Instagram – Charlotte Millington

charmillington

A year ago today at this exact moment, I was stand

A year ago today at this exact moment, I was standing at the front of a room at a #Hackathon pitching our tool to resolve the issue of binary genders inside our electronic healthcare record. Until all genders can be safely treated in the hospital, our healthcare system locks people out by design. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We knew at the time that the pandemic had arrived. We elbow bumped instead of shaking hands and laughed at how much hand sanitizer we used when we travelled from building to building. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Oh how we laughed. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The next day, the world ended. A mental health conference I was due to attend in three days was cancelled. My very busy elections calendar vacated in an instant. We didn’t know this would become our new normal for a moment. We held our breath as the world just stopped.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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A week later I was driving to work on a deserted street. Everything we knew was about to change. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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What has not changed is the gap in healthcare or my commitment to making sure all patients are treated with dignity. I’m proud that this was my last stand before the world ended. I’m proud to have worked in healthcare in the most difficult period of our country’s history.

Ten minutes away from me is a honey shop called @c

Ten minutes away from me is a honey shop called @countrybeehoney where they have every honey product you can imagine. Lately I've been cruising their tea section. My 2021 life goals include pairing the perfect tea blend and the perfect honey blend. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#selfcare #selflove #selfworth #mentalhealth #selfconfidencen #gratitude #purecharm #cheerleadership

Happy Women’s Day to my sisters around the world

Happy Women’s Day to my sisters around the world! #internationalwomensday #womensday #happywomensday #women #womenempowerment #girlpower #womensupportingwomen

My coworker who had a window seat has moved to a d

My coworker who had a window seat has moved to a different team. So like a decent human being, I cleaned it, threw all my desk stuff into a basket, and moved in. YES. That is a plush Baby Shark toy that plays "Baby Shark" when you squeeze it. My office mates secretly love it.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#purecharm #charmillington #bestmoment #happiness #cheerleadership #babyshark

CLEARLY I'm too subtle in helping the moderator re

CLEARLY I'm too subtle in helping the moderator remember I can help with the French bit. Let me just casually read this book on camera during the break. TOO SUBTLE? #lepetitprince #purecharm #charmillington #bestmoment #happiness

You can’t tell from this photo but this is a clo

You can’t tell from this photo but this is a closet. Literally, it’s a closet that used to house dresses. Now it’s the coolest sound booth I have ever been in EVER! It’s taken me years to assemble this. If you’d like to be a guest on my podcast Pure Charm... you should probably call in. #purecharm #charmillington #bestmoment #happiness

I was on a Zoom call recently and the moderator wa

I was on a Zoom call recently and the moderator was struggling to read something in #French. I assumed the only reason she wasn't asking for help was because she forgot I spoke French. I thought I'd try the subtle approach to remind her I was there. #purecharm #charmillington #bestmoment #happiness

This is a picture of ocean rocks on the beach. For

This is a picture of ocean rocks on the beach. For anyone who lives on the coast, it's not anything out of the ordinary. But for brief periods of my life, I have lived away from the ocean and this ordinary scene disappeared from my world. I have lived on the ocean nearly my entire life. I grew up on the Atlantic Ocean and I will grow old on the Pacific Ocean. This picture of rocks makes me feel happy. #purecharm #charmillington #bestmoment #happiness #cheerleadership

Instagram post 18055436701283612

Instagram post 18055436701283612

Good morning from the beautiful back roads world w

Good morning from the beautiful back roads world where I live, work, and play... also buy coffee and take selfies during a pandemic. #purecharm #charmillington #bestmoment #happiness #cheerleadership

Have you ever seen the forest before the morning f

Have you ever seen the forest before the morning fog burns off? #vancouverisland #purecharm #hikingtrail #hikinggirl #ilovehiking #hikingbc #trails

Got a full week of lunches delivered to my front d

Got a full week of lunches delivered to my front door from @freebeets.ca. Just in time for a very busy week of Human Rights education. Now I can focus on learning.

I live in a lovely semi-rural area just next to a

I live in a lovely semi-rural area just next to a fairly urban area. A few streets away from this park is a farm that is under threat of development. This little photo montage is my little reminder to everyone in the #royaloak area that you need to keep an eye on what the Royal Oak Community Association is doing to protect our little slice of heaven. #savenormandyroad #vancouverisland #purecharm #hikingtrail #hikinggirl #ilovehiking #hikingbc #trails

What is the most Canadian thing we can do? When we

What is the most Canadian thing we can do? When we overhear a young cashier cry out because she just started her shift by spilling her iced coffee, we casually find out what she was drinking and go replace it.

While the world is dividing itself over masks, vaccines, and politics, coffee drinkers stand together. ✌️ ☕️
#solidarity @timhortons #coffee

In this photo is:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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1. A new team mate at work⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2. An old colleague going back years⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3. A new-ish activist (he just doesn't know it yet)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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And me.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My very wonderful coworker asked if I'd like to go for a hike. HECK yes! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#vancouverisland #purecharm #hikingtrail #hikinggirl #ilovehiking #hikingbc #trails

What was the last thing you purchased that was coo

What was the last thing you purchased that was cool and just makes you happy?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Mine was this photography ball called a #lensball. It makes me extraordinarily happy to find new ways to see the same things. #vancouverisland #purecharm #hikingtrail #hikinggirl #ilovehiking #hikingbc #trails #naturephotography

I am so excited! I got a very lovely present today

I am so excited! I got a very lovely present today from my friend, Alexandra Hope! She brought me a fabulous coffee mug (I may have to start drinking coffee) and a tiny red bag filled with precious things, including marbles. It was so unexpected and kind I stood on my front walk sniffling like a fool instead of saying thank you properly.

Thank you, Alex!

And as an added bonus, it matches the outfit I was wearing today!

Some days I feel like I got it going on. Some days

Some days I feel like I got it going on. Some days my back really hurts and I sleep really poorly. (But I take a selfie anyway.)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#purecharm #charmillington #bestmoment #happiness

One more time for the people in the back: please d

One more time for the people in the back: please do not destroy your credibility by having a casual relationship with truth. #PureCharm #TuesdayTips #etiquette #etiquettetraining #EtiquetteMatters #leadership #pureandsimplecharm #cheerleadership

Between my weekly meal prep and my health commitme

Between my weekly meal prep and my health commitments, I am on an almost exclusively vegan diet now. When I came back from Montreal in 2019 (having eaten double my weight in cheese), my doctor sent me to get my cholesterol checked. Not surprisingly, it came back with a choice to get my diet under control or take medication. (My doctor didn’t actually offer me the choice. He gave me a link to a Health Canada website and told me to swap out my cheese intake for some produce.) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Since 2019, I have been back and forth, up and down, with healthy eating. I have finally settled for a diet that is vegan five days each week. And red meat? I can’t remember the last time I had it. In theory I need to go get my bloodwork done to see how it’s going. In reality I’m steering clear of the lab until the pandemic is done. I wasn’t in a high risk category, just a “pay attention” category and our BC lab workers are slammed. I think I’m doing ok though. I’m down 16 lbs from last summer and a little over 20 lbs since I got back from Montreal. I did that by just changing my diet and not by “dieting.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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My big secret is no secret at all. It’s my weekly meal prep. Because I make five days worth of meals at a time, I can’t really make anything with animal products and expect it to be safe for consumption. My creativity has been unlocked and curiously so has my free time. I don’t need to spend every night wondering what’s for dinner when it’s already in the fridge and I spend zero time cooking on week days. This feels like a win all ‘round.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This was my lunch. It’s prepped. It’s weighed. It’s vegan.

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