Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
Choose the type of foundation to build. I want a foundation strong enough to carry me through hard times, yet flexible and able to adapt in the moment. Something sustaining, and solid, but not rigid. Set your footings 2 feet across. Two feet on the ground, firmly planted, well balanced, not alone, but interdependent, both partaking […]
Read More“What about my marriage?” a naive, much younger me once asked a psychic. “The foundation is firm,” the woman responded hesitantly, “but not without cracks.” Cracks? It was more like gaping holes. Easy to see now, in retrospect, but at the time, I was convinced we were rock solid. The suggestion of anything less insulted […]
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Inquiry is a trait teachers hope to instil in students – the ability to not just take for granted that which they have been taught, but the curiosity to question evidence, and to research beyond what is given. Questions form the basis of a reflective life. This week’s challenge was to think about the questions […]
Read More“I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was. Likewise, I never imagined that home might be something I would miss.” – Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Home is on my brain this week, as we […]
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Children understand the mechanics of accomplishment: take a risk, try and try again, and bask in the accolades that follow. As I grow older, I wonder at what point in life I lost that simple understanding. Now, as I watch my granddaughters, I feel compelled to regain some of that old spunk: tackle the new, […]
Read More“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Prior to […]
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Inspired by a question about why a certain flower has five petals, this week’s challenge was born: mystery. The responses have been varied and all equally intriguing proving that life continues to be full of mystery. I started us off with a tale about a suspicious death in the family, pre-dating my existence. Like any good […]
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Her name was Mary, the one that they say shot herself. Although I never knew her, it is a stretch to believe a woman would kill herself this way. Far too messy. “What was she like?” I asked my mother once. “Timid. Not a particularly happy woman.” She had been married to my mother’s second […]
Read MoreDon’t Hold Your Breath’s byline is “tripping the world, slowly”. The author, I.J. Khanewala, documents travels through images and delightful commentary. I have begun to look forward to these snippets from other worldly places. In a recent post: “Flowers of the Middle Heights” The Young Niece asks why a certain flower has five petals. Khanewala, […]
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“I’m too old to change!” Father snapped at me when I suggested that some of the stress Mother was suffering might have to do with his behaviour. “Look in the mirror, Dad. If you see a reflection, it is not too late to change.” It was a line I borrowed from Alan Cohen, an author […]
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