Rise By Lifting Others January 27, 2021
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Life Balance, Mindfulness, People.11 comments
Rise by lifting others.
Be somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody.
Sprinkle kindness around like confetti.
Aah . . . that’s better!
The Expert Was Once A Beginner January 13, 2021
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Life Balance, Mindfulness, People.24 comments
Never stop learning.
Stay curious.
Pay attention and you’ll learn something every day.
The expert was once a beginner.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Don’t Let Them Dull Your Sparkle January 7, 2021
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Life Balance, Mindfulness, People.15 comments
Exist to be Happy . . . not to impress.
Do it for you, not for them.
Don’t let anyone dull your sparkle.
Aah . . . that’s better!
You Are Entirely Up To You January 3, 2021
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Humor, Life Balance, People.24 comments
Don’t trade your authenticity for approval.
Don’t let others decide who you are.
You are entirely up to you.
Be weird in your own way.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Christmas Charades December 15, 2020
Posted by nrhatch in Gratitude, Happiness, Humor, People.17 comments
Looking for ideas for Christmas gatherings this year (including those via ZOOM)?
Consider a cacophonous game of Christmas Charades!
Pass out age-appropriate assignments to all attendees and let holiday hilarity ensue:
* Santa coming down the Chimney in full regalia (see right)
Uh-oh, he’s stuck!
Can you say Claus-trophobia?
* Santa filling the stockings (with COAL)
It’s a dusty job but someone’s got to do it
* Decorating the Christmas tree . . . with cats for companions
Dashing through the house, while looking for a box
I am ready to pounce, quick as a frisky fox
* Demonstrate the (pre-pandemic) pandemonium of Black Friday Shopping
* Illustrate the after dinner coma (Snoring = optional)
Santa’s after-season sabbatical!
Aah . . . that’s better!
Mount Ascutney, Vermont September 23, 2020
Posted by nrhatch in Nature, People, Sustainable Living, Travel & Leisure.30 comments
I’ve never skied Mt. Ascutney (no big surprise, right?), but I’ve hiked it in the summer.
Many times.
Here’s how the town of Windsor (next town over from where Dad grew up), saved the mountain’s accessibility for the community.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Godspeed RBG! September 20, 2020
Posted by nrhatch in Books & Movies, Gratitude, People.16 comments
Ruth Bader Ginsburg transformed the landscape of America, increasing gender equality and acting as a moral compass for her brethren on the Supreme Court.
She rocked!
If you want more insight, I recommend two recent films ~ RBG and On the Basis of Sex.
She stood for equal rights for all.
Aah . . . that’s better!
A Place to Start June 5, 2020
Posted by nrhatch in Life Balance, Mindfulness, People.34 comments
Many of you have expressed shock and outrage and sadness and grief at recent events.
You know that Black Lives Matter ~> that ALL lives matter.
And perhaps you want to be more involved in efforts to level the landscape and achieve the dream expressed so eloquently by Martin Luther King, Jr. half a century ago.
If so, here’s A Place to Start ~ an incomplete list of resources and organizations for fighting racism and supporting justice and equality put together by MoMA.
Another list of resources and organizations that support of justice and equality has been collated by Poets & Writers.
One world. One people.
Let’s remember that we are all in this together.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Acceptance Is Power March 26, 2020
Posted by nrhatch in Health & Wellness, Life Balance, Mindfulness, People.21 comments
I read an interesting article yesterday in the Harvard Business Review about the “grief” we’re feeling as a result of CoVid-19 and its inherent uncertainty:
That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief
The article is worth a read. Here’s a brief excerpt:
You said we’re feeling more than one kind of grief?
Yes, we’re also feeling anticipatory grief. Anticipatory grief is that feeling we get about what the future holds when we’re uncertain. Usually it centers on death. We feel it when someone gets a dire diagnosis or when we have the normal thought that we’ll lose a parent someday. Anticipatory grief is also more broadly imagined futures. There is a storm coming. There’s something bad out there. With a virus, this kind of grief is so confusing for people. Our primitive mind knows something bad is happening, but you can’t see it. This breaks our sense of safety. We’re feeling that loss of safety. I don’t think we’ve collectively lost our sense of general safety like this. Individually or as smaller groups, people have felt this. But all together, this is new. We are grieving on a micro and a macro level.
What can individuals do to manage all this grief?
Understanding the stages of grief is a start. But whenever I talk about the stages of grief, I have to remind people that the stages aren’t linear and may not happen in this order. It’s not a map but it provides some scaffolding for this unknown world. There’s denial, which we say a lot of early on: This virus won’t affect us. There’s anger: You’re making me stay home and taking away my activities. There’s bargaining: Okay, if I social distance for two weeks everything will be better, right? There’s sadness: I don’t know when this will end. And finally there’s acceptance. This is happening; I have to figure out how to proceed.
Acceptance, as you might imagine, is where the power lies. We find control in acceptance. I can wash my hands. I can keep a safe distance. I can learn how to work virtually.
I can accept the what is.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Avoiding A Case Of “My Corona” March 5, 2020
Posted by nrhatch in Health & Wellness, Humor, Less IS More, People.24 comments
New Scientist suggests that people can minimize the risk of infection from coronavirus (or the flu) by practicing “social distancing” and good hygiene:
1. Move at least a meter (or more!) away from anyone who appears ill if you can.
2. Don’t shake hands, hug or kiss people as a greeting.* (See Op-Ed Below).
3. Wash your hands often with soap and water, or use an alcohol hand rub, especially after touching surfaces that might be contaminated.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says there is no need for healthy people to wear face masks.
It also says there is no evidence that pets can get and spread covid-19, or that the virus can be passed on via letters, packages or food.
To read more: Coronavirus: What You Need To Know (New Scientist)
* * *
* Op-Ed: Tip #2 is good advice
In my opinion, WAY TOO MANY people expect a hug, a kiss, or a hand shake when greeting others . . . even when said people are virtual strangers.
You know the type. Anytime an introduction is made, muscle memory causes them to mindlessly shove their hand forward in a gesture designed to signify, “damn glad to meetcha!”
Before you mindlessly reciprocate, think about this ~> you don’t know where that hand has been OR when said hand was last washed, if ever. For all you know, it spent the last hour scratching/grooming/cleaning up after a troop of monkeys.
Or, you know, just one filthy monkey.
Since I’ve never been a fan of the hand shake (or of forced hugs and kisses), I’m going to use “Coronavirus Concerns” as a convenient excuse to “bow out” of hellos and good-byes involving any form of physical contact.
Henceforth and herewith, instead of shaking hands, or sharing a perfunctory hug or kiss, I’ll keep a SAFE distance, place MY scrupulously clean palms together, and give a brief nod in greeting:
Namaste.
It’ll be interesting to see peoples’ reactions, especially those who (on auto pilot) shove their germ-laden mitts forward without first considering whether physical connection/ contact is (a) necessary or (b) desired.
Aah . . . that’s better!
