Then stirs the feeling infinite, so felt in solitude, where we are least alone.” Lord Byron (1788–1824) In early 2018 then Prime Minister Teresa May launched the first cross-Government strategy to tackle loneliness, “one of the greatest public health challenges of our time,” she said. Among other initiatives (e.g. the appointment of a Minister of […]
TV THURSDAYS: THE GOOD DETECTIVE
Before discussing this 16-episode TV series, I offer a few hallmarks of Korean drama. Be prepared for confusing triple-barrelled names and speedy subtitles that demand alertness, as do complex plots that pit the police against the prosecution. Expect an idiosyncratic male character, paired chastely with a female one, to serve as the moral compass in […]
INTERNATIONAL COLOR DAY: ABOUT BLACK
Four years ago I wrote a post on the importance of colour in our lives. Today, on International Color Day, I revisit a favourite subject — but with a twist. We’re meant to appreciate how colours influence us on this Day. Because colour evokes feeling. It arouses emotion. It affects our mood, behaviour, productivity. We […]
TV THURSDAYS: THE ENGLISH GAME
The English Game has heart, but then don’t all sports stories that make it to the screen have heart? Think Remember the Titans for football, Hoosiers for basketball and A League of Their Own for baseball — women’s baseball that is. This six-part historical drama takes a look at soccer in England. Standardized by the Football […]
FUN FACTS FRIDAYS: WOMEN’S FIRSTS
A few years ago I published random facts arranged chronologically about the progress of women through the years. In anticipation of International Women’s Day on Monday, today’s post offers fun facts about women’s firsts. The year 2020 gave cause for celebration as Kamala Harris became the first female Vice President in the USA. The daughter […]
RESTORATIVE RITUALS
A few years ago I wrote that some individuals retire to escape routines yet, paradoxically, routines can form the very framework necessary for happiness in our sunset years. In retirement I recognized the need to shape my days and weeks but decided to replace the uninspiring word ‘routine’ with ‘ritual’. The year 2020 reminded me […]
TV THURSDAYS: DELHI CRIME
“Eleven thousand heinous crimes are reported every year in Delhi. Prevention is nearly impossible since half the police force are stuck on traffic duty… The city looks away because it has to. Because it always has. But once, something happened which made it stop. The eyes of the entire world turned to Delhi.” So says […]
FIRES FOR MIND AND BODY
A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.” Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) A pleasure of the lockdown in Vancouver this winter is turning on our gas fireplace. Although we didn’t list a fireplace as an essential when buying our homes here or in Scottsdale, […]
FOREST BATHING: TRANSFORMATIVE WORDS
What’s in a word or two? For me, a lot. Take the words “forest bathing”, introduced to me by my sister-in-law Linda, and derived from the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku developed in the 1980s. Shinrin-yoku, which translates as “forest” and “bath”, means bathing in the forest atmosphere — or absorbing the forest through our senses. […]
TV THURSDAYS: THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE
Guest writer Linda Richardson gives her review of a series based loosely on a novel by American writer Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) and executive produced by Ridley Scott, who directed “Blade Runner” from another of Dick’s 44 novels. THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE ♦♦♦♦½ If you grew up in the decades following World War […]