Empress Tea

Disability Pride Month Poetry

Meghan — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 15:47:24 +0000

July is disability pride month! Meghan celebrates her pride with a poem about the ups and downs of disability. Pride How do you have pride in something, That from the moment you take your first breath, They tell you you’re broken? Disabled. That’s what you are. That’s the label you wear. For all of your life, you are this thing, It’s inescapable. How do you take pride in, Your very being remaining inevitable? No matter what I do, No matter who I am. I am always this thing first. How do you take pride in something, That sets your mother on a hamster wheel of advocacy? Sends your father running for the hills? You bend, stretch, cut and stitch, And doctor your way toward perfection. Only to realize that inevitable label you live with, Will always be. Your disability, Walks into the room before you do. It announces itself so loudly in your little town, That it may as well be screamed over the school speakers. As every little head turns to stare at you, Like a zoo animal. That little silent thing, You’ve always known about yourself. You’re never going to walk. Before that very moment, You thought that […]

The post Disability Pride Month Poetry appeared first on Empress Tea.

Identifying with ‘Introducing, Selma Blair’ Documentary

Meghan — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 14:58:38 +0000

A woman with CP discusses how she identifies with the ‘Introducing, Selma Blair’ documentary. A beautiful & honest depiction of disability. I recently watched Introducing, Selma Blair on Discovery Plus. It’s an eye opening documentary of Selma Blair’s journey with multiple sclerosis while seeking treatment for the autoimmune disease via stem cell therapy using her own stem cells. The first thing that struck me watching the documentary is the vulnerability shown by Ms. Blair. I expected this portrait of her life to be sort of glamorized, maybe watered down, or mined for little nuggets of inspiration porn. Because that’s what portraits of disability typically are when made by largely non-disabled people. This is none of that. It’s raw and honest. It’s painful, it’s human, it’s brave, it’s sad, and hopeful. It shows everything it is to be disabled and it apologizes for nothing and that’s beautiful. It’s beautiful because I think the disabled community at large feels as though we must apologize for existing in spaces that find us inconvenient. Back to the vulnerability. Imagine with me for a second that there’s something that you don’t like about yourself, something you would never willingly show in front of someone, and […]

The post Identifying with ‘Introducing, Selma Blair’ Documentary appeared first on Empress Tea.

In This Together (or The Covid Divide)

Amber — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 15:29:47 +0000

When this started we were all in this together. In our rush to the Covid finishing line are we creating bigger problems and further division? For almost two years we’ve been faced with many decisions that we thought we’d never have to make. We’re living a life that was unexpected and once thought to be fictional. While it feels like the finish line is here and we’ll do anything to make it over that red line, are we creating bigger problems to deal with later? I am exhausted, to start. I am confused, to add another layer. Also, angry and anxious. Oh! Overwhelmed, yes, let’s add overwhelmed to the list. If I could take a break, I would. But the reasons we haven’t will take us on a tangent you don’t want to read about, so I’ll skip that part. A few months ago I deemed myself the chief marketing officer for the “Move To Yellowknife. We Have this Covid Thing Figured Out” campaign. Because we were kicking Covid butt up here people! With the exception of two weeks in May, our kids went to school every day for the entire school year in 2020/21. We were all in this […]

The post In This Together (or The Covid Divide) appeared first on Empress Tea.

Games for a Rainy Day (or; Beating the Blahs with Family Fun)

Klarissa — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:14:44 +0000

Playing games on rainy days is fun and can bring families closer together. Find out which games my family and I chose to play on a rainy day. It has been a wet fall here in London, Ontario. My kids – and I, when I can join them – run to the park as soon as the sun peaks out. But those rainy days… ugh! They are long, slow, cold, dreary, and daily. Sitting in front of the TV, pretending we are somewhere else, sounds like a good idea on paper. Unfortunately, these same miserable rainy days also give me migraines. Sitting in front of a computer for too many hours doesn’t help my head much either. So, I spend family fun time playing table top games instead. Read on to see our games for a rainy day… Mexican Train Dominoes It all started just over a week ago. The air pressure was changing, I was working on a very long PowerPoint presentation and I couldn’t imagine staring at a screen for another second. So, I pulled out Mexican Train Dominoes and so the games on a rainy day began. To my surprise, the kids were thrilled. In fact, they […]

The post Games for a Rainy Day (or; Beating the Blahs with Family Fun) appeared first on Empress Tea.

A Ghost Story In Honour of Hallowe’en

Myranda — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 15:48:22 +0000

In honour of Hallowe’en (my favourite holiday), I thought I’d try to flex the creative muscles and write a little ghost story. ~ Ghosts Some short months after the pandemic is finally over, she buys the house. The bungalow had been on the market for longer than she would have expected. When low mortgage rates and people spending their money differently, starters homes didn’t stay on the market long. Yet this one had sat empty, quiet, though the inspectors could find nothing wrong with it. With the spectre of the virus beginning to wane and a safe downpayment in her savings account, she was ready to invest in her own home. It seemed like fate. “It’s because of the ghost,” explain her new neighbours who live to the left. The middle-aged couple had greeted her while some friends helped unpack her u-haul. They didn’t seem the type to subscribe to paranormal predilections, but to each their own, and a sweater vest or mom jeans weren’t necessarily signs against it. She accepts their concern, reassures them she’ll be fine, and carries on. After the crucial unpacking is down, pizza consumed and her friends gone to their own homes, she crawls into […]

The post A Ghost Story In Honour of Hallowe’en appeared first on Empress Tea.

Little Golden Books Intro to Literature

Nancy Borden — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 17:41:19 +0000

A young toddler’s intro to literature with a pile of Little Golden Books. Memories of a busy family and sneaking away to read. Let’s welcome Nancy to Empress Tea! This is her first lovely piece for us. Be sure to read the whole thing for the Little Golden Books surprise ending! It’s not that I am purposely lying. This is a record of a lived experience and its expression is completely unique to me and not agreed upon by others present during its occurrence… This memory is not only selective, but entirely from one perspective: mine. I doubt very much that if one of my sisters wrote her perspective of this memory whether it would even resemble the same family or household. This is not because I purposely embellish or limit the truth, but merely because I can only speak for what was going on in my busy mind at the time. Perhaps my imagination and quirky nature have been carved by early experience. I feel very comfortable in owning that I have extremely early memories. My earliest vivid memories have been fighting to maintain their resolution over the years, especially because of my sisters’ interpretations of history and their […]

The post Little Golden Books Intro to Literature appeared first on Empress Tea.

Leaving a Negative Review (or; A Permanent Scar on Local Businesses)

Amber — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 17:06:32 +0000

Small businesses and their livelihood need to be nurtured more than ever before. It’s time we take a good look at what happens when you leave a negative review. I often tell my kids that it’s ok to have ‘BIG FEELINGS’, it’s what you do about them that counts. This applies to adults too… and importantly, to anyone leaving a negative review online. I’ve done it before. Allowed my anger, disappointment, and frustration to travel through my fingers and into the worldwide web. Hoping to let a business know just how terribly they have inconvenienced me. But when you stop and think, it’s not all about me, is it? There are many others involved in this story. Here are a few things to consider before leaving a negative review Let’s say you frequent a business where you usually have great experiences, but suddenly have a poor experience and you need to tell someone. Before you leave a review about the bad service ask yourself these 3 things: Have you left a positive review in the past? Is it fair to leave a negative review based on that one poor experience if you haven’t left reviews of any of the positive […]

The post Leaving a Negative Review (or; A Permanent Scar on Local Businesses) appeared first on Empress Tea.

Podcast on Disability Rights & Representation: Not Enough Air Time

Meghan — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 15:09:18 +0000

Back after a short break, Meghan shares her new podcast on disability rights and representation. Listen to ‘Not Enough Air Time’ with us! ~ Hi everyone! I’m back! I took a little break from writing to get a handle on some issues with my health. But now that I know where that is headed to some degree, I’m back to writing. I found out within the past year that I have broken steel rods in my back and as such I have been dealing with chronic pain which definitely affected my desire to write. As well as my energy level to do even the smallest things. So, in the meantime I’ve started a new venture and platform to share my thoughts with people. I started a podcast on disability called Not Enough Air Time. The podcast topics will include every day life from my own perspective on disability rights, movements and activism, disability representation, and the occasional guest. Dealing with my chronic pain issues kind of put me in a funk mentally and I haven’t much felt like writing. Hopefully that will change once I get a handle on how to treat said pain, but for now I’m enjoying my […]

The post Podcast on Disability Rights & Representation: Not Enough Air Time appeared first on Empress Tea.

The Duality of Travel During a Pandemic

Myranda — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 16:09:08 +0000

Travel plays an important role in the life and sanity of many. But Covid-19 concerns make travel during a pandemic both satisfying and worrying. On July 31, 2021 for the first time in almost 20 months, I set off on a travel adventure. I gassed up my car, fully stocked the bag I fondly call my snack stash, and got ready to finally go. And yet, part of me was… not. Travel has been a large part of my life for about 15 years now. From that first time I decided I would stop waiting for a buddy and solo travel, I’ve taken at least one small trip and one large trip every year. I’ve done Vegas birthdays. I climbed to see the Rainbow Mountain in Peru. I’ve gone on cruises. Explored my favourite haunts in BC. I took five weeks to explore Europe in 2019, and in January 2020 was ready to start thinking about where to next. But then… March 2020 happened. The world ground to a halt, and so did my travel planning. As the months wore on, it began to seem like the outside world might never open to me again. My dreams began to feature […]

The post The Duality of Travel During a Pandemic appeared first on Empress Tea.

Covid Vax While Grooving To The Music?

Klarissa — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 05:59:27 +0000

Would you rather get your covid vax while grooving to the music, or in a quiet location? Here’s where my son and I differ on pop-up clinics! If you had the choice, where would you want to be vaccinated – a quiet location, or a location with nurses from various ethnic backgrounds while listening to music you want to dance to, and ending with delicious ethnic food? My 15 year old son and I both went to pop-up clinics. I chose the quiet location, but my son, Dominik, got his covid vax at a grooving location. The Quiet & Peaceful Pop-up Experience The quiet location is better for me because, although I had a great time dancing during Dominik’s second covid vaccination, my ridiculously over-sensitive central nervous system went into overdrive with my second shot and I ended up reacting to it. The nurses and paramedics on site are wonderful. The paramedics helped me into a comfortable position, gave me medicine, and even called my family to pick me up. I wasn’t left alone at any time and I was safely escorted to my ride. Definitely having a quiet location to deal with the onslaught my body threw at me […]

The post Covid Vax While Grooving To The Music? appeared first on Empress Tea.