“Books open the world for us; they are an incalculable, immeasurable gift,” wrote Khaled Hosseini in defence of The Kite Runner, which joined a growing list of titles ‘under review’ or challenged by school boards in the U.S. On World Book Day I recommend several books that entertained and/or enlightened me this past year. FICTION […]
DECIDING ON DECISIONS
A friend asked how I choose topics to write about on my blog. Hmm. I keep a list of ideas that come to my mind on solitary walks, through reading, or in conversations with friends and family. Then I decide to address a topic based on timing — on the dates of International Friendship, Color and […]
TAKE IT TO HEART
February is Heart Month, a time to increase awareness of heart-related conditions and further educate us about ways of improving our heart health. Although heart disease has dropped to the No. 2 cause (after cancer) of death in Canada, it remains the No. 1 killer of both men and women in the U.S. Yet, according […]
SAY NO TO NEGATIVITY
As the end of 2023 approaches, I set a guiding principle for next year: say no to negativity. That doesn’t mean I will no longer read the glut of negative news; I still want to be a member of an informed public. It means I will try to limit my negative thinking, to subdue the […]
FOOD MATTERS
We often hear or read “we are what we eat” in discussions about nutrition. Recently I had the opportunity to put this adage to a test: instead of filling a prescription for a statin to address a new diagnosis of high cholesterol, I took six months to try and lower it through my diet. I […]
MIND THE BRAIN
Watching Christopher Nolan’s magnificent Oppenheimer twice and then reading articles about the “father of the atomic bomb” led me to contemplate the mind and the brain. Although the words differ in meaning, we tend to use them interchangeably. That’s okay for my musings. I admit to being in utter awe of Oppenheimer’s mind, about which […]
DATE YOURSELF
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Given my title, you may think this post will be about conversations in which you date yourself by revealing, intentionally or not, your age or generation. No. It’s about inviting yourself on a solo date and then doing what’s necessary to ensure a fine time. […]
WORLD MEDITATION DAY
In 1972 I took up transcendental meditation (TM) to combat severe insomnia. And it worked! Repeating my mantra silently (no, Tim, I won’t divulge it to you or anyone else) for twenty minutes once or twice daily enabled me to go from three hours of sleep a night to a healthy seven. This cure — […]
FEET FIRST
The title of my article is not an idiom. I’m not going to advise jumping feet first into an activity with little or no hesitation. I will discuss the imperative to make our feet a priority when we walk or run for exercise or as a pastime. I learned the sore way that a fitting […]
THE CONTAGION OF KINDNESS
Be kind. Be calm. Be safe.” Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia Most BC residents can recite the three-pronged mantra that Dr. Henry introduced in March 2020 during her daily updates on Covid-19 to assuage our fears and anxiety about the pandemic. Her words combined science and compassion. Acts of kindness release […]