Adventure and exploration
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How to feel more alive
“Try to learn to breathe deeply, really taste your food when you eat….Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive.” ~William Saroyan We pay a price when we experience life primarily through screens and devices. If we’re not scrolling our cell phones, we’re watching TV or staring at a laptop. Likewise, the Internet has made it possible for us to read and publish articles, watch videos, find new recipes, and chat with friends anywhere. Ironically, as new research shows, digital dependance is responsible for our…
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Happy New Year!
“No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is the beginning of a new book. That first book is already closed, ended, and tossed into the seas; this book is newly opened, has just begun. Look, it is the first page — and it is a beautiful one!” – C. JoyBell C. I love fresh starts, don’t you? Last year, I faced, reconsidered, challenged, or changed some things that I’d been putting off or neglecting for a while — including health issues, relationships, and even my attitude. I still have more work to do, of course, but I’m feeling excited about the possibilities ahead and…
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Inner compass
“Pay close attention to your inner compass. If you stop steering by your own compass, you’ll hit a rumble strip. Don’t panic. Just question your assumptions and you’ll be back on the road in no time.” ~Martha Beck In the 1950s, most women didn’t have the choices we have today. Typically, they married and had kids, stayed home to raise those kids, managed household chores, and followed the cultural norms of the time. Likewise, their husbands climbed into their cars every weekday morning (or evening) and drove to work to support their families. Breaking that pattern isn’t always easy, even today. We humans are creatures of habit. We follow the…
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Star therapy
“If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I’ll bet they’d live a lot differently.” ~Bill Watterson, cartoonist One of my favorite late-summer pleasures is star-gazing on a crystal-clear night. This is more easily accomplished when I’m visiting the west or northwest side of Michigan — the Third Coast, as I like to call it. In the beach towns along Lake Michigan, you’ll find less industrial pollution and more opportunities to spot the constellations. But I’ll watch the stars anywhere. When I do, I always recover my sense of awe and wonder, and the troubles of the day seem so much smaller in starlit perspective. ~CL
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Vacation
“It is always our own self that we find at the end of the journey. The sooner we face that self, the better.” ~Ella Maillart, travel writer For most of us, to go on a vacation means to “vacate” our place of residence and our routines. We might go in search of adventure or excitement, or to experience something different. We might look for something new to learn. Or we might retreat quietly for rest and reflection. In doing so, we learn more about ourselves — what matters to us; what we want from life. I think the best vacations send us home feeling refreshed, renewed, and even changed for…
