My holiday spirit is slowly returning after an all-time low several years ago. I was resentful of all the obligations of the season. I was burnt out from teaching during a pandemic. I was numb. It’s taken years of intentional changes to get here. But this December, I don’t feel panicked and overwhelmed for the… Continue reading Reclaiming My Holiday Spirit
Category: Family Life
What Do You Do With Their Room?
Everyday I walk into a room with spaces where pictures once lined the walls, a bookcase full of books that are not for me, and a closet of forgotten clothes and childhood memories. My cat has taken over a corner of the space with her litter box and cat tree, but the room still feels… Continue reading What Do You Do With Their Room?
Life Balance Is A Moving Target
Life balance is a moving target. No one secures a bullseye in life balance. Our life circumstances are too changeable and varied from one week to the next. However, it is a worthy target to aim for because it keeps us readjusting and moving in a direction that feeds us with energy and keeps us… Continue reading Life Balance Is A Moving Target
Processing Bittersweet Times
Bittersweet has to be one of the most painful emotions that I’ve experienced. Moments that brought it on included my retirement, my daughter leaving for university, and when we moved homes. These are major life events that change things forever, but have at their core both joy and grief. Feeling The Confusion Of Bittersweet… Continue reading Processing Bittersweet Times
“Mankeeping” In Midlife
Maintaining strong friendships throughout our lives is a key factor in living a happy, healthy, long life.** Creating, developing, and maintaining social connections gets harder as we get older. Once you retire, there is a huge shift because you suddenly lose daily contact with work colleagues. It’s one of the key areas that newly-retired folks… Continue reading “Mankeeping” In Midlife
Making Room For Holiday Fun
With all the busyness of the holiday season, making room for fun can get ignored. It’s ironic that a time when everyone is “supposed” to be enjoying themselves, that I’ve often felt overwhelmed and stressed.** It became a season of gritting my teeth and getting it done, for myself and for many women I know.… Continue reading Making Room For Holiday Fun
Working With Your Season
What season are you in? I’ve found that the new usage for the term “season of life,” to be quite useful. The traditional use for season of life referred to the age of the person, with Spring equating to childhood and Winter compared to old age: “Youth like summer morn, age like winter weather;” –… Continue reading Working With Your Season
Conversing From Another Room
Have you ever tried talking to someone when you’re not in the same room as they are? You keep raising your voice in frustration. Yes? Then of course, like me, you’ve had others try to talk to you from another room, when you’re busy in the kitchen surrounded by running water, and a beeping microwave.… Continue reading Conversing From Another Room
Focus On The Best Outcome
I’m embarrassed to admit, that I succumbed to thinking the worst, when our dear cat of 14 years was very ill recently. She had stopped eating, had lost an alarming amount of weight, was jaundice, and her bloodwork results told a very grim story. I accepted that story. For days, I sat sobbing while trying… Continue reading Focus On The Best Outcome
Got Junk? Grow Some Space.
Somehow the older we get the more junk we accumulate. I’m not sure how it happens. It grows in cupboards, and closets and it’s especially fertile in basements and garages. It seems to grow without thought or nurture on my part. Soon, like a garden over-grown with weeds, it becomes a problem. Ignoring it or… Continue reading Got Junk? Grow Some Space.
Retired, And Now What? 