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“Is training AI to write like you a fool’s errand?” Copywriter Bob Bly weighs in

The legendary B2B Copywriter, Bob Bly (whom I was delighted to meet in the US in 2012), recently blogged on the topic, “Is training AI to write like you a fool’s errand?”

Bly is a lifelong writer, so, he objects (first) that he would never outsource his craft at all, much less to a force whose processes he does not know. (“Why would I want to use ChatGPT . . . when I both enjoy [writing] immensely and do it reasonably well?”). He quotes the writer, Ben Settle, as saying, “The joy of writing is not in speed or style . . . it is in the bleeding, constant rewriting, and burgeoning floodgates of thoughts that can only come from battling the blank page.”

Secondly, Bly says, some marketers and communication-types argue that AI can “take care of the grunt work.”

Bly argues that “writing is not grunt work.” That “Human writing is anything but. . . Essentially, the core of writing is thinking.” And he quotes Plato: “Thinking is the talking of the soul with itself.” Do we really want to give up the fundamentally human processes of thinking and feeling?

True “grunt work,” Bly writes, inheres in prompting and “fixing up” bad ChatGPT prose!

Last year, in conversation with (the brilliant) English copywriter, Nick Usborne, in his “Futureproof Copywriting” course, learners (including me) felt happiest when AI would perform “grunt” background work for us (e.g. researching and retrieving sources, critiquing weak areas in our drafts.) But each of us still absolutely wanted to stay in the driver’s seat of our own writing. We aspired to be “the human in the loop.” One year later, that plan rings utterly naïve.

Copywriters have very little control over how (and how much) they use AI.  Our clients or clients’ companies, including the investors and political players that control them, dictate that.

Thirdly, Bly observes, in his response to the current wave of heavy AI use, few AI writers actually make real money with AI (even under the Amazon book-generating industry). Most of the marketers in this area make money “by creating, teaching and selling ‘how to write with AI’ courses.”

Fourthly, he rejects that anyone should “get AI to write like [they] do.” He says: “I have no desire to train AI to write like me, because I already write like me . . . and have spent 45+ years learning how to do so.” One of Bly’s colleagues observes that “the funny thing about even trying to use AI to do this,  is you will spend more time trying to get AI to do anything right, style-wise, than you would writing the damn thing yourself.”

Even if you can speed up copy generation, “when you’re done, you will find that AI doesn’t write all that well—and doesn’t sound much like you, either.”

Writers who use AI extensively are spending “more time than ever . . . and publishing LESS,” one of Bly’s colleagues has complained to him.

Instead of reckoning with a blank page or screen (something long ago overcome by making “mind-maps” [as writers Ed Gandia and Daphne Gray-Grant have long lauded]), “now [writers] stare at ChatGPT output, wondering how to fix it.”

Fifthly, Bly reminds us that many readers and publishers don’t want to read AI writing. More and more mainstream book publishers are rejecting books that they suspect were written using AI. (The sad dispute over whether writers use em-dashes points to mainstream publishers’ anxieties over AI use.)

Sixthly (and finally, for this round of the AI debate), Bly disputes that AI’s “speed” outpaces its “performance.” Many AI training courses promote how to learn “to use AI to write your book for you in days.” But he intones this logic shows sadly that “what matters most today is how fast you can write rather than how well you can write” (my emphasis).

Bly acknowledges that in many genres and media (such as daily newspapers), writing quickly is valuable when tight and “frequent deadlines” are required. But, he adds, “in other channels and types of writing, quality trumps speed every time.” In Bly’s homegrown territory of copywriting, he says, “clients value landing pages that double revenues much more than those that could be written in half the time, but [which] hardly move the sales needle.”

Now, AI enthusiasts might be tempted to label Bly a curmudgeon and traditionalist. But after earning millions of dollars over more than 40 years of copywriting (including over 100 books on topics including copywriting, all written by himself, and none by AI), we should not dismiss his rebuttal too fast.

As the “Godfather of AI,” Geoffrey Hinton, argued (when accepting the Nobel Prize two months ago today), many of us have become anxious because danger inheres in our building AI that are smarter than we are—and not only in our writing. The manipulation of supra-human technology is easily attained by authoritarian rulers and governments (e.g. the US, Russia, China, North Korea and more). Such regimes can and will–if unbridled–bring the annihilation of any humanity with values and decency.

So “training AI to write like you” is not only a “fool’s errand,” as Bob Bly writes. Training AI to write in place of us (implied in the question)—is to usurp our legitimate space in the creative processes of reading, thinking and writing. Such an overthrow allows AI to outsmart us—it is already doing so (and faster than ever before).

Given the state of our world in the 21st century, that’s not only a “fool’s errand” but a fool’s demise.

Since the “cat is already out of the bag” in this reality, it behoves us creatives to lament all that can be (and is being) lost, before the loss overtakes us all.

And now it’s your turn: what are the implications of the ways you use AI? How do you picture the future of humanity in an AI world?

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On Microhabits: How to Make Freelancing Healthy (any Time of Year)

 


January 2026 Vol 8 Issue 1

Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):

Teaching English to economic immigrants and to

internationally educated, second-language academics

Let Us Help You Tell Your Story!

Welcome Mid-January 2026!

Happy New Year, Good Readers!

I’m a long-time admirer of the newsletter writing of American marketing star, Ann Handley.

Her fortnightly newsletter, “Total Annarchy,” charms her readers with its irreverence and fun, while not shying away from ethical implications, such as the rapid ascendancy of AI in all areas of our lives. She asks and discusses some of the most salient implications AI and related marketing hold for all of us.

An expert digital marketer, bestselling author, keynote speaker, former Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs and former journalist, Handley crafts “marcom” content that engages our emotions, at a time when emotional and ethical integrity are often displaced by the latest hustle of “impactful” prompts, trending bots and social influencers.

One of her many humourous strategies starts from the “get-go” in how she addresses her readers. Last November (American Thanksgiving), her addressees were “Butterballs.” In December (Christmas and Hanukkah), we became “Sugarplums.” I recall a spring issue, where we were “Peach Blossoms.” And by so naming her readers, Handley (literally and metaphorically) is just getting started.

One practice that keeps her newsletters grounded is that she loves and encourages readers to respond–whether with “yahoos,” “boo-hoos,” or comments in-between. I have exchanged some fascinating and animated messages with her.

Handley keeps things real.  She describes her newsletter as focusing “on writing, marketing, living your best life.” She writes as evocatively of her daughter leaving home for college as she does on publishing ventures.

Further north on the Canadian Prairie, some 15 years (or 180 issues) after I started writing “Tell Your Story Newsletter” (TYSN), I also strive for reality (not for “reality TV!”) and I’m delighted to receive emails and other messages from you, my readers–the best sign of engagement.

Like “Total Annarchy,” “Tell Your Story Newsletter” (TYSN) remains free. It’s also 100% AI-free, spam-free and ad-free. My newsletter often addresses entrepreneurial wellness as much as (or through) communications or marketing ideas, and as much as English language teaching and writing issues.

Long-form Communications as a living body of practices are the “bread and butter” of my days, and of at least some of yours, too, as valued readers.

At the dawn of a new year, I hope that reading “TYSN” will feel much like a conversation with a friend. It’s why I address you as “Good Readers” or “Friends” or as “we” or “us.”

I hope you’ll share relevant issues with your friends and colleagues.

And while we all love a good guffaw (and some of those will definitely follow, this year), ultimately I hope you’ll find, by reading and responding, that none of us is alone in facing the challenges of our times.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Shih

Principal, Storytelling Communications

 

 

IN THIS ISSUE:

->ARTICLE ONE:  On Microhabits: How to Make Freelancing Healthy (any Time of the Year)

-> SHOP NEWS

->ABOUT US

Article One: On Microhabits: How to Make Freelancing Healthy (any Time of the Year)

As most in the Western Hemisphere know, “New Year’s Day” is historically the date to make “resolutions” to improve our lives, health, or finances for our futures.

And while people tend to undertake these “resolutions” with great conviction, we all know that unrealistic expectations end in failure.

By mid-January and definitely by early February, often our resolutions, and the resolve to achieve them, have dissipated.

For that reason, I look forward to the quiet workout space at my gym, after “resolutionists” have abandoned their workout regimes!

But in place of “New Year’s resolutions,” I was inspired by a recent podcast episode from American copywriter and coach, Ed Gandia (“High-Income Business Writing Podcast”). The episode describes how we can make “freelancing” (and other kinds of self-employment) healthier. Healthier not just now, but even more so, three months from now.

So this first new article of 2026 will be dedicated to the wellness of entrepreneurs of all shapes, stripes, spots and sizes.

Gandia says: “Freelancers are great at pushing through. We hit deadlines, juggle clients, and squeeze productivity out of thin air.”

But at the same time, our “physical health often pays the price for all of this.”

Brain fog, insomnia, burnout, increased anxiety and depression,  insulin resistance, weight gain, intensive cravings for unhealthy food are some of the worst results from overwork. He says: “The side of freelancing that rarely gets attention is the slow erosion of our health when our businesses become the only priority.”

In the longer term, poor health and sleep reduce our creativity and with it, the quality of our work.

But how and what changes can we sustain, meaningfully?

Motivation is a finite source of activity. So building our own regimes on microhabits is wise.

Even the term “microhabit” has been a recent buzz-word. But it refers to a legitimate practice. A microhabit is a practice of making large goals feel less overwhelming by breaking them down into smaller pieces or activities, over time.

We repeat that small activity consistently over several weeks or months (such as walking for 10 minutes per day, or drinking two more glasses of water each day) until we achieve a goal larger than we could have initially imagined.

In his podcast, Ed Gandia interviews Lucie Robazza, an Australian-based, certified health coach, personal trainer, kinesiologist who has founded her own company, “Strenxia.” She’s a big believer in microhabits.

She says that “deadlines, your own business, AI, not enough sleep or healthy diet,” all lead to “all or nothing” strategies, doomed to fail by week three of a new year.

Robazza says if you track meaningful health metrics, you’ll start (gradually—one day at a time) to make real improvements through diet, exercise, and other lifestyle changes.

But this should be a gradual process, not a headlong rush!

Women face unique challenges in midlife that mainstream “lifestyle” practices miss, from Perimenopause to Menopause. Hormonal fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone are significant and as a result, “women become less resistant to stress in our 40s.”

Researchers have started (very late in history) to analyze biomarkers in Menopause. But Perimenopause can also cause emotional volatility, poor sleep and many other symptoms–that both women and men know little about. So 40+-year old women should discuss their health closely with their physicians.

Making incremental changes (not “all-or-nothing”) is more sustainable (e.g. 1% every week). New Year’s resolutions don’t tell us how to get there. (Motivation is never sustainable.) Instead, Robazza suggests that we need to build “systems,” based on small, attainable microhabits that we can do, even when we feel stressed out.

For instance she suggests practices as simple as positioning our bedroom furniture and clean gym clothes near our doors, to make it easier to get to the gym each morning.

Microhabits help us avoid failure, by helping us to strive for reasonable goals. She warns that otherwise, “the story of failure” will shape our identities, detrimentally.

As we start building microhabits, we start to feel good about our successes and build an identity over time that is positive. It’ll also be greater than the sum of our latest achievement(s)!

We will see the pattern of gradual improvement, consistently, over time. Robazza says we all need the encouragement that provides.

The jist of Gandia’s podcast is this: We tend to assume that New Year’s failed resolutions come from a failure in discipline or commitment, when they’re more likely too ambitious to counter the complex dietary and metabolic issues that humans face, especially as we age. (Gandia notes this applies to aging men, as well.)

So many freelancers have been pushing too hard for too long,  “operating in a chronic low-grade stress state,” affecting everything from “Thyroid function to inflammation to metabolic health” and more.

Here, to conclude, are Robazza’s top six microhabits:

(1) Get natural sunlight early in the day. This helps to regulate hormones for energy and sleep. Robazza recommends getting some sunlight in the first 10-15 mins of our mornings, as morning light improves melatonin production and helps with insulin reception. Daily sunlight regulates our sleeping and working hours. (In cold climates like SK, light therapy boxes can work.)

Even a morning walk to walk to the gym (without showering or preparing our bodies) will do wonders.

(2) Take water with electrolytes upon waking to reduce dehydration-related fatigue, cravings and to support cognitive focus. Robazza says to drink two cups of water as soon as we wake up and then to keep drinking water as we work through a day (an additional four cups).

Dehydration can cause cravings, brain fog and other problems. She recommends not to drink caffeine for the first hour after waking up. Water-soluble electrolytes are costly, so even adding a pinch of good-quality sea salt to two glasses of water each morning will make a difference.

(3) Ensure we get sufficient protein intake, especially at breakfast, to support muscle health, satiety and prevent energy crashes (critical for women, often late in the afternoon). A minimum) of 100 g of protein per day per women is necessary. And increase that to 120 or 130 g of protein, as we age.

Protein is the best antidote to those crashes, sugar cravings and an overly large appetite. Protein also helps to sustain muscle mass.

Robazza says  breakfast should consist of 30-40 g of protein to help regulate hormones. We need more as we age!

Consider that two eggs contain only 12 g of protein and we need 30-40 to start the day! So make breakfast more substantial or research healthy protein powders we can add to what we eat.

(4) Practice short movement bursts (“exercise snacks”) throughout the day, to break sedentary patterns, boost energy, and improve metabolic health.

Robazza reminds us that human DNA is structured to need movement. As many of us have heard, we’re not meant to sit at desks all day. So she urges us to try to disrupt sedentary work with micromovements (that improve insulin sensitivity).

For instance, she urges us to try “20 squats while the kettle boils; 10 desk pushups while ChatGPT is working on your search” and so on. Ten minutes spent walking on errands would also be great.

 

While these aren’t full “workouts,” these “exercise snacks” disrupt sedentary behaviour, like hunching posture, brain fog and exhaustion.

Over time, getting morning sunshine (microhabit #1) here could double up with one of these 10 minute, “exercise snacks” (microhabit #4) to reduce insulin resistance and help our bodies dispose of glucose. (Habits can be stacked when waiting for a bus or in traffic.)

(5) Reset and regulate our Nervous Systems by practicing deep breathing exercises throughout the day. (Deep breathing helps to manage stress, promote resilience and mental clarity). Before doing something difficult in our days, she suggests that we take one minute for box-shaped breathing (inhaling for four seconds; holding it for seven seconds; and then breathing out for eight seconds).

Also, deep breathing after we do something stressful can help to calm ourselves. (This is more realistic than following a half-hour of meditation when life is so mentally intensive.)

(6) Make habits “stick” as longer-lasting practices by simplifying our environments. For instance, lay out clean gym clothes the night before, keep a jug of water with sea salt near our beds.  Similarly, ask a spouse or friend to “hide the biscuit jar” out-of-sight and mind!

Robazza stresses that working with one microhabit for the first 28 days is the best way to start. Once it’s a routine, we can stack other habits on top, at 28-day intervals. Results improve greatly. (E.g. Stack some micro-exercises at the end of writing  a first draft of something; plan on drinking one cup of water after we finish every meeting, etc.)

She also suggests that setting “worst day standards” for terrible days can help with busy times. Then we won’t drop the ball entirely, but manage to fit in some breathing, for instance, and some protein-rich foods. The small size of most microhabits and their receptiveness for gradual stacking makes them more sustainable for the long-term.

 

Robazza concludes with the advice not to let our practices slide twice. (For instance, failing to eat protein on one day can still be counteracted. But if we repeat it on a second day, we’ll have started a “bad habit.”)

Start a microhabit “one at a time,” starting with one of the easiest. Do it for 28 days, reflect on whether it was easy (or not); then add a second microhabit and follow both now, for another 28 days (and so on). Robazza notes that behaviours can improve “from average to good to great” over three or more months. So starting one microhabit on a cold January day will reap benefits for us by spring!

By featuring Robazza’s insights on his podcast, Gandia illustrates that “practical, simple, and surprisingly encouraging” microhabits can make a lasting difference to our mid- and later-life health.

And who wouldn’t want that, in these challenging times?

And now it’s your turn. Are you happy with your current health as a freelancer or professional? Will you try to develop some of Robazza’s microhabits?

Please write in; I’d be delighted to hear from you.

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SHOP NEWS:

 

I’m observing this month that a long-term writers’ group I co-launched in 2015 with Ashleigh Mattern and Julie Barnes (Saskatoon “Freelancers’ Roundtable”), has been renamed and reconceived!

Henceforth, we’ll be known as Saskatoon’s “Small Business Group.”

Ashleigh, Julie and I started the group in the spring of 2015 to channel creative writers’ need for discussion, advocacy and co-referrals.

We planned our group over drinks (and a notepad) nearly 11 years ago, in a bar in downtown Saskatoon that long ago closed!

 

While we outlived that venue, we’ve since met in cafes and coffee shops across the city, including the Broadway Roastery on 8th, City Perks, Sparrow, and lately, HomeQuarter.

A word (and shout-out) to my co-founders and colleagues:

Ashleigh Mattern is the “chief storyteller” (writer, marketer and social media expert) behind Vireo Creative, a web design and content team (c. 2015).

She’s also a long-time creative, writing freelance journalist, producing content for the CBC, marketing copy for local businesses and exploring multiple literary genres and influences, including in her novel, Magicked Born (2021).

Ashleigh has been the regular anchor and leader of the group since 2015 and recently returned to that role after a few months’ hiatus. She regularly invites creatives to join in our discussions.

Co-founder Julie Barnes of Julie Barnes’ Creative Services, is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Saskatoon HOME magazine and for clients including the CBC. She is completing a degree in interior design from Yorkville University.

Some of Julie’s writerly interests include travel, gardening, architecture, residential construction, food, urban planning, cottage communities and education.

She has also worked as a talent agent for the folksinger/songwriter, Eric Paetkau.

. . . . With an 11-year history behind us, we and our other members are optimistic that Saskatoon’s “Small Business Group” will expand our topics of reading, thinking, discussion and co-referrals.

Since rebranding in 2021 as the principal of “Storytelling Communications,” I (Elizabeth)  have continued to write and edit communications copy, while pivoting to focus more on teaching the intricacies of English-as-a-Second Language (ESL/EAL/EFL) to adults and young adults.

Influenced by my background in academia, language studies and psychoanalysis, I continue to enjoy reading as eclectic influences as Susie Dent, Seth Godin and Adam Phillips, while striving to create clarity for the writing and speaking of non-native users of English.

. . . With our diverse interests as co-founders and members, Saskatoon’s “Small Business Group” has much potential to grow into the future.

“If the shoe fits,” we’d be happy to include you in our next meeting.  Please reach out.

 

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An energetic shout-out this new year to Northern Ireland-based, ESL teacher, Carl Cameron-Day, and (Glasgow-based) ESL administrator, Alan Moir, both of TEFL.Org.

Carl is an experienced, ESL teacher, tutor, teacher-trainer and exam administrator who has worked all over the globe. I know Carl as a sage advisor, who hosts webinars for junior and mid-career English language teachers with enviable energy.

When part of a work week takes me off the trail of language training, I’m always the better for tuning in to a TEFL.Org webinar, hosted by Carl and deftly facilitated by the amazingly skilled Alan Moir (himself an EFL teacher by training).

Their wry sense of humour adds to their charm. (Alan once adopted the name of a “Cupboard of Cheese” for a Q&A! . . .)

 

ESL/EFL teachers can watch recordings of these webinars (some going back years) on YouTube and on Facebook, filled with helpful tips and best practices.

There are always new stories and new people to promote in “Shop News.” But this is a wrap for mid-January.

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ABOUT US:

Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.

Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.” I  teach economic immigrants to secure better jobs or larger contracts by improving their English language skills.

I also help internationally educated, second-language academics, to progress through the tenure promotion process by improving their English language skills.

For both sets of clients, I help them to integrate into our community and marketplace more easily than they would working (in isolation) alone.

Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my (still CASL-compliant) website (www.elizabethshih.com)

After I receive your message, I’ll be pleased to discuss projects with you!

Please visit my website for more information (www.storytellingcommunications.ca).
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What’s changing in English Language Teaching and Testing in 2026? Some highlights from a conversation between Cathoven AI’s CEO, Summer G. Long, and Erez Tocker (CEO, Trinity College, London):

 

  • The need for English language learning (and other languages) is still there, potentially growing. AI (such as industry leader Cathoven AI) hasn’t taken that away.
  • But when countries reduce their intake of international students, those students worry about completing a four-year degree, so demand (for ESL/EFL teaching) wanes.
  • The global economy also challenges the language education industry; English language study abroad is less affordable for most middle-class families, world-wide.
  • The Pandemic has similarly affected students’ English studies. It makes sense to “stay home to stay healthy” when learning a language. and as Tocker says at the end of 2025, “Duolingo is having a great year” teaching students online.
  • AI can improve language learning by lowering the stakes when giving students in-time (individual) feedback, AI gives confidence to students to try speaking, when they’re not in front of many peers (“a safe comfort zone”), or by placing them in different, simulated settings. And hiring an AI teacher is cheaper than working with a live tutor, over the same number of hours.
  • But some things are lost when language teaching goes online:  AI can give “too much feedback,” consistently, which can make students feel there’s no end to the need for improvement. By contrast, a human class offers a (provisional) end, so learning can coalesce in students’ brains.
  • AI also can’t provide the context by which students’ brains process and learn new things. Only a classroom can provide an “experience.”
  • Tocker says we must ensure our education systems develop 21st Century skills, including “soft skills” (e.g. workplace readiness, but the “workplaces” of the future are “fuzzy” now). GenZers will need to learn how to network and handle job interviews. When they’ve spent all their time using AI, they may lack such “soft skills.” Who will teach them those?
  • Community and context are very important (e.g. both Long and Tocker met at a live [in-person] conference and their online conversation spun out of that in-person meeting).
  • A useful analogy is MS Excel: when Excel was invented, it didn’t end the teaching/learning of mathematics. But Excel provided a tool that freed specialists from using pencils and paper.
  • Excel and AI are technologies that humans now can use.
  • But AI is (of course) more complex than Excel–it will take much more time to figure out how to incorporate AI into education and all vocational fields (e.g. accounting).
  • AI testing won’t replace standardized language exams, like IELTS. But Tocker says it will “shrink the number of players” in the space of English language testing.
  • There are many limits to standardized language exams. Students often worry more about learning exam-taking skills than they do about learning  how to communicate accurately. ESL should never take as its focus only standardized exams. (Teaching students strategy to master a particular kind of test is not ultimately edifying.)
  • Human teachers can help students to improve intonation, learn more collocations and impart students with skills needed in life.
  • One way to empower language education (including great teachers) is to invest some of the profit from (language testing) companies to sponsor students from “have-not” countries. That investment would help students to gain access to overseas colleges and companies, where they can learn new languages.
  • Over time, as Tocker concluded, “patient” strategies for teaching move education and the workplace ahead, better and faster, than “top-down,” hierarchical approaches. But enlightened education requires patience and won’t develop and evolve as rapidly as AI does.
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Feeling the Christmas or Holiday Blues? Here are some solutions . . .

December 2025 Vol 11 Issue 12

Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):

Teaching English to economic immigrants and to internationally educated, second-language academics

Let Us Help You Tell Your Story!

 

Welcome Mid-December, 2025!  

Until the past few days, we have enjoyed a mild winter in Saskatchewan. But last Friday, winter’s hoary breath returned, with its usual arctic chill.

When extreme cold weather ends our year, I know that you, good readers (like me), grow especially worried for the health and safety of our homeless population.

Existing shelter facilities like The Salvation Army  Residential Services (for men) and The YWCA  (for women and families) continue to provide support, often reaching capacity during the extreme cold.

It has been heartening throughout 2025 to watch the efficient building and opening of a large extension to The YWCA shelter, near where I exercise, which has added 75 new shelter beds for women and children.

Newspaper and digital news readers also know that we have a new facility (operating year-round), called “The Mustard Seed Temporary Enhanced Emergency Shelter” at 210 Pacific Avenue. It has 40 temporary beds, providing 24/7 access and full support services, including some transitional support toward long-term housing.

This shelter fills a gap until a permanent, 60-bed shelter is built at 170-31st Street, E. (near Harry Bailey Aquatic Centre).

The City and Province are trying to provide sufficient shelter, when the goal remains to keep as many of our region’s most vulnerable citizens (some who have migrated from northern communities) out of the cold. 

So many of you and those in our networks regularly pitch in and help! Through the “Advent Appeal” program at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (ably facilitated by member, Alan Ireland), once again this year, we have been collecting parkas, clothing, boots, warm blankets, sleeping bags and hygiene supplies on behalf of Saskatoon’s homeless and at-risk population. This month’s “Storyteller’s Corner” reminds me that even small acts of kindness can have a miraculous effect on others.

Notwithstanding the soaring cost-of-living, including basic groceries and amenities,  I hope that you, good reader, have a warm and in all senses “safe” home, not just at Christmas or Hanukkah, but also throughout the year. 

As 2025 draws to an end, some of you have remembered in your Christmas letters the ongoing (and complex) wars waged between Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas, and Israel; Russian forces against Ukraine; and a civil war in Sudan (raging for nearly three years), to name only three regions with massive humanitarian crises.

We can and do make a difference by sharing what surplus food and supplies we have, be it locally or internationally. (My social media feed shows many of you doing this!)  And we must vote for governments which find value in the sanctity of human life and act with empathy, as well as rigour.

In this last newsletter of 2025, I return to “Coping with Christmas,” a publication of the American Hospice Foundation (AHF). For those readers who care for others (young or old) on a daily basis and/or who face complex health problems of your own, the AHF reminds us to be attuned to our own emotional needs, not least when we face “compassion fatigue” or burnout.

Despite the challenges that fill the news, I hope, good readers, that you’ll have the health and opportunity to enjoy these last weeks of 2025, giving thanks with me for the family, friends and neighbours (including newcomers) who grace our lives.

I wish you Peace this holiday season and much health and happiness in 2026.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth  Principal  Storytelling Communications   www.elizabethshih.com

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IN THIS ISSUE:

ARTICLE One: Feeling the Christmas blues? Here are some solutions . . . 

STORYTELLERS’ CORNER: A Local “Advent Miracle” Story   

SHOP NEWS

ABOUT US

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Article One: Feeling the Christmas or Holiday Blues? Here are Some Solutions . . . 

For many of us, even if we have been raised to observe Christmas or Hanukkah (or other holy days) as a blessing, the holiday season can still be painful.

The pain may come from the loss of a loved one, a job, separation from a significant other, health or financial difficulties, the excessive pressure to buy and give, and so on. The so-called “holiday season” can in reality be anything but “ho-ho-ho.”

This holiday survival guide, written originally by the American Hospice Foundation, offers some ideas that may help us as we plan (or choose not to plan) holiday festivities.

Please read on and know that you are not alone in the loss or pain you’re enduring:

Christmas or Holiday cards (choose one):

1. Mail as usual

2. Shorten your list

3. Include a Christmas letter that you’ve written

4. Skip it this year

Christmas or Holiday music (choose one):

1. Enjoy as usual

2. Shop early, to avoid Christmas music

3. Avoid turning the radio on

4. Listen to the music and allow yourself to feel sad (or to cry)

Decorations (choose one):

1. Decorate as usual

2. Let others do it

3. Choose not to have decorations

4. Have a special decoration for a loved one, who may have died or left

5. Modify your decorations

6. Make changes, such as an artificial tree

7. Ask for help

Shopping (choose one):

1. Shop as usual

2. Shop early

3. Make your gifts

4. Make a list of gifts to buy

5. Shop through the internet

6. Ask for help wrapping gifts

7. Shop with a friend

8. Give cash

9. Give baked goods

10. Ask for help

11. Go gift-less and make a donation to charity

Traditions (choose one):

1. Keep the old traditions

2. Don’t attend Christmas parties

3. Open gifts on the usual day

4. Attend a worship service

5. Attend a totally different place of worship

6. Visit the cemetery

7. Attend Christmas parties

8. Go to an entirely new place

9. Open gifts at another time

10. Do not attend a worship service

11. Light a special candle to honour your loved one

12. Bake the usual foods

13. Modify your baking

14. Buy the usual foods

15. Spent quiet time alone, in meditation or relaxation

Christmas or Holiday Dinner (choose one):

1. Prepare as usual

2. Invite friends over

3. Eat in a different location of the house

4. Go out to dinner, possibly with someone else who is alone

5. Eat alone

6. Change time of dinner

7. Have a buffet/potluck

8. Ask for help

Post-Christmas and New Year’s Day (choose one):

1. Spend the days as usual

2. Avoid New Year’s parties

3. Spend time with only a few friends

4. Write in a journal about your hopes for the next year

5. Go out of town

6. Host a New Year’s Party

7. Go to a movie, watch a movie on a streaming service or even borrow a movie from the library

8. Go to bed early and feel refreshed the next morning for the new year ahead

And now it’s your turn: Does the Christmas or Hanukkah season present challenges for you? Please consider some of the above options you have to experience the holidays on your own terms.

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STORYTELLER’S CORNER: Words, Stories and Riddles  on Writing and Editing . . .

This Month (Back by Popular Request):

A Local “Advent Miracle” Story 

Last Christmas, Alan, a colleague and friend in my church community, shared a remarkable story of how the church’s seasonal gift donations benefited a downtown charity that helps victims of abuse and homelessness.

Alan says that one recent spring, “I went into the [church] parlour and noticed that the Advent gifts still sat where we’d left them, last December, since the office of the recipient agency was never open. I had phoned, left messages and visited in person multiple times, only to find the office closed.”

He continues: “As I was driving past one day, the spring after, I decided to give it one last chance and showed up to the agency, just after lunch. They were open!

It was obvious that the staff had just come from a meeting. One of the folk there came over and asked me what I wanted. I told her that I was from the church and had some very belated Advent gifts for them.

She looked confused when I said gifts, but when I said that the gifts consisted of toiletries and other items, it changed to surprise. She asked how many, and I told her that the trunk of my car was full. Again, there was a look of surprise on her face. She spoke with the director and then went into the back and got a small cart. We then went down the car and loaded it up. It was a small cart, so I carried the extra packages that didn’t fit.

When we got back to the office, she took the items into the back and the director came over and thanked me profusely. She told me that the topic of conversation at the meeting they’d just finished was how they were going to find toiletries to fill packages for some of their clients. They had a few items, but not nearly enough, and there wasn’t money in the budget to purchase more. They left the meeting wondering how they’d find the remaining items, and that was when I walked in!

We called it “Christmas in June!” We could have delivered the gifts the prior December, when other churches were doing the same and when the need was largely met. But by delivering them in the spring, we met a great need at a time when others were not giving.

We can put this down to coincidence or fate or luck. I look at it as an Advent miracle and a sign that our Higher Power is alive and well and living among us.”

And now it’s your turn: Have holiday activities of years past surprised you with any small miracles? Please write in and I’ll share your stories in a future issue!

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SHOP NEWS:

It’s time, once again, good readers, for a “Gratitude Roundup” for 2025–my opportunity to thank those in my professional and personal network who help to make life as fulfilling and purposeful as it is!

Thanks are due this year to ESL teacher, Steve Cavan, who has shared resources and thoughts with me, when I’ve been preparing different ESL classes.

Steve is a font of knowledge both of the English language and of the practice of online teaching. Thank you, good friend, for sharing all you do.

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Thanks also go out this month to bookkeeper, Heather Stuart, whose intelligence and knowledge of tax rules always help me administer my small business books.

After nearly 14 years of working together, I’ve learned the basics of good record keeping. I’m grateful both to Praxis School of Entrepreneurship’s (PSE) training, and especially to  Heather for that!

Thank you, Heather!

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Last July, Leslie, a psychologist with Saskatoon Public Schools, referred a case of a youth with literacy challenges to me, whom I found I could help (and enjoyed helping). There may be more students to come in 2026, which I keenly anticipate.

I’m glad to find I can adjust my academic and/or adult ESL vantage point, to fill the needs of younger learners, too.

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Another note of gratitude goes to Chief Visionary Officer, Monica Kreuger, for having mentored me for one final year (through the Raj Manek Mentorship Program), as I’ve developed my English language teaching and writing business.

Monica, her life and business partner, Brent Kreuger, and their team have worked for more than 30 years to train and advocate for many of our province’s entrepreneurs, through the Praxis School of Entrepreneurship (PSE).

More than 1200 proteges have entered that programming at both start-up and intermediate levels and have found their lives (and not only their businesses) transformed in the process.

Thank you Monica and to the Praxis Team!

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The past week has been somewhat trying for me, as I’ve been fighting off a virulent strain of flu, while completing work and trying to prepare, both for holidays and January contracts. (Sound familiar to you, good readers?)

Although I was scheduled to assist with reading and lighting candles for the annual–and very beautiful–Christian service, “Memory & Light” (St. Andrew’s Presbyterian),  I had to bow out last week to recover.

However, thanks to the wonderful live-stream recording staff, I was grateful to watch the service online.

Friends from my church community have blessed me greatly with their “Get Well” messages, gifts of soup and nourishing food, wonderful home remedies, cough syrup, food deliveries, recommended reading and more!

I am very grateful to these friends, many of whom are St. Andrew’s members (and I apologize if I forget anyone’s name): Rev. Roberto DeSandoli, The Pastoral Care Committee, St. Andrew’s Session and Board of Directors; Mrs. Heather DeSandoli; Mrs. Laura Van Loon (Parish Nurse); Rev. Jim and Mrs. Lillian McKay; Dr. Kirk Ready and Heather Shouse; Beth and JoAnn Brimner; Sharon Wiseman, Judy McFadden and Pat Barber, Rose and Orlanda Drebit and Bob Yakubowski.

Thank you all!

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This Christmas will bring some relief to my aunt and uncle in the Okanagan, who have (hours ago) received notice that my uncle can be admitted into Long-Term Care (LTC), after neurological decline.

I hope and pray that my cousins will rally around them and give them support.

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My thoughts go to my friend Lisa in Toronto, who lost her father in October and is now caring for her elderly mother. Lisa also must clear through her parents’ home, with limited available help from siblings and other family members. I  send warm thoughts and best wishes as you do this work, Lisa. Wish I could be there to assist.

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And finally, my elderly but much-loved mother passed away last May, so this Christmas will be my first without her.

Even though it sounds cliche, I continue to be so glad she’s found peace. I equally appreciate the outpouring of affection and support from my family’s friends, colleagues and neighbours who survive her.

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ABOUT US:

Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.

Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.” I now help economic immigrants to get better jobs or secure larger contracts by improving their language skills; I also help internationally educated, second-language academics to progress through the tenure-based promotion system more effectively.

The support that I offer these two groups of clients enables them to integrate more effectively into our local community than they would, working in isolation, without me.

Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my CASL-compliant website.

After I receive your message, I’ll be pleased to discuss services with you!

Please visit my website for more information (www.storytellingcommunications.ca).

Posted on

TEFL.org on the State of the Field Address (ESL/EFL teaching & learning)

 

📣CALLING ALL ESL/EFL Teachers and Learners!📣

✴️State of the Field Address: TEFL.org on teaching ESL in 2026✴️

Are you a newbie ESL/EFL teacher, an experienced one, or someone in-between, looking to refine your skillset and/or acquire more engaged students?

Tune in to TEFL.org’s State of the Field Address: What to know about and How to Build Confidence teaching ESL/EFL in 2026:

TEFL.org’s expert ESL/EFL teacher, Carl Cameron-Day, facilitated by seasoned operations manager, Alan Moir, will discuss these topics:

✅How to apply new technologies effectively
✅How to handle changes in students’ expectations
✅How to illumine emerging career pathways
✅How to explore key trends shaping our industry
✅Practical strategies for keeping up with AI, the uncertain world economy and politics
✅Actionable insights to help teachers thrive and feel confident in the year ahead.

💥 Join me on _Thursday (December 11th)_ at _11:00 am (CST)_ (5:00 pm GMT) to hear the State of “TEFL in 2026,” to hone your teaching game.
YT link is below:💥

https://lnkd.in/gTNNYwaH

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And . . .

☑️If you’re an ESL/EFL learner–an economic immigrant or internationally educated, second-language academic–looking to improve your English, to promote your business or to use English professionally, please tune in to this webinar, too!

You’ll learn some of the strategies that I’ll use to help you succeed!

👍 See you there!

ESL,#EFL, teachingenglish,languagelearning, TEFL2026,  #ESL2026
TEFLorg