I have just finished Ian Brown’s excellent latest memoir Seventy. It is a thoughtful, beautiful diary of his 71st year of life. One idea that really resonated with me was that good aging should include “a modicum of risk”. Usually we associate risk-taking with younger folks. And we think that becoming risk-averse is a sign …
Decluttering. Getting rid of stuff. It seems like everyone is talking about it. And a lot of us are trying to do it. It’s good to let go of things that don’t serve us anymore, but it’s not easy. It is hard to admit that some clothes no longer fit. It is an effort to …
Hello all – I will be presenting at the Atwater Library in Montreal this week. Please feel free to sign up for the Zoom or attend in person if you are in town!
In honour of International Women’s Day, I want to write about a place that is very special to me: the locker room. More specifically, the women’s locker room. As a swimmer, I’ve spent hundreds of hours in these spaces over the years. A lot of my learning and formation as a woman has happened there. …
We all have people in our lives who touched us at a moment when we really needed it. Someone who asked a question that shifted things. Someone who just listened, or bought us a ticket when we needed to be somewhere else. Someone who told us we were good at something, or gave us solace …
The holiday season is ramping up. No matter one’s religious or family affiliations it is usually a busy time of the year. There can be a lot of excitement and expectation (good and not so good), noise, pressure, activity and sometimes anxiety and sadness. More of my clients have been struggling with being connected to …
Some people know that September 11 is my birthday. Fewer know how that day in 2001 changed my life. Back then, I was very unhappy in my government job. The work itself was interesting and useful, but my boss was demeaning, disorganized, and dismissive. He surveilled us, was verbally abusive and he mismanaged the work …
A client of mine was talking about affirmations and had learned that some indigenous cultures consider affirmations “word medicine”. Culturally “medicine” can refer to a much broader range of substances and practices than can be found in a commercial pharmacy. It got me thinking about what we use to keep us well and healthy and …
I just returned from a month in Europe. I stayed mostly in one big city, taking time to really sink into this very different place. It was a wonderful experience—of course. Great weather, beautiful old buildings and scenery, amazing wine, new foods to try, and local grocery stores to peruse. I even read a couple …
I saw my late mom’s swim friend, V., at the pool yesterday. There is something sweet about her recognizing me as “Esther’s daughter”. Nobody else in Toronto would know me that way. V. is 80. She is bent over and uses a walker. Her spine is visibly twisted. She has had at least one hip …