Canadians are known for down-playing their nationalism. This often leads to ignoring events that allow us to celebrate the many advantages we take for granted as Canadians. As someone born in Canada, who had the priviledge of attending three excellent Canadian universities, who experienced many career opportunities in various provinces and who is now retired and living […]
Lifestyle
Do you make time for silence in your life?
Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. — Elizabeth Kubler-Ross Last weekend my husband and I arrived at our cottage late on Saturday afternoon after attending yet another funeral. As we grow older, these funerals and memorials happen too frequently. We were both drained […]
Retirement Observations — one year out and it still feels like a vacation
Today marks one year since I left the office, put my briefcase into a corner and started retirement. It’s one year later and every day still feels like a vacation! The first 365 days of retirement have been wonderful. Moreover, I am confident that next year will be better yet. I look to the future […]
Are you making each day count — strategies to ensure you keep growing
We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves. Alice Bloch quote Last weekend I attended a retirement event in honour of the career of a former colleague. It was a great chance to re-connect with people who I had known during my career. The reception provided opportunities to catch up with […]
Scoring your Retirement — How do you measure retirement well-being?
The secret of health for both body and mind is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly –Buddha Well-being most often refers to ideas such as happiness, fulfillment, quality of life or living a good, meaningful life. Spiritual leaders, psychologists and […]
What are your essential May 2-4 traditions?
For Canadians this Victoria Day weekend, affectionately known as the May 2-4 weekend signals the start of warm weekends of relaxation. In Ontario, it has been affectionately called the May 2-4 weekend, a slang term, for the propensity of novice drinkers to foolishly consume a case of 24 bottles of beer very quickly. Some call […]
Keeping in touch — social networks that matter
Last week I attended a meeting of former Executive Directors of Ontario child welfare agencies who are now retired. Charmed by the meeting site in beautiful Stratford Ontario — home of the Stratford Shakespearean Festival Theatre and one of the most enchanting small cities in Ontario — as well as knowing that the organizer was someone whose […]
What did the royal wedding mean to you?
Last Friday morning I set my alarm clock for 4:30 am, got up, made coffee and sat glued to a television screen watching the pomp and pageantry from Westminster Abbey as Prince William married Kate Middleton. From the spring boughs decorating the Abbey, to the colourful outfits and ‘fascinators’ or other headgear worn by female […]
Why you can't take Canada's May 2 election for granted
Following a ruling by the speaker of the House of Commons that found the Steven Harper government in contempt of parliament, the opposition parties used a non-confidence motion to bring down the minority conservative government. As a result, Steven Harper, Prime Minister asked the Governor General to call an election on May 2. An element […]
It finally feels like spring — garden resolutions
Although temperatures in Ontario remain stubbornly below average, the sun came out of hiding today and faint glimmers of spring are around. Everywhere, Canadians are impatiently watching for warmer weather. In my garden the purple and white crocuses are providing some welcome touches of colour. In mid-April, it is finally beginning to feel like spring. […]
