Our Own Words of Gratitude for 2023
Keeping a gratitude journal has been recommended by psychologists as a part of our daily activities. Multiple studies have shown how gratitude can increase our level of happiness. However, most people don’t take enough time to reflect on their days and be grateful for many things. Thanksgiving is an important holiday as it helps us…
My Next Step, as seen through Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday is a strategist and writer. He left college at 19 but has been successful in marketing and as an author, including The Obstacle is the Way, which has a cult following among NFL coaches, athletes, political leaders and others. In Ego is the Enemy, he tells his own story as, “Success. Failure. And back…
Burnout, Revisited
You may hear the word burnout and associate it with feeling tired, run down, and stressed out at work. You may also feel “over it” or detached from what you’re doing, experience irritation or be easily annoyed, have lower motivation or procrastinate to delay tasks, and/or have sleep disturbance, inattention or distractibility. Changes to your health may also occur, including high blood pressure, headaches,…
Living My Moments
We are in Chesapeake Beach this weekend. It hasn’t snowed much this year except for some dusty flakes a few days ago that quickly melted when the morning temperature started rising. Last night, there were gusty winds, and the temperature dropped into the teens. The moon was almost full, and its gravitational pull could be…
Building Up My Gratitude Muscle
The practice of gratitude has been a powerful healing routine for me. During the pandemic at dinner time, we started playing a gratitude game. The rules were simple – you share one thing you are grateful for from the day. My 4- and 6-year-olds found it fun and were happy to share how they were grateful…
Feeling Alone in a Crowd
December into January is a favorite time of the year for many people. It’s the time that many go “home” for the holidays, to be with families and friends. Millions take flights all over the world to be with families. Humans are sociable beings. The holiday season, however, can be the hardest and most lonely…
How Much is Enough?
The last time I went to a mall was in late September when I was getting ready for a trip to the kingdom of Bhutan and Nepal for a Himalayan Writing Workshop. I would be half a world away and was worried that the weather might be too hot or too cold for me. I…
Musings on Spinach
We’ve each got our ‘things’ right? I’ve wondered for a while, whenever I’ve prepared spinach, “What is a ‘serving’ of spinach?” Is it the amount that covers a salad plate? Is it the tiny side dish that results from sautéing an entire bunch or bag of leaves? I recently have delved deeper into the…
Jewel Salad
In the intense summer heat, I was not in the mood for cooking or for eating heavy food and went looking for meal salads which required little prep. This one is easy, is good year-round, and doesn’t involve much cooking. It also makes a lot, so it’s good for a crowd or for leftovers. Farro…
A National Focus on Food as Medicine
On Wednesday, September 28th, 2022, at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, President Biden introduced a national strategy that recognizes the critical role that nutrition plays in health. Efforts were spurred by the fact that 80% of our health expenditures go to treat preventable illnesses, and that one in ten households still do…