I love words, so when I read new phrases, I often will delve deeper into them. Recently I saw the terms “optimization culture” and “serious hobbying” which took me down a rabbit hole into cultural definitions in today’s world. "Optimization Culture" is an aspect of the Hustle Culture mindset, which is opposite of a Leisure … Continue reading Retirement – Switching from Hustle Culture to Leisure Culture
In the early days of my retirement, I read about the concept of morning pages in Julia Camerson’s The Artist Way. In the way of many things in retirement, I “tried it on.” It stuck. I’ve been an avid morning journal writer ever since. My morning journal time has become almost necessary to my well-being … Continue reading Stop the Broken Record
Synchronicity continues to amaze me and in the past few weeks it was all about self-care. Perhaps the Universe was telling me what I needed to notice more for my own emotional healing? First, I was inspired by a blog post from everydayGyaan (link here ) to look at what self-care practices did I engage … Continue reading Noticing What I Need
It’s been a few years since I choose a Word of the Year (WOTY) to focus my year. I’ve had success with this concept in the past. My first ever, and very successful, WOTY was JOY in 2016 (link here, I still use the morning coffee mug I bought that year – Find Joy in … Continue reading 2025 WOTY – Patience
I believe the Universe sends messages, if you’re open to hearing them. For me, being a lover of words, they tend to come in things I read. In Facebook posts, in blogger’s words, in essays I read, or in things I research (like my recent exploration of living with uncertainty – blog post link here). … Continue reading Conflicting Messages
Self-acceptance is an area I am working on this year (link to blog on WOTY). As part of working on self-acceptance, I am very aware of my tendency to rely on external validation. It’s also part of my perfectionism tendency. It shows up in me avoiding conflict and disagreements, often being overly accommodating, and spiraling … Continue reading A Deep Dive Into External Validation
I’ve created a number of new routines since retirement. Hubby’s recent knee replacement surgery disrupted a number of them. I began to wonder, were my new routines a new life rhythm or were they actually ruts, as in an inability to be flexible? Of course, I explored the concept of routines and ruts on line. … Continue reading Rhythms, Routines, or Ruts?
My new tool this year is a monthly look back to celebrate the things I did in the month. I realized that I too often let milestones slip by without recognition, do not fully appreciate the life I’m living, and can spiral down into a negative compare & despair or I’m not enough mindset. I … Continue reading May Review – I Did It
It’s been a tough couple of weeks emotionally. Nothing major, just my negative thoughts spiraling me down. I try and work on positivity with daily gratitude, journaling, getting outside in my garden, doing things I love to do. But there are times when my critical inner voice and my natural pessimism seem to overpower the … Continue reading Permission for the Negative Emotions
I posted not too long ago about not sharing the books I've read. But when a book inspires deeper self-discovery, I have often summarized the thinking it inspired. This post covers some of the thinking inspired by Jillian Horton’s memoir We Are All Perfectly Fine. I don't often read memoirs, preferring my books to be more … Continue reading Thinking Inspired by We Are All Perfectly Fine
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