The Unlibrarian

12/14/2024

- Story of Wonder -

You asked me what is important to me
Well, the list is long and worthy of love
Some of it I worry would scare you away
But it is all very true, down to my soul

Let me start with the love of my life
It is my son who I love with all my might
With his beautiful smile and lively giggles
He is the one who I look up to every day

Family and friends of high quality and values
Let me be clear, this is a work in progress
What I want is to have the truest of the true
And all the rest will simply fade away

Then there's you, who has found his way
Little did I know all that I would learn
To talk about what truly matters and more
It all means so much to me, this connection

To make every day full of magic and wonder
Laugh and smile with my truest heart
Shed away the dark cape of comfort
Light and love is the path I choose

I cannot forget my kitties and puppy
The conditional love they share with us
How I adore the way you look at them too
With softness and compassion, my heart swells

I have my stories to tell with positive twists
I hide the ones that are fully of darkness
They are important to my life story
I rather let them alone and inform the light

With gratitude and a smile I live every day
To be alive and learning to thrive is a blessing
I thank the universe, gods, goddesses
The lords and ladies of my ancestries

All of this and more is the life I choose to live
Taking every day as a gift, a beautiful present
The unhappy events have their proper place
They are met with compassion and kindness

You may still wonder what else there is
Many more questions and conversations
They will be held in our sacred space
Living this life of wonder and magic

We have so much to learn about one another
To which I look forward to exploring in time
All the little and big things that matter to us
All in due time, with patience and love

12/13/2024

- the rollercoaster -
The rollercoaster comes to a pause
Here's the chance to leave it behind
Leap of faith and get out of the loop
Stand at the platform and watch it go by
You did the right thing
It had to be done
Time to go back to my familiar woods
Wandering and travelling
I can take care of myself here
I can heal here, with the earth under my feet
Get me away from the metal boxes
Away from damaging frequencies
Away from vicious cycles
Away from the unhealthy
Deep breath to my soul, who I am
I am love
I am strong
I am resilient
I am more than just a survivor
I live to thrive and enjoy life
Now I provide for another life
He must know the love I feel
He must know a mother's happiness
He must know a life of love and joy
A smile alights my face in knowing
I truly believe: everything happens for a reason
I have faith in the universe and myself
More lessons have been learned
I know who is my support network
I know that I must support myself
Time to get my life back to where it needs to be
Time... time... to smile

10/30/2024

My favourite phrase lately

10/28/2024

Four years ago today (thanks Facebook memories) and those same books are still considered seminal in parenting kids, neurotypical and neurodiverse! Amazing.

10/27/2024

I got that excited feeling in my body and smile at the corner of my lips and ideas sparkling in my eye, and all just because of constant survival efforts to thrive.

After more than two years, I finally have good internet at home. While we now can watch YouTube and I can now watch videos people send to me, it also means I can now do zoom calls and other internet necessary tasks like keeping my files in order as we are forced to have them in the cloud, thus requiring internet even for basic file maintenance. Not being able to access my own files has been frustrating and highly illustrative of todays Digital Divide. The Divide is still there and has become a chasm.

10/24/2024

Got an inquiry for a NUANS business name registration a bit ago. I let them know I would be around when they were ready. Today was the day. I Iove hearing about new businesses or businesses who’ve expanded enough in the eyes of the owner to register and get their business number. Either way, congrats to your name reservation and good luck with the registration and subsequent official business.

10/24/2024

Write up to my presentation last night. The hardest part was writing a bio that covered the bases, got to the point and spoke meaningfully to this audience. I started with answering the question I am asked the most: What is The Unlibrarian?

The Unlibrarian is the entrepreneurial result of a decade-long career as an expert francophone medical academic librarian after having worked in a variety of library pathways from archives to government with a solid base in customer service roles. Rose is a deafblind mother sharing her knowledge and perspectives after being in the workforce for 25 years. She grew up outside of Salisbury, New Brunswick as a ninth generation descendent, daughter of a dump truck driver/soil whisperer and seamstress, who got away to achieve a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Sociology and a Master of Library and Information Studies before coming back home. She asks if you could please ensure she can see your face when you speak as she does lipread to help make up for her hearing loss. Other accommodations have been invisibly handled like handing out her powerpoint to all of you to ensure it can be easily followed along in the five minutes we have together. Rose has learned how to navigate the worst of it, knows that one is immune to disability and that more people need to understand how to not take it for granted, especially those working in human resources.

Dis ability relies on your prejudice

Ever wonder if people with disabilities walk among you? Ever wonder how your life would change if you became disabled? Did you know there’s a significant difference between medical and societal disability?

Join us as Rose Horsman talks about the fallacies of inclusion and universal design in the real world. The more you know, the more you understand, and the more helpful you can actually be for hiring and retaining people with disabilities in your organization.

Hear it from someone who made it.

Date: October 23rd
Time: 6-9pm
Location: Tire Shack Brewing Co.

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/1008534954197?aff=oddtdtcreator

Title Sponsor: SMART Human Resource Solutions
Silver Sponsor: Econ Dev Southeast NB / Dev écon Sud-Est NB

10/24/2024

I was honoured to present to an amazing group of Human Resources professionals last evening. I loved how my presentation was received. To cover so much in 5 minutes was certainly a challenge - I could take the exact PowerPoint and easily make it a good hour long talk to delve into the details. Rather I was the pebble skimming/skipping over the water there last night. I hope that I brought awareness to this key group that have real life impact on the financial wellbeing of people with disabilities and health challenges. Thank you again to the hosts of this amazing event!

Big shout out to our emcee Natalie Davison - it was wonderful to finally meet you in person.

Disrupthr Moncton & Fredericton SMART Human Resource Solutions Econ Dev Southeast NB / Dev écon Sud-Est NB

10/18/2024

After a period of quiet, I am surfacing for a one evening event in Moncton to talk about some important aspects of disability and health when it comes to Human Resources. See you there!

DisruptHR Moncton
Date: October 23rd
Time: 6-9pm
Location: Tire Shack Brewing Co.

Find the event on LinkedIn and EventBrite.

10/18/2024

After a period of quiet, I am surfacing for a one evening event to talk about some important aspects of disability when it comes to Human Resources. See you there!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/disrupthr-moncton-fredericton_disrupthrmoncton-disabilities-hrevent-activity-7253027836658167809-xRpE?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

10/12/2024

I love waking up in the middle of the night and seeing someone visiting my websites. I even got back to sleep after a few minutes. Double success.

10/05/2024

It’s not so easy to put a fire out when it’s peat moss underground - it lives still underneath until time to burn brightly again. My roots save me.

I have found myself expanding as a Mentor and have blessed with three librarian mentees with CAPAL. One of my accidental mentees is now in a new job closer to field of choice and feeling better about outcomes. Another one from two years ago has become a good friend now that employment in field of choice has been secured. The universe sent them to me, one by one and I am proud of all them. It’s been good for me to remind myself of the skills and knowledge I do indeed possess and can put to good use still despite circumstances.

I can now afford to volunteer, as strange as that sounds. Volunteeering is a privilege. So I am helping at my son’s school, the policy side of things. Only three times a semester but can have meaningful impact. Plus being able to nap before the evening meetings makes it possible to attend successfully. Heck, I even brought out my hearing kit for the meeting!

I am grateful to have all that I do in my life and for where I managed to land despite it all. It’s like I am in early retirement. Not uncommon for people with disabilities and severe health issues to have to exit the workforce sooner than later. As an aside, part time is often impossible as it risks losing benefits too many times - living being “able to do some work” isn’t survivable. So it’s an all or none kind of world that way. Sad and mad, but I am learning to see the silver linings. Really, I’m still figuring it all out. That said, man, I am grateful for today.

My fire does indeed still burn brightly.

09/25/2024

09/14/2024

I am very happy to say I made it to 40!!!!!!!

So excited to see this mid-point and look forward to the next forty years.

08/29/2024

Getting in the mindset for schooling your kids?

Everyday Magic with Kids: Hidden curriculum of childhood

Download for free on my website by clicking the PDF image.

The unLibrarian`s publications (ebooks & booklets) and other crafted products.