I live in a ridiculously nice place. Our son had friends over last night to watch Hamilton, and my husband and I didn’t want to eat pizza, which we ordered for them, so we got out of the house for dinner. We went to a little restaurant, Gillie’s, in downtown Blacksburg, and sat at a … Continue reading Grateful
When we first moved to Blacksburg, Virginia, nearly 10 years ago, I read (and blogged about) a local newspaper article about how to build durable happiness. The article said that to sustain happiness, we should appreciate and savor, and continue to appreciate and savor, the good things we have in our lives. I want to … Continue reading I can’t believe I get to live here
A friend shared a TEDx talk at work the other day about success and happiness. The talk, The happy secret to better work by Shawn Achor, flipped the idea that you’ll find happiness when you find success at work. The more likely scenario is that you’ll find success at work when you find happiness. One … Continue reading Journaling the good things
Until a few years ago, I shopped explicitly for specific needs for the week. We planned out menus, and I went to the supermarket on the weekend to buy everything we needed for our meals. If food wasn’t intended for a designated purpose, it didn’t make the list. This was great for our limited income … Continue reading Pantry
The landscape is grey and brown. The sky is heavy with stone clouds. Bare branches are wet with fog and rain. My poor garden, vibrant in summer, is sharp with plant skeletons, crinkly with copper oak leaves, and lifeless. Winter gets harder to bear every year. The holidays are over, and I’m ready for winter … Continue reading Pinpricks of light in winter
The first step to getting things fixed is to know they are broken. This is true whether you work for a software company, are coaching a little league team, or write a blog. None of us is all-knowing, and we all make mistakes. I would venture to guess that most of us, if we have … Continue reading Thank you, Readers, for reporting errors
Butterfly Mind 