The warm afternoon sun casts long shadows across the dock. A crow calls in the forest and a lone speedboat makes its way across the channel in the distance. It is September and most of the cottagers have gone home. This is my favourite time of year at the lake. The days are still hot, yet the nights need a warm fire.
I suppose it is the changes I like to watch. This morning the thick fog seemed to press down on the lake, flattening it; not even a ripple marked the surface. The sun came up bringing a faint breeze. Slowly, over the morning, the mist rolled out, caught briefly by the islands and trees along the coast until it vanished completely with the noon sun.
I read somewhere that if we don’t go through the difficult things life brings then it is harder to appreciate or recognize the good that life throws our way. For me, September is a month of extremes. On a warm, sunny September morning nine years ago, my father died. A year later, on September 11, many more people lost someone they loved. The trees above me are beginning to lose their leaves; they float slowly to the ground — mother nature’s tears.
Today on the Women’s News section of our website, I read about the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA,www.rawa.org). They are speaking out about the hundreds of young women raped in their country every year. Powerful and corrupt officials turn a blind eye to the atrocities.
With the deteriorating security in large parts of the country, things worsen for the weak and unvalued. A society that treats its women so unjustly is one without honour. Yet the men walk around mistaking religious orthodoxy for integrity. How does the world teach integrity to children who have been raped and pillaged? It is hard to turn away. Should we?
I am just in the middle of reading a copy of Money Magnet: How to Attract Investors to Your Business, a book written by one of our columnists, Jacoline Loewen. It’s printed by John Wiley and Sons, and so far I’m finding it very inspiring. Jacoline has a way of putting perspective on the challenge of financing businesses. She points out how many entrepreneurs make the mistake of not learning about what financing is available to them. She has me thinking of the various ways we will be growing Women’s Post — both the magazine and the website — and how important it is to have investors who will actively help us grow into a bigger company. Jacoline has a clean, honest voice; she tells it like it is. I know Money Magnet will inspire entrepreneurs to create stronger, more productive companies. Jacoline is driven by the impulse to inspire entrepreneurs to achieve their goals, and she’s done just that with Money Magnet.
Sarah Thomson can be reached at publisher@womenspost.ca.
