Latest / Podcasts By Donna Jodhan / Remarkable World Commentary Episode #2: Breaking Down Barriers

Transcript

Remarkable World Commentary Episode #2: Breaking Down Barriers · Podcasts By Donna Jodhan

• 0:00
  [Music]
• 0:08
  Greetings Donna J Donan LLB ACSP and NBA
• 0:12
  invites you to listen to her podcast
• 0:15
  Remarkable, a bi-weekly commentary where
• 0:17
  Donna shares her most inner thoughts
• 0:20
  insights, and much more with her
• 0:22
  listeners. Donna will focus on topics
• 0:24
  that are directly affecting the future
• 0:26
  of kids, especially so with kids with
• 0:29
  disabilities. Donna is a blind advocate,
• 0:32
  author, sight loss coach, dinner mystery
• 0:34
  producer and writer, entrepreneur, law
• 0:38
  graduate, and podcast commentator. She has
• 0:41
  decades of lived experiences, knowledge,
• 0:44
  skills, and expertise and as someone who
• 0:47
  is internationally known for her work
• 0:49
  and roles, she just wants to make things
• 0:51
  better than possible. Donna wants to hear
• 0:54
  from her listeners and invites you to
• 0:56
  write her at DonnaJ@gmail.com
• 1:00
  [Music]
• 1:05
  Hi there, my name is Donna J
• 1:08
  Jan and I am pleased to be with you for
• 1:13
  yet another podcast of my
• 1:18
  remarkable bi-weekly World
• 1:22
  commentary. I started this because I feel
• 1:25
  that it is necessary for me as a person
• 1:29
  to be able to express myself on
• 1:33
  social media. It is not easy given
• 1:37
  everything that is there and a shifting
• 1:40
  landscape that is constantly
• 1:43
  shifting but I will do my best to
• 1:45
  express my opinions and my thoughts in a
• 1:49
  thoughtful and professional
• 1:52
  manner. My promise is to ensure that the
• 1:56
  future of our kids especially kids with
• 1:59
  disabilities
• 2:00
  is a better one than it was for me
• 2:04
  growing up and I hope and pray that
• 2:08
  people listening to this podcast and
• 2:12
  future podcasts will take me seriously
• 2:16
  and join with me in helping to make a
• 2:19
  better future for kids especially those
• 2:24
  with
• 2:27
  disabilities. As an
• 2:30
  author, as an advocate, a blogger, a coach
• 2:36
  a dinner mystery producer and writer, an
• 2:41
  entrepreneur, a law graduate, and a
• 2:43
  podcast Entertainer, sorry podcast
• 2:47
  commentator, I have seen many things in
• 2:50
  my life and you may be asking why is it
• 2:55
  that I have had to play so many
• 2:59
  roles in my life and I'll tell you
• 3:01
  why. No one role is enough these days to
• 3:06
  get you where you want to go. If you want
• 3:09
  to show
• 3:11
  diversity, if you want to show
• 3:13
  versatility and
• 3:15
  flexibility, you need to be able to adapt
• 3:19
  to different types of roles in order to
• 3:21
  spread your
• 3:23
  message and this is something that my
• 3:26
  dear friend Eron Dy has been telling me
• 3:30
  since we first met several years
• 3:33
  ago. Thank you Eron and I will continue
• 3:36
  to thank you throughout each of my
• 3:39
  podcasts.
• 3:40
  Remarkable bi-weekly World
• 3:44
  commentary. So what am I going to be
• 3:47
  talking about for this
• 3:50
  week? It's about breaking down
• 3:53
  barriers and in order to break down
• 3:56
  barriers we need to be able to say to
• 4:00
  ourselves we have our independence, we
• 4:04
  are independent enough to think and to
• 4:08
  speak up and speak
• 4:10
  out. I call this my Independence wings
• 4:16
  and in order to attain or achieve
• 4:19
  independence and I'm talking now for
• 4:22
  myself, I've had to build
• 4:25
  confidence but confidence has not come
• 4:28
  very easily for me and in order to
• 4:31
  build confidence I've had to get
• 4:35
  involved in advocacy and
• 4:39
  accessibility. So independence is only
• 4:43
  obtained when one
• 4:45
  can say to themselves that they are
• 4:49
  confident and in order to obtain your
• 4:52
  confidence you have to be able to deal
• 4:56
  with advocacy and accessibility.
• 5:01
  Now when it comes to breaking down
• 5:03
  barriers it's all about not just real
• 5:07
  barriers or tangible
• 5:10
  barriers, it is all about artificial
• 5:13
  barriers as well. So you have artificial
• 5:17
  barriers and tangible
• 5:20
  barriers and the best way to break down
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  barriers and build bridges is through
• 5:29
  example setting
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  examples and this is why I launched my
• 5:36
  Etsy initiative in the month of May. I
• 5:41
  launched this initiative because I want
• 5:43
  to help encourage and motivate my
• 5:47
  readers, my listeners, and my
• 5:51
  shoppers to reach for the stars, think
• 5:54
  outside the box, allow your imagination
• 5:59
  to roam. Roam around the world, roam
• 6:03
  around your home, roam
• 6:07
  everywhere. Trust me when I tell you that
• 6:11
  breaking down barriers is all about
• 6:13
  setting
• 6:15
  examples and this is why my Etsy
• 6:18
  initiative became a
• 6:21
  reality. Please do not think of going to
• 6:24
  my Etsy website and I am known as
• 6:26
  blindly
• 6:28
  brilliant, okay.
• 6:30
  Think of it as my helping
• 6:33
  you to build your imagination, to let your
• 6:39
  mind be itself, to be free to think, to
• 6:44
  create. This is what my Etsy initiative
• 6:51
  is all about and I'd like to thank my
• 6:54
  dear friend
• 6:58
  and my pottery instructor Sha Kelly. I
• 7:00
  met Sha almost two years ago at the
• 7:04
  Studio on the Hill Pottery Studio in
• 7:08
  Toronto and together we are building, we
• 7:13
  are creating, and we are reaching out to
• 7:17
  others so that they too can create and
• 7:20
  build. Okay
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  we have to make it better than
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  possible. If we put our minds to it, it
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  can be.
• 7:37
  We can show our creativity and our
• 7:39
  mindfulness
• 7:45
  through reactions and
• 7:47
  initiatives.
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  Okay, first you have your advocacy and
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  your
• 7:56
  accessibility. Next comes
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  confidence, then finally comes your
• 8:01
  independence and this is where I say you
• 8:04
  obtain your wings to fly. Fly high, reach
• 8:07
  for the stars, let's break down barriers
• 8:13
  together. Let me give you some examples
• 8:18
  of
• 8:21
  activators. My Etsy initiative through
• 8:23
  pottery is my latest activator
• 8:26
  where I'm using pottery to help me
• 8:30
  motivate,
• 8:34
  encourage, create, and think outside the
• 8:35
  box. Please visit me at
• 8:39
  etsy.com
• 8:43
  www.etsy.com
• 8:46
  and look for blindly
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  brilliant. You can also activate yourself
• 8:51
  through knitting. Believe it or not,
• 8:55
  knitting is not just about needles
• 8:59
  and loops and everything like that. It's
• 9:02
  using your hands to
• 9:05
  create. Create different things, blankets
• 9:11
  for baby, afghans for baby, potholders,
• 9:17
  scarves. Use
• 9:19
  knitting to help you
• 9:23
  create, open your
• 9:25
  mind. How about playing chess? Now I'm
• 9:29
  giving you examples of what I'm
• 9:32
  doing. I play chess in order to develop
• 9:36
  my mathematical skills and in order to
• 9:39
  reach out to others around the world. I
• 9:43
  reach out to folks across the pond in
• 9:46
  the United Kingdom and I play against my
• 9:49
  fellow
• 9:51
  Canadians. Playing chess is another
• 9:55
  activity and when we talk about breaking
• 9:58
  down barriers let's just step back for a
• 10:01
  little bit. When people see me knitting
• 10:05
  they are amazed that a blind person can
• 10:08
  knit and when they see me playing chess
• 10:11
  they are even more amazed that a blind
• 10:14
  person can play chess. Why not? We have a
• 10:18
  special board but that board and the
• 10:21
  pieces can also be used by persons who
• 10:25
  are sighted and this is how I get to play
• 10:28
  against my sighted
• 10:33
  opponents. Traveling, when people see me
• 10:36
  traveling alone or traveling with my
• 10:39
  friends, they again say, oh my goodness, oh
• 10:43
  my gosh, a blind person can
• 10:47
  travel? Yes we can and it is another way
• 10:51
  of breaking down
• 10:54
  barriers. Ice skating is yet another
• 10:57
  thing that I have used in the past
• 11:01
  and even now to help me gain my
• 11:05
  confidence because when you get on the
• 11:07
  ice and you are on your skates you have
• 11:10
  nowhere to go but skate around the rink
• 11:14
  whether it's indoor or
• 11:16
  outdoor. Most of all, however, when others
• 11:20
  see me skating they say, my
• 11:23
  gosh, then you don't have to be blind in
• 11:26
  order to do whatever you want to do.
• 11:30
  I always remember one day when I was
• 11:32
  skating, this gentleman came up to me and
• 11:35
  said, "Can't you find something else
• 11:38
  easier to do?"
• 11:40
  and in response I said to him, "I
• 11:43
  don't understand, nothing comes easy. You
• 11:47
  have to work at it and if you can skate
• 11:51
  then why can't I? All I need to do is
• 11:55
  find a workaround."
• 11:59
  I want to thank my ex-coach Jan Haney
• 12:03
  for having encouraged me to skate. I am
• 12:07
  truly grateful to Jan for having helped
• 12:10
  me to become a better skater and again
• 12:14
  to Sha Kelly my pottery studio instructor and of course
• 12:18
  Eron. Thank you everyone. Let's keep on
• 12:21
  breaking down
• 12:27
  barriers. Help me secure a better
• 12:30
  future especially those kids with
• 12:31
  disabilities. Until the next time, you
• 12:37
  take care and bye for
• 12:40
  now. Donna thanks you for tuning in to
• 12:45
  listen to her and looks forward to
• 12:48
  hearing from you. You can write to her at
• 12:50
  DonnaJ@gmail.com
• 12:53
  [Music]