Random Thoughts
Shifting your story: Life happens for you, not to you
Recently I wore a favorite shirt bearing the quote: Life happens. Coffee helps. Buckle up, because I’m about to challenge the first half of that statement. For several years, I’ve relayed my family’s story atop a soapbox of one (you can read about the details here). Although previous posts always brought awareness to the topic…
Read More
Getaway of a lifetime: Day 1 (or dancing in the rain)
In my latest post, “Sticking to the plan…,” I mention a surprise twist my husband and I discovered 10 days before a weeklong getaway in Arizona’s White Mountains: the removal of previously enacted hiking restrictions by the forest preserve. Although we planned to stay the course in spite of these closures, once again the chance…
Read More
Sticking to the plan: a surprise twist
In my post “Rerouting course: weighing the options,” I share how a change in plans may necessitate revisiting and weighing the options available to us. And in the case of the upcoming vacation my husband and I planned, it showed up as an unexpected closure of a forest preserve — which ranked No. 1 on our…
Read More
You had me at chocolate: what excites you?
Months ago, I shared a new Monday mindset I began to employ as a way to encourage others who, like me, may be known (on occasion) to perpetuate Monday’s bad rap. For those of you who missed it, check out my legacy post touting what I (still) lovingly dub Funday Monday. Today, I still delight…
Read More
Rerouting course: weighing the options
Earlier this year, my husband booked a weeklong summer trip for two at a cabin nestled in the Northern Arizona mountains. With a forest preserve just yards from our front porch, we intended to take advantage of the cooler temperatures by hiking as much as possible. However, with the wild fires raging across the state…
Read More
Shiny object syndrome: keeping a focus on the here and now
My shiny object appears in the form of an invitation. For me, a shiny object translates into any situation on which I focus my attention, but drop when something new and/or exciting comes along. In this case, it arrives in my inbox with a subject line that beckons — as if giftwrapped in sparkly paper…
Read More
The roles we play: to lead, to follow or to go our own way
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking landscapes, but in having new eyes. ~ Marcel Proust I set the pace on a recent sunrise hike, my partner close behind. A little over halfway around our weekly “loop,” he assumes the lead to finish out the 4+ miles. My energy at first keeps us…
Read More
A minimalist life: just the necessities, please
For many of us, the past 18+ months presented myriad opportunities to reassess and reprioritize what we do and how we do it — ultimately forcing us to reconsider if there might be a better way…whether today, or years down the line. It might mean something simple, like removing excess “clutter” within our daily lives…
Read More
I have no idea what I’m doing: but I’m having a blast
Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come…You don’t give up. ~ Anne Lamott A few weeks ago, I listened to an interview in which Sarah Werner, host of The Write Now podcast, spoke with one of my…
Read More
How to find joy in the journey: a ‘retirement mentality’
Finding joy in the journey. It’s a cliché, right? Because how can you find joy when you’re digging in the trenches, managing a household, caring for an aging parent, grieving a loss — not to mention coping with global, and even local, unrest? Self-help books and speakers tout the need to detach our focus from…
Read More