Food Insecurity for University Students

One in 10 Students Are Using Food Banks

One in ten students are now using food banks, while a third are paying for food with their credit cards – racking up more debt.  Go here for an article about this.  They are suffering more now due to the cost of living crisis.  

 

If you want to avoid student debt, you can.  My ebook, Shaking the Money Tree, explains exactly how to do it, and includes step-by-step instructions.  Go here to download it now.  This book can save you thousands. 

 

Plus, did you know that the largest student debt accrued by a student in the UK is £189,000?  

 

You can avoid accruing student debt, starting today!  

Please share this with any young person and/or parent of a young person who wants to avoid student debt. 

  

The Power of Affirmations + Interview

I am proud to announce the launch of The Power of Affirmations BRAND NEW Second Edition! 

 

 

 

 

Go here for an interview with me about the book. 

Whether you are a complete novice or you have been using affirmations for years, The Power of Affirmations will help you to use affirmations effectively. 

 

Some of the topics The Power of Affirmations covers include:

• What Are Affirmations?
• Why Affirmations Don’t Work
• Why Affirmations Work
• How to Add Oomph to Your Affirmations.
• Dealing with the Brown, Smelly Stuff
• How to Achieve Fast Results
• How to Achieve Lasting Results

The Power of Affirmations  is part of a series of ebooks which includes Affirmations for Parents and, coming soon, the NEW ebook Affirmations for Business.  

Go here to buy it on Amazon.com 

Go here to buy it on Amazon.co.uk 

 

Do you know someone who wants to make positive changes to their life?  If so, please share this with them. 

 

Four Ways to Celebrate Christmas Day If You Are Forced to Self-Isolate

I have spent Christmas Day on my own a number of times over the years.  Sometimes, I hated it and felt sad, depressed and lonely.  Other years, I had a great time.  The fact that I am a Buddhist and don't celebrate Christmas doesn't seem to make a lot of difference - I still sometimes feel a desire to spend the holiday with friends and loved ones, and am haunted with the ghosts of Christmases past.  And anyway, this holiday is primarily an ancient celebration of the Winter Solstice, so I celebrate it in that context.  

 

This Christmas day, as in 2020, many people are still forced to self-isolate.  If you are one of the people self-isolating at Christmas (or any other time), missing friends, family and good cheer, check out my Coronavirus Resources for music, quizzes, relaxation, humour and more.  

 

Plus go here for an excellent article in the Guardian on four ways to make Christmas on your own more fun, relaxed and enjoyable.  Number four is by far my favourite.  

 

Follow Candace Bond-Theriault's lead and make a list of your favourite Black films, or whatever films you like. 

 

And there's this one from Oprah Daily:   How to Spend Christmas Alone and Still Make It Merry Without Family.  

 

And this excellent piece from Very Well Mind:  Here's How to Cope with holiday loneliness.

 

So there's a wealth of advice out there.  Plan, or don't.  Keep in touch, or take some time and space for yourself.  Prepare a feast for yourself if you want to.  Do what feels best to you and for you.  Place the emphasis on self-care.  The most important thing to remember is:  you are NOT alone.    

Happy holidays!  

What's your best suggestion for spending Christmas Day alone?  Please comment below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks!  

£189,000 in Student Debt

That's right, it's official, the largest student debt accrued by a student in the UK is £189,000.  Go here to read about it.  

 

Shoulda bought my book, that's all I can say about this.  

I feel terrible about the fact that so many students are left with huge amounts of debt - and this is happening on both sides of the Atlantic.  See also:  Millennials Will Die in Debt - a prediction from Dr. Boyce Watkins of the Black Financial Channel.  

 

I believe young people of today (of all racial and cultural backgrounds) are being robbed of their futures.  That is the main reason why I wrote Shaking the Money Tree.  

Ever since the maximum universities in the UK can charge was raised to £9,000 per year, students have been acquiring mountains of student debt, some of which will never be paid off.  Of course, this has long been the case in the U.S., where there is NO maximum tuition fee.    

 

Those who graduated in 2020 took out an average of £45,060 in student loans, but many of them ended up six figures in debt when you add in interest payments.  One student said that poorer students accrue the most debt.  Student debt has been called a "graduate tax".  

My ebook, Shaking the Money Tree, explains how you can raise money for your tuition.  Go here to download it now, If you are a student, or you have a student in your life, you need to download it now before the price goes up.  

See also:  FREE download, Avoid Student Debt.  

 

Did you avoid student debt?  If so, how did you do so?  Please comment below and please share. 

Review of Twin Flames Exposed

I usually review books about which I am wildly enthusiastic.  This one, not so much.

If you are suffering or struggling in a twin flames relationship, Twin Flames Exposed is NOT going to help you to get together with your twin flame, or help you to sort out your twin flames relationship. 

 

 

This book seeks to debunk some of the myths surrounding twin flames and twin flames relationships. 

 

Some common myths are, for example,

• in twin flames relationships, there is always a “runner” and a “chaser”;  
• you and your twin flame have to heal, or clear your karma in order to be together; and 
• you will recognise your twin flame as soon as you meet for the first time.

 

I have not bought into most of these myths, so they I did not need to have them debunked. The only one I was really interested in was the one about healing. Apparently, you don’t have to in order to unite with your twin flame.

 

One thing I found slightly confusing was that she puts one version of the myth in the table of contents and a different, opposite version when you get to the chapter. So, for example: 

 

Table of Contents: You Might Not Know When You Meet Your Twin Flame

Chapter heading: You will know without a doubt when you meet your twin flame 

 

Table of Contents: Twin Flames and Soul Mates Are Not the Same Thing

Chapter heading: Twin Flames and Soul Mates are different words for the same thing 

 

The chapters listed in the Table of Contents are stating the truth, according to the author. The chapter headings are called “limiting beliefs”, which actually helps. 

 

The book is printed in really big type and has just a few chapters, so it is a quick read. The final chapter is called “The Process”. However, she does not describe or reveal the process of uniting with your twin flame – you have to buy the next book, apparently called The Process, to get the information. Unfortunately, The Process does not appear to be available anywhere other than directly from the author – at a cost of hundreds of pounds.  

 

And anyway, you cannot unite with your twin flame, as you are already one - i.e., two halves of the same soul. I think that’s what she is saying. 

 

If you believe one or more of the myths about twin flame relationships, maybe you will find this book useful. 

 

Altogether, a very disappointing read. 

 

Faces of the Bereft

Hilary Thomas

Today, we have this powerfully emotive poem from Hilary Thomas.  

 

Faces of the Bereft

 

They shot her in her home as she opened the door

then went and shot her nephew who slept in his bed. 

I was transfixed to this story in the news today,

No words could convey the depth of the pain I saw

in those faces, photos of an aftermath.

The aftermath of a shooting

Where mothers and sisters and daughters are left,

Bereft

Women, dressed in amber hues and royal blue African print

Protrude against a backdrop of black and white, ink.

Between the pages of stale adverts, the headlines

And bylines of stories that pop, and then

Die as the day progresses, but this,

This one will surely stain

The faces of mothers and daughters and sisters left,

Bereft

A crime scene of a story to freshly unfold.

Outside on the grass, where shoeless women

Who’s bodies contort with unimaginable pain, remain.

The lives of their loved ones taken by hate

The faces of mothers and sisters and daughters left,

Bereft

So many photographs, taken by a journalist

Determined, I guess, to do their bit.

The windows of an Estate; the building, now barred,

A solid line of police, their vans and yellow tape.

Their cold faces and straight backs, give nothing away.

The crime scene of a double murder, a serious case.

And the women are begging, perhaps, to see, to touch;

Just one last embrace.

The faces of mothers and daughters and sisters left,

Bereft

There’s a face that stands out, repeats in my mind.

I imagine her elegance and grace. Yet, it’s deep lines

I trace as I look at her face; shrivelled by loss,

I see her strong shoulders sink low, towards her buckled knees.

I trace her puffed up eyes and mascara stained tears, then

I surmise; hands in tight fists and arms around her belly pain

Her belly pain, a mother’s worst nightmare

A double blow for the sister of the auntie

She is drenched in death

Drowning in her innocence

The faces of mothers and daughters and sisters left,

Bereft

A crippling affliction has engulfed her today

Like a hell fire that burns and burns

It burns, and burns, no mercy no mercy

It burns into the chill, of the night.

Suffer the living, the ones that are left

For they are the ones that are left

bereft

© Hilary Thomas 2021

Hilary Thomas is a teacher and writer. She is a student at The City Literary Institute in London and has contributed her flash fiction to Late Lines, their monthly spoken word night. She has also written poetry for UK musician, Alfa Mist’s highly successful 2021 jazz/hip hop album, BringBacks. She is currently working on two debuts: a poetry anthology and her debut YA fiction novel.

Go here for readings from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence.  

Go here for NVC resources.  

Go here for more from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2021.  

 

When Will the Killing End?

Gloria Clark

Following her real-life tragedy, Gloria Clark's poem describes what happens in the aftermath of the killing of a chld. 

 

Another night of violence; another young life ends.

Another family crying; another vigil to attend.

Our sons are quickly dying, taken from us way to soon.

Their bodies being littered under twilight of the moon.

I hear a mother crying; sounds like thunder in my ears.

Oh how I wish I could comfort, and wipe away her tears.

Though her face I cannot see and her name remains unknown,

I find the need to let her know that she is not alone.

I feel a deep connection from the bottom of my soul,

For the pain she feels I also feel; my heart still bears the hole.

Our families have been broken, our spirits even more.

For we have lost our loved ones; the ones we so adored.

Can we ever find that happy place where we used to be?

Before young boys with guns and drugs attacked our city streets?

Do the colors that he’s wearing make you want to take his life?

Or are you simply angry and cannot deal with family strife?

Do you have a burning desire to feel the love our loved ones knew?

Where are your family values? Guess that’s missing in your life too!

Is the gang you’re in your haven? Does it take away your pain?

Does it make you feel significant? Is it your personal domain?

What can be done to end this war? When will the killing end?

We’re in a quandary, what can we do? All rational thoughts transcend.

It’s time to stop the violence; the shootings have to cease.

We have to learn to love one another and try to live in Peace.

Young men out there who find the need for a weapon to conceal,

Before you pull that trigger remember that body may never heal.

Life is a precious gift, given from the Lord above,

He gave us life to show us of his unfailing, undying love.

He died for us upon the cross and gave his only son,

That we will have the tree of life; He died and said, “It’s done”.

So stop the drugs and the killing and put the guns away,

Be smart learn to walk away to live another day.

 

            “This is the day that the lord has made;

                   Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

                              Psalm 118: 23-25

My youngest son was shot and killed in 2000 which prompted me to write a short story of the struggles I faced in trying to deal with his untimely death. The title of my short book is entitled When Half of Your Heart Dies. 

I am a retired bookkeeper from Buffalo, NY and I lived a happy, fruitful life being the mother of two sons and the grandmother of two granddaughters until the summer of 2000 when my youngest son Darian was shot and killed as he and friends were leaving a Social Club in our city. This is when my entire life changed and it will never be the same again.  

Go here for readings from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence.  

Go here for NVC resources.  

Go here for more from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2021.