Tag: Huffington Post

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Reading Leads To Bigger Ponds

Even if I can’t remember the first book I read fully, I have enjoyed reading ever since I can remember.  There is something about entering another space, if you will, and imagining, if only for the duration of a novel, for example, what it’s like to be in another person or persons shoes.

Granted some of the characters, particularly tragic ones,  wear shoes that are a bit too tight. Still, all one has to do then is to turn the page and eventually the tightness loosens. There, everyone can breathe again.

Real life can be a bit like that too, all too often, which is why I advocate reading, not only as an escape route, but also as a good practice to keep the mind open to different ways of life, different perspectives, different options.

I write about this in my July Huffington Post blog: Reading Leads to Bigger Ponds.

You know what they say, ‘life doesn’t have to be a closed book.’

Who are they, anyhow?  Never mind, why not open a book, a magazine and gain a different perspective.

 

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No Time Like The Present

As I write this blog, the present is fleeting, as it always is, fading into the past. Surely, there must be a way to pin it down, make it stay a bit longer. In theory, the answer is short and simple: take life day by day, one experience at a time.

In reality, however, it is far more complex and challenging and can sometimes become counter productive, particularly if trying becomes an obsession, causing the mind to revert to the  past and/or project ahead to the future.

This month in my Huffington Post blog, I write about living in the present, particularly during a crisis, a difficult time, for an overall better experience.

Let’s face it: the past has its place and will not be ignored. And the future, a good one anyhow, cannot be attained without some form of preparation and planning. The key is to recognise each experience for what it is or rather when it is for a more precious encounter. Check out No Time Like The Present  here and do feel free to join in the conversation on this website, on social media or on the Huff Post.

 

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It’s Trendy: That’s the short of Long Hair

Hair trends come and they go but there’s one that stays around all the time, even if it does take a back seat occasionally to other trends. Yes, you guessed it–long hair. Somewhere along the way, the belief that long hair is better than short got stuck in, making the topic seemingly a political one. But throughout history, many women have tossed the politics aside and successfully and stylishly challenged this belief.

There’s nothing like a good haircut. Still, cutting one’s hair can be a big deal. I should know; I have been around that block a time or two. But over the years I’ve learned the short of the long of it. Check out my most recent Huff Post blog for my revelation and find out  how to keep your hair trendy, too, regardless of its length, colour or texture for that matter.

And do feel free to have your say here or on the Huff Post directly.

 

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Perspective In The Eye Of The Beholder

And I thought my packages were extravagant–beautifully wrapped boxes from Net-a-porter, Matchesfashion.com, Harrods, etc.– until I saw the brightly coloured Lamborghini delivered to my neighbourhood recently.

On my way back from an hour of much needed training, I was contemplating my soreness and how I might convince myself to return to my computer to write (as I haven’t written for weeks, owing to stress masquerading as writer’s block) when I saw this expensive spectacle being backed off of a truck.

As I fixed my eyes upon it, suddenly fathomable prose struck me with an exciting force. Not that I hadn’t anything to write about before laying eyes on this car. There is plenty of that.

From the London restaurant where the tables have built in computers to order one’s dinner to the magnificent Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition at the V & A, I have been a girl about town lately. Not to mention the enthralling yet dark play, The Nether, at the Duke of York theatre, focusing on life without consequences. Disastrous! Not the play, which is rather brilliant, even if it is haunting.

Anyhow, that’s three more blogs to come, but with stress addiction (to be explored in a Huff Post blog surely) I was stymied until I saw the Lamborghini.

Enchanted as I was, I moved past the car rather quickly and into my concierge to pick up my own package, which Paul ought to put into perspective now surely, don’t you think. And then back outside, I glimpsed the owner zipping into the parking garage.

Up to the truck driver I strolled and confirmed that it was indeed a Lamborghini since I don’t always get my cars right but I do remember a friend of mine pointing out years ago that ‘the darn thing has wings.’

Anyhow, the truck driver smiled in confirmation, albeit staring quizzically, perhaps wondering if I was a groupie of sorts of if I lived in a hole somewhere. So glad to be a writer again, I dispelled any groupie myths and moved along, knowing that on some level he must have known that I had seen my fair share of such cars in London. Who hasn’t? From Lambos to Aston Martins to Bentleys, they are all here.

At one point certain posh hooligans had to be fined heavily for drag racing along Piccadilly. Never mind this. The point is I had never seen one delivered or witnessed the owner admire it, accept it and take possession of it so to speak.

Something about this experience got me thinking coherently again. Although the car is lavish by most standards, it reiterated something to me about perspective—it is in the eye of the beholder.

With that thought, I tore into my rather modest package–shush it’s a Sophie Hulme handbag. Let’s hope Paul agrees. Regardless, there’s more to come soon, that is writing. Well, maybe packages, too.

 

 

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A Good Story: Whose Is It Anyhow?

I love a good story–reading and hearing one and writing one, too. Hence, my vocation. Yet finding the right topic isn’t always the easiest of tasks and not because there isn’t enough to write about. I’d say it is quite the opposite.

Nowadays my own life is filled with enthralling stories, but the question I find myself facing more often than not is: Do I have the right to tell this story?

Most times I listen to my gut, my moral compass for a final call but admittedly, the answer is not always simple, not only from a professional point of view but also from a personal one, too.

Personal stories are entangled, the best and the worst of them. Thus, the dilemma: Whose Story Is it Anyhow? 

This month’s Huff Post blog looks at the question of story ownership from a broad view, if you will. Still, I would love to know your take on it. Do comment here or directly on the Huff Post.

 

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Thin Line Between Sanity and Insanity

There is thin line between sanity and insanity. Big statement, eh? But one worth investigating nowadays, as life personally and publicly gets more dramatic and stressful. More debates than ever are cropping up over the difference between moral and immoral, right thinking and wrong thinking and right and wrong.

Sometimes I don’t understand the negotiation – not really. In my world, though having a different opinion about evolution is one’s prerogative, but having a different opinion about whether to operate outside of any parameters, morals, laws is not debatable, is it? It is all unnecessarily stressful, if you ask me.

In a conversation with a friend recently, we wondered if there is a decline in healthy, transparent, living, if you will, or if in our ageing we are simply paying more attention to what has always been.

Regardless, it all leads back to the state of one’s mental and emotional well-being. Are we personally and publicly paying enough attention to mind matters, making way for healthier living. Do we understand that a healthy mind is the key to healthy living? And that leading a highly stressful life can lead to dire consequences?

In this month’s Huffington Post blog, I suggest that it is time to get educated on the matter and put our learning into action, starting at home, if you will. But not so fast; hardwired myths and stigmas are blocking the way. What can we do to clear the roadblocks?

See what I have to say about it on the Huff Post. In the meantime, here is a quote for thought.

‘The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they’re okay, then it’s you.’ 

Rita Mae Brown, author and social activist

 

 

 

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How Far Back Can You Remember?

Lost childhood memories are often thought of as those traumatic (bad) memories that are repressed, squashed for the mind’s sake.  But there are good childhood experiences, too, that are forgotten.

While many adults can trace an early, feel good memory, back to age three (I can, as written in my latest Huff Post blog), others have no recollection of their childhood, not really.  According to a 2014 Emory University research study, there is a good reason for this.

Freud might have been on to something about childhood amnesia but did he perhaps misunderstand what is behind it? The Emory study suggests it has more to do with the structure of the brain than anything else.

Read the entire story, Whatever Happens to Childhood Memories directly on the Huffington Post. In the meantime,  what is your earliest memory? Do tell, either here on on the Huff Post.

 

 

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Breathing Through The Holidays Easily

Niagara Falls is breathtakingly beautiful, even when it is cloudy and a bit wet.  Refreshing, isn’t it.  In route to the US for Thanksgiving, Paul and I had the opportunity to stop off in Canada and visit with good friends and also see some of the natural beauty of the country, such as the Falls.

What a wonderful opportunity to slow down, somewhat, and catch  my breath, which got me thinking about the art of breathing, if you will. Although breathing comes naturally, thank goodness, too often we lose sight of how important it is to breathe slowly and deeply, which might require some skill, that is, if we have lost touch.

Without skill and practice, our breathing often goes on a high-speed treadmill with the rest of life, even more so during the festive season. Not to panic, however, I have just the thing for getting off the fast track and reconnecting with your breathe.

Check out my latest Huff Post blog, hot off the press, just in time to breathe through the holidays. Have a nice and easy Christmas and New Year, too.

 

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Celebrating Different Types of Friendship

As far back as I can remember I’ve had friends, whether they were the kids next door or cousins living in a nearby town. In any case, friends are a huge part of life, whether we are young or old or somewhere in between.

“I feel like true friendship (is not to dissimilar to marriage) where  through the ups and downs, a commitment is in place for the duration,'” says my BFF.

So, so, so true, isn’t it? Still, sadly some friendships don’t last, aren’t necessarily true friendships perhaps, at least not forever. They come and they go, depending on the situation. For my latest Huff Post blog, I reflect on situational friendships, what they are, the importance of acknowledging and celebrating them and then letting them go and allowing them to rest well in the history books of life, your life.

And in the meantime, celebrate those lasting friendships too, even if it is only now and again. After all, it is the effort that counts when it comes to sustaining a friendship, the conscious effort that is. Read more here.

 

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What Does Brain Fog Have to do With It?

For years now, I have asked myself this very question and haven’t come up with a satisfactory answer. Sure I’ve understood for a long time that food has a real impact on organs such as the liver, kidneys, the heart. But, not the brain. Honestly!

Lucky for me,  I have found some answers now,  even if searching took me through a dramatic experience or two. Read more about what I discovered about brain fog in my latest Huffington Post blog, and also how to manage it. Thank goodness, the fog has lifted.