My Blog
The path to becoming Wagalicious
As I sit here eating yet another Samoa, I remember my single-digit days when Iâd don my green uniform, carefully arrange my badge-encrusted sash, and head out to knock on neighborsâ doors, Girl Scout cookie order sheet in hand. There was an iceberg in my stomach and my knees knocked as I pressed the...
There are people celebrating across America and around the world today. Itâs both Global and National Drink Wine Day, and itâs a great reason to look at whatever it is you love from a different vantage point.
Weâll start with wine: people who love wine so much that theyâve made a hobby or a busines...
Have you ever heard the phrase âdelicious anticipation?â This is one of those times when two words make magic when they get together, because they so perfectly describe something wonderful.
Delicious anticipation â what is it, why do you want it, and how do you get it?
Delicious anticipation was t...
Today, letâs talk about hugs. Are you a hugger? I am. Whenever I feel a connection to someone my default is to want to hug them. Not everyoneâs a hugger, though, so occasionally the hug impulse has to be squelched.
Why do humans hug? Have you ever wondered about that? Turns out, hugging is addictiv...
âTis the season that those of us in the northern hemisphere bundle up. And those of us with dogs, especially the small and relatively hairless ones, bundle their dogs up, too. If thatâs you today, you have unwittingly celebrated todayâs fun holiday â itâs Dress Up Your Pet Day.
Iâm not ashamed to a...
Last week a dear friend asked me a question, and Iâm going to ask you the same one: do you make New Yearâs resolutions?
My answer is no. Iâve been on this planet long enough to have experienced my pattern of good intentions and so-so results when trying to make life changes in the middle of winter,...
Oh, we human beings cherish endings and beginnings. From baby showers to funerals, housewarmings to homecomings, and of course to the hoopla around the changing of the year, the celebrations for the milestones in our lives show us just how important these events are.
But why?
Many of the tradition...
Are you stuffed full of holidays like I am? In the span of six days, weâve celebrated Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and now Giving Tuesday. Itâs been an expensive, exhausting six days for a lot of people!
As the calendar rolls around to the end of another year, this time between Thanksgi...
Do you have a friend whoâs persnickety about the âethnic correctnessâ of food? One of mine refuses to go to a very popular Italian restaurant owned by a Middle Eastern man, not because of the manâs ethnicity but because his dishes are fragranced with more than just garlic and basil. She believes tha...
When you were 7 or 8, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a nurse. Nurses were glamorous â they wore white uniforms with matching white shoes and hats, and I was convinced thatâs what Iâd be. It wasnât long before I was on to the next thing I wanted to be â a veterinarian, then ...
Itâs the end of September. The END of September â how did that happen? If itâs true that time flies when weâre having fun, we must be having a LOT of fun, right?
The Presidential election is in six weeks. Thanksgiving is in two months. The first night of Hanukkah and Christmas Day are the same date...
Responsibility. That word can cause feelings of dread, perseverance, or pride. It can make your heart sing or sink. It can make you feel very grown-up or like you want to ditch adulting forever. How can so many emotions be wrapped in one simple word?
The answer â because itâs not simple.
Responsib...
Do you love dogs? Yeah, me, too. Weâre in good company â a third of the worldâs households have at least one dog, and most people consider their dog (or dogs) to be part of the family.
That describes my family â we had a dog as soon as Mom thought my youngest brother was old enough to understand th...
Thereâs a 40th anniversary today that you might not know about. Have you ever been part of one of the âfirst Tuesday in Augustâ neighborhood festivals? Maybe your neighborhood or town had a cookout, or a little parade? Chances are, police officers were everywhere at the festival.
Not only were they...
Every four years, we Americans forget who we are. We forget that we have power. We forget how to use that power. We forget to be civil as we use our voices and our fingertips, and sadly, sometimes fists and other weapons, in our attempts to move hearts and minds to our way of thinking.
You can make...
Quick â name a teacher who helped shape who you are today. If youâre like most people, and like me, you can name a few.
Mrs. Sharrett, my 4th grade teacher, who made paying attention pay off. She used operant conditioning on her willing subjects, making intentional mistakes and paying the first stu...
Tomorrow is May Day. Itâs also Beltane, a holiday that you may not be familiar with unless youâre from County Limerick or County Wicklow in Ireland, where the Beltane tradition has been constant from the earliest writings in Irish literature. Beltane/May Day marks the midpoint between the spring and...
If I told you that thereâs one thing that provides you with all the following benefits, would you rush right out and get it?
- More active lifestyle
- Lower blood pressure
- Lower cholesterol
- Significant decrease in heart disease/heart attack
- Lower likelihood of depression
- Lower anxiety levels
- Lo ...
Today letâs talk about leaders, and the leader that lives inside each of us. Itâs easy to think about leaders as those who are somehow above our level â the president of your division, the president of your company, the president of the United States â and those are all leaders.
Did you know that y...
Do you equate age with wisdom? Many people do, and thereâs science to back it up. While youth is revered in our culture, wisdom is, too, and when people are looking for advice, itâs their aging friends and colleagues they turn to. It is true that memory functions can fade with age, and it's also tru...
Do you have a dog? Two? More? Are you dogless and get your dog love from friendsâ dogs? Or maybe youâre someone who just doesnât see the appeal of dogs?
If you love dogs, youâll probably love this article. If not, read on anyway because thereâs probably something here for you despite your distaste ...
What started as an inside joke has turned into a day of silliness thatâs celebrated every year on September 19th. Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day â avast, ye mateys, and Iâll tell the tale of the scurvy lads who created this sorry excuse for revelry!
Two friends were playing racquetball on June 6, 199...
This weekâs topic might make you roll your eyes. Thatâs OK. This weekâs topic may make you think, âIâve tried and it doesnât work for me.â Thatâs OK, too. Keep reading for the whyâs and howâs about adding ⌠gasp! ⌠meditation to your daily routine.
There are a lot of reasons people give for not med...
Countries are at war. Banks are failing. The stock market is teeter-tottering. Inflation is behaving like a spoiled brat, refusing efforts to control it. Politicians are taking dirty laundry and gleefully hanging it out for all to see. And all of this is coming in the wake of a worldwide pandemic, w...
Happy Act Happy Week! And if youâre not happy and you know it, itâs OK to not be able to give an Oscar-winning performance. In this weekâs newsletter Iâll help you find your way back to happy with a few mental wellbeing tools you can use any time, in the privacy of your own head. Or you can just wat...
Are you a team lead? The team can be a work team, a sports team or a family team â most people lead some sort of team, whether they know it or not. Some people enjoy the role of leader, helping people develop their full potential, while others are intimidated or uninterested in taking a leadership r...
Have you ever had an idea, brought it to fruition, and during its infancy you discovered that your idea was bigger than you knew? International We Are Not Broken Day began in 2019, so is still fairly new, as is the organization of the same name. The founder, Texan Nochola Cotto, intended it to be a ...
Today, letâs celebrate peculiar people. Itâs officially Peculiar People Day, though no one knows how this one got started or why. It seems to be a nod to a group of faith healers formed by Englishman John Banyard, âPeculiar People,â in 1838. Or maybe not â the two events simply share the words âpecu...
Are you surrounded by strong people or weak ones?
A great way to discover the answer is to hear how they talk to others. Strong people offer uplifting comments, offer help in a non-condescending way and talk well about their colleagues even when theyâre not around. Weak people gossip, tattle-tale a...
Great relationships â like great marriages â happen because people choose where to focus. People get along for a while and then they start noticing things they donât like. Instead of focusing on what they do like, they get fixated on what they donât like. Before you know it, feuds are happening on t...
Are you an adapter or a leader?
Adapters are chameleons â they scope out the lay of the land and blend in. Leaders scope out the lay of the land, see what needs doing and set about doing it. Thatâs why you often hear people say that certain leaders have great vision â theyâre on the lookout for way...
