Blog: Well-being
What we say to ourselves: Self-talk advice (for people who cringe at this topic)
I found this page in a notebook the other day. It's my daughter's handwriting and, aside from the words "My parents are always saying", the page is blank. (Lest you think I was digging around my daughter's personal things, I'll assure you that she gave me the notebook...
What I love most about working from home
I'm an introvert and I'm also easily distracted and bothered by noise. So, I am en-joy-ing working from home! It is utterly delicious. My "regular" (non-COVID-19) situation was that I went to the University of British Columbia (UBC) several days per week for my...
What’s making me smile?
Let me preface this by saying that I am not spending my days with a big smile plastered onto my face. However, there are a number of things that have been lifting my spirits over the past few weeks and I wanted to record these here. More time with my immediate family...
Awe
For as long as I can remember, I have been awed by a beautiful singing voice. Certain song/voice combinations stop me in my tracks, pull me in like some sort of powerful vortex (does a vortex suck people in? that may be scientifically inaccurate, but you get my...
Your workspace and well-being
The physical space in which we work matters--a lot. Yet, it isn't necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when we think about career satisfaction. I have noticed my workspace affects my mood, my productivity, my sense of calm (or lack thereof), and my overall...
Catastrophizing (do you remember 1999?!)
I was thinking back 20 years to December 1999--do you remember the "hysteria" leading up to that month?! Back then, my spouse and I ran a disc jockey (DJ) business; December 31 had us worried because we weren't sure how Y2K would play out. Anyone who is old enough to...
Anorexia, gelato, gratitude
Letter to Uno Gelato, a Vancouver-based business. Dear Paddy Mahony (Owner), Mike Raffan (Managing Partner) and staff at Uno Gelato in Kitsilano, Last summer, our 13-year-old daughter, Nayeli, was suffering intensely with anorexia nervosa. This mental health condition...
How to deal with our weaknesses
I grew up with the belief that 'fixing' my weaknesses was something I should consistently work on. Given I have no shortages of weaknesses, I had my work cut out for me. 😕 It was only a few years ago, when I was introduced to "StrengthsFinder"1 and trained to become a...
Reading more: My 5-month reading challenge
As an only child, I adored reading. I made frequent trips to the public library and relished the process of selecting and then immersing myself in a book. I rarely read more than one book at a time, but read a lot. Most of the above still holds true, except the 'read...
Should I celebrate my 50th birthday?
I'm having a first world problem and it has to do with my birthday. The problem is that I'm highly ambivalent about whether I should celebrate my 50th birthday in a "big" way. Not a big deal, you think? Why I feel stress around this choice It goes something like...
How to save time by simplifying
Should I write first or do mindfulness? Should I respond to emails that are piling up or write? Should I check social media or do something more productive? Should I exercise or grade papers? Those might be some of the decisions you need to make at the beginning of...
Doing meaningful work through volunteering
In this post, I describe how my desire to do meaningful work has shaped my career and a recent volunteer activity. I briefly recount an experience I had this summer that brought me great joy because it hit a "10" in my own doing-meaningful-work scale. Finally, I...