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REFLECTION: Last week over lunch with a friend and colleague, we chatted about conflict and confusion in the workplace. It’s a common thread that’s surfacing in the Overload/Overwhelm surveys that so many of you (over 900 in fact) so kindly and thoughtfully completed earlier in the summer.

My friend described how one of her business partners approaches these situations. He believes that when conflict and confusion arise, that expectations and communication are at the root of the problem. (more…)

REFLECTION: Take five! The phrase is usually attributed to movie sets and recording studios. Give the talent and crew a break, and they’ll come back ready to roll – or rock ‘n’ roll, as the case may be.

As you no doubt can guess, I’m a Take Five fan.

ACTION: Take five to heart this week and see how often and in how many creative ways you can apply a fiver in everyday life – to lighten up and liven up your world.  

Let these ten Take Five action suggestions spur your imagination: (more…)

REFLECTION: Finding myself hooked into a nostalgic frame of mind, I can’t pinpoint just one thing that is making it difficult to settle down to work this week. I can say that there are more than a handful of possibilities.

Maybe it was the extended family gathering last weekend that celebrated one sister’s 40th birthday and another’s 50th. Maybe it was the fact that for the first time ever, all six sisters spent an afternoon together – without any parents, spouses, children or grandchildren at hand.

Perhaps it was having two daughters, one son-in-law, and a grandson under our roof over the long weekend – all headed back in the directions of their respective homes by Monday afternoon. It could have been the passing of two aunts in the same week.

It might have been the trip I took down memory lane as I junked out the address cards in the family rolodex – seeing the names and picturing the faces of my daughters’ school and sport friends – youngsters who used to be a part of our family life on a weekly basis. It could be the planning we are doing for my husband’s milestone birthday trip this fall.

Whatever it is, when the emotions simmer so close to the surface, it’s somewhat unsettling. At the same time, it’s a very strong reminder of what it really means to be alive in this hectic, changing world of ours. Relationships and experiences come and go throughout our lives, sometimes faster – and occasionally slower – than we might hope. (more…)

REFLECTION:  A friend and colleague recently downsized from her five bedroom, three story family home into a more compact two bedroom condo. As challenging as it was to dispense with her stuff, she reports feeling much lighter on every front.

I’ve always been an advocate and practitioner of uncluttering. Still, it seems to be a fact of modern life that stuff has an insidious way of accumulating around us when we aren’t paying close enough attention. 

My friend’s experience and a couple of open days have prompted me to do some further digging and dejunking around my own office. With seven boxes of books donated and six running feet of paper files turfed – so far – I’m only part way through this round of the process.

I’ve also been inspired by a book I’m reading entitled ‘Enough – Breaking Free From the World of More’.   (more…)

REFLECTION: In recent years, I’ve developed a morning routine that often includes a walk along the river, a meditative ‘sit’ on my riverbank rock, and a series of yoga stretches (in the backyard garden when weather permits). 

What I’ve noticed in the last few weeks, is that every routine brings with it a community of coincidence. For instance, my walk includes ‘stocky sunglass guy’ – the one with the stiff neck and rolling gait who always nods ‘good morning’. Then there are are the two women walkers – one a nonstop talker, the other a bemused listener – who power their way past me each morning with a brief nod in my direction. There’s the work crew that has been laboring away for a month now on a huge house along the river – replacing siding with stucco. (more…)

REFLECTION: For each of  the last fifteen summers, our family has spent a week at a lakeside cabin in northern Saskatchewan. The experience has changed over the years, but still each year there is the constancy of the lapping of the waves on the shore, the setting of the sun through the spruce, and the calling of the loons across the moonlit water. And each year we are there to witness the beauty around us and to be present to each other.

For many years now, a classmate’s cousins gather annually for a few days at the farm where they grew up.Though there is distance between them now, when they are together, the years and miles fall away. They live and play in carefree ways with those who remember where they’ve come from  and who they were when.

You could say that those who engage in ‘same time..next year’ experiences like these are lacking in imagination, stuck in a rut, creatures of habit. Or you might say that they are connoisseurs of connection. (more…)

REFLECTION: It’s rare that I devour a book in just one or two sittings. But that’s exactly what I did with John Izzo’s new offering, “The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die.” 

Round One:  feet up in front of the fire on a rainy afternoon. Round two:  feet up on the deck in the warm morning sun. Although the setting in which you read doesn’t make the book, this is the kind of message that lends itself to feet up for reflection.

The book is based on a couple of premises.  First, that we can recognize those who have discovered and lived wisdom in their lives.  Second, despite our cultural preoccupation with youthfulness, that those who are over 60 hold a unique and valuable perspective on what really matters and can be mentors for us all. (more…)

REFLECTION: In a recent Life Balance seminar that I facilitated, we talked about what makes for a renewing vacation. As you might expect, opinions differed. 

One participant reported her most relaxing vacation involved taking a cruise with her husband and children. She found the experience of being pampered and cared for by others (rooms tidied, meals served, entertainment arranged, technology unplugged) to be a rejuvenating contrast to her daily life.

In fact, she enjoyed the experience so much she has found a way to weave it into the regular flow of life by recreating a variation of the experience on a weekly basis. (more…)

This climbing clematis caught my eye on return from a morning walk.

The sketchbook and paints called. I answered.

   Fallen from glory, yes!

   Lost it’s youthful luster, yes!

   Beautiful all the same, indeed!