Make space for joy amid the messiness of life
It was not until I was 40, I think, that I really understood that I can choose my thoughts. That I am powerful and strong and capable enough to shift my thoughts, to “take them captive,” to wrangle them into submission. That I am the boss of my thoughts. I love being the boss. I …
Inside: We can decide, that whether life is easy breezy or downright horrible to choose joy and wear it like a garment. Here are 7 big and small ways to practice choosing joy. This is real life. Yet another sewer backup. Another friend in trouble. More financial stressors. A child going through a difficult time. …
I was so young but wanted to leave. Already weary. No fight in me. Is that how you feel? Weary? So incredibly tired of the battle that is against you? I have hated myself. Wished I could be different. Compared myself to others, always lacking. Always. I knew that I was weak. That I didn’t …
I barely slept last night. My youngest had a horrible stomach ache and squished in with my husband and me. We tossed and turned, as much as three people are able in a creaky double bed, and then all efforts at rest ended when she began throwing up around 7 am. We are on a work-holiday in beautiful Banff but …
I am breaking up with wine again. At least for 6 months, possibly forever. I can’t commit right now. I awoke early this morning knowing this is the day. But the truth is, over the past 5 years that I have been drinking any alcohol again, I have known many times that it was a bad idea for me. Though …
You can’t actually have or do it all. At least not in the same season of life. Every time you say yes to one thing you are saying no to another thing. Or another someone. Too many people push uphill through life this way, no clear game plan, head in the sand, tossed to and fro. Unhappy. Each and …
For the past two decades, I have chopped, sautéed and soaked my way around cultural food preferences, food allergies, and food anxiety. I have negotiated with teens sometimes frustrated by my real-food standards. Non-compliant food budgets have been wrangled into submission and I have relaxed at table, organic coffee in hand, delightedly crafting menu plans. …
As an introvert I seek out solitude and rarely spend time with people beyond my family. My brain only has so much bandwidth and I am generally busy filling it to the brim, drippy, with other people’s words from podcasts and books. I find myself laughing along with the banter, happily immersed in the dialogue, nodding my head in …
I think we often know when it is time to step out into change or when change is coming, unbidden. When we need something different. A seismic shift. The details may be cloudy and we may feel afraid. But deep down we often know. When I was 20 years old and living in England, unhappy, needing a hip replacement, binge …
Inside: Not everyone desires a slow life, but most of us care about a purposeful life. Here are 7 ways I simplify for a slower and purposeful life. Time to pause and think and chat with a stranger in the grocery line. Breathing room to linger over books or watch movies with my kids cuddled under the well-used rag quilt. …
We can all experience a measure of anxiety at times in our lives – a sense of worry, unease, nervousness, or apprehension. Sometimes this is tied to a particular and definable circumstance – waiting on a medical diagnosis, experiencing loss of a job or loved one, or preparing for an important exam, as examples. But many people, young and …
Do you like to move your body? I have never been an athlete and used to rather skillfully avoid sweat at all costs (gym teachers loved the O’Reilly girls). I am still too sedentary, largely due to hibernating much of the winter and have some limitations on my movement due to a hip replacement. But regular, JOYFUL …
Inside: What if all I really want is a small, slow, simple life. A mediocre life. A beautiful, quiet, gentle life. I think it is enough. What if all I want is a small, slow, simple life? What if I am most happy in the space of in-between. Where calm lives. What if I am …
Maybe you’ve had a few sleepless nights, or job layoffs all around you are stressing you out, or your work-family-rest balance has evaporated into thin air, and you find yourself cranky, anxious or tired out. You are not feeling how you want to but this isn’t the time for a dig-deep life overhaul. Get back to basics. …
Inside: After my third baby was born my brain fog reached frightening level. This post offers 6 tips to help reduce brain fog and boost memory and focus. My third pregnancy was challenging in many ways- I knew I was depleted nutritionally and emotionally. About two months following the birth of our youngest daughter I crashed. My …
Sensitive content: suicidality, depression I tried to die three times between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Nothing horrible had happened to me. My parents loved me and I was safe and provided for. But I didn’t want to exist – I didn’t feel like I was cut out for this world and wanted to …
You create your menu plans and a weekly rhythm and have a half-decent system for managing your finances. You work to stay organized and even have a strategy in place for self-care. But life throws you a couple of curve-balls and you miss some sleep and someone dies and Revenue Canada audits you. And the …
Inside: Experience and a tenacious spirit have taught me that life does not have to be perfect to be beautiful. That I do not have to be perfect to be beautiful. To not allow perfect to be the enemy of good. I can choose good enough. This post contains referral links. I am a recovering …
Like many of you, I am sure, I adore the fall. The changing colors, promise of pumpkin-everything, perfect weather for wearing ‘cardis’, scarves AND flipflops. As an ISFJ I also enjoy the return to more predictable routine and getting everyone and everything organized for a new school year. At the same time, anxiety and overwhelm can …
