received the ultimate wrong. Retaliation which culminated in the loss of my job. At the beginning of the pandemic, when there was not a job to be found I spent days that stretched into weeks mired in self-despair. My identity was gone. I was no longer the Chief Marketing Of cer of United Way, the world’s largest non-pro t, but just Lisa Bowman, ordinary citizen And I had no purpose. I didn’t understand WHY this had happened to ME and was stuck in how I got wronged for doing right. And then I realized what I was supposed to do. I am a marketer, a story-teller. One who in uences the way others think about a product or service. And did I have a story to tell It wasn’t easy. I was scared. What would people think of me for being a whistleblower on an organization whose sole purpose for existence was to do good? Would anyone ever hire me again? But in the fear, I found strength. Because I knew that not only was it the right thing to do, but I could use my platform to ensure, or at least try to mitigate, the chances of anyone else there having to go through what I did And so I say to 2020, “while you were in many regards, a terrible, awful, evil year, thank you for giving me the gift of time to nd my strength and leverage it. I may not look back on you with fond memories, but I will look back to see just how far I’ve come You may read the details of Lisa’s story here: www.beawarebehere.com/lisa-stands-up

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11 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

CEOs like me don't get you out of a crisis.

Employees do. Trust them.

DAN PRICE

FOUNDER & CEO OF GRAVITY PAYMENTS Photo Credit: Luke Rutan

12 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DAN PRICE

POWER TO YOUR PEOPLE LEADERSHIP AMIDST A PANDEMIC & INTEGRITY ACROSS THE BOARD While scrolling through my feed on LinkedIn the other day, I came across a post that stopped me mid-scroll. It was from Dan Price, the Founder and CEO of Gravity Payments: “We laid off 0 people despite losing half our revenue. Our employees responded with voluntary pay cuts and record sales. We repaid all the pay cuts and are now giving out small raises and are financially healthy. CEOs like me don't get you out of a crisis. Employees do. Trust them.” I had the great pleasure of having a candid, honest conversation with Dan that made me pause to evaluate ‘normal’ when it comes to leadership.

Allié: Many times in many scenarios, we hear calls for ‘power to the people. In the midst of this pandemic with big decisions to be made, you literally gave power to your people. When others would have made a decision behind closed doors, you did just the opposite. You gave the choice to your employees. Why? Dan: There really was no other option, and what turned out was that the employees cared so much about what our mission was and what we're ghting for those small businesses. They were willing to do whatever it took. When somebody clearly has that type of motivation, that's not due to me or our culture or anything. That's due to those people… that’s who they are. It would just be stupid to not put that power in their hands. I don’t think it takes some kind of brilliant genius to gure that out. I think that when we pretend that it does, when people praise me and talk about how great it is, I think what we miss is that this should be normal. The only reason why we think it's not normal is because there are so many other companies that are setting the bar so low that just regular normal behavior is considered heroic by some people. I think that's really sad.

POWER TO YOUR PEOPLE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DAN PRICE ON LEADERSHIP & INTEGRITY

www.IamAwareNow.com

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“…don’t try to focus on building their trust. Stop destroying their trust.”

Allié: Back in the day (2015) taking that million dollar pay cut and saying ,”Let’s even the playing eld here. I want to make sure that you’re cared for and that you're compensated,” to give everyone that $70,000 minimum salary. That was another bold move you made. When we look at risk vs reward in all things business, with that move how have you found the reward from the risk that you took Dan: I really appreciate you highlighting this… I think that the way we were doing it before, having a pay scale at the bottom of $30,000 and at the top with $1,000,000 and a lot of other things that we've been conditioned to believe are ‘normal’ and acceptable and are ‘market forces that none of us can control’, I think those things are ripping away trust.

So, I would say maybe there was some ‘repairing of trust’ that happened. I think if you take away all of the betrayal that we have baked into our economy and baked into our lives, because of the fact that now so many people are so desperate, we’re all conditioned to think that our economic success is our self-worth, which is just devastating to think about. I think what we did was take some steps to not create trust but to not break trust

Allié: Trust your people. I feel there are many leaders that are uncomfortable delegating to and trusting their people.

What advice would you have for these leaders?

Dan: I think my advice would be to recognize the asymmetries in your relationships. Recognize where you have the ability to hold somebody else accountable, and yet they don't have the same ability to hold you accountable. Try to do what you can to x that. Also, I would say don't try to focus on building their trust. Stop destroying their trust A similar analogy is motivation. A lot of people say your employees are so motivated because you're a good leader, and you have this $70,000 minimum wage policy and that proves yada, yada, yada… I just think that's completely wrong - 180 degrees wrong. I think my employees were plenty motivated before they ever met me or heard about me or the company. Invest in their capability, invest undoing a dependency where they have to fear you and they have to be dependent on you by giving them the tools and resources that are rightfully theirs… It's not something where all of a sudden you wake up one day and decide you want to stop being ‘so bad’; it's more like, “I’m gonna try to be a little less bad every day.” I think that is the right way for leaders to approach it and avoid the type of self-deception that makes people think that they’re some type of hero…

Learn more about Dan and Gravity Payments gravitypayments.com

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14 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

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…whatever it is, it’s coming to you “unsugarcoated”.

AALIA LANIUS

AWARD-WINNING NOVELIST, SPEAKER & SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR Photo Credit: Ang Amaya

16 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

REAL-LIFE WONDER WOMAN A SUPER-HERO WHO EMPOWERS BY EXAMPLE

Here I thought that Wonder Woman was a fictional character. I was wrong and actually met the super-hero who I am proud to introduce to you as the one and only Aalia Lanius whose super power is empowering others.

Allié: An award winning novelist and a podcast host, Aalia, you get raw and real with your content sharing your stories to support others. What is your motivation for motivating others Aalia: I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life to arrive at this moment. Where I have such clarity on what I want, what I need, and how I choose to spend my time—and that is to serve humanity. I’m doing that as a creative and leader of Unsugarcoated Media, a nonprofit media organization, and host of the empowerment themed award-nominated podcast for social good, Unsugarcoated with Aalia. My motivation for helping others is rooted in that goal and it guides all that I do or get involved with When I share my story, or versions of my story through my creative works, it isn’t to impress people or cause them to put me on some pedestal. In fact, I beg people not to. I am human and there is nothing distinct about me that doesn’t exist in us all. I might have ultimately fought a bit harder and recovered from “giving up”, but part of that was simply luck. Yet, I know that we are designed far more resilient than we give ourselves credit for. While I’ve come to see greatness within myself these days, I’ve also come to admire the greatness in others. That is where the podcast comes in, because I love to share those other powerful stories.

When I think of people I’m inspired by, there is no short list.

With my media projects and as a creative, I aim to humanize one another. I think that in order to do that, you have to hold a mirror up to society. I feel compelled to do my part and however imperfect it may be, because of its rawness, it is intended to shatter limiting beliefs that have been handed down to us in society.

Through my efforts, I want to help others admit the issues that we are facing, independently and as a society. Ask the questions that need to be asked in order to arrive at solutions. Then, we need to learn how to adjust our behaviors in our homes and communities in order to truly see differences that create healing and growth for everyone.

I guess, in some cases, the way that I relate to “Wonder Woman”, character-wise, is that what I’m seeking is a tall order.

We as humans are complicated and not everything is as simple as it sounds. I’m aware we have a consistent energy around us that is both positive and negative. Like the character, she doesn’t care. She knows it’s an uphill battle and people constantly underestimate her abilities. In that sense, I’m very familiar with people telling me, “You can’t do that.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve responded with, “Watch me.”

Humanity consists of beauty and ugliness, a lot of what motivates me now is to help create more thought-leaders in society capable of navigating it in the best way possible. I enjoy taking the approach of unifying us through relatable and meaningful content. It could be the books I write, or publish of others, collaborative projects, podcasts or our events that promote real-life empowerment for the people that need it most, but whatever it is—it’s coming to you “unsugarcoated.”

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www.IamAwareNow.com

17 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION .

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH AALIA LANIUS

Aalia: There are multiple parts to managing my own health battles, but I would say the hardest is that my body and mind often disagree. As a wife, mother of four (three still at home) and grandmother, I feel pulled from multiple directions a day. Bandwidth has become a prominent term in my day-to-day life. How much do I have and how much am I willing to use My mind says I can do this, that and the other. My body is really quick to put me in check and be like, “Hey, be chill.”

I’m sure anyone with a chronic illness knows what I mean when I say that each day is differentiated by one distinction; did I wake up feeling like I was hit by one truck or two?

Yet, I do my best to push forward to live the best quality of life that I can, which can lead to others around me interpreting that as “Oh, she is ne. She must not be ‘that’ sick.”

No. Today is just a good day. I’m de nitely guilty of advancing on my limited supply of energy to do all that I am doing now. Because I tell myself that I’m going to nd some time to recharge, forgetting that the chaos of life doesn’t always allow me that opportunity. At times I end up borrowing more than I should, culminating in a week of bed rest when my body’s marquee goes from “chill” to “now sit your butt down!

I was given my “life sentence” with chronic disease in 2009. Likely triggered by the treatment I received for cancer, it was then that they diagnosed me with Sjogren’s Syndrome and aggressive Rheumatoid Arthritis. The bromyalgia felt like the cherry on top, to be honest The reality is that battling an invisible illness comes with a list of experiences that we can relate to. There is how it affects us nancially, physically, mentally, and in our relationships with other people.

Financially, it can be overwhelming opening an outrageous bill that you don’t really have the extra resources to pay.

Being sick is expensive between management and medications. No matter how you slice it, even the lifestyle, such as yoga memberships and healthier food choices that help mitigate the damage the disease is doing to our body, is dif cult to manage. Especially, when it is cheaper to eat junk food.

Those of us who live with invisible illnesses can also struggle with emotions such as guilt with those we love or care about. We can feel like a burden or worse yet, feel judged by others who don’t understand that it does create certain limits for us. Our spouses and partners can become desensitized to having a sick partner, meaning at rst, they were more sympathetic and understanding. Perhaps the thought of losing them caused them to behave more proactively, but after a while, it can change. Effective communication is absolutely key in these times, so that resentment from either party isn’t allowed to fester.

At other times we turn our pain on ourselves, angry that we were dealt this body, upset when we look around at people who take it for granted At the same time, for me, one of the most profound moments of my life was realizing that despite everything, we are daily living the miracle of life. I still get to get up every day and hug my kids. I have lost very close friends to disease that can’t do the same. I am reminded of the words of my friend’s mother, on the day of her burial. Her daughter was younger than me and as we stood next to the casket that had been lowered, she looked me in the eye and said, “Live on in her place.” I made a promise to her that I would do my best and it was on that day that I embarked on a lifelong mission to not waste precious time others wish they had been given Pain and discomfort are what ails us, but our tenacious, resilient nature is what keeps us putting one foot in front of the other each day, embarking on a journey to keep living life the best way we know how

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Allié: You’ve fought your way through 3 bouts of cancer, 2 autoimmune diseases and last year a new diagnosis of bromyalgia. Which has been the hardest to manage and why? For others who battle invisible disabilities what hope can you share

I still get to get up every day and hug my kids. I have lost very close friends to disease that can’t do the same.

AALIA LANIUS

AWARD-WINNING NOVELIST, SPEAKER & SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR Photo Credit: Ang Amaya

19 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

“I’ve found empowerment in taking control of my own narrative, and I encourage others to do the same.”

Allié: From being homeless and abandoned by your parents at the age of 14 to enduring physical and emotional abuse in a previous marriage, you have faced so many challenges in your life. Where did you nd your strength?

What advice can you give to those similar in situations Aalia: The very rst ame of strength came to me through the powerful autobiography of the late Maya Angelou. The fact that this woman had such a “messy” background and yet, she found her way through it, just changed everything for me. It provided hope to know that some of the most powerful and in uential people have complicated beginnings.

Hearing the stories of others always seemed to create more empathy and less shame as I moved through life. I think that is why I aim to create content that facilitates healing, connection and growth—largely through storytelling. There is nothing better than a positive story that made someone else remember to rise when they fall As I’ve grown, I’ve found empowerment in taking control of my own narrative and I encourage others to do the same. I learned to feel less guilty for things I wasn’t to blame for and putting my health and wellbeing rst turned me into an advocate for myself. That is how I learned to get through these situations, advocating and becoming as resourceful as I could be in any situation I choose to take the initiative to learn what things I can do to help myself be the best version of myself, mentally and physically. I know the bene t of exercise, wherever we can get it, matters. COVID has hampered my ability to get a gym and my schedule is packed to where it seems I have zero time to do something that is good for my body. If it means I’m doing random yoga poses in the kitchen as I’m cooking dinner, intended to create some blood ow and connectivity with my body, then I’m doing it. Emotionally, when I start to get overwhelmed, I’m using my voice to speak up or talk to someone without fear of judgment. I just don’t give up. That is the only requirement I have for myself now But my biggest piece of advice is to let go of any “shame” for not being perfect. It’s a horrible standard to have when we live in such an imperfect world. Stop apologizing for not being the kind of superhero the big screen portrays, because in all honesty, we ARE the heroes of our own stories.

Get to know more about Aalia unsugarcoatedmedia.com

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20 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

NOW AVAILABLE VIA SPOTIFY

Even the songs that aren’t about time are inextricably linked to the hold it has over us.

NED STRANGER

SONGWRITER & WRITER

22 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘MUSIC WITH MEANING’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY NED STRANGER

A MUSICAL EXERCISE IN HINDSIGHT ON BECOMING THE PERSON YOU WANT TO BE Time is one of my favourite songwriting topics ‘Berlin in the Spring’ is about the desire to bottle open moments in time so you can remember how it felt to be at peace for those precious moments. ‘The Orchard’ is about travelling back in time by visiting the place you spent your childhood and realising how quickly you outgrew it. Even the songs that aren’t about time are inextricably linked to the hold it has over us - the way our friendships and tastes are rooted in certain periods of our life, the unbreakable chain between ambition and age, and so on The main reason I write songs is to capture moments or periods so I can transport myself back to them, by playing or listening to the song - much like a photographer might see their photos as a means to time travel to a designated time and place. So, you could say that my music is one long exercise in hindsight This year, I realised there was something seriously wrong with 2020 Ned One of the rst books I read during a very productive Lockdown 1.0 was Robert Greene’s Mastery, in which he explores the commonalities between some of the greatest pioneers of human history. His overall thesis is that, contrary to our assumption that all great luminaries in their given

eld - the likes of Mozart in classical music,

Leonardo Da Vinci in art, Martha Graham in dance - were blessed with some special talent unpossessed by everyone else, what actually set them apart was a very speci c drive, a tunnel-visioned desire to explore their craft more deeply and to solve whatever problems eluded everyone else. To put it another way, ‘persistence trumps talent’.

Now, in reading his rst chapter about how some of these luminaries ‘found their calling’, I couldn’t help thinking about my own relationship to songwriting. During my teenage years, I fell obsessively in love with music - playing the guitar eight hours a day, constantly writing song lyrics, going on long walks in the Sussex countryside listening to Muse, Foo Fighters or whatever records I could steal off my dad. But as an adult, I have increasingly grown out of this childhood artist and begun to ‘think too much’ and ‘try too hard’, rather than just letting my passion do the work and following instinct. For example, rather than risk a music career that might, at best, be low-earning, I studied law at Cambridge so that I could have a safety net. Rather than focus 90% of my time writing music, I spent too much time thinking about its presentation or how I was marketing it.

I could dredge up dozens of ways in which I had distanced myself from the childhood artist, turned my back on my own creative energy. There’s a risk that this could lead to a lot of regret and possibly even blame. Who advised me to do X? Who stopped me from trying Y?

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23 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

But sometimes I think hindsight is more powerful when used without this layer of judgment, without trying to nd huge solutions or improvements, but focusing on the smaller habits and changes that lead to a change in outlook More than anything, I want to think less and do more. I’ve moved back to Sussex, where I spent my childhood at the foot of the South Downs, simply to write as much music as possible without worrying about the consequences whether people will like a given song, whether I should be working on an album or an EP, whether I should be gigging more often, and so on. The overall hope is that I reconnect with my childhood artist - the Ned who cared very little what people thought (sometimes too little!) and had no idea what a press release was or what a record label did The magic of hindsight is not opening up all your decision-making to nd ways of criticising yourself. It’s a way of looking back over your life to see whether you really are becoming the person you want to be.

NED STRANGE Songwriter & Writer www.awarenessties.us/ned-stranger Ned is a songwriter, writer and recovering law student.He turned his back on a promising career in the city to focus on his true passions - music and writing - forming indie-folk act August and After with a close friend from university. Several years later, they'd built a loyal London fanbase and toured various European countries, securing millions of online streams across the world and features in The Independent, BBC Radio and numerous of cial Spotify playlists. Ned launched his solo project this year with a series of new singles, exploring the boundaries between indie-folk and electro-pop.

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24 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

2020 LESSONS

PART 1

(SEE PART 2 ON PAGE 97)

By JACK McGUIRE

In 2020, hindsight is something we may never take for granted again, these are a few things I’ve learned (in no distinguishable order) I've learned that you cannot make someone love you.

All you can do is be someone who can be loved I've learned that no matter how much you care, some people just don't care back I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it I've learned that it's not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts I've learned that you can get by on charm for about 15 minutes. After that, you'd better know something I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do I've learned that it's not what happens to people that's important. It's what they do about it I've learned that no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides I've learned that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be I've learned that it's a lot easier to react than it is to think I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them

I've learned that learning to forgive takes practice I've learned that there are people who love you dearly, but just don't know how to show it I've learned that money is a lousy way of keeping score I've learned that a Zoom call is better than nothing at all I've learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up I've learned that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel I've learned that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have I've learned that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated I've learned that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed i I’ve learned the earth cannot heal itself and it will take me and you as well as our grandchildren to make it a sustainable home again.

I've learned that you can keep going long after you think you can't I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel I've learned that it’s ok to not be ok I've learned that racism still exists, and people are waking up, but we still have a very long way to go I've learned that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences

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We are not de ned by the challenges we face but by the way we react to them…

LORRAINE D’ALESSIO

FOUNDER OF D’ALESSIO LAW GROUP www.IamAwareNow.com fi

26 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

GRACE IS THE PLACE

ACTIVE EMPATHY IS AN EXERCISE OF OUR SHARED HUMANITY It shouldn’t take the backdrop of a global pandemic to realize the importance of allowing others the grace they need in order to process and overcome the challenges and tragedies that forced them to put a pause on their lives, goals and dreams.

When the rst wave of shutdowns hit Los Angeles, my rm was closely watching the news to understand the scope of what was to come. We were working from home, reading every article there was about the coronavirus, and speaking to any and every client who was eager to understand how this would affect their goals in the United States.

While we tried to remain cautiously optimistic during those rst couple weeks, the ensuing rise in numbers quickly forced the U.S. to introduce robust travel and visa restrictions in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. As a law rm whose primary business interfaces with immigrants and nonimmigrants from all over the world, this posed a massive challenge for us Like countless other business leaders across the country and world, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to come up with creative solutions in order to stay in business. We are still feeling the effects of the pandemic on our business, no doubt, but we’re also thankful for the privilege we have of being able to help others overcome those challenges as well.

“Each story comes with endless potential to broaden your perspective and understanding of the human experience.”

In our journey as a rm, and having worked with people from every walk of life imaginable-- there’s a number of lessons I have learned from others whose own unique paths have informed their values, their worldview, and their goals, either as a professional or as a human being. Every day I learn more about what it means to be human based on the stories I’ve heard from those I work with. Each story comes with endless potential to broaden your perspective and understanding of the human experience.

And while 2020 was a story I never wish to live through again, it’s one that we should actively meditate on in order to make the necessary changes needed, in our lives, in our work, in our relationships, and in our connections with each other. As researchers and scientists worked around the clock to develop and deliver a vaccine to the American public, as health care professionals tirelessly distribute the vaccine to communities around the world and as everyone eagerly eyes a potential nish line in regards to the events related and in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, we must all remind ourselves of the lessons we learned throughout this crisis as a way for making this world a better and more liveable place in the aftermath.

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‘CROSSING’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY LORRAINE D’ALESSIO

While there is obviously value to knowing how to get by during a crisis, and learning from these challenges, it shouldn’t take the backdrop of a global pandemic to realize the importance of allowing others the grace they need in order to process and overcome the challenges and tragedies that forced them to put a pause on their lives, goals and dreams. In a year where we’ve had less in-person social interaction than ever before, and when it seems like there is less room or patience for nuance, we need to remind ourselves that everyone is dealing with their own internal struggle, wrestling with an internal monologue that is likely harsher than it should be, and balancing their own needs with those of their loved ones, and more.

A common phrase we’ve all seen throughout this era is how COVID-19 has been an “unprecedented time.” Maybe, as we emerge from our homes and begin to move the needle back to normalcy, we can greet this next era with an unprecedented level of grace and empathy, while encouraging openness in our shared trauma to understand how we can better help each other throughout it all.

For countless families, there will be no going “back to normal.” For too many families and friend groups there will be missing seats at the table in the holidays to come. As we enter a new stage in the great American experiment, we must always carry the memories and lessons we have learned from those who did not have the opportunity to come out of this experience with that chance.

In our pain there is a shared thread of humanity. That the sum total of human interaction and life comes down to the time we take to understand each other. That we have more in common with each other than we do of the unique traits that separate us.

We are not de ned by the challenges we face but by the way we react to them, or the ways we grow when moving past them. Speaking with friends, family members, coworkers and clients throughout the past nine months was crucial for me in understanding the range of emotions that people felt throughout the most trying time of a generationwhether that be frustration, anger, loneliness, peace, acceptance, or gratitude, this spectrum is as vast as it is valid. If we don’t welcome this range of emotions, we’re not actually doing the work to process and grow from them Let’s greet these emotions head on, give them the space they need to express themselves, and most importantly, listen to them and accept them as part of our journey as a people.

Let’s all make the pledge to continue this openness, to encourage and foster our interconnectedness, and to remain vigilant in ways we can better help our peers make it through the next chapter of their story

LORRAINE D’ALESSI Founder of D’Alessio Law Group www.awarenessties.us/lorraine-dalessio Founding partner of D’Alessio Law Group, Lorraine was named the 2017 Leader in Law by the Los Angeles Business Journal and is the recipient of the 2018 Enterprising Women Award. A former Ford model turned legal powerhouse, Lorraine is a multi-award-winning, immigration expert who regularly contributes to the Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, LA Business Journal, Playback and other leading outlets in the U.S.. Lorraine has provided counsel to hundreds of prominent and award-winning entertainment agencies, unions, private companies, academic institutions, tech startups, entrepreneurs and enterprises, and has worked on highly successful refugee and deportation cases with immigrant communities across Los Angeles.

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28 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

A WORLD OF CONTENT

FOR THE CAUSES YOU CARE ABOUT

SUBSCRIBE TO KNEKT.TV WITH CODE ‘AWARENESS’

USE THIS CODE FOR AN ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION FOR $11.11 (INSTEAD OF $29.99) WHEN YOU SIGN UP FOR KNEKT TV TO ACCESS OVER 13,000 VIDEOS, SERIES, LIVE STREAMING EVENTS

I wanted to be a savvy merchant, team builder, entrepreneur, relevant, funny and glamorous. So I became that woman. I live it now.

DAWN CAMPBELL

MERCHANT, TEAM BUILDER, ENTREPRENEUR & MODEL

30 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DAWN CAMPBELL

AUTHENTIC BEAUTY SINCERELY STUNNING INSIDE AND OUT

“Beauty that can’t be touched or tarnished is more than skin deep. It’s steeped in your soul with energy and light that empowers yourself and elevates others. Dawn Campbell exemplifies such beauty. Classic style, with edgy flair on occasion, and unapologetic nuances, her beauty is ageless and is preserved by her attitude, empathy and infectious smile” - Allié M. Allié: Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Men, women, old and young. When it comes to the most BEAUTIFUL people you know, please tell us the top 3 on your list and why Dawn: The 3 most beautiful people I know are my mom, my siblings and my friend Georgia

“My mother is still with us, and is a terrific role model and a beautiful woman in every way.”

I was very immature when I married and had my son. I had emotional and self-image issues from my dyslexia. I soon found myself a young single mom. My mother took care of my toddler while I worked two waitress jobs. It became apparent that his home was with her and my dad. They had already raised 5 girls and 1 boy so this was their 7th. This foster arrangement was not easy for any of us. I love my mother very much and I believe she saved my life, and my son’s future. He’s now a successful engineer with a beautiful wife. I am now a grandma of two lovely monsters. My mother is still with us, and is a terrific role model and a beautiful woman in every way. I adore her and know my life would be very different without this incredible woman.

All five of my wonderful siblings Danny, Debbie, Denise, Diane and Darlene. They put up with me during the worst time of my life. Their unquestioning love for me brought me back from the brink. I know how lucky I am today, but could not have gotten here without them. I have a wonderful husband and a wonderful life. I know that I AM HAPPY My friend, Georgia, fosters small dogs, giving her whole self to healing them from horrible previous lives. When the dogs are ready, and only then, they are adopted. She has about 5 dogs that are long term residents. She does this selflessly, over and over again. She is not wealthy and lives in a small A-frame by herself. She is very beloved by everyone.

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31 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

…accept yourself fully, both strength and weaknesses, and live life without regrets or apology.

DAWN CAMPBELL

MERCHANT, TEAM BUILDER, ENTREPRENEUR & MODEL

32 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

Allié: I’ll just come right out and say it. You, Dawn, are stunning. Gorgeous both inside and out, your beauty can be found not just in your form but in your function. Unafraid and unapologetic, it is the con dence you maintain and the comfort in owning it that makes you ‘boldly beautiful’. To those seeking con dence and comfort in themselves and their own beauty, what advice would you give Dawn: To those seeking comfort in themselves and in their own beauty I would offer this advice: accept yourself fully, both strength and weaknesses, and live life without regrets or apology I opened a store in Newaygo, far enough away to give me the opportunity to reinvent myself. I wanted to be a savvy merchant, team builder, entrepreneur, relevant, funny and glamorous. So I became that woman. I live it now This is my best advice… Don’t say mean things to yourself! You hear the things you say, even to yourself. So say positive things and they will come true

Allié: Not only do others see beauty in you, but you see beauty in others. You really ‘see’ it. There are people who can make you feel beautiful just by looking at you. You are one of those people. You have that gift. I remember one of the rst times we met. Walking into your shop feeling simple and average, I walked out feeling stunning. Something about the way you looked at me and the way you spoke to me… the way you asked me questions and waited for my answers before thoughtfully responding. You are perhaps the Empress of Empathy, yes? What advice would you have for those who want to be more empathetic to others Dawn: I try to nd something beautiful in everyone. I want to make people feel good about themselves. I compliment someone at least once a day, there is something amazing about everyone. Whether they really felt the compliment or not, I don’t know. But sometimes, their eyes light up and that’s a great feeling. So I guess it’s a bit sel sh, it gives great happiness when I see that.

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“I try to nd something beautiful in everyone… there is something amazing about everyone.”

I am a storyteller.

ELIZABETH BLAKE-THOMAS

STORYTELLER AND AWARENESS TIES OFFICIAL AMBASSADOR FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING

34 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

PURPOSE IN THE PAUSE

FINDING YOUR ‘PURPOSE’ DURING THIS GREAT ‘PAUSE’ (COVID) It’s been 9 months since quarantine hit while I was working on set. Our lm wrapped just as the biggest shake up and shut down that could ever occur was forced upon us by something invisible to the naked eye. Life can be hard without this virus, so to be placed into situations that are not by choice but by necessity (an unhappy home life, an uncomfortable working situation, a lack of nances and increased feelings of fear, loneliness and depression) has given some people the opportunity to reassess their life.

“…for the longest time my puzzle pieces were forced together to make a different picture that I had gotten so accustomed to feeling disconnected from my own life, my true self.”

I, Elizabeth Blake-Thomas, am one of those people. I have been a theatre director for 20 years, a lm director for 4 years, and a homeschooling on-set mother for 18 years. (Actress Isabella Blake-Thomas) I have published a book, travelled the world, created a podcast, raised 1.5 million dollars to lm and I have directed and written 8 features. I recently embarked on a new course of my journey as Professor Blake-Thomas at Pepperdine University, running a course called “Storytelling and the Power of Our Words.” Oh, and to put this into a bigger context, I was told by various people throughout my life that my writing wasn’t any good and I would never be a writer. Well, they were right, I'll give them that, because I’m not a writer. Or a director. Or a photographer or a painter I’m a STORYTELLER. This is who I truly am, a storyteller. Why is this story about me so relevant to our current times? Well, it’s because through these 9 months of COVID and lockdown, I've been given precious time to relook and re ect at who I am and what I’m about; looking into my deep happiness, forgiving myself, removing blame and guilt from my past, meditating and taking much needed time out from the rat race. It has given me the brain space to “ nd my purpose” and in the words of Joseph Campbell “ nding your bliss” When this revelation of my true self happened the other day, I cried. It felt so right. All of a sudden everything just t into my world. It was like for the longest time my puzzle pieces were forced together to make a different picture that I had gotten so accustomed to feeling disconnected from my own life, my true self. Once I reexamined myself during this shutdown I found a whole new understanding about me and my life, and how I truly de ne myself.

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35 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

PERSONAL STORY BY ELIZABETH BLAKE-THOMAS

I believe my experience can help guide other people, giving them permission to also take priceless time out and nd their true purpose, guiding them with a couple of helpful ways to do this.

Right now, it’s what we all need. Nothing is certain, so let’s nd some certainty within ourselves. If people wait until we are all back in our busy jobs, overwhelmed by immense socializing, pets' needs, kids' schedules, and worldly woes, they will lose out on the opportunity to invest in themselves. At this present moment, when more people than ever have hundreds of minutes to spare, I hope this article helps tear them away from their Net ix binging for just a few minutes, and get them to focus inward. I believe this could change someone's life, as my recent journey has completely altered mine for the better In order to nd my purpose, I used exercises and mindfulness practices through my study of Kabbalah, as well as did extensive reading of all natures. Anyone can pause and look inward. You do not need to spend thousands of dollars.

There are plenty of mindfulness practices available online, even apps that can help you refocus on yourself. I am just a regular everyday person. I am 39+3. I am a single mom. I am a Brit in Los Angeles. I am a woman who had lost her true self and now has found her again. I am proof that anyone can achieve rediscovering their purpose if they only take the time to try. I hope as readers you easily connect and relate to my story and journey and are inspired to start your own Once you nd your authentic purpose, share it with others. Inspire more to follow suit. I am thankful to have found my true calling during this great pause and hope you do to I am Elizabeth Blake-Thomas, and I am a storyteller.

Hear more of Elizabeth’s story www.awarenessties.us/elizabethblakethomas

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“I am a woman who had lost her true self and now has found her again.”

I found a new voice and new way to make a difference.

DR. DELA TAGHIPOUR

PHYSICIAN, MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT & AWARENESS TIES OFFICIAL AMBASSADOR FOR HEART DISEASE

38 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

PERSONAL STORY BY DR. DELA TAGHIPOUR

HAPPY HEARTIVERSARY MATTERS OF THE HEART (THEN AND NOW)

Today, December 10, 2020, was my ve year ‘heartiversary’ from my rst, of two, cardiac ablations.

An event that fundamentally changed my life.

It all started out innocently enough in 2011. I was a third year medical student in great health, or so I thought. I worked out regularly, ate right, and aside from my sleep deprivation, was doing a pretty decent job at staying healthy.

The morning after surgical rounds, while standing by the nurses station, my heart started to race. Before I knew what was going on, I could no longer clearly make out the face of the person in front of me. I was pale and drenched in sweat. My chest felt like it was being crushed. I had no idea what was going on. The intern on service saw what I looked like and sent me off to get water and rest in the medical student study room. I shook it off and came back to work .

“…before she could nish taking my pulse, I was being hand delivered to the emergency room.”

I didn't get a minute of sleep that night. The chest pain never really went away. The next morning after rounds that same intern pulled me aside, recognizing that pale and damp face again. She placed her hand on my wrist, and before she could nish taking my pulse I was being hand delivered to the emergency room.

After the EKG leads were on and the morphine was in, I passed out as I was being admitted to the cardiac/telemetry wing. Three days later I was still there. It wasn't a heart attack, a panic attack, or a pulmonary embolism, but something was keeping my heart rate between the 140s and 260s (my normal heart rate was in the 60s). I was on strict bed rest because the slightest movement sent my heart rate through the roof and prompted my incredible nurses to rush in. That got old, but a little funny, pretty fast.

After being seen by every cardiologist at our hospital, I negotiated my own discharge. They agreed as long as I wore a heart monitor for the next month.

Soon, the months went by.

I had a few recurrent episodes, but I came to realize that no matter how many times I had a monitor on, it wasn't ever the 'right' time to catch the culprit. My blood pressure was too low to put me on any medications to control my heart rate, so I kind of just accepted that I have a 'heart condition,' but there wasn't much more to do about it.

Fast forward to my third year as a surgical resident. Tack on a lot more stress and sleep deprivation, and it became a trigger for the unnamed heart condition to show up in full force.

The episodes of tachycardia, chest pain, and syncope or pre-syncope went from every six months to several a day. I was in bad shape and was responsible for far too much to let it go on.

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39 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

“…easy wasn’t really how things were going to play out.”

I nally got an EP study done and was diagnosed with AVNRT - an otherwise straightforward arrhythmia that can usually be easily treated. However, easy wasn't really how things were going to play out. After my rst procedure, I got pericarditis (in ammation of the sac around the heart). I was put on high dose Aspirin, which then gave me a stomach ulcer. Stopping the Aspirin then led to chronic pericarditis. It was a mess, but the least of my concerns. The procedure failed. I was syncopal less than four days later after a shift at work I bought myself another month-long heart monitor and a second ablation. This one nally got my heart rate out of the 260s, but it was followed by syndrome of inappropriate tachycardia (a resting heart rate greater than 110- even while asleep), autonomic dysregulation (bringing my heart rate to the 180s with minimal exertion), anasarca (30 lb weight gain and swelling from head to toe over the course of a week), cerebral edema, CKD, memory loss, an inability to complete full sentences, and so much more My doctors weren't sure why things went downhill. One predicted an underlying autoimmune reason, another thought it was from the newly approved medications I was on for the arrhythmia, another had no idea but thought I should pretty much quit work and focus on staying alive. It didn't help that for both procedures I only took four days off each time and no other breaks I went into the two built in research years, and knew I had to decide before it was over. During that time I saw every interventional cardiologists/electrophysiologists I could, just to get one of them to say I didn't have to choose between my life or my career. Leaving surgery 5 out of 7 years of the way through it wasn't just about a job, it was who I was as a person.

The doctors were clear. Not only did they believe continuing on that path would harm me, but they also banned working out, especially cardio. I wasn't allowed to go up more than one ight of stairs unaccompanied. I wasn't allowed hot showers or steam rooms. I wasn't supposed to consider pregnancy anymore. It turned my world upside down My feet would swell so much at the end of the day that I would cry taking my shoes off. Appointments were all about balancing things like how much diuretic I could take that would help the cerebral edema but not tank the kidney failure. It was so surreal. All I could do was be patient. Let my body have the time it needed to heal.

I pushed myself a little more each day. Every step that made me winded, I'd stop, wait for my heart rate to come down, and take another step. Every task I took for granted had to be relearned Towards the end of the research years, I was much better, but still had such a long way to go. Ultimately, I ended up making the excruciating decision to step away from my general surgery residency. I was willing to die for it, literally, but I wasn't willing to risk my patients' safety.

That decision was truly one of the hardest decisions I've ever made. I never thought I'd nd anything that would make me as happy. I also didn't think I was strong enough to get through it.

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40 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

Fate, and my heart, did call me back to the operating room… DR. DELA TAGHIPOUR

PHYSICIAN, MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT & AWARENESS TIES OFFICIAL AMBASSADOR FOR HEART DISEASE www.IamAwareNow.com

41 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

“…I now know that it's not always about knowing every step in advance, but about believing you'll end up exactly where you should be.”

Luckily, I was wrong. I started and graduated from a preventive medicine residency at Johns Hopkins University where I pursued additional degrees, an MPH and MBA from Johns Hopkins Public Health & JHU Carey Business School.

That swung the doors open for life-altering opportunities like working at the Alexandria Health Department to develop the initial responses to COVID-19, to working on health policy initiatives with the Maryland State Senate, to helping coordinate the return to school/work efforts at Johns Hopkins during the pandemic.

I then found myself on the Coronavirus Command Center team for ABC News where I had the incredible opportunity to appear on Good Morning America, ABC's 20/20, ABC Radio, CVS Health podcasts, and I authored 18 articles for ABC about coronavirus.

I found a new voice and new way to make a difference combining my new found experience and expertise, and felt like I could actually make a small difference — a difference I'd never have the opportunity to make if I stayed on my previous path.

Fate, and my heart, did call me back to the operating room. I was accepted in and am now halfway through a venous and lymphatic medicine fellowship where I get to do procedures again!

Looking back I could have never predicted how my story would have looked, but I now know that it's not always about knowing every step in advance, but about believing you'll end up exactly where you should be.

Learn more about Dr. Dela and her journe www.awarenessties.us/delataghipour

www.IamAwareNow.com

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42 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

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When Issuu partnered with Awareness Ties, I took the opportunity to "humanize" my desire to learn about these "don't talk" about topics and importantly to get to know the people behind the scenes.

AUDREY VANDENBROECK

SR. DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS FOR ISSUU

44 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ISSUU

PARTNERS IN PURPOSE

A COLLABORATION TO CREATE POSITIVE SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH CONTENT “When collaborating on the publication and distribution of original and organic content for positive social change on a global level, having the right people at the table is required for sustainable efforts to serve up the stories shared to raise needed awareness for the causes that tie us all together. Here enters Issuu, our Of cial Partner (on so many levels).” - Allié M. “I've always been over reliant on the fact that there are several resources made available to us via the internet about anything and everything. And the fact that someone else will keep me informed on topics most people are afraid to step forward and talk about. When Issuu partnered with Awareness Ties, I took the opportunity to "humanize" my desire to learn about these "don't talk" about topics and importantly to get to know the people behind the scenes I truly never had to work with one so intimately to understand the profound responsibility Allìé and Jack put on themselves to make information on topics like suicide prevention, bullying, domestic violence, and human traf cking accessible to people. I am fortunate to work for a company that can help amplify their voice, to help distribute and share their content socially so that it reaches audiences around the world. I feel such a responsibility to people around the world and to Jack and Allìé to make that happen.”

Audrey Vandenbroeck Sr. Director of Customer Success for Issu

“…truly honored to call Issuu our Of cial Partner.

“From the rst conversation we had on the phone with Joe a year ago to each and every weekly call we have with his senior staff members - our dedicated duo at Issuu (Audrey and Michelle), we have been supported in our mission and our vision, as it is one we share with Issuu. Our aim is to raise awareness for causes a story at a time. A match made in heaven? We believe so and are entirely thankful for our partnership with Issuu, the world’s largest digital publishing and discovery platform. At the heart of Awareness Ties, there you will nd Issuu, with whom we’ve built a global stage for causes to be supported through personal stories and exclusive interviews. Presented in an immersive and interactive format, content produced by Awareness Ties is published and distributed by Issuu in a way that makes each story become a dynamic experience, not simply static words on a page We’ve laughed and cried with Issuu, our partners in passion for positive social change. We look forward to more laughter and more tears (the ’good’ tears of course) as we chart a course for sharing more and more content with a conscience. Sharing this human experience documented in online publications to empower and educate, we are truly honored to call Issuu our Of cial Partner. Beyond excited for what we’ll build together in 2021.

Allié & Jack McGuir Founders of Awareness Ties

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“Their work is an inspiration and a light in what has otherwise been a year of dif culties.”

“2020 has been a trying year for the world. But for millions of people who face challenges from cancer to bullying to racism to domestic and gun violence to Alzheimer’s and more, every day is a challenge. So it’s tting that Awareness Ties launched in 2020 as a platform to bring awareness, support, love and care to those most challenged in our communities around the world. Allié and Jack have worked tirelessly to leave no one behind. Their work is an inspiration and a light in what has otherwise been a year of dif culties. Issuu is honored to work with such a great team and we’re glad we can help in our own small way.”

Joe Hyrki CEO of Issuu

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NOW PLAYING

TOO LONG HAS THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE BEEN HELD BEHIND CLOSED DOORS SHROUDED IN STIGMA AND SHAME. TOO LONG HAVE PEOPLE SUFFERED ALONE, UNSURE AND UNCERTAIN OF JUST WHERE TO BEGIN. NOW IS THE TIME TO GIVE MENTAL HEALTH A SPOTLIGHT TO BE CLEARLY SEEN. NOW IS THE TIME FOR SO MANY SILENCED VOICES TO BE LOUDLY HEARD IN DISCUSSIONS DESIGNED TO DISMANTLE THE STIGMA AND BUILD A DIALOGUE WHERE MENTAL HEALTH CAN BE OPENLY DISCUSSED WITH HONESTY. WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS NOT ONLY HEAR IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT BEYOND OUR BORDERS ACROSS THE GLOBE. IN THESE UNPRECEDENTED TIMES, WE ARE CALLED TO SEEK ANSWERS AND FIND SOLUTIONS. THESE ACTIONS BEGIN AWARENESS, AND AWARENESS STARTS WITH CONVERSATION. IT'S TIME TO TALK. GET EXCLUSIVE ACCESS VIA KNEKT.TV: BEAWAREBEHERE.COM/TALKMENTALHEALTH VISIT WWW.AWARENESSTALKS.COM TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SERIES.

FEATURING

ISABELLA BLAKE-THOMAS JONNY BOUCHER DR. JENNY MARTIN PRODUCED BY

PRESENTED BY

AWARENESS TIES

KNEKT

Life isn’t easy, and it shouldn’t be.

ISABELLA BLAKE-THOMAS

ACTRESS, SINGER, WRITER, PRODUCER & AWARENESS TIES OFFICIAL AMBASSADOR FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION www.IamAwareNow.com

48 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

PERSONAL STORY BY ISABELLA BLAKE-THOMAS

20/20 VISION

LESSONS LEARNED FROM LOWS AND HIGHS There’s two groups of people. The ones who made the most of 2020 and had the best year ever, and the ones who found it the most dif cult year yet. I am fty/ fty I’ve had so many highs and lows this year, that means my year looks like a heart monitor. Some of my highs were, teaching a 5-year-old to read, nishing writing a pilot I’ve been working on, lming two movies during a pandemic etc. etc. However, the highs have felt so high because of the lows that caused me to learn some of the most valuable lessons of my life Setting Boundarie This is a hard one for lots of people but this was particularly challenging for me because I struggle with setting boundaries every day of my life. I had to learn to set boundaries before I needed to. My favorite analogy is, imagine if there were ants in your house and you blocked up the areas they came in once they were already there. That wouldn’t do you any good. You have to block up the weak spots before the ants get in. Same thing goes for putting up boundaries Standing Up For Mysel I am the type of person to go with the ow and let things happen based on the fact that it’s not an immediate problem.

I nd this means, I take blame very easily and tend to let someone tell me I’ve done something, even when I haven’t.

I’ve had to learn that yes, there’s a time and a place for standing up for yourself but it’s better to do it than not Putting Myself Firs I tend to put other people rst. I let other people walk over me and use me as a bridge. I go with the ow and don’t take enough time to care for and look after myself. This means I’ve needed to make decisions “sel shly” and make sure my choices work for me above anything else Trusting My Gu I’ve had an interesting experience with trusting my instinct because I nd that sometimes I trust it too much and don’t listen to the logic that my brain is telling me. I’ve learnt that it’s not about listening to one or the other but nding a happy medium between the two Overall, I’m still working on these lessons and will continue to learn new things about them and myself as I grow and change. Life isn’t easy and it shouldn’t be, we should always be learning new things and challenging ourselves and not being afraid to fall and get back up again. If life seems low, it’s because there’s a high coming that you don’t even know about yet.

Get to know Isabella www.awarenessties.us/isabellablakethomas

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I write this and think about the here, the now, and what I have in front of me.

PROVIDENCE BOWMAN

AWARENESS TIES PROJECT MANAGER & COLUMNIST

50 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

PERSONAL STORY BY PROVIDENCE BOWMAN

SUNDAY DRIVE

FINDING THE WAY TO POINT B FROM POINT A There has been a point for all of this year where we have not felt like our true selves; our raw selves. Showing up as ourselves and for ourselves can be one of the most intimately complex and bravest things we can do. Our minds, bodies and souls have taken a toll this year, it is time to appreciate them, continue to learn and grow, and continue caring for ourselves even deeper in the coming year.

If 2020 could only be de ned as one thing, it would be as “the ultimate learning experience”. Our minds, bodies, and souls all experienced change and circumstances like no other. I believe that ten years from now I will be able to look back and view this current time as some of the most necessary growing pains in my life. That I will look back and appreciate that we cannot take our intricately dated and timed planners for granted, and that even it feels like time has stopped, it hasn't. The world is still turning, the sun's still shining, and there are still people that need us to be our kitchen table selves everyday.

“…it gives us a chance to make the next right choice one decision at a time.”

My hope is that I will not only see the gray areas that have clouded my mind in these recent months, but that I will be able to highlight how I went from point A to point B. When I am driving in my car, I have a screen that portrays a map, guiding me to my next destination and to places that I have never been before. When you begin driving it gives you one direction at a time. As I continued driving I found that this was on purpose, because if we are headed somewhere that we have never been before, it must be incredibly overwhelming to receive all the directions at once. The map in our car is not much different than life. Life does not spill out on us and give us an itinerary for the next 75 years, it gives us a chance to make the next right choice one decision at a time.

I have learned this year that it is important to take off the masks that we use to hide ourselves, the masks that inhibit us from being and showing our real selves. This season of life has taught me that there is a vast space that occupies the difference between hiding and taking time for yourself. We were born to do beautiful things with people, to be seen and loved by others, love that we are not always capable of seeing. The pandemic has forced many of us to slow down, and given us time to better understand and appreciate what our lives are truly woven of. We were not born to be performance pieces, work 80 hours a week, and work ourselves into oblivion. We were born to be a person; one that is woven together with idiosyncrasies, stories and bright laughter.

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Taking care of our mind, body, and soul in the midst of a time where we could not see a nish line is something that is incredibly hard to do. Something that we should be incredibly proud of doing this year, no matter what that may look like. Just because in a few short days our calendars will ip to 2021, it doesn't mean that everything will be magically xed. It does not mean that we will forget the struggles that this past year has served us and it does not mean that we will not carry some of those struggles into the new year with us.

Healing is not linear, taking care of ourselves is not linear, just how directions on a map are not linear. We must take everything one step at a time, one direction at a time, and one day at a time.

I am writing this now with conviction as I think and sit about the present and how I will choose to live it. I do not write this with a mind clouded with the thoughts of what tomorrow may bring or regrets of the decisions that I have made today; I write this and think about the here, the now, and what I have in front of me. For the time being, that is all that my soul can handle, and that is okay. I am recovering and learning how to dance on my feet again. I am preparing to engage in normal life, and taking care of myself so that when I am able to see the world, I am ready.

PROVIDENCE BOWMA Awareness Ties Project Manager & Columnist www.awarenessties.us/providence-bowman Providence Bowman is a college student attending Grand Valley State University, studying International Relations. She is passionate about using her words for good and is currently piecing stories together in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She loves to spend her free time traveling, with her head in a book, and by the water. She lives everyday by her mantra that we are here to pursue opportunities and “go be awesome”.

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“Healing is not linear…”

Anxiety is here to stay. Let’s learn how to deal.

Your Therapist is Anxious, Too

AVAILABLE NOW

www.youranxioustherapist.com

It may not be as sexy as the pharmacology of remyelination or serum biomarkers, but stretching is an essential part of a patient’s treatment plan.

DR. ROBERT PACE

NEUROLOGIST AND DIRECTOR OF NEUROIMMUNOLOGY, MEMORIAL INSTITUTE FOR NEUROSCIENCES

54 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘KEEPING PACE WITH MS’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY DR. ROBERT PACE

YOU NEED TO LOOSEN UP WHY STRETCHING MATTERS FOR MS PATIENTS Stretching is good for you.

It protects you from injury, reduces unnecessary tension on joints, and allows for the mind-muscle connection that seems to be all the rage among tness bloggers.

I tell virtually all of my MS patients that part of their treatment plan will include some form of routine stretching. And usually, they react in a predictable way – with a hollow, placating nod that is barely covering their thinly-veiled disappointment.

“…if a patient actually made a daily practice of stretching, it would probably help more in the long run than any medication that I could prescribe.”

“Stretching? That’s your medical advice?!? What about cutting-edge stem-cell therapies? What about braces that electrically stimulate my weak leg? What about proteogenomic approaches targeting aberrant microRNA?!? I waited six months to see an MS specialist just to hear things I’ve known since kindergarten?! What’s next, telling me that smoking is bad for me?!?” It’s at this point that I tell people that smoking is bad for them, then I drop an imaginary mic and walk out Hey, I also love to talk complex neuroscience.

But, the reality is this: if a patient actually made a daily practice of stretching, it would probably help more in the long run than any medication that I could prescribe. But why – of all the myriad things that everyone on the planet knows is “good for you” – do I make such a big deal about this one? It has to do with complex neuroscience

SOME STRETCH SCIENCE One of the most dreaded aspects of MS is developing weakness. Weakness, however, is not the direct result of injuries to your brain/spine (the components of the central nervous system, or CNS). What injuries to the CNS do directly cause is spasticity. Spasticity is abnormal muscle tightness due to the failure of the CNS to inhibit the muscles.

All of the muscles in your body are wired to re at the slightest provocation. When a muscle ber is stretched, an electrical signal is sent from that muscle ber to the spinal cord. From there, a portion of that signal takes the long road upwards to the brain for processing. However a much faster response occurs directly back to the same muscle causing it to contract – these are spinal re exes.

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throw your arms out to protect yourself when you trip, and much, much more. In fact, all of your muscles have these internal hair-triggers built in – not just your leg when we hit it with our hammer (although those are the funniest).

However, all of the muscles being wired to re at the slightest provocation leaves us with a problem: if all muscles are ring whenever their muscle bers are moved, then all muscles would always be ring. At best this means that you couldn’t accomplish any actions due to a muscular stalemate. At worst, stronger muscles would dominate weaker ones, and your tendons and bones would be torn apart. So, there has to be something that inhibits your muscles from ring until the time is right. That’s one of the many jobs of the CNS. It’s sort of counterintuitive. Think of a movement - say, extending your hand to reach a cup.

The signal from your brain doesn’t actually activate the muscles of your arm in a certain pattern. Instead, it releases the muscles that are needed to make the action while continuing to inhibit the ones that aren’t. I know that sounds like a six-in-one/half-dozen-in-the-other sort of thing, but it’s at the heart of why stretching your muscles is so important.

When the CNS can’t inhibit muscles (because it is injured from, say, MS), it means that your muscles have to ght themselves to perform actions. This makes the effective load on the muscle for a given action much, much higher than it should be. Imagine trying to do a biceps curl while your triceps is trying desperately to straighten out your arm. At a certain point, it doesn’t matter how strong a muscle is if it’s not allowed to move.

Over time, the natural response to this inertia is to do an action less and less. And this is where the actual weakness starts; the muscle has to ght an increased load, so the activity levels of the muscle drop, which makes the muscle weaker, which makes you use it less, which makes the muscle weaker, and so on, and so on… As spasticity increases, functional strength decreases. When functional strength decreases, spasticity increases. Fortunately, there are work-arounds, like some medications and physical therapy techniques to reduce spasticity. But the easiest (and perhaps most effective) work around? You guessed it - stretching!

Static stretching activates muscle inhibition in the spinal cord, allows detachment of sarcomere cross-bridging, and has an effective muscle lengthening effect. It promotes cellular growth of muscle and bone. It makes you feel more sophisticated than the people lifting more than you in the gym. And it’s free. Stretching won’t lead to improvement in strength, but it will make it easier to move. And movement will improve strength.

It may not be as sexy as the pharmacology of remyelination or serum biomarkers, but stretching is an essential part of a patient’s treatment plan (and yes, only a neurologist could describe serum biomarkers as “sexier” than stretching).

So I’ll continue to tell all of my patients something that they already know Stretching is good for you (mic drop, leaving article).

ROBERT PACE, M Neurologist and Director of Neuroimmunology, Memorial Institute for Neurosciences www.awarenessties.us/robert-pace Dr. Pace cares for and has expertise in a variety of neurologic conditions. He is passionate about demyelinating conditions of the central nervous system and holds a fellowship from the University of Michigan in clinical neuroimmunology and MS. Along with Dr. Aburashed and Dr. Cote, they make up the provider care team in the MS center at Memorial Healthcare Institute for Neuroscience. He has experience using a variety of immunomodulating and suppressing agents and also lectures nationally regarding treatment options in Multiple Sclerosis.

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Re exes are powerful and essential – they pull your hand away from re (before you become aware of being burnt),

Perhaps March was a thriller.

April, more of a horror movie.

Maybe May was a tragedy, but June was more of a comedy.

NICK BOTTINI

AUTHOR, SPEAKER & COACH

58 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

LIVING THE DREAM THE CINEMA OF YOUR LIFE

Just like Christmas parties, weddings, and birthdays with a zero at the end, the New Year’s festivities seem to do funny things to people. The passing of another year can remind us that another chapter is closing. It can rub salt in the wound if we think we’ve missed out on our dreams this year, and it can also remind us that our time on this planet is limited. So as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, many of us get a reality check, for better or for worse.

This annual reminder of time passing can help us stop and re ect on what we’ve been doing with our life; what we’ve accomplished; and what progress we’ve made (or not!). So at this naturally introspective time, I often re ect on the trials and tribulations of the year I’ve had, and start to think about the journey ahead. But instead of the traditional look back at the happenings of the year, it seems tting (especially given the depth in which some of those particular happenings have been talked about this year) to explore a new way of making sense of some of those ups and downs Regardless of whether 2020 will go down in your personal history book as the pandemic year from hell, or the year you lost your job, learnt French or found your zen, the way we can often end up thinking about periods of our life can be much like trawling through Net ix. Perhaps March was a thriller. April, more of a horror movie. Maybe May was a tragedy, but June was more of a comedy. Each movie with its own plot lines, locations and soundtrack. Each one with an intensely different feel. But as I look back over the experience of 2020, and I think about the details of my own personal movie, something else has really permeated the experience more and more this year—the screen itself.

Now, I’m conscious you may be wondering what on earth I could possibly mean, so I’ll explain so you can try this one on for yourself. But do go slowly with it—it’s bit of a mind bender

“Your ability to know (and remember) that you are never trapped in the movie is what allows you the freedom to really enjoy it, and it’s exactly the same with the movie of life.”

Have you ever been so deeply engrossed in a movie that you’ve temporarily forgotten it’s a created world and twitched in your place when something shocking has come along? Or gradually felt your stomach knot up with dread as a horror movie intensi es, as if you are somehow ‘trapped’ as the character in the movie? As popular legend has it, this is precisely what happened when the Lumière brothers showed a late-nineteenth-century French audience the rst silent black-and-white footage of the arrival of a train at La Ciotat, making cinematic history. The audience, unaware of the nature of cinema, was so astounded by the happenings on the screen, that they supposedly ran out of the auditorium screaming. Now, whether or not this legend is precisely how events unfolded some 120 years ago, it does highlight something important.

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‘MUSIC FOR MENTAL WEALTH’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY NICK BOTTINI

Your ability to know (and remember) that you are never trapped in the movie is what allows you the freedom to really enjoy it, and it’s exactly the same with the movie of life.

But here’s the thing. Most of us – at least at some level – not only get deeply engrossed in the movie of life, but at times we can seem to get trapped in that movie, especially when the scenes depicted (i.e. our life events) are extreme. Thoughts, feelings and perceptions may come and go, but what can’t come and go is the screen of life itself.

Awareness. The true you, rather than the character on the screen.

The screen is the space in which the whole movie is known, so if the genre of movie happens to suddenly switch from comedy to tragedy, the screen itself is not diminished. Now, that’s not to say that there won’t be intense feelings, and that those feelings aren’t real feelings. They are. I’ve heard some stories from clients this year that have been heartwrenchingly sad. But there is always a freedom available in every experience. And as you contemplate the past year, I invite you to keep coming back to that freedom. The freedom of the now In the famous words of Victor Frankl, holocaust survivor and psychotherapist, ‘between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.’ Many people interpret those words to be about controlling our thinking or controlling our actions, but I don’t think that’s what he’s saying at all. I think the space he’s referring to is awareness, and that the kind of profound existential freedom he’s pointing to is found not by seeking more control, but by knowing (and remembering) you are the screen. It’s the distinction between seemingly being trapped as the movie character, and knowing that you are actually the projector of the dream theatre.

This is what some people refer to as ‘enlightenment’, although I don’t nd that to be a very helpful term. Just imagine what might be possible for you if you could pour your full self into 2021, safe in the knowledge that no challenge can ever diminish you, no failure can ever question your divine nature, and no feeling can ever stop you.

NICK BOTTIN Author, Speaker & Coach www.awarenessties.us/nick-bottini Nick Bottini is the author of the number one bestseller Just Play: The Simple Truth Behind Musical Excellence which was endorsed by Grammy winners, music industry professionals and mental health experts. Nick is also a speaker and transformational coach to the music industry and for over ten years has worked with musicians at all levels from competition winners, child prodigies, entrepreneurs, conservatoire students, sports people, to aspiring professional musicians and international rock stars. For more info about Music For Mental Wealth visit: musicformentalwealth.com

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60 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

We don't just take and walk away. We need to put things back to heal themselves.

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM

ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, CHIEF OF FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND

62 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JIM, ANISHINAABE KNOWLEDGE KEEPER FROM FOOTHILLS OJIBWAY ON TURTLE ISLAND

CREATOR’S CALLING FROM THE BEGINNING TO NOW: LESSON 2

What follows are words as recorded and told to Kathy Kiss and edited by Sheena Frencheater.

I'm honored and happy to share a view of our connection… and our relationship to the world (Maa-moo-nii-kaanan).

Wherever we are in this world, land is soil. There are trees, and the sun, moon, and stars. Sometimes they are hard to see. This means that we are terribly exhausting the land. It is very sad that pollution is going up to the sky, into the air.

It is hurting the environment, the ozone layer. The land is starting to heat up. Each year of heating up it melts the glaciers.

Forever we have had glaciers in this part of the world, but we're sending things into the air that shouldn't be up there.

The ozone layer has a spirit, and a purpose, to take care of the world. If we destroy the ozone layer, all the glaciers will melt. Imagine if we don't have any ice or glaciers anymore.

The North is not too far from where I am on this part of the Turtle Island, in this part of the world. It is one of the places that have ice and glaciers. These are part of spirit, of God, of life. We call him Creator ourselves. He has put the glaciers there. The glaciers have a responsibility in this world, not only here but also for other islands. They are for every part of the world. The Glaciers here are the northern part of the world like the Amazon is in a different part.

Amazon has purpose. Amazon has life and not just part of spirit life. We all need spirit life. We all need these values, regardless of how we believe Some people don't believe there's God. Some people live their lives, just to be alive. But there's a lot of people all over the world who know there’s something up there.

I, myself, don't know what God is. Nobody has seen God. God could be a tree. God could be an animal. God could be water. God gave us everything that we need. He is everywhere. God gave us all a responsibility… and a right. I guess that's what we call ‘God given right’. A right to be, to survive, to bring children up and a responsibility to them.

All over the world, I think almost every minute, or every second, a child is born into this world. God has intended it to be like that. God has created a way that we are given the rights to our children, and a responsibility to take care of those children, not only the right to create them. God gave us everything that we need. God gave us the water that is life. Everyone needs water to come into this world, to grow in the mother and then to survive in the physical world.

Everything that we see here on earth, we inherited. We inherited the air - our daily breath. That’s why we must respect His creation. He gave us the ability to function. You just cannot turn it on, like an oxygen tank and turn it off whenever you please. He gave you the function and right for however long you are here on earth.

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“There is not only a physical side but also there's a spiritual side for everything.”

We are part of the creation. How can God deny us when we work with him? He already gave us the natural instructions, in the structure of the world. Right now I'm talking to you from this part of the world where it is 6:45 in the evening from Canada. It is 6:45 in the morning with the sun in some part of this world. That is the same sun that will set there and come up here tomorrow at 6:45 in the morning The same air, the same sun and the same water gives us life and a food source today. If we don't look after the world, these might be very scarce for the future generations. God has shown us a spiritual value structure. Whenever we take from the land, we must respect this.

Just like the wild owers, they grow by themselves year after year with the soil, the water and the sun… this means the world is alive. The soil has a spirit. God created animals to look after the environment. The natural medicines, the natural plants, the owers you see are medicines We still depend on those natural medicines. Before European contact that's all we had in this part of the world. I'm pretty sure it's also been part of this world in Africa and in the Amazon to use those natural medicines. That is what God has provided. So in this part of the world, here in Canada we maintain that and we still use the natural medicines.

It is not only us, but animals depend on those medicines too. We have bears, mountain sheep, caribou, and even mountain goats. They cannot go to a vet, when they're sick so they depend on those medicines, and these are all those natural workers that God has created. They all have a responsibility, like us In every part of the world, we must maintain the land. We don't just take and walk away. We need to put things back to heal themselves.

There is not only a physical side but also there's a spiritual side for everything. And we cannot change that, because that's God's creation. So we have a responsibility. We have a right. We have a right to listen to the natural order of instructions that God gave us. It was told to us as a structure. We always have a structure. This world is a puzzle.

There's a structure and everything is put together.

We live amongst others in different parts of this world. They have a responsibility too. They have a reason to live in a domain and that's why there are natural birthplaces. That's why there's migration areas.

We like to have our children know, or everybody's children to know where we sh or what we have in our farming areas. We like to pass that on to the next generation. We like to tell them where these spots are. We like to leave the legacy of things that we do… the things that are part of the world… It’s up to us to be caretakers of this world, but we cannot do it without the spirit.

We already see different parts of this world where things are happening. Things that never occur, are occurring, because there is no recognition of spirit. Spirit of the soil. Spirit of the trees. Spirits of the plants. Spirits of the animals.

Spirit of the whole ecosystem.

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taking out the natural workers that God intended to have here. As a consequence, other things start to occur in the environment. You're going to be sick a lot. It is going to be so that you cannot even drink that water. This means the water, and the plants and the animals are without the minerals of the water. Everything is going to be sick.

Today, we wonder why in different parts of this world, we're facing natural disasters. It is because we're not doing that spiritual work we are supposed to be doing because we do not recognize the spirit of this world, in the land, everything. We must come together and recognize to help Mother Earth to heal. Because we are part of the physical AND spirit world. We are human, we are part of everything that is here in this world and we rely on it. We are all spiritual beings created by Creator himself All things come together like a puzzle. It is Creator’s law. We cannot go around that law. So many people pass to the spirit world. Some of us call it heaven. We have people who have physical and spiritual lives. That is why we have people to pray for us So, thank you for listening to me. And I hope we can come together to heal the Earth, wherever we may be because our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren and yet to be born need to know the best things of this world.

We need to think about their future. Not just think about ourselves today and tomorrow or into 10 years from now, but into the seven generations future. Thank you I hope that people who are reading this have an open mind, because it is about Creator, spirit, and the environment… all the environment - including the human beings.

Thank you (Miigwetch.

Notes: The whole of creation is seen as an interconnected structure or interlocking puzzle. Every piece is of equal importance… having the right to exist and the responsibility to hold its place as a worker in this physically and spiritually living creation. It is beautifully ordered and perfectly interdependent

OGIMAA (ACHA-KOOH-WAAY), JI Anishinaabe Knowledge Keeper, Chief of Foothills Ojibway on Turtle Island www.awarenessties.us/ogimaa I am Ogimaa (Acha-Kooh-waay), I begin with words from my own language to say hi to everybody. My identity… which is… because God put me in this part of the world is my Annishinaabe language and name.

That means “leader” for people and environment here. So I am not saying I am the leader of Turtle Island but that’s what that means. It is an individual’s name, which is a spirit name that we carry on from our traditional culture and lineage in this part of the world. We were put here on this Turtle. This Turtle Island is massive.

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We look around and the buffalo and the thousand year old trees are gone. They had a responsibility. We have started

Now is a time to be solution driven and innovative instead of fearful… TIFFANY KELLY

CEO OF PHOENIX RISING, FOUNDER OF BEYOND BAMBOO AND CO-FOUNDER OF ROUNDTABLE GLOBAL

66 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY TANITH HARDING WITH TIFFANY KELLY

TIME TO SHINE

ELEVATING HUMANITY WITH AWARENESS Tiffany Kelly is CEO of Phoenix Rising, Founder of Beyond Bamboo, Co-Founder of RoundTable Global, a speaker and now author of Shine: Effortless Abundance! She has spent the last 20 years empowering people around the world and is now sharing her own journey to absolute empowerment via this must read book. She is taking time out of changing the world for The Hindsight Edition to talk about how we can use this awareness to elevate humanity.

Tanith: First of all a huge congratulations for having your rst book Shine published this year - tell us what Shine means to you and why you wrote it Tiffany: Shine kind of wrote itself in a way! It's a combination of my experiences over 20 years travelling around the world, working with people. I've dedicated my life to unlocking potential through leadership and personal development.

It’s an invitation for people to go on the same journey I went on, understanding that life can be much more effortless if we change our mindset, because then everything else changes. I wanted to share that with people. We’ve created a programme with RoundTable Global that we deliver in 30 different countries and everybody that goes on the programme is transformed in some way. I really wanted to make that accessible to everybody, and to simplify it so that anybody looking to be empowered and to make change happen in their lives could read Shine and could go on the same journey.

TIME TO SHINE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH TIFFANY KELLY

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Tanith: One of the core philosophies is that everything happens to learn from and we attract in the experiences we need to help us grow. Why do you think it’s important for people to read Shine this year Tiffany: My belief system is that everything happens at the right time for you to learn from. Everything happens in flow when you're in this effortless abundance space. My book got published in March, just when COVID happened so I couldn't do any book launches or publicity around it. Quite a few people said it was terrible timing, but I think it's perfect timing because what's happening in the world right now is a massive reset and opportunity for us to look at everything in our lives and make different choices. Shine I split up into chapters that look at every part of life and offer different ways of thinking providing homework and activities. Somebody who read it the other day said it feels like a guidebook for the future - post pandemic. Steps that everybody needs to take. Shine did that for me. It took me through the steps of understanding what I needed to do to make life the way it is now and I wanted to share that, especially when there's so much fear at the moment and people's lives are so uncertain. Shine provides you with guidance of how to change that uncertainty into opportunity and think about things you can do to make your life different

Tanith: This year has been a challenging one for many people, how do you think Shine can help people emerge from the pandemic?

Tiffany: It will help people see that this has been an opportunity to reset regardless of what's happened. A lot of people in my ecosystem work in the events and festival industry and can't work at the moment. They don't know where they're going to get their next paycheck from. However, it is making them innovate and create global communities that are virtual. Shine gets you to think about everything that's happening in a different way, rather than experiencing it in a fearful or a blame based way or pointing fingers at governments and people. It’s an opportunity to ask ‘what can I learn from this and how can I utilise this time in my life’. Now is a time to be solution driven and innovative instead of fearful about what's going on. I’ve seen a lot of people making changes in their life and being really successful and really enjoying the changes that they've made so I think that's really important

Tanith: This is not the first time I have interviewed you for AwareNow so I know you are working on other inspiring projects to help create global culture change and also writing your second book - can you tell us more Tiffany: We are launching Beyond Bamboo which is our organisation focused on conscious consumerism. Providing a space for people to buy, recycle, up-cycle, barter, exchange and really impact the effect that we're having on the planet.

Then there’s my second book, which I've just started writing, called Rise, it's all about the Phoenix Rising Movement and how are we going to emerge from the flames after COVID which has brought the world to its knees, how we are going to be different. It’s my ideas and inspirations for how we can create a completely different culture for people to really thrive, so we're not just surviving on this planet and it's here for future generations It's a movement for everybody. There's lots of men in my ecosystem right now who are really struggling with mental health issues, anxiety and stress because they're finding it difficult to tap into their feminine and express themselves and I think it's really important that we get that masculine/feminine balance so that men can step into their feminine and communicate and collaborate and feel part of communities.

So it's a humankind movement, rather than a female movement.

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“Now is time for us to make change happen…”

Tanith: What advice would you like to give anyone out there who is nding the world a dif cult place to be right now Tiffany: Seek connection and communicate with people. I know so many people who are struggling with loneliness in terms of stimulation. Use this time to really re ect on your passion and purpose, and if you're not sure what's going to happen with your business, this is a real opportunity for you to think about what you love doing what you can do to contribute to the world. Join anything like Phoenix Rising which is going to provide you with inspiration and a place where you can look at some fantastic projects, roll your sleeves up and get involved with them. Now is time for us to make change happen, I really believe that, and I invite anybody that's out there to get involved.

Purchase a copy of Shine https://beawarebehere.com/shine Join the Phoenix Rising Movement www.phoenixrising.global Be a conscious consumer with Beyond Bamboo www.beyondbamboo.online

TANITH HARDIN Director of International Development, The Legacy Project, RoundTable Global www.awarenessties.us/tanith-harding Tanith is leading change management through commitment to the RoundTable Global Three Global Goals of: Educational Reform, Environmental Rejuvenation & Empowerment for All. She delivers innovative and transformational leadership and development programmes in over 30 different countries and is also lead on the international development of philanthropic programmes and projects. This includes working with a growing team of extraordinary Global Change Ambassadors and putting together the Global Youth Awards which celebrate the amazing things our young people are doing to change the world.

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“My rst suggestion is to recognize that it is normal and ok to feel sad and anxious.”

DR. JENNY MARTIN

LICENSED CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST, AUTHOR & AWARENESS TIES OFFICIAL AMBASSADOR

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EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY DR. JENNY MARTIN

DEAR DR. JENNY

THE DOCTOR IS IN AND TAKING QUESTIONS Dr. Jenny Martin is a clinical psychologist in Chicago, IL who specializes in culturally sensitive, insight oriented therapy.

As our Of cial Ambassador for Mental Health Awareness, she will be featured in this monthly column offering advice to our readers. A special thank you to Jenny for bringing her expertise and insight to AwareNow. Have a question you’d like to ask, submit it here: www.awarenessties.us/dear-dr-jenny Dear Dr. Jenny With the holidays coming up, I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety in the past my family has always helped me through it and it always seems to be worst this time of year. What is your advice for spending the holidays alone with your depression - Anonymous, 28, Californi Thanks for a great question. I see this in my practice often, and I think a major challenge is the way society puts pressure on this time of year to be festive and full of joy. In fact, this time of year often feels the opposite of those things. If we are in a low point, disconnected from family, (experiencing a world pandemic?!), or one who does not celebrate the winter holidays, the pressure of the season can be nearly unbearable. My rst suggestion is to recognize that it is normal and ok to feel sad and anxious. This will probably be a year of “getting through” rather than celebrating. Second, let yourself grieve! Being alone during a time when we most wish to be connected evokes feelings of loss. This is real and valid. Recognize this and allow yourself to be sad, to cry, and to mourn what you wish the holidays could be. If you let yourself do this, you may be able to make some room to create a different version of comfort. Let yourself get creative with how you want to spend this time. Is there a book you’ve always wanted to read but never got around to? Do you have a tad of extra spending money that you would have used for travel? What could you do with that to give yourself something special? Learn what it means to take care of yourself, and give yourself that gift. Try not to judge whatever you do or don’t do, though. Aim for survive, rather than thrive. All my best to you during this dif cult season.

DR. JENNY MARTI Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Awareness Ties Official Ambassador www.awarenessties.us/jenny-kristen-martin Dr. Jenny Martin is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in Chicago, IL. Her private practice, Gemstone Wellness, specializes in working with adolescents and adults touched by depression, anxiety, trauma, loss, purposelessness, and issues related to race, sexuality and gender expression. Jenny possesses an extensive background in the arts, speci cally in music, and she enjoys incorporating creative mediums to facilitate emotional expression. Jenny received both her Masters Degree and her Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She completed her Bachelor's Degree in Music and Songwriting at Berklee College of Music.

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We can take all of the issues we work so hard to bring awareness to and tackle them together.

JOEL CARTNER

LAWYER, AWARENESS TIES OFFICIAL ADVISOR & COLUMNIST

72 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘UNYIELDINGLY HUMAN’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY JOEL CARTNER

RESILIENCE REFRAMED REFORMATTING RESILIENCE THROUGH COMMUNITY AND CONVERSATION This month I was asked a seemingly simple question: what have you learned from this year, and how do we take that lesson and carry it forward to better the future? My immediate reaction to said question was, "I don't know what the heck I've learned this year. I've just been surviving." Also, in a year where so much pain has been heaped upon so many, across so many contexts, who was I to try to offer advice on a way forward when I so often felt myself barely hanging on? My reaction to the question was then given further voice by the day I started to try piecing together an answer to said question. The day in question was not a day for me to do anything other than survive. I woke up with my body screaming in pain. It was cold, it was rainy, and I had just gotten back from my sixth-month check-in with my orthopedic; appointments, which always take some mental and physical adjusting to the aftermath because of the sheer magnitude of what they could mean. A change in the way I conceptualize my disability, a change in treatment, or a new problem altogether. They also mean increased pain because of injections. Suf ce to say, between the appointment's aftermath, a naturally bad day, and weather not conducive to my general physical state, I was not in a good place.

“The power of humanization and normalization across experiences at a deeper, more personal level, both in telling my own story and hearing other people's stories, is what I have learned this year.”

I was reading through AwareNow articles, trying to get a sense of the year from a less gloomy place, and talking to friends, family, and contacts trying to get my life moving again. The unusual cocktail of reading articles spotlighting such a wide variety of causes each bringing hope in their own way, and being supported by friends and family, combined with feeling genuinely awful, gave me the answer for which I was looking. I was being humanized and supported by the people around me, and I was being brought back to hope by others by reminding myself I was not alone via reading their stories. The power of humanization and normalization across experiences at a deeper, more personal level, both in telling my own story and hearing other people's stories, is what I have learned this year.

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As far as what we can bring forward, I hope we can continue to foster an environment where people feel comfortable being vulnerable despite all that has happened this year. So many people have had to show an extraordinary amount of resilience in the face of so many things. However, resilience and others' reactions to it can be paralyzing without a community to draw from.

On a personal level, before doing the reading for this article I always hated being called resilient. I understand that by all accounts, I shouldn't be alive right now, and I understand that overcoming what I have to get to where I am is a state of affairs from which people can take inspiration. It's a form of inspiration I'm happy to provide, and hopefully, it can even provide some guidance for other people as they deal with their tough times. Despite that potential, however, I'm also just a guy who's trying to live my life. There are times when I feel the weight of the inspiration people take from me not as a bene t to be conferred, but as a pressure to continue, seemingly, unhindered by my life's challenges. The thing is, that impulse to continue unimpeded affects most people. We convince ourselves we can handle most things on our own, but when it comes to trauma, it often takes a community to surmount it. If we can focus not on what we think our resilience means to others, but rather appreciate the sense of community it can foster (the broad sense that we are not alone), then the conversations we have will only prove more fruitful Resilience and its consequences can also impact entire communities. Take for example, this article (a read I cannot recommend enough)1. It encapsulates why touting an individual's resilience in the face of a community problem can be isolating. Part of why people have needed to be so resilient this year comes from a place of institutional failure to provide the necessary support and resources to ght the many issues ranging from COVID to racial justice that have dominated the public consciousness this year. As pointed out in the article, institutional failure fosters the need for further individual resilience because it reframes a community problem as an individual one. We can, however, reframe individual problems as community problems by banding together in the community we have created here. We can take all of the issues we work so hard to bring awareness to and tackle them together; not as individual ambassadors, columnists, advisors, or members, but as one family.

This year has changed us all irrevocably. But we still need to listen and learn from each other, and we still need to know that when the going gets tough, we can still take strength from each other not just by watching each other get through dif cult things, but by supporting each other Happy Holidays and here’s to a brighter new year for everyone 1

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/health/resilience-overrated.html?referringSource=articleShare

JOEL CARTNE Lawyer, Awareness Ties Of cial Advisor & Columnist
 www.awarenessties.us/joelcartner Joel Cartner is a lawyer and public policy professional with Cerebral Palsy Spastic Diplegia and Retinopathy of Prematurity. Cartner has a background in public health, disability, and education law and policy. He received his J.D. from Quinnipiac University School of Law and his B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Cartner currently lives in Washington D.C. where he works as a Document Review Attorney while seeking legislative employment.

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TIRED “It’s ok, you’re just tired. Just splash some water on your face. That N95 is killer and makes you short of breath because you’re running around all day in it. You’re healthy. Oh dear God, please just stay that way.

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EXCLUSIVE PHOTO SERIES BY STEPHANIE

THE CAPTION OF MY SOUL LIFE THROUGH THE LENS OF ANOTHER

In ‘The Caption Of My Soul, Stephanie shares her view of the world through a lens most of us never have the chance to look through. With photos and captions, she tells the story of a day in the life on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NO TITLE NEEDED We signed up to heal and serve. We continue to show up regardless, but it’s a thought, right

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RUNNING OUT Rushing past, this stopped me in my tracks. ‘The VERY last one? How many of these are in a box? I know we have way more staff than that.. It will be ne we will nd more, I know that one guy in material services..’ This was a grim foreshadowing. We were not prepared but we were willing

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THIS IS LOCKDOWN The moment when the announcement was made to lock down the state of California. Huddled together, hearing those words: lockdown. Whispered voices through the hallways at the hospital: ‘Lockdown? What does that mean? For how long? Can they DO that? Can we get supplies? Are they bringing the military in? I saw a bunch of helicopters that ew over the city earlier.. Do we even have dry goods at home? I need to call my family...’ This was shocking

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PUT YOUR NAME ON IT ‘Here is your mask, place it in the paper bag if you aren’t with a COVID patient to reuse later. I know it says ‘for single use only’ but it’ll be ne. You actually don’t NEED to change it unless it’s visibly soiled.’ To this day, our clinicians will use an N95 for days, sometimes up to a week. A favorite of mine will come to clinic with a tattered surgical mask, ‘I don’t want to use too many in case we run out for the staff.’ This man is high risk and sees more COVID patients than anyone on the oor. I (respectfully) make him change it immediately

STEPHANI Respiratory Care Center & Urgent Care www.awarenessties.us/stephanie In March of 2020 I found myself to be on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. I felt right away that this was history in the making, but at the end of the day my words seemed to fail me. There are times when our words cannot give justice to the experience at hand, so I decided to use my love of photography as a platform to capture my perspective when such moments reveal themselves. I am a healer by nature, compassionate and deeply empathetic. Photography has always been a passion of mine, and photography has always felt tied to empathy. Capturing these moments on lm will allow emotions to be felt through time. Our emotions will remain timeless, and perspectives will remain preserved.

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AWARENESS TALKS Presents

AN UNFILTERED DIALOGUE ABOUT RACE It's hard to know just what to say and how to say it amidst the social justice issues we are facing. Say this, but don't say that. Then, say that, but don't say this. With so much uncertainty regarding what should and should not be said in order not to offend, we need to become 'comfortable with being uncomfortable'.

We need to honestly and openly talk about the reality of race as it pertains to ourselves, our communities and our country.

Filmed and recorded live, watch as JACK & ALLIÉ MCGUIRE, Founders of Awareness Ties™, with Moderator and Strategic Advisor, LISA BOWMAN, Chief Mojo Of cer of Marketing Mojo and former CMO of United Way, speak with three phenomenal panelists about topics too often considered taboo. Questions are asked, and answers are explored. With no lter, the discussion has begun

AS SEEN ON APPLE TV, ROKU & KNEKT TV

AVAILABLE NOW

Featured Panelist

A.J. ANDREW DR. DELA TAGHIPOU THAVIUS BEC

WWW.AWARENESSTIES.US/RACE

Featured Performe

CALY BEVIE Produced b

KNEKT T Presented b

AWARENESS TIE In Partnership with

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I was afraid to be authentic and follow my source. Now, I look at it every moment and know I’m living in light.

MIKE DIAMOND

TV PERSONALITY, DIRECTOR, INTERVENTIONIST & AWARENESS TIES OFFICIAL AMBASSADOR

82 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

MY SPOON

FROM ‘USER’ TO ‘USEFUL’ Before I got sober, unfortunately, I used my spoon to take in a massive amount of cocaine - yes cocaine.

When I posted the picture of myself wearing ‘The Spoon Life’ Necklace, the funny thing is the rst response I got from a number of people was... “What are you doing?”, “Back on the coke, dude?”, “You can’t post that! Your an excocaine, crack addict.

When I rst came out about my drug and alcohol use people said I was crazy and should only talk about it in AA or CA meetings. But I was straight up and said, “People always told me when I was a drunk mess and coked out of my mind.” So, why can’t I embrace my past now and celebrate the fact that I’m sober, healthy and making empowering choices

“My past and my honesty about it empowers others to live in their truth.”

I don’t carry any shame from my past and the disempowering choices I made. My past and my honesty about it empowers others to live in their truth. We never need to carry any shame with the mistakes we make. We live in a society so full of crap, and it hurts people.

Suicide rates and relapses are at a sky-high because of this pandemic and the lockdowns. I get calls all day from people wanting to take their own lives because of the pain they are suffering from the uncertainty of the world right now. I, myself, have lost many friends along the way who suffered in silence.

I’m giving you permission right now not to suffer anymore. And trust me on this. The calls I get on a daily basis to help people aren’t from homeless people. (Not that I won’t help a homeless person. I will.) The calls I get are from people that post how grand their lives are on social media. Bottom line is that no one has it all gured out. We are all doing the best we can with the information we have.

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‘THE CONSCIOUS OUTLAW’ EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY MIKE DIAMOND

The Spoon Life Necklace, and why I wear it, is about ‘taking life one spoon at a time’.

The Spoon Theory also affects me in a different way… Christine Miserandino, like me, suffers from an autoimmune disease and perfectly explains it. Christine gathers spoons of nite units of energy from the universe to help her heal. I suffer from Ulcerative Colitis, an incurable autoimmune disease. Like Christine, I know the importance of positive energy. My spoon keeps things ‘green’ for me. My life has come full circle. A lot of the people I once partied with are now the people I help get sober.

I take life one positive spoon at a time. I make sure I give people ‘a spoon of positivity’ one scoop at a time.

Embracing the moment, I wear my spoon with pride. It reminds me of my past and the darkness I once live in because I was afraid to be authentic and follow my source. Now, I look at it every moment and know I’m living in light. I have healed from my past and take life one magical spoon at a time.

MIKE DIAMON TV Personality, Director, Interventionist & Awareness Ties Of cial Ambassador www.awarenessties.us/mikediamond Mike Diamond is a Television Personality, Director, Life Coach, and Interventionist. Known for his work on the hit TV shows NY Ink and Bondi Ink Tattoo Crew, which is currently nominated for a Logie Award for Best Reality Series. Learn more at www.themikediamond.com.

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Our deep knowledge on the systemic factors leading to educational opportunity gaps drove our creation of Bridging Tech.

ISABEL WANG

CO-FOUNDER OF BRIDGING TECH

86 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE FOUNDERS OF BRIDGING TECH

BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE TWO YOUNG WOMEN, ONE MISSION FOR STUDENT EQUITY & ACCESS TO TECH

In the midst of a pandemic there are those who find the strength to take care of themselves and their families. Then, there are those those who find even greater strength to take care of others as well. This is the story of two such individuals, Isabel Wang & Margot Bellon, the founders of Bridging Tech, who took it upon themselves to provide for students stranded in the digital divide. - Allié M. Allié: As of late, the ‘digital divide’ between students who have tech at home and those who don’t has dramatically increased. Here enters Bridging Tech. Isabel, is this a concept that was born during or before the pandemic? When did you see the need that you are now working to fill Isabel: We founded Bridging Tech in late April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when we realized that remote learning exacerbated one of the most prevalent disparities in children’s education, namely, the digital divide. The digital divide is the issue of inequitable access to technology that leads to opportunity gaps, which then lead to persistent cycles of systemic inequity. This divide is very closely tied to race and socioeconomic status. Bridging Tech is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that seeks to bridge the digital divide and improve children’s education through device donations and access to enriching educational opportunities for children affected by homelessness. Our team strives to make education more equitable, while advancing social justice, as the widespread use of technology in education grows every year Margot and I have known each other for many years, since first living in the same dorm together at Stanford University.

We are two young women passionate about social justice and educational equity, so when the pandemic put the world on pause and forced remote learning for our own classes, we quickly realized that the most disadvantaged students would be left further behind without technology access. We came together with a shared vision of improving the state of our society during this time of critical need and thus began building Bridging Tech from the ground up. My background in spearheading race relations and public health initiatives with a focus on educational equity, along with Margot’s firsthand experiences volunteering at local homeless shelters, gave us the confidence to tackle this ubiquitous issue. For the past seven months, we have dedicated our lives to making a difference through the development of Bridging Tech In our early days of developing our mission, I researched the digital divide to make sure that we were taking the right steps to create a thriving organization that truly makes an impact on people’s lives. I was shocked to learn that over 11 million children in the United States alone do not currently have access to a proper device for learning at home, and this lack of technology combined with already existing educational inequities could exacerbate existing academic gaps by up to 20% for disadvantaged students. Additionally, after speaking with the directors of homeless shelters across the country, I learned that in too many shelters, almost 100% of their students do not have a device for learning. Instead, many families resort to sharing one phone amongst the entire family for both the children’s school and the parents’ work – which only leads to elevated frustration, stress, and anxiety for everyone involved. Children affected by homelessness, who are often also people of color, already start on an uneven playing field in education, and due to the pandemic and growing use of technology in education, the digital divide threatens to widen these disparities every day Our deep knowledge on the systemic factors leading to educational opportunity gaps drove our creation of Bridging Tech. From all of the support we have received from over 10 countries across the world, I realized that many people want to help bridge the digital divide – they simply do not know where to start. I hope that by sharing what we have learned through Bridging Tech, we are sharing the ways in which we, as a community, can come together and break these generational cycles of inequity

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Allié: There was a time when chalk for boards, pencils for paper and books in bags were among the ‘necessities’ for education. Times have changed. That list of items has evolved into perhaps a single item - a computer. Margot, how necessary is personal technology for the success of a student

“Ultimately, having an individual device during COVID-19 means the difference between attending school and being held back a grade.

Margot: Personal technology is absolutely essential for students’ learning and general wellbeing. For students affected by homelessness, their home-bases are transient, and they must learn to adapt to unstable living situations while also trying their best to succeed in school. According to USA Facts, in 2020, 56 million K-12 students in the U.S. began attending online school, 11 million of which do not have a device at home, in addition to the students who must share a device with siblings. While staying up to date with assignments and class-work during in-person school is already challenging, online school presents additional barriers, such as impersonal contact with teachers and less access to school support systems. Having a personal computer means that students can better pay attention and engage during class relative to using a cell phone to attend online class or not having a device at all. Having a personal device also means that students get the opportunity to connect with their peers through classes, messages, and social media, which can have immense bene ts for mental health and social connectivity during times of intense social isolation.

Additionally, having a personal computer or tablet means that students do not have to share a mobile phone with their parents and siblings. When students have personal devices, parents have the ability to use their personal phones for work purposes, instead of lending their phones to their children for class, which further helps to lift families out of poverty. Furthermore, through my conversations with students in our partner shelters, many expressed that phones often do not have the same capacity as computers to run all of the applications needed for school. Ultimately, having an individual device during COVID-19 means the difference between attending school and being held back a grade.

And, when the pandemic subsides, having a personal technological device means that students will have more freedom regarding when and where they get to work on homework, apply to jobs, and connect with friends. The education system in the United States is becoming increasingly reliant on technology, a process that has been accelerated by the pandemic; homework assignments now include videos, most schools use Schoolloop or Canvas sites to organize lessons and homework, and all papers are turned in virtually. As technology needs continue to increase for all students in the United States, Bridging Tech’s services will continue to expand in order to meet this need.

Allié: Unlike a library book that needs to be returned, these computers are the kids’ to keep. In addition to the security this provides for their education, I imagine it is very good for their con dence as individuals. Isabel, do you feel your support with tech transcends into support for mental health of these kids Isabel: I strongly believe that our support with technology transcends into support for the improved mental health of these students. We are so proud that our laptop donations are permanent ones; not only do permanent device donations serve as the bridge to receiving a proper education through access to educational content, remote classes, and programs to complete schoolwork, but they also act as the catalyst for improved mental health and self-image

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Personal technology is absolutely essential for students’ learning and general wellbeing.

MARGOT BELLON

CO-FOUNDER OF BRIDGING TECH

89 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

Owning a piece of technology is empowering for the students we serve. When speaking with our friends at our shelter partnerships, I am constantly reminded that children affected by homelessness grow up with so few material items, most of which are loaned to them – even their shelter is granted temporarily. To have their own piece of technology nally gives these children control over at least one aspect of their lives. This ownership gives them the freedom to pursue their passions through online content, opens up a realm of creation with technology, and inspires the hope that these students can determine their own paths in life. This small piece of metal that we call a laptop is transformative for our students’ outlooks on life Without the worry caused by a lack of necessary educational tools, our students can now focus on pursuing a more equitable education due to our laptop donations. They may even nd an interest in technology and begin forming a path to a career in the technology sector as a result. Our technology makes a difference in how these students conceptualize and confront their education, which allows them to envision a brighter future, full of potential. My friends at Stanford who come from low-income backgrounds tell me that the reason they focused so much time and energy on improving their education is because they believed that was the only way to get out of their town and rise from poverty. With access to a more equitable education, the children we serve have opportunities to ourish in a variety of elds and break socioeconomic barriers

Allié: With so many homeless and low income students in need of tech, Margot, how do you select which students will receive your computers? What ages of students do you work with? What locations Margot: Bridging Tech is focused on providing technology to students affected by homelessness in homeless shelters around the country. Students affected by homelessness ultimately have the greatest need for computers because they are struggling to maintain stable living situations, which makes succeeding in school particularly dif cult. We want to ensure that every technological barrier to academic success is lifted for students affected by homelessness, which, in the age of COVID-19, means providing computers and Wi to these students. Though we do not yet have the resources to provide Wi to the students in our partner shelters, we have established partnerships with other nonpro ts who do so. We focus on helping students in grades K-12 because K-12 education comprises critical learning years for students, and getting held back a grade in primary and secondary schooling can dramatically affect students’ self-con dence and academic progression. Bridging Tech started its initiative by identifying shelters in major cities with students who did not receive loaner computers from districts. Hamilton Families in San Francisco, the largest family shelter in San Francisco, had 300 students in September, 2020 without a device for online learning, so we began our work by lling this need. Later, we started reaching out to shelters in other major cities, like L.A., New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. Because Bridging Tech only has the capacity to donate computers to students in shelters as of right now, we have been focused on providing computers to children in cities because there is more general access to the internet in cities as opposed to rural areas. However, as Bridging Tech continues to grow and develop partnerships, we are now able to refer shelters in more rural and remote areas to nonpro ts that focus on providing Wi and other internet connectivity services. Now, Bridging Tech’s mission is to establish partnerships with shelters in rural areas where districts are outstandingly underfunded and children do not have access to computers or Wi . We also will continue to expand to other shelters in the major cities we already work based on individual shelters’ technology needs and donor interest

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Not many people would have guessed that we would all be working from home this year. With the spread of COVID-19, we are all living in this period of intense isolation from our friends and family members, and I am so grateful for the technology that keeps us connected online. With every Bridging Tech device donation, we are granting relief from the stark isolation of quarantine, since computers allow students to video call their friends and interact with their extended family outside of school. Perceived social isolation often contributes to depression, so we want to make sure that we are doing everything in our power to uplift and support our students’ mental health, especially during these dif cult times. In my eyes, giving a laptop is one of the rst steps to improving students’ mental health right now Additionally, many students are experiencing additional stress and anxiety when thinking about how they are going to stay in school without the proper technology for learning. Our donations clear those initial fears and give our students the con dence to succeed in school. Through my experiences studying psychology interventions for equitable children’s education as a Research Assistant at Stanford, I have learned that technology access is critical for educational equity and setting a proper foundation for children’s development in our modern society. Education and socialization continue to become even more intertwined with technology

We want to ensure that every technological barrier to academic success is lifted for students affected by homelessness… MARGOT BELLON

CO-FOUNDER OF BRIDGING TECH

91 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

Allié: Isabel & Margot, you are two young women in tech who are building a bridge to get over this digital divide. As a woman in tech, myself, I can speak to the challenges that present themselves in the industry for women. Thank you for taking on this challenge in order to do the work that needs to be done. To the young girl who is considering a career in tech, what advice would you offer her Isabel: Thank you so much for shedding light on the importance of bridging the digital divide. As a female founder in the social entrepreneurship and technology space, I feel so grateful to have a budding platform to share my experiences with other young women who aspire to be leaders in their elds. To the young woman considering a career in entrepreneurship or technology: I encourage you to lead with con dence and compassion, and to always show gratitude to the people who helped you along the way. You can make a difference, no matter your background.

Work on something that you are passionate and knowledgeable about, and nd the best use of your current skill set to inspire social change. Your passion will motivate you to get over the hurdles that will stand in your way, and it will guide you to create bold solutions to complex problems. Very quickly, your dedication and hard work will shine through and show tangible results. I urge you to continue building your skill set and never stop learning. In my experience, if you have proven skills from projects that you have worked on in the past, good leaders will want to add you to their teams so that they can learn from you. Life is a continuous learning process, and it is crucial to learn from those around you. I grew up with an inquisitive mindset, and it has given me the freedom to explore my passions and ourish through my love of discovery. If the unknown scares you, I recommend that you start reading, learning, and using your newfound knowledge to change what scares you. If you are constantly learning, you are building up the expertise and strategies that will help you in every future endeavor. After all, knowledge is power. Perhaps the most important piece of advice I can give you is to concentrate on personal improvement – view every slight mistake as a learning opportunity and be gracious toward yourself. Start on the path to ful lling your dreams by creating, learning, looking for opportunities to make a difference in society, and always leading with kindness. You must exercise your courage to stand up for your bold and brilliant ideas; it is essential that you build the con dence to unabashedly share your voice with the world. Finally, I ask that you speak up whenever you notice discrimination or injustices directed toward yourself or others. You can truly improve people’s lives if you are passionate and dedicated to leading the change Margot: I would advise the young girl to have con dence in herself and remember the qualities that make her unique, whether that be her communication skills, critical thinking abilities, or her curiosity. It is easy to feel intimidated in male-dominated professions, including the technology industry, where women do not recognize many people who look like them. But, by developing and maintaining a growth mindset, any woman can succeed in the tech industry and make a name for herself because becoming knowledgeable about a subject matter and working hard gives women the authority they need to command respect in any industry. It is important that women in male-dominated elds also seek out women mentors who can provide guidance on how to navigate a career path in tech, and that these same women later give back to their communities by advising other girls and women. It is also critical that women remember what their passions are and work hard to incorporate these into the technology eld. Whether their interests be gender equality, education, or environmental justice, technology can help transform any social impact eld. Women should feel entitled to express their creativity and ideas, and lead efforts in tech that can help change the world. Finally, for the entrepreneurial women out there, it is essential to leverage your connections and communication skills when building a project. Through Bridging Tech, I have learned that so many members of the community are willing to volunteer time and help contribute to meaningful change, the only challenge is accessing these people and organizations and convincing them of your cause. However, by leading a project with passion, knowledge, and kindness, I have learned that the community will help bring your ideas to fruition.

Learn more and support Building Tec www.bridgingtech.org

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“…build the con dence to unabashedly share your voice with the world.”

In the bleak midwinter frosty wind made moa Many may moan about the bleakness of winter The sick, the homeless, the poor, the elderly The troubled, the hungry, the blind who can’t see.

Think of them all as you stuff your turke and stack all the presents under your tree.

Stop and think how they must feel as you count how many potatoes to pee to give your loved ones, who later might feu over a TV show and what was wrong with the food.

Bless all the dear children who need tender car orphaned from war ‘cause their parents did dar to ght for their lives, for our lives - yours To reclaim some land and change senseless laws Kids need their real fathers, not Santa Claus.

What can I give them, poor as I am All people need, anytime of the yea is kindness, compassion and love that's sincere It’s a lonely time for people alon without a companion, a family, a home We count down the months for that one “perfect day when others just long for a safe place to pray.

Be grateful to have what most of them lac as you squander your cash on the latest tac For someone you love, to show them you care but then give a stranger an icy cold stare.

Do not forget we are equal. We are one We breathe the same air and share the same sun.

Our “status” may differ in terms of our wealt but you can’t buy happiness, love or good health.

Yet what I can I give them, Give my heart Be wise this Winter and do your part Show kindness, compassion and give from the heart

KINDNESS AT CHRISTMAS WRITTEN & PERFORMED BY AURA

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With animations you can be more creative… to promote change.

MICHAEL SPURLOCK DAVIS

ARTEM NEXGEN AMBASSADOR FOR GRAPHIC DESIGN www.IamAwareNow.com

94 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW SERIES BY ALEXANDER TAYLOR

ARTICLES WITH ALEX FEATURING 1M2030 YOUTH LEADERS

MICHAEL SPURLOCK DAVIS Alexander: How did you get into graphic design Michael: I have always enjoyed art as a child, such as painting and coloring, but I soon discovered digital art when I entered high school and I have been hooked ever since Alexander: Why animations Michael: With animations you can be more creative and think beyond simple quotes, or messages to promote change.

That is why I like doing Artemations every week, because it gives me the opportunity to think outside of the box while having an impactful message.

Alexander: Why do you use animations to advance social causes Michael: Animations can be towards any age group, speci cally the youth, and the goal behind the animation is to leave the reader with a call to action and provide the youth with a positive message that will inspire them to be the change in the world that they want to see. This is why I believe Artemations by Artem NexGen can help impact those around me and around the world.

Alexander: Tell me more about Artem NexGen and your role in it Michael: Artem NexGen is designed to empower an international network of high-achieving young social entrepreneurs and in uencers to develop their projects while addressing global challenges. I am the ANG Ambassador for graphic design. I love being a part of ANG because everyone is motivated to help create a better world. The ability to connect with many people around the world and collaborate with the goal of making the world a better place is unmatched anywhere else.

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Alexander: How else do you plan to call for change in society?

Michael: I am very passionate about soccer. Soccer has shaped my life entirely and is a major part of my life.

Working with a team your entire life teaches you that you are only as strong as your weakest player, and for me my goal was to have a team where we are all the best we can be. This had led to me wanting to help others in any way I can. I just got into programming the summer before I attended Morehouse College. I discovered that I can create websites, apps, video games, and much more. I love taking my creativity and expanding that with coding to create powerful resources for many people. This has inspired me to create my own company SPAVIS which is used to help other startup businesses get on their feet and impact the world Alexander: What are some community causes are you passionate about Michael: I love dogs! Growing up I have always had a dog in the house and because of that I volunteer at the Atlanta Humane Animal Shelter. Outside of animals I was always taught to give back to others less fortunate and once a month my father and I would go to our local food pantry and give back to families in need. My goal in everything is to help those around me and inspire those around me to do their very best.

Alexander: What is your favorite animation you have made and why Michael: My favorite animation is called Soar! It shows you how to handle situations that are not ideal and make the best of the situation. This was my most creative artemation so far because it incorporated backgrounds for the rst time.

Connect with Michael on LinkedI www.linkedin.com/in/michael-spurlock-davis/

ALEXANDER TAYLO Founder & President of Artem NexGen
 www.awarenessties.us/alexander-taylor Alexander Taylor is a public speaker and youth ambassador that empowers young social entrepreneurs to address societal, community, and environmental issues. He is the Founder & President of Artem NexGen and Youth Ambassador to The Global Challenges Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, representing the 1M2030 Initiative in partnership with the United Nations Institute of Training and Research, as well as an honors student at Morehouse College. He developed Artem NexGen and scaled 1M2030, as international youth leadership organizations, to provide access to professional opportunities for youth leaders of the rising generation and to raise 1 million youth leaders towards UN sustainable development goals beyond 2030 respectively.

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2020 LESSONS

PART 2

(SEE PART 1 ON PAGE 25)

By JACK McGUIRE

I've learned that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem odd, but people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you just a deeply.

I've learned that no matter how good a friend someone is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I've learned that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I've learned that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I've learned that our background and circumstances may have in uenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I've learned how important a hug is.

I've learned that home schooling and having a career are impossible together, and teachers need a raise.

I've learned that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I've learned that even when you think you have no more to give, when a loved one cries out to you, you will nd the strength to help.

I've learned that writing, as well as talking, can ease emotional pains.

I've learned that the paradigm we live in is not all that is o ered to us.

I've learned that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon.

I've learned that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I've learned that the world hasn’t changed as much as I thought it had, and all lives matter can’t happen till black lives do.

I've learned that I’ve still got a lot to learn.

I've learned that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings and standing up for what you believe.

Here is to building a new normal in 2021, applying all we’ve learned and all we have been through together.

Because together is the only way we will make this better.

I've learned that you shouldn't be so eager to nd out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I've learned that the clothes I like best are the ones with the most holes in them.

I've learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally di erent.

I've learned that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt with them.

I've learned that there are many ways of falling and staying in love.

I've learned that no matter the consequences, those who are honest with themselves, get farther in life.

I've learned that many things can be powered by the mind, the trick is self-control.

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If you are passionate about something, the best thing you can do is act on that… SOPHIA ALEXANDRA HALL

2020 GLOBAL YOUTH AWARDS WINNER

98 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

‘GLOBAL GOOD’ EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS BY TANITH HARDING

2020 GLOBAL YOUTH AWARDS A CONVERSATION WITH SOPHIA ALEXANDRA HALL & MALLAYKA ODDENYO On 5th December 2020 our annual Global Youth Awards were held virtually recognising young people aged 11-25 for work that they are doing to create change in the world. UK Empowerment award winner, 23 year old Sophia Alexandra Hall, Founder of podcast, ‘Who Cares About Research?’ and Global Environment award winner, 11 year old Mallayka Oddenyo from Kenya join me for The Hindsight Edition to discuss the insights and lessons of 2020 and how this year has impacted the incredible projects that they have been working on.

Tanith: A huge congratulations for winning a Global Youth Award this year - it was a really tough year combining all of the awards into one event. Tell us about the projects you were nominated for and how it felt to be recognised for the work you are doing?

Sophia: I've been working on a project called ‘Who Cares About Research’ a social enterprise that I founded in March this year at the start of the UK lockdown. It's a project that's dedicated to disseminating social research for the people it most effects. It's really interesting that we're doing this interview now because I don't think my project would have happened if I hadn't had a bit more time on my hands to dedicate to this. So, essentially it's a podcast. We've just wrapped up season one which is really exciting and it means a lot to have been recognised internationally so early on in our journey. The rst season is 10 episodes long and we're excited about season two, which will hopefully start at the beginning of 2021.

A CONVERSATION WITH THE WINNERS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SOPHIA ALEXANDRA HALL (23) & MALLAYKA ODDENYO

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environment of harmful non-bio-degradable waste, especially plastics. I also plant trees to help in containing global warming. This award was for plastic waste work, collection, recycling ,reusing and rethinking. I feel grateful and motivated and inspired to connect with younger environmentalists worldwide to advance the clean environment and help keep Lake Victoria safe from plastics

“I don’t want to talk about silver linings of this year because it's been horri c, but in one way, everything's just been so much more accessible, I've met people I never would have met otherwise…”

Tanith: You are both working on incredibly inspiring projects to help educate, empower and rejuvenate. How has the pandemic impacted those and what lessons have you learned from the experience Sophia: The pandemic has been super hard. I'm a care leaver which means that I spent my teenage years in the UK foster care system. I have a number of friends around me that during the pandemic their social workers were unable to visit. A lot of people felt like they've just been dropped and were on their own and really lonely. I wanted whatever I did over the next few months during lockdown to be something that brought people together, something that was quite collaborative.

I think it would have had a completely different outcome if we had done this at any other time. My project involves speaking to high pro le researchers and getting them to explain their research in a really accessible way so everyone can understand, regardless of if you have a PhD in a social science, or if you’re coming to a subject as a complete beginner. I think it made us more brave, reaching out and interviewing academics not just in the UK, but also South Africa, Norway, and the United States! I don't think I would have looked so far away if it hadn't been for the connectedness of the pandemic. I don’t want to talk about silver linings of this year because it's been horri c, but in one way, everything's just been so much more accessible, I've met people I never would have met otherwise, this award for one, but also just connecting with people in the same sphere as me. When I put together the podcast I interviewed for a team of people, I have a team of eight and I've only met one of them in real life, and I didn't meet her until I had recorded seven episodes of a podcast with her. In a way the pandemic has been great for growth of the podcast and how many people we can reach. By interacting with academics from different parts of the world we're reaching a global audience and I guess that's why we got nominated for a Global Youth Award which is amazing Mallayka:

The pandemic had a negative impact on our project, human labour was affected with parents being

cautious to let their children mingle. The major lesson I learnt is that we should be prepared always for risk factors affecting man as this trickles down to affecting the environment and a cycle of risks affecting both man and the environment start. This leaves the environment hurt more as man concentrates on man. We need therefore to treat the environment as part and parcel of mankind in all undertakings This has been the year that forced humanity to change. Life has had to go on, plastics have still been in use, so we have had to cope by following COVID prevention protocols while cleaning the environment. Social distance meant less working on volunteering hours and a pile up of plastics in our environment. In other words Covid-19 slowed us down because we can't do a clean up in big numbers.

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Mallayka: Thank you so much for recognising my effort to make our environment clean. What I do is ridding the

This has been the year that forced humanity to change.

MALLAYKA ODDENYO

2020 GLOBAL YOUTH AWARDS WINNER

101 AWARENOW / THE HINDSIGHT EDITION

www.IamAwareNow.com

“… the pleasure and the satisfaction is in working around the challenges.”

Tanith: I love how your passion and purpose has driven you to step up and take the action. What would your advice be for young people that are considering stepping into action Sophia: If you are passionate about something, the best thing you can do is act on that, even if you don't have a speci c project in mind. When I rst started doing work in advocacy for various different projects, mostly involving care, I didn't have an idea. I just knew that I had a story, and I had a voice, and I could nd a platform. So that's how I started getting into social change. It was only further down the line that I created ‘WCAR’ and that took a lot of self discovery and trying to nd out what my skills are, and how to use them to the best of my ability. I worked as a radio presenter and had audio skills and realised that I wanted to help disseminate academic research and so, created a podcast. Everyone is passionate about different things. Find out how you can put your passion and your skills together to create something that the world needs Mallayka: If you love what you are doing, go for it. The fun, the pleasure and the satisfaction is in working around the challenges. Changes don't come easy being an environment warrior. Don’t sit back, join us and together we can save our mother earth.

Learn more about Sophia’s project Who Cares About Research (WCAR whocaresaboutresearch.com Follow Mallayka on Faceboo www.facebook.com/ianna.mallayka

TANITH HARDIN Director of International Development, The Legacy Project, RoundTable Global www.awarenessties.us/tanith-harding Tanith is leading change management through commitment to the RoundTable Global Three Global Goals of: Educational Reform, Environmental Rejuvenation & Empowerment for All. She delivers innovative and transformational leadership and development programmes in over 30 different countries and is also lead on the international development of philanthropic programmes and projects. This includes working with a growing team of extraordinary Global Change Ambassadors and putting together the Global Youth Awards which celebrate the amazing things our young people are doing to change the world.

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WE’RE ALL TIED TO A CAUSE.

WHAT’S YOURS? www.IamAwareNow.com

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