It is count down - 5 weeks to go

With only 5 weeks left to complete all assignments, the pressure is on and being organized and prioritizing the work load is critical.
This coming week we get to present our book summaries that we chose. It will be interesting to finally hear what my classmates have been talking about throughout the semester about the books they chose to read.

Thanks Pascale for sharing your power point presentation on the Neuroscience Leadership Conference. I found the information on the Prefrontal Cortex very interesting and to understand that our black box takes time to grow and mature. This information reinforces the importance of letting yourself stand back and not respond until you have had time to reflect. This is something that I have to remember and work on especially when I am emotionally charged! It is comforting to know that this part of the brain can be rewired.

The book that I chose to read for this class is "Feel the Fear and do it anyway" and after listening to you present your power point, it is interesting to see how there is a connection between what Susan Jeffers talks about and the Amygdala and the Prefrontal Cortex parts of the brain. In Chapter 10 she tells us that it is very important to be able to give freely without expecting anything back. What she is saying is that when we are a baby we depend 100% on our parents to feed and take care of us and that when we become adults we subconsiously hold onto that fear. This fear blocks the ability to give freely, she says that "metaphorically, we remain frightened that no one will come to relieve our hunger, whether the hunger is for food, love, money, praise and so on", so when we do something for someone, we expect that favour to be returned somehow. I would say that would be the Amygdala part of the brain controlling us. By becoming aware of that underlining fear and working on self to let go of that fear, you start to rewrite and strengthen your Prefrontal Cortex. I find that to be a really powerful insight.

Mark and Chris put on a couple of interesting exercises for us to figure out. The first exercise I took part in was standing on the tarpoline along with probably about 10 other people and trying to turn it around without stepping on the ground. What I observed from being in the crowed was I intially suggested taking a corner of the tarpoline and slowly bringing it into the middle allowing people time to find a footing on the other side of the material. What happened next from my prespective was Tiffany, who was behind me and at a slightly different angle suggested something similar but bringing up the tarpoline from a different corner. We were managing to get our feet on the inside of the material and had to hold onto each other, but we then seemed to come to a stop. Colette then took up the leadership role and managed to get us all transfered over to the other side. What I observed from that exercise was the obvious leaders, but I also observed that we all took a leadership role in the sense of supporting each other and guiding each other so that we wouldn't fall off the tarpoline. It was interesting and a lot of fun good job guys.

On the 16th April there is a "TASTE OF OCEANSIDE EVENT" which is a Rotary Club fundraiser. What is being offered is tastings of different foods from local restaurants in the area. Some of the restaurants that have confirmed their participation are: Tigh-na-mara, Landing West Coast Grill-Pacific Shores, Litttle Qualicum Cheese Works, Pacific Prime Restaurant-Beach Club, Rod & Gun Pub and Cafe and Thalassa-Memorial Golf Club, just to mention a few. Tickets are $15.00 and can be pre purchased at Marlin Trave in Parksville and the event is held at the Parksville Community and Conference Centre. So come on out and enjoy what this part of the world has to offer food wise. Some of these restaurants offer top of the line food.

That's it for this week.