What could you achieve if you didn’t place any limitations on yourself? Jazz pianist Art Tatum— called “the eighth wonder of the world” by Count Basie— is a perfect example of a man who knew no boundaries.

Though blind, Tatum expressed an interest in the piano as a youngster. He listened to the musical stylings of Fats Waller and Lee Sims on the radio for hours, hoping that someday he would be able to perform as well as they did. Of course, that meant he’d have to learn to play, but unfortunately, like many families in the 1920s, his had few resources to spend on music lessons.

As Tatum neared adolescence, he devised his own method for learning the instrument. He persuaded friends to escort him to a jazz club, where he was given permission to sit at the player piano.

As the music played, Tatum kept his fingers hovering lightly over the falling keys, feeling his way through the songs. He practiced late into the night, as often as he could, in spite of his age, his schoolwork, and his part-time job.

Learning to play piano in this manner was difficult, but not just because he was blind. What Tatum didn’t realize was that player piano rolls of that era were the result of two pianists playing together. He was learning to play with two hands what normally took four. As a result, he developed an incredible dexterity that enabled him to master the piano. Art Tatum’s strong will overshadowed any real or imagined challenges that could have prevented him from learning to play the piano.

At the age of 17, Tatum began playing professionally in a career that spanned decades. What began as a desire to sound like Fats Waller developed into a four-handed playing style that would astonish Waller and fellow musicians throughout the 20th century.

Canadian employment lost 63k jobs in December (-0.3%, m/m), representing the first decline since April 2020. This comes on the heels of many provinces reinstating public health measures that closed recreational facilities and in-person dining services. The decline was led by part-time employment, specifically among youth aged 15 to 24 and those 55 and above. Employment declined in all provinces except for BC. The national unemployment rate ticked up by 0.1 percentage points to 8.6%, which is still a fall from the record high of 13.7% in May 2020. Compared to the same month last year, Canadian employment was down by 3.0% (-572k).

In BC, employment grew by 3.8k (0.2%, m/m) in December, following a gain of 24k in the previous month. The province continues to be at 99% of its pre-COVID February employment level. The unemployment rate ticked up by 0.1 percentage points to 7.2%, the first increase since the record high of 13.4% in May 2020. Meanwhile, in Vancouver, employment decreased by 1.1k (-0.1%, m/m). Compared to one year ago, employment in BC was down by 1.4% (-37K) jobs.

Despite rising cases of COVID-19 across the country, employment in BC bucked the trend and grew in December. Industries that saw the largest increases were construction and manufacturing, while like the rest of the country, employment fell in accommodation and food services. On the whole, we can expect national employment growth to come to a standstill as caseloads and hospitalizations increase, leaving many provinces to extend restrictions and partial lockdowns.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Link: https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-employment-dec-january-8-1784645

A bear walked into an ice cream parlor, handed a $10 bill to the clerk, and asked for a hot fudge sundae.

Though the clerk thought this scenario was completely surreal, he also wondered if the bear truly knew the value of money or if he was simply mimicking human behavior. To test out this theory, he handed over a $1 bill as change when he served the bear his ice cream.

“You know, we don’t get many bears around here buying sundaes,” said the clerk.

“Ya think?” replied the bear. “Since when do sundaes cost $9?”

The BCREA Economics team has created the COVID-19 Reopening Dashboard to help REALTORS® monitor the evolution of the economy as BC navigates the recovery. This dashboard focuses on the sectors and activities that have been most significantly impacted by the pandemic and the province’s subsequent state of emergency. While demand for homes continues to be strong, the supply of listings has reached near-record lows in several parts of the province, with prices rising sharply as a result.

To monitor the province’s progress, we benchmark each indicator to February 2020, the month before the pandemic was declared. This dashboard is updated each month.
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BCREA's updated COVID-19 Reopening Dashboard is available here.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

As working from home becomes the norm, encouraging employees to participate actively in online meetings isn’t always easy. The secret is providing the kind of leadership that’s crucial to getting everyone to join in. Consider these tips:

• Break larger meetings into smaller ones with a focused topic. Assign each group a topic to discuss, then have one person serve as spokesperson in a larger meeting to keep things streamlined.

• Open with a very safe agenda topic. Stay away from problematic issues until people are warmed up and ready to speak freely.

• Don’t change gears too suddenly. You can’t turn discussions on and off instantly. Don’t get everyone talking, then silence them for a long speech in the middle of the meeting, as discussion isn’t likely to quickly start up again.

By the same token, don’t wait until you really need participation before encouraging it. Provide breaks and clear transitions, so employees know what to do.

• Use the right language. “Meeting” can sound dull and passive. Call it a “working session” or a seminar. Think of and refer to people in the room as participants, not employees or audience members.

It was a very cold day in January, the kind of cold that seeps into your bones until your toes are numb. However, the cold outside did not stop customers from passing through the corner store to pick up the usual random items that require quick stops on the way home: milk, a bundle of firewood, or a snack to hold them over until dinnertime.

Lora, the clerk, realized she was short on change in the till with several hours left until closing time, so she hurriedly walked across the street to trade some bills for change at the bank before it closed for the evening. As she dashed back across to her little store, Lora felt something at her ankles and looked down to see a scraggly little cat. She felt guilty, but had to shoo the cat away.

Later, counting out the till, she realized she was short a $20 bill. Lora realized she likely dropped the cash outside and with a deep sigh, added her own last $20 bill to the till so her employer wouldn’t dock her pay for the mistake.

Reluctantly, she put back the groceries she had planned on purchasing and closed the shop. Suddenly, she heard a meow— it was the scruffy little street cat from earlier. This time, he was curled up against the wall, barely out of the wind.

Lora decided it wouldn’t hurt to bring him home for one warm night, and scooped him up before she could change her mind. As she did so, the $20 bill fluttered down the street toward her. In that instant, Lora understood an age-old lesson: we get back what we put out.

She decided to use the $20 to purchase dinner for herself... and her new pet cat.

We worry about our children and other youngsters in our lives, but that doesn’t mean we should forget our older loved ones. Many are isolated for safety, as the pandemic is of particular concern to older adults. The resulting potential loneliness can lead to depression and other health problems. Here’s what NPR recommends to keep their spirits up:

• Stay in touch. Call as often as possible. Talk about what you’re doing, what makes you happy or sad, and what they’re up to. Ask for their advice so they remember they are valued.

• Have a virtual dinner. Schedule a shared meal via Zoom or another app that allows you to virtually gather. Cooking and eating together, or watching TV together from different houses, can create a feeling of togetherness despite being in different locations.

• Connect to their interests. Find out what they like to do and share that hobby with them. If an older loved one with fading eyesight likes reading, offer to read a book aloud. You can also arrange for audio books that they can access and enjoy at any time.

• Ask for help. Just because people are older doesn’t mean they’re helpless. Often they have useful skills acquired over a lifetime. Ask for favorite recipes. Encourage them to pass down a skill to the next generation.

National Mentoring Month.

You can make a fundamental difference in the life of a young person. Establish a path based on what you have learned first-hand in your own life, regardless of where you are in your career. Or you can answer the call for mentors nationwide through a system like the one at the mentoring.org website. There, you will find suggestions you can scale up from occasional work involving youth in your home area, all the way to starting your own local program.

Your commitment and guidance can be the driving force to your mentee's future success and their willingness to reach back and help someone else. You might even find that helping a young person find their way has the echoing effect of helping you strive for more, as you begin a new year with new goals.

Once upon a time, a young chef was hired to work at a high-end restaurant. The job was entry level, prepping vegetables, but it was the first step in his chosen career and he was determined to do his best.

The first day, he gracefully sliced up ten catering pans of potatoes, all perfectly cut to the same size and shape.

“Excellent work!” the sous chef said as he passed the pans to the saucier.

On the second day, he jumped into work as he had the day before, but he only cut nine pans of potatoes.

Determined to make up for the slower second day on the job, he tried to outdo himself on the third day, but he somehow sliced up only seven pans of potatoes.

He stopped by the sous chef’s station on his way out and apologized and honestly claimed he did not understand what was going on.

“When was the last time you sharpened your knives?” the older chef asked.

“Sharpen?” the young man asked.

“I had no time to hone my knives. I have been too busy trying to cut potatoes.”

The moral of the story: Sometimes working hard alone is not enough to achieve success. You have to work smarter, too!

If you’re finding it hard to tap into your creative center, multitasking might be to blame. It can be hard to segment different tasks if you’re working from home, so be sure to carve out time to do absolutely nothing. That “nothing” time is high-quality reset time! Whether you only have a few minutes or a full hour, take a walk, journal, meditate, or focus on a creative practice.

Think of it this way: If you’re learning to play the guitar or taking ballroom dance lessons, you would commit to a specific amount of time for instruction and for practice. You wouldn’t be making phone calls or writing a report or doing chores during this time. The same is true for times when you are engaged in any creative endeavors, or just need space to think freely

Canadian real GDP grew by 0.4% in October, following a 0.8% increase in September. This is the weakest rate of growth since May but marks the sixth consecutive monthly increase in GDP since the steepest drop in Canadian history was observed earlier this year. Sixteen of the twenty industries reported an increase in output. Leading the increase was professional services (1.0%), while accommodation and food services reported a steep decline (-3.9%) as patios closed up and heightened restrictions were implemented.

Early estimates from Statistics Canada indicate that real GDP grew by 0.4% in November. We continue to anticipate growth, albeit at a slower rate as the economy has once again been hampered by rising COVID-19 cases and lockdowns in many provinces. The soft handoff to the new year will mean that the first quarter of 2021 will struggle to report any growth.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Link: https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-monthly-real-gdp-oct-december-23-2020

Did you know— the ancient Vikings measured age in how many winters someone lived through? I just love that idea, like we aren’t merely surviving the winter months with extra-thick socks while clutching a warm mug, but we are living through them and truly taking in all they have to offer, and thriving in response.

I think we can all agree that 2020 was challenging and we are all likely to anticipate 2021 with a sense that there is a fresh start on the horizon. However, if we channel our inner Viking (skipping the horned hats), we are obligated to bring vivid life into this typically bleak month, rather than seeing it as something to survive until warmer times. There is living to be done in January, my friend!

Those ancient Vikings were masters of the sea and had an innate understanding of navigation by natural elements. Like many ancient cultures, they noted landmarks for reference points and used the stars to navigate their way while out at sea, however they also kept track of their route through storytelling. Reciting the route they took in a poetic tale was not only entertaining, but it was also a way to hand down trade routes through generations.

I’m sharing this with you because I think there is value in giving voice to the course you plan to take as you begin the journey through 2021, whether you plan to redo your kitchen or embark on an adventure later this year.

What will you commit to your melodic plan this month? What will you leave as guideposts for those who want to follow your path? How will you live this year?

Gino Pezzani,
Your Real Estate Consultant For Life