Yesterday when I picked up our granddaughter for our weekly ‘date’ after school, she was full of anticipation for Christmas. ‘It’s too early’ I said. She disagreed and then told me that one of Santa’s elves had visited their house the night before and wrapped the living room pictures in Christmas paper with big red […]
Fun stuff
Nurture your inner child with playtime
Each of us has an inner child that’s waiting for a tweak to come out for some playtime. Yes, play — as in doing silly things, running, jumping, telling jokes, laughing, and having fun. As adults, especially as older adults, we often forget about play. Play is for kids! But what about the kid in […]
Pi Day — will you bake a Pie?
Will you bake a pie on March 14 to celebrate Pi Day? Or will you celebrate with some calculation using the symbol π, which is the Greek letter for Pi? Until about one week ago I knew nothing about Pi Day which has been celebrated internationally since 1988. In 2009 the United States House of […]
Valentine’s Day and Moments of Joy
There are many opportunities for small moments of joy on Valentine’s day. You don’t need to wait for someone to shower you with gifts of love. Cards, candy and flowers always bring joy, but receiving such gifts depends on other people who may forget or choose the wrong things. Why not look for moments of joy to […]
The weather — Why do we keep talking about it?
No matter where I go, I hear people talking about the weather. When I get to the gym in the morning, someone inevitably remarks about the weather. When my husband comes in from his daily errands, he mentions the weather. When travelling by plane, the pilot usually announces the weather forecast at the destination and gives […]
Soul Destroying Effects of Social Media
While driving to the gym one morning last week I listened to a CBC interview with a tech expert from the UK who advocated getting off social media. The interviewer noted that social media has been characterized as ‘soul destroying’. Jaren Lanier is a scientist at Microsoft. His book, Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media […]
Summer Cottage Rituals
This summer marks 34 years of cottaging at Lake Huron in the small town of Grand Bend. During these 34 years, we’ve developed many cottage rituals and habits. There are rituals for every season of the year, but the summer cottage rituals have special meaning. Summer is the season when we spend most of our […]
Take time for Afternoon Tea
Despite sub-zero April temperatures in Southern Ontario and with a dusting of snow on the ground, I joined a group of interesting women at a local golf club yesterday for a springtime tea celebration. For winter-weary Canadians, this festive event brought a feeling of the freshness of spring despite uncooperative April temperatures. While it wasn’t […]
Life Lessons the Olympics Teach Us
Since the start of the Winter Olympics on February 9, I’ve spent too many hours glued to the television. Bedtimes have stretched to the wee hours of the morning as I sat mesmerized by daring athletes seeking medals, personal best records, and honour for their country. After 16 days, I’m afraid that I’ll suffer withdrawal now […]
How Colour Affects Happiness
In recent weeks two of my favorite happiness gurus, Gretchen Rubin https://gretchenrubin.com/blog/and Margaret Manning http://sixtyandme.com/have been discussing colour and its effect on happiness. Their comments prompted a new recognition of the importance of colour in my life. I am a visual learner and heavily dependent on pictures, mind maps, graphs and other visual cues as […]