I have been enjoying working my way through all the books that novelist Jan Moran has written. In the most recent one I read, Seabreeze Book Club, I came across the following lovely quote:

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one” (242). —George R.R. Martin.

Reading that quote, I heaved a huge sigh of pleasure. YES! That’s what reading a cozy mystery or a wholesome family novel is all about for me. It’s so great to be able to slip into the lives of a set of characters and enjoy being part of what’s going on vicariously. I love to stop midday to read another chapter, and I especially relish doing that at bedtime. A bedtime story is a wonderful thing, no matter what your age.

Of course, we have to keep up on current events, and we need to read non-fiction which we deem important. But there is a beloved place in my heart for a wonderful fictional story that uplifts me. I am so glad such a thing is available! Hallelujah!

I usually take a week away in May each year to go to a small family run resort for a week of writing and visiting with friends in the Haliburton area. This year, I decided to stay home, and focus on writing from my home office. In order to simulate the solitude and silence I would get in a writer’s cabin, I decided to turn off my smartphone from 9am to 5pm each day. I was astonished at the effect that had on me. Just knowing the phone was off for that period of time instantly gave me a boost of inner peace and calm. Like most other folks, I was used to looking at my emails, You Tube feed, and the CBC news app a lot during each day. I was wondering why turning the phone off had such a profound effect on me, when I read a paragraph in The Inner Bonding Guided Journal. Inner Bonding, by Dr Margaret Paul, was written in 1992. I had read it many years ago and learned from it, but then saw that in 2024, Dr Paul and an associate Dr Chopich put out this guided journal. In the section, Three Pillars of Health and Wellness, the first pillar is Nutrition which they say equals anything you ingest, so it will need to be digested. They write: “This pillar is primarily about nutrition, food and healthy eating, but can be anything else we consume or have to process with our physical/emotional/mental body, like substances, environmental phenomena (polluted air), noise.. And let’s not forget technology, screen time, and social media consumption!” (23)

This description of what Nutrition is stopped me in my tracks. WOW! When put that way, of course, what we view via our smartphones is something that we ingest and must also digest. This takes time and energy. When I decided to turn off the phone for 8 hours in a row, immediately, this eliminated a source of input, and that meant the need to process and digest was eliminated too. Again, WOW, when I consider the instant transformation I experienced- going from mild inner agitation and emotional fatigue to inner peace and calm.

Simply put, I didn’t realize how much of an effect smartphone use has been having on my state of health and well-being.

Have you ever tried a similar experiment? If not, and you would like to experience more inner peace, I invite you to experiment with turning off your smartphone for the length of time of your choice, to see what happens in your inner world. Like me, you might be astonished by what you discover!

PS I am making really good headway on More Tent Pegs, and if things go well, I think I will be able to plan a fall book launch! Enjoy this beautiful late spring, and may you have a great summer of fun and rejuvenation!

Recently, my daughter Joanna shared with me that she was told that the secret to being a successful minister is to have a backbone, a wishbone, and a funny bone. I loved that! And as we discussed this wise advice, we realized that, really, it applies to everyone. If we all had an operational backbone, wishbone, and funny bone, wouldn’t we all be the better for it?

A backbone, for me, implies having the courage of our convictions- that we know what is so important to us, that we would definitely stand up and defend it. Just writing these words makes me sit up straighter in my chair. For me, bullying is one of those things. There’s something about someone taking advantage of another who has less power than they do which really riles me up, and I want to come to the defense of the weaker party, and stand in solidarity with them.

Having a wishbone is important too! Having a dream or a vision I am working towards is essential for my sense of well-being, for sure. When I am writing a book or creating a workshop or retreat which I think will benefit others, everything is right in my world. When we can look beyond a present time of suffering and still envision a brighter world, we can live with hope in the midst of a time of stress and struggle.

But I think the most important thing we need to manage life on this planet is a funny bone. When I ask people to list their most important personal values, sense of humour is always on the list, with the comment, “How would we ever manage without it?” Exactly! I don’t know how. That’s why shows like This Hour Has 22 Minutes have been so helpful during the past few months. It’s so good that someone has the capability of making us laugh at the current political situation in North America. What a gift that is to us all.

Hearing this saying yesterday led me to ask myself the following questions:

1) Do I know what I would stand up for? Am I doing that when needed?

2) Do I currently have a personal dream, and a dream for the world, that I am holding tight to, doing something about, and praying for?

3) Am I getting too serious, or too cynical or pessimistic about life? If so, how can I bring humour back into my every day?

Backbone, wishbone, funny bone- they are essentials for our back pack on this journey we call life. May these tools be accessible to us all, and may we be able to shine some light in this world by using them for good, to the best of our ability.

Wow, we just came through quite the experience- an ice storm, which led to a power outage which lasted for four days for us, and is still ongoing for some folks in our area. It was a time of returning to basics. We have a woodstove, so we spent our days within a few feet of the stove, trying to stay as warm and cozy as possible. It was VERY quiet. Our cell phones weren’t working well at all, and we had very little access to the internet, so we didn’t know what was going on in the outside world. That was actually a blessed relief. I ended up deleting several Youtube subscriptions to political videos because I could see how much calmer I felt not knowing every new detail about American politics.

Although we didn’t have access to using our microwave or oven, we were able to use the stove top burner, because it’s fueled by gas. In order to keep our spirits up, I started thinking about what kind of treats I could create in one pot on the stove. Do you remember Rice Krispie squares and Chocolate Noodles? I rustled up the recipes for these old favourites in an old recipe card box that I had started when I was in my teens and twenties. The Chocolate Noodle recipe was the one I used to get my Girl Guide cooking badge. It is good and chocolatey- great for raising the spirits during a long power outage! In case you don’t have the recipe, here it is:

Chocolate Noodles

Melt 3/4 cup chocolate chips and 3/4 cup butterscotch chips on low heat. Stir in 1/2 cup of chopped peanuts. Stir in 1 and 1/4 cups of chow mein noodles, til they are coated with the chocolate mixture.

Place a spoonful of this delicious mixture on a sheet of waxed paper. Let cool. Eat and enjoy!

When the power came on, we felt so relieved. We also felt closer to our neighbours, more grateful for all that we normally take for granted, and happy to have found that good old recipe box of directions for how to make old fashioned yummy treats!

I have been feeling out of kilter today, though I wasn’t sure what it was about. Last Friday, I turned 70! I had a wonderful party with female friends and my two daughters. I thought that’s what I needed- to go through this big transition in the company of other women. It turned out to be so true!

So in light of such a beautiful day last Friday, I have been wondering what’s making me feel so unsettled today. Finally it hit me- tomorrow is the first anniversary of my Mom’s death. I have just spent the afternoon reading over the approximately 20 blogposts I wrote in 2024 after Mom passed away. What a journey it has been. I do feel like I have reached the place of well integrated grief, at last. This week a new book came out by one of our favourite authors, and I said, out aloud, “Mom, I sure wish I could share this book with you.” It now feels kind of sweet and comforting to talk out loud to Mom about things like this- a new book, a beautiful bouquet of flowers, plans for my 2025 garden. I wish she was here with me to celebrate these things, yet I know she is at peace, with Dad, and I am feeling pretty happy and at peace too.

So I don’t know how I am going to honour Mom tomorrow, but I know I will. Likely, some friends and family will get in touch with me, and I will get in touch with some of them too. Mom feels like an ancestor, who is there to guide me when I need advice, and I can talk out loud to her now and then. She’s with Nana; she’s with Dad. She’s where I will be one day too, and that is a deeply comforting thought.

Hallelujah!

As soon as I can in the New Year, I buy a pot of daffodil bulbs, to remind me of new life and hope. It is a wonderful thing to place the pot on the kitchen counter, and then observe the daily growth of the stems and the gradual opening of the daffodils themselves. I love that you cannot stop the cycle of life, no matter what is happening in the world around us. It’s so simple, yet so beautiful, to observe growth going on in the plant world and to enjoy the hope it inspires in our hearts.

If you are experiencing the January blahs, I highly recommend purchasing and enjoying a pot of daffodil bulbs. Hallelujah!

I love the way we have a built in reminder each December 31 to take some time to look back on the year past, and to dream some dreams for the year to come.

This morning I was reading an article in the Globe and Mail entitled What Happy Canadians Can Teach Us About Flourishing in 2025. The article spoke about the practices of people others have found inspirational in the area of being able to find a way to flourish in challenging circumstances. One of these people was a man living with a chronic disease that could be managed, but not cured. His motto is: “Tomorrow is not today.” Wow! I loved that, and as I pondered it, I could think of a few ways to look at that quote:

1) If we spend time today worrying about tomorrow, we are going to lose out on noticing and enjoying today’s gifts, pleasures, and opportunities.

2) If today is tough, tomorrow might not look the same once we get there. It might be a far better day!

3) Living in each moment of today, seeing it as a gift, and a jewel of opportunity, seems to me to be the way to go. In the past year, I spoke to a couple of people who spent significant time in a hospital emergency room or in the hospital proper, as patients. They both told me that as they looked around at other patients or interacted with staff, they had opportunities to serve them or offer words of encouragement. They felt their time was redeemed by doing so. Wow!

4) I love that this quote is short and sweet and easy to remember. I am going to try living it by it for the next few days, and see what positive gifts emerge!

Happy New Year to you all! May 2025 be characterized by many moments of inner peace and contentment, and may you be able to meet most of the challenges that arise, with skill and grace.

PS I am hard at work on my next book, More Tent Pegs: How to Live with More Skill and Grace! I am hoping to be able to offer you a new book that will provide you with more strategies for how to interact successfully with the challenges that come our way in our increasingly tempestuous world. May it be so!

PSS Have you noticed that the days are getting longer?? YAY!

This week I read an article about how to age gracefully. The author stated that aging is a privilege. Wow! That statement stopped me in my tracks. To age is not a right! It is, indeed, a privilege to be enjoyed to the full.

It’s all too easy for me to think of aging as a process of gradual decline, and on a physical level, this cannot be argued. Yet, it’s also true that each additional day is a gift to be lovingly received, a pearl without price, to be treasured and lived with beautiful intention. As I have reflected on this the past few days, I decided to do a few things to lock in this new and lovely perspective.

1) I made a little sign to put on my bedside table that says “Aging is a privilege”, so I can see it each day when I awaken. I take a few deep breaths and let this truth sink in, even before I pick up my smartphone!

2) Taking my journal in hand, I have been thinking about the day ahead, and asking myself how I want to live my day-what intentions I want to set- then writing them down.

3) Then I list some activities I want to do, aiming to really slow down and enjoy these simple pleasure as they occur. For instance, I have been trying to really treasure that I get to sit with a good book and a cup of steaming coffee in hand, for yet another day!

4) After that I write myself a little blessing that begins with the words “May I…..”

5) The next morning I reread my journal entry from the day before, to remind myself what my intentions were, then set some new ones for that day.

I have been enjoying this practice so much, I wanted to share it with you!

Hoping your Advent season is going well so far, enhanced by the first snowfalls of winter. Not long now until the days begin to get longer- 16 more days to go!

The past few months I have been obsessively focused on the US election. I couldn’t seem to stop reading about it. Now that it is over, what’s next?

Somehow, I had gotten off the mailing list for Richard Rohr’s daily meditations. A friend commented recently that he had been finding them really helpful, so I re-subscribed. Wow! I have been finding them to be really comforting, grounding, useful, and practical. This morning’s meditation was written by Rev. Michael Curry. He points to a truth which we all know, but which bears repeating, because it orients us in the direction we want to go- a direction which we know from our personal experience does work to both satisfy our soul and help our world around us. Rev Curry says:

“Love is a firm commitment to act for the well-being of someone other than yourself. It can be personal or political, individual or communal, intimate or public….. Love as an action is the only thing that has ever changed the world for the better... Where selfishness excludes, love makes room and includes. Where selfishness puts down, love lifts up. Where selfishness hurts and harms, love helps and heals. Where selfishness enslaves, love sets free and liberates. The way of love will show us the right thing to do every single time. It is moral and spiritual grounding— a place of rest— amid the chaos that is often part of life. It’s how we stay decent in indecent times. Loving is not always easy, but like with muscles, we get stronger both with repetition and as the burden gets heavier. And it works.”

Thank you, Rev. Curry for reminding us of this beautiful truth. We can decide to follow the way of love, and we can know that when we do, we will feel grounded, and satisfied deep within our souls, no matter what’s going on around us, no matter how wild the storm.

Hallelujah!

I realized today that it’s been quite a while since I have written a blogpost. My new book is launched, Thanksgiving is coming, and my Mom’s birthday, which was September 9th, has passed. I have started up another year of teaching Sunday School, my fall workshop offerings are about to begin, and it’s almost time to put the gardens to bed for another year. In other words, time is rolling on, as it always does.

I feel like I am pretty nearly finished processing and integrating my Mom’s death. I have been helped the past few weeks with this by reading a book by James Hollis that was written in 2018, but that I missed at the time. I find his writing about the soul, about individuation, and seeing it all from the Jungian perspective, to be really helpful for getting the big picture view of my own life, and my life within the context of my family of origin- both when I was young and now, as I prepare to turn 70 in January. I highly recommend this book, published when Hollis was 78. It seems to me to include all the important topics he discussed in the many books written before this one. The title is Living An Examined Life: Wisdom for the Second Half of the Journey, A 21 Step Plan for Addressing the Unfinished Business of Your Life. Sound interesting?

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all!