What Are You Celebrating?

What are you celebrating? Unable to gather in large groups, perhaps, like me, you’ve lost track of celebration. Yet even when we don’t feel like raising a glass there are multiple reasons to do so. Completing a work day, connecting with a friend on a phone call and sitting down to dinner represent good fortune worthy … Read more

P and L or F and E

  A profit and loss statement helps a company guide decisions based on how the “Net”, the bottom line, looks. Reflecting back on a recent family weekend, the “Net” was an extraordinary experience, a weekend packed with F and E, Fluidity and Ease.   Besides type-A personalities coming together (me included), we felt some apprehension about the visit. It … Read more

Go Local: Start in Your Neighborhood!

To “Live As A Traveler” means fully appreciating wherever you are. This translates to enjoying your “hometown” and neighborhood, not taking nearby for granted. There are interesting and kind people right next door, across the street, around the corner. No need for traveling far to discover new experiences and relationships. Just keep it local!   … Read more

Mundane Weather, Really?

As much as we might poke fun at our default conversational topic, The Weather, it’s a logical “Go To”. We live in a natural world and as a friend recently suggested, it’s almost instinctual to check the daily temperatures. With climate change creating havoc around the world, we’re also much more aware of the weather’s … Read more

“Stoked-ness”: Tuning-In to the Vernacular

Heading on a bus to ski some Spring “powder” a fellow passenger asked, “Are you stoked (about the new snow)?”.  With the constant deluge of precipitation falling outside, we indeed felt full of “Stoked-ness”, hoping to experience fresh white stuff on the mountain trails.  Although being “stoked” was not necessarily an adjective in our vocabulary, … Read more

Skiing with Spaniards – Seldom A Risk!

Gondolas and chairlifts are cozy places.  They’re more than a means of transport. Riding to the top of the mountain offers time for conversation. A few weeks ago while on the gondola, my husband and I met two Spaniards, an uncle and nephew. They were visiting the Wild West to experience cowboys and wide-open slopes, … Read more

Where Is Happiness?

Where do we feel happy? According to a recent National Geographic article, Denmark, Costa Rica and Singapore represent “The World’s Happiest Places” ¹, providing people with a sense of security, purpose and low stress lifestyle. Let’s move! Or, can we find our own “happy place” right where we are? In Denmark, for example, taxes with … Read more

Climbing out of Social Doldrums

Already in this New Year, we’re hyper-focused on a project, caught up in a massive “to do” list or just without energy for social situations. Yet opportunities for meaningful conversation are resplendent despite lifestyles. Nothing to talk about? Not true! In our spinning world, there’s so much to learn about one another. Lackluster feelings trap … Read more

Finding Merry!

Not Merry! That’s how it felt after witnessing customers spend precious pennies at Walmart. Then, listening to news filled with acrimony further dampened my spirits. Two worlds, light and dark, seemed to exist: one very merry, filled with joyous possibility; the other glum and unattached. Fortunately, everywhere, holiday lights are shining brightly outside. Blow-up Santas … Read more

Olives for Conversation

When recently travelling to Spain, my husband and I with marginal Spanish abilities and a little effort enjoyed interactions wherever we explored. Sometimes our efforts translated into a bowl of green olives “on the house”! Although starting a conversation required some extra energy, the rewards were worth it, even if just for the smile and … Read more