Life With Father

June 29, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

“Whatever it is we need to learn from each other, I say let’s do it now, so we don’t have to come back and repeat it,” I told my father once during a period in which I was exploring the concept of reincarnation. I imagine he lowered his chin and looked over his spectacles at […]

CFFC: Diagonal Lines

June 27, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

A mountainside offers a diagonal view: (Olympic National Park, Washington State, U.S.) A coastal view the same: (Washington State Coast) This sea lion hopes this slope is slippery enough to procure him lunch: (Oregon, US) The delicate lines of a spider’s web intertwined with lacy fingers: (Ontario, Canada) (Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is […]

Confessions of Losses and Gains

June 26, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Illness comes at a cost, yet even as the losses add up, there are gains. With the onset of summer, I recall leisurely hours spent golfing with my husband, or friends – a pastime we so loved. My clubs now take up residence elsewhere, these muscles unfit for the exertion required. My tennis racquet sits […]

The Gift of Friendship

June 25, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

I am the one who put forth the relationship challenge this week, and I have to confess, I am struggling with how to articulate my feelings. Fast approaching my sixtieth birthday, I find I am sentimental, or maybe, it’s that after years of isolation due to illness, I now treasure relationship more than ever. […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #4: Relationships

June 25, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

“The people we are in relationships with are always a mirror, reflecting our own beliefs, and simultaneously we are mirrors, reflecting their beliefs.” – Shakti Gawain A friend of mine used to say (and I paraphrase). “May you experience as many relationships […]

Reflections on Nurturing Wonder

June 24, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Thanks to all who participated in this week’s challenge. (It is never too late to join in, if you feel so inspired.) Tammy at Tammy’s Reading/Writing Life wrote a post about feeling magic that so resonated with our theme, I invited her to share. She speaks of finding magic in children’s rapt attention, Christmas, bookstores, […]

VJWC#3: Nurturing Wonder

June 20, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

On the road, everyday is defined by a sense of adventure and discovery – an attitude I feared I’d lose on returning home. In truth, these past six weeks of settling back in have focused on family and friends and doctors visits. All good, and yet, already, I notice that carving time for writing is […]

V.J.s Weekly Challenge #3: Nurturing Wonder

June 18, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our sense to grow sharper.” – W.B. Yeats Travelling across North America and back this past winter, every day was filled with discovery, awakening new passion for life. The challenge, I recognized, as our trip wound down, would be to keep this sense of wonder […]

Reflections on Synchronicity

June 17, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

First, a thank you to all who participated in this week’s challenge, and to those who took the time to comment. This interaction means so much to me – maybe more than I can ever articulate. Up until 2004 – when I returned to university to become a teacher – I practiced an examined life: […]

A Photo a Week Challenge: Opening

June 15, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Some openings are inviting. Who can resist? Some openings signify emergence: light after dark. Some openings reveal the unexpected: this case it was what wouldn’t open that brought about this adventure: (A Photo a Week Challenge is hosted by Nancy Merrill Photography. Thanks Nancy!)