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It only takes a spark
One of my favourite quotations is from American novelist Edith Wharton. She wrote about two different ways to lead. One is to be the candle that lights the way. The other is to be the mirror that reflects that candlelight. I’ve always thought it was a great metaphor for what Communications professionals do. We help others tell stories. We take the ideas – the original thoughts – they have, shine them up and make them accessible and understandable to the right audiences. I always thought that was exactly what I wanted to do forever. But increasingly I feel as if a tiny spark is growing within… Read more…
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Loosening up the muscles
You know how muscles atrophy when you don’t use them? The seize up and they stop working properly. When left for too long they can actually wither away, causing adjacent damage. That’s how I feel right now about my writing. I took on some big challenges at work at the beginning of this year and that left me with less time than ever to write outside of the office. As a result, my creative writing muscles have weakened. They’re stiff, and even the ‘idea generator’ in my mind is turning over at lower than optimal speed. My writing on this blog suffered as a… Read more…
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Six degrees
When I was in university, we played the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game. A take on the six degrees of separation idea, originally set out in the 1920s, we worked hard to connect actors or musicians of any stripe back to Kevin Bacon in just six steps. It was fun back then, and entertained us for many a beer-filled evening. Recently though, a series of seemingly coincidental connections has me wondering if it really is possible to connect anyone to anyone else in the world in just that few steps. And are coincidental meetings really coincidental? Through a colleague, a hospitable… Read more…
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Three for three – the last one spreads her wings
Cup of steaming tea in hand, I glanced in her bedroom this morning and for the first time since June, I saw her sound asleep, with her hair streaming behind her on her pillow and her long lithe legs sticking out from the covers, while the cool breeze moved the blinds on her windows. Fall is coming and I have my daughter home for two nights before she starts her new university life half way across the country.The sight made me smile, but it also made my breath catch in my throat. I’ve written about Son number one and Son number two going off… Read more…
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Luck, lemonade and a bit of siding
There but for the grace of God go I. Those words echoed through my mind all afternoon a few Saturdays ago, as I took part in a Habitat for Humanity build project.It was a good day. My colleagues and friends had stepped up to help me meet – and exceed – my fundraising goals and I spent the day exercising my construction muscles by putting siding on a house that would eventually become the home of an underprivileged family. It felt good to be doing something purposeful and constructive, and to be giving back. We had stopped for lunch, and former recipients… Read more…
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And the last one starts to leave…
Friday was my daughter’s senior prom. She looked so grown up in her simple, yet elegant floor-length black dress, with hair piled atop her head. Like her friends, she traded in her sneakers for the the highest heels imaginable, as they attended the formal event. It was a strange combination of pride and sadness I felt, watching these almost unrecognizable young women go off together. Earlier this month, she had her final choral performance with an amazing group she’s sung with for the past ten years. She’s landed a summer job away from home and exams are right around the… Read more…
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Muscle memory
It’s what happens when you strap on the water skis after years of letting them gather dust in the boat house. It’s how you always remember how ride a bike. It’s what Olympic athletes rely on to nail performances and win races. And it’s what happened to me a couple of weeks ago when muscle memory took over and I started singing the alto part in an anthem I knew well, instead of the soprano part I’d just learned. Muscle memory. Through repetition, our muscles can be trained to encode, retain and repeat movements and eventually make those movements without… Read more…
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Is it a habit, or something more?
My middle child is stubborn. Really stubborn. When he was young, I wanted to throttle him regularly. I often joked that one of us would not make it to his adulthood. As he got a bit older, I started to see this stubbornness as a positive sign. He had a “stick-to-it” quality that would surely serve him well. That mental strength was key to his success last summer as a tree planter – and why he’s going back again this summer. I was slightly horrified to hear from my other two kids that they figured he’d inherited this quality from… Read more…
