Selfless

May 29, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

“The heart has unlimited capacity when the mind is willing to focus beyond self.” I wrote these words four days after our first Ukrainian guests arrived. Prior to their arrival, I worried about so much: What will we eat? How will my body cope with noise and commotion? How will we all get along? It […]

Kindness is always appropriate

April 17, 2024.Reading time 2 minutes.

I offer our Ukrainian guest the last pot of chocolate dessert that had been dropped off that morning by a fellow Ukrainian. “There are fresh raspberries, too!” I add, gifted from another. She pauses, and then shakes her head. “Maybe tomorrow. I had sweet today.” And then she bursts out crying. I reach for my […]

Currently Learning…

December 27, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Reflection, not resolution, is my year end practice. What did the past year bring? What did I learn? What, if anything, was I missing? After so many years of isolation, due to illness, then COVID, we have definitely been thrown back into social interaction. I had come to love solitude. I had surrendered fully and accepted that this is where […]

Happiness

December 13, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Following a dream

December 11, 2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

When 13-year-old Alina first arrived at our house, she shared with me that she had a dream to join Cirque de Soleil. We’d had a student at one of my former schools who trained for cirque, so I told her I thought it was possible to find a trainer. I had no idea, really. When […]

Sharing

December 10, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

These voices, these lyrics, so powerful. Thanks to Brave & Reckless for posting.

Spark

November 22, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

It took me many years to reconnect with my creative spark, but I’m so glad I did. There is so much hope, release, and beauty in the act of creating. How do you bloom yourself?

Signs of Success

October 27, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Ric and I took a road trip to Strathroy, Ontario last Friday, to catch up with old friends. We met at Alla’s Pierogies & More, a cute little restaurant with three tables and of course, the exuberant host: Alla. Afterwards, we visited Mykola at his trendy bakery for tea and treats. Alla and Mykola’s families […]

Imagination

September 27, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

When legs seizeand walking fails,I grow wings,shed my fear of heightsand soar above the clouds –Imagination fully engaged.

Hold On

September 20, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Some days, you just have to find that rock to hold onto. Tomorrow you can let go.

Crisis

How did undocumented –a civil infraction –reduce people to ‘bodies’? And how did empathy –observation and support –merit death by gunshot? When we stretch for explanations –to fit the violent rhetoric –are we too not complicit in crime? Red, blue, it’s all intolerable –the global stage is watching –a nation in rapid decline. “He’ll burn […]

Winter’s Ruse

Poet’s Quandry

IfI wereto writeevery dayfor onehundred days,would my soulbe purged ofthis malaise;is it a thingto be dredged,dragged up –twistedand tiedlike tatteredbed sheetsknottedtogether;is therea remedyfor thisscourge;or is thisan inherentrestlessness,a fiery bluespark of eternalangst ignitingpassion – a callto write? (Originally posted February, 2017. Image my own)