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A plan without a plan
A few days ago, a friend of mine posted a quote on FaceBook from Mandy Hale that struck me. “You don’t always need a plan,” the blogger turned author wrote. Sometimes you need to just breathe, trust, and see what happens.” It seems particularly appropriate this week, as I’ve got “Sabbatical 2.0” as I’m calling it, papered over at work. While it clearly wasn’t meant to happen in 2020, 2021 is my year – one way or another. At this time last year, I was almost vibrating with excitement. I had my plane ticket booked and my flat booked. I’d told old… Read more…
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Back to work(place)
I felt quite unbalanced last weekend. I was back home from a short getaway on the lake, and while the weather hadn’t cooperated, I did catch up on much lost sleep and made my way through several books. Just what the doctor ordered after six months of an insane pace at work, thanks to COVID-19. So it puzzled me that I was feeling “off”. My stomach was queasy and my head heart. It wasn’t until I started to get ready for bed, having readied a lunch for the next day and laid out my work clothes that it dawned on… Read more…
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Empty pockets
My pockets are empty. Like – hold them upside-down and shake them out, looking for a penny – empty. Like tons of other people whose vacation plans were upended this year by COVID-19, I’ve turned my attention inward and had a close look at the four walls (and garden!) in which I’ve been spending all my time. Contractors have been doing booming business as all the money we would have spent on travel has been plowed into home renovation. In my circle of friends, there have been patios built, home offices constructed, basements finished, pools installed and gardens expanded. In my… Read more…
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The hard work of families
Families are hard work. Whether they’re the ones you’re born into, the ones you marry into, or the ones you grow along the way, the roads are full of bumps and bruises, tears and hurt feelings, temper tantrums, secrets and exasperation. Of course, they’re balanced by – and hopefully tipped in favour of – sweet memories and raucous laughter, sticky fingers and kisses, stolen glances shared moments and celebrations. I grew up in a very small family. My parents were immigrants from the UK, so every time we sat down for dinner it was a family reunion. But even back in… Read more…
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First tentative steps to normal
I had my first socially-distanced back yard get together with more than two people a few weeks ago. With a bit of fear and trepidation, I emailed a few single girlfriends and suggested that if their risk tolerance was high enough, that we might sit in my back garden for a few hours, drink wine and catch up in person – for the first time in months. In fact the last time I saw this particular group of lovely ladies was for my “going away” dinner, just before my sabbatical got stomped on by COVID-19.We were very good – we sat… Read more…
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Melting
I’m melting. Full-on puddle of sweat on the living room floor. We’ve been in the middle of a heatwave. I thought I had it all planned. My air conditioner had never worked well since buying this house a few years ago. And original furnaces often grind to a halt in houses of this age. So, in an organized and responsible fashion, as soon as I figured these people were working, I had quotes on replacing them both. I chose a contractor and I scheduled replacement. Piece of cake! I’m not one to turn on the A/C early or often. I’d rather… Read more…
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Oh Canada!
It’s a funny kind of Canada Day this year. Normally, I might have been down by the wonderful Lake Ontario waterfront with throngs of other proud Canadians, celebrating our country’s birthday. But the world has other plans this year.
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Who is your imposter?
I was walking through the woods, listening to a rebroadcast of a webinar about “imposter syndrome” when one of the panelists asked this question: Who is your imposter? If you aren’t familiar with it, imposter syndrome is that feeling that you’re not quite good enough, that you don’t belong – and that someone is about to “out” you as a fraud. First coined in 1978, it’s often associated with high-achieving women. You probably know these women. They’re educated, they hold good jobs and they’ve done well in their chosen professions. They’re humble about their success; they were lucky, they might… Read more…
