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Letting go
Last week, I let go of my wedding dress. A few years ago, I wrote a blog about the art of letting go. This was a bit different. In the throes of downsizing, I’ve been decluttering, visiting the dump regularly, selling and giving away excess pieces of furniture. Who knew you could collect so much stuff over 15 years and three children. Finally it was time to box up the contents of my hope chest. Yes, I have a hope chest – a relic from a time gone by when young ladies stitched household linens and stored them away until they married. One… Read more…
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Real estate rollercoaster
I think I got lucky. I think I got really lucky. A couple of months ago, I found the smaller house I’ve been “sort of” looking for on and off for the past year. It’s been time to downsize for a while, with numbers 1 and 2 off at university and number 3 set to go in a year. Real estate has been a hot commodity in my part of the world. My house was estimated to be worth more than three times what I bought it for a decade and a half ago, and homes were selling in two… Read more…
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I love you … I love you not – surviving spring
I love spring. Every year I wait for the snow to melt, eager to start lifting up the heavy, wet leftover leaves in my garden to see the beginnings of signs of new life. Slowly the whole world comes to life. Little snowdrops push through, rewarding me with the first glimpses of what’s to come. About the same time I realize that the cold winter air is beginning to fill with the sounds of songbirds. Out come the rakes and we uncover tulip and daffodil leaves. Purple and yellow crocuses follow quickly and then the starry shapes of chianodoxa. It… Read more…
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Taking the slow lane
I’m off on a business trip again. I seem to go a little more than once a month these days, and the insanity of air travel in Canada in the winter is starting to wear thin. Life in general seems to be moving faster and faster every year, with no chance to breathe. I feel this constant hum – a vibration almost – that is the background to everything, and is keeping me on edge. Even yoga, which sadly has been reduced to once-a-week classes – and maybe that’s why – isn’t keeping it at bay. This guy REALLY knows how… Read more…
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Listening in the silence
Science has shown us that babies grow in the quiet hours while they sleep. And more recently we’ve learned that exposure to nature – and the stillness it brings – can actually help with hypertension and mental health. So why do we fill our waking hours with noise and distractions? I remember as a kid, my parents sometimes returning from visiting neighbours or friends and criticizing them for having the television on all the time. At the time I agreed with them. Who needed that noise all the time. Somehow, slowly over the past few years, I’ve fallen further into that… Read more…
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One more chance…
Second chances. I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. It sounds so simple. Of course everyone should given a second chance. But what happens when a second chance turns into a third, a fourth, a fifth? How many chances should someone be given before you simply have to turn away? When do your own needs for peace supplant someone else’s need for another opening? Real-life friends will know my marriage exploded in relatively spectacular form a little more than a decade ago. In early years, I tried to remain very open to my children’s father having a second chance… Read more…
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And the years speed by
When I started writing this blog almost three years ago, people objected to its original name. And I was more than willing to be told I wasn’t middle-aged yet. But is it time to admit that it might be here now? I’m a communicator by profession; a degree in journalism, followed by a 25+ year career in public relations and communications. As a young greenhorn, that meant interviewing supervisors, managers and even site directors. These were men – and yes, back then they were pretty much all men – much older than me. A few years later, when I accompanied… Read more…
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Pokeman redux
For the past month, I’ve been treated to a rerun of Pokemon, thanks to the youngsters temporarily living in my house. Their father knows just about as much about Pokemon as I do, so we smile and shake our heads as the tales pour out – character names, adventures and evolutions. It’s been a sweet return to the days of young affectionate boys. Mine are long past the age of snuggling and hugging in thanks for simple everyday things, so I’m enjoying the affection. I had the privilege of taking the younger of the two to his first day of… Read more…
