Holiday Reading - my 6 most-read posts of 2016

In this busy time of celebrating, I hope you will stay and relax for a few minutes. Thank you to all my readers for sharing this year with me. Your comments, your wisdom and your dialogue are such a gift to me. Thank you for allowing me to be a writer.

My 6 most-read posts are here for you while you take a restful stop and sip on your beverage. Each post brought to you to reflect, laugh, smile or cry. Each one from my heart.

Please share if you know someone who would find these words valuable. You can also find me on Twitter  and on Facebook .      

Rejection and Re-direction
  

As the new school year begins, perhaps we should all keep in mind these wise words. Being rejected might not seem like it at the time but we are heading to "something better". Read more..

Give and Take –  how to do it – a Rant(?)

What I’ve learned is that sometimes people give only because it gives them something, said my friend. It is a self-serving pat-on-the-back, not because they want the recipient to be truly honoured. But because they feel needed, she continued. Read more..

Relationship is not a Secret

The beauty of the couple. Rare, dignified, classy. Bringing that air of well-being to all they encounter. I think that they must enjoy the experience of strolling through a park or attending a book reading at the local library. Read more.. 

Asking Questions Made Me Enjoy Social Events

 

Let's face it, marathoners are not typically a subdued bunch. As the host opened the front door to the after-race party, the laughter and conversation overwhelmed me. What was I doing here? Sure, I'd just completed my first half marathon, but these people were "real athletes", each wearing their newest Finisher medal. I was just a nerd in running shoes. Read more..

When Is Enough enough? 6 Simple Ideas to set you Free

Too much? Stuff.

What are you going to do about it today?

When is Enough enough? Or the bigger question, what is your enough? What are you giving up now for the day that you can enjoy what you have? Read more..

Ode to a Girl Named River

 

Such a little girl. Her hand reaching up is totally enveloped in her Dad’s. 

They are walking as they usually do, almost every evening, just catching up on their respective days. It’s a habit he had started when she was just wee, when he would come home from work, scrub his hands clean and smile and talk to her sweet face. Read more..

A Ghost of a Scent

This post was previously featured on the BlogHer network. My Halloween story for you.


As a small department which had once again been moved to a new location, we had grown used to meeting new people. A campus building built at the turn of the century was our latest landing place.

This building had attic rooms and winding tunnels which led to dark places for storage. We had to light our way down these cold passageways with pull-down strings hanging from the black ceilings. But still, these distant places smelled... clean, like a garden.

On the ground floor, modern technology, and academia. Safe.

Above on the top floor and downstairs in the basement lived the stories of a ghost. A beloved cleaning lady who enjoyed her job so much she stayed. Staff who went to these areas witnessed floors that were free of dust and boxes that were consistently rearranged where real people seldom tread.

Victoria B.C.

Sadly, shortly after our arrival one of our staff experienced the sudden, unexpected illness of her teenager. We were a group of mothers, and we stood together with our friend as her daughter's life unwound. Through it all, we started to notice little things. Our desks looked tidier in the morning than when we left the previous day; our trash cans moved to a more convenient spot. But still some of us dismissed the idea that a ghost was at work.

In spite of the business day, our lives became quiet as we waited for the final news about our friend's child. My office space sat slightly apart from the others, and then one morning I smelled a scent. Strong and pungent, filling my head with the scent of the outdoors. Something I could not ignore.

I walked to the main office area, but nothing physical seemed changed. The hushed drone of our computers and voices on the phones continued. Didn't anyone else notice? Was I the only one who smelled roses? I returned to my desk thinking, "Was I mistaken?" Within the hour though, we received news that our friend's daughter had died. Was the ghost giving a sweet warning?

Days later on the local news, the historical ghost-walk society did a segment and mentioned our school. They said that there had been several reports over the years of a ghost cleaning lady. A kind lady who had been a new mother at the time of her passing, a lady who was caring, a lady whose name was Rose.

Twice since that Rose day more than fifteen years ago, she has come to warn me about someone I was close to. Twice, I have smelled roses. Both times, she was correct.


My true ghost story for you. Happy Halloween. (Tweet This)

Love beyond time. A Ghost of a Scent and other remarkable things. (Tweet This)

Asking Questions Made Me Enjoy Social Events

Read my recently Featured Post on the BlogHer Network.   

Do you get nervous in social situations? How do you power through that anxiety?

(sub-title) Medals and Spills

Let's face it, marathoners are not typically a subdued bunch. As the host opened the front door to the after-race party, the laughter and conversation overwhelmed me. What was I doing here? Sure, I'd just completed my first half marathon, but these people were "real athletes", each wearing their newest Finisher medal. I was just a nerd in running shoes.

Image: William Murphy via Flickr via Creative Commons license   However, completion of anything for which you've trained for 16 weeks gives you a certain level of confidence. What I desperately needed was to sit down in a quiet space, or so I thought. But as so many of us have encountered, sometimes you just have to be the newbie. We all have to take a turn and do our best to get through it.

The chatter of the adrenaline-fueled guests was encouraging. I entered the kitchen which was laden with snacks beside my partner, who had just completed his fastest marathon, his PB – personal best. "Congrats," these almost-strangers-to-me said to him.

Traditions Now

Prompt: What traditions are you instilling in your children?

First off, let’s say the days of “trying” to instill a tradition when your children are in their thirties is long gone! What is interesting however, is how those year to year repetitions become so ingrained that they are not questioned. So the ways of being and the things we as a family do each year, aren’t discussed or planned, they just happen.

An open door to come and go as you choose. Constant food and the appropriate beverage based on the time of day. Sitting around with no purpose (this one is especially difficult for a family who is constantly busy!). Time to slow down and talk, (no you don’t need to go home, grab the blankets and settle overnight in the spare room).

And then in mid-life you and the love-of-your-life combine households and you hold your breath that these strangers who are now family will also consider themselves blessed. We have each other.

We share stories, unwind, play with the grandkids new toys, yes, please make another pot of coffee, and yes, we are going to watch Love Actually again, and yes, I will cry…again.

We will introduce new members and hug the old, and add and add to tradition so that next year no one remembers who started it, everything just happens.


I'm playing along the Prompt game from BlogHer as my mind gets lost in Christmas plans, potlucks, catching up with friends, baking and eating chocolate.

Do what you Love

Discover what makes you happy! Then do it today.

Find Yourself. Find Your Bliss.