Increase Daily Glimmers

I’ve had a number of challenging days lately and needed to relook at how to the pull myself out of a downward spiral.  To stop the negativity when something is still small, before it spins into a full-blown, Very-Bad-Day. I recognize that our nervous systems are wired to pay more attention to negative events than … Continue reading Increase Daily Glimmers

Hurricane Recovery – Month Four

Retirement often does not go as originally planned.  There can be surprise health issues with the mindset and lifestyle changes that result from that significant life impact. There are choices to make changes in your retirement plan when things don’t play out as you had hoped, like our Big Move to Florida when the snowbird … Continue reading Hurricane Recovery – Month Four

Relearning to Juggle

When I was working, I found it exciting to manage multiple projects simultaneously. I had juggling multiple balls down to an art. Those project management skills are needed again and unfortunately feel very, very rusty.  In retirement, I had embraced less multi-tasking and a slower pace of getting things done. As part of our hurricane … Continue reading Relearning to Juggle

Reflections on Recovery at Month 3

It is hard to believe it is 3 months since the first hurricane hit our home. The emotional recovery (me) and the physical recovery (the house) are on very different tracks!  On the emotional (grief/trauma) side of things, the initial shock has definitely eased and there is some return to normal. October saw every single … Continue reading Reflections on Recovery at Month 3

End of Year Thinking

December has always been a time for me to look back at the year to see what I’ve accomplished, what I’ve learned, where I’ve grown. And then to look ahead to the next year with what I want to accomplish, what I want to learn, where I’d like to grow.  In past years I looked … Continue reading End of Year Thinking

My 2024 Summer Research Project – Plants!

Most folks probably won’t care about my summer research project.  But I’m kind of proud of it. Some elements I’ve learned about my true self is I love to learn about new things, l can get lost for hours delving into research on a topic, and I adore synthesizing that research into “so what”.  I … Continue reading My 2024 Summer Research Project – Plants!

August I-Did-It List – An End of Summer Review – A Fall Plan

Back in May, I talked about a new tool I was using called an I-Did-It List (link here to that post ). It’s an end of the month look back at the things I did - a form of self-validation to celebrate my accomplishments (however small), to boost appreciation of my life, and to feel “I … Continue reading August I-Did-It List – An End of Summer Review – A Fall Plan

Exploring One of My Quirks – Journaling

I began active journaling early in my retirement after reading about Morning Pages from Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way. That book is her original one on the topic, which I find the best for learning about her creativity tools like Morning Pages. She has other books in the same space, and I’ve read both the one … Continue reading Exploring One of My Quirks – Journaling

The Things I Thought I Would Do

Recently, a newly retired acquaintance commented how she feels bad that she doesn’t want to travel in retirement as that’s what seems to be expected.  Unfortunately, the expectations for retirement remain the same for a newly retired professional – consult, travel, high-level volunteer (meaning be on a board of directors), and/or spend time with grandkids. … Continue reading The Things I Thought I Would Do

Summer Mid-Point

I started to title this blog “Mid-summer” until I realized (thanks, Google) that mid-summer is an Olde English term referencing the summer solstice festival in June.  The midpoint of summer is more towards the first week in August. Again, it depends on when you consider summer to begin; do you go by the astrological date, … Continue reading Summer Mid-Point