Where have I been for weeks now? Alternating between home decluttering to downsize and digging through my digital and hard copy archives. When moved to do so, I write about what I find, so there are plenty of posts ready to be published. I just haven’t actually pulled the trigger on that… inexplicably, given retirement now affords me all the time to write what I want and post on my own website. But then, that is how clutter robs you of energy and rational thought.
OnTheDaily
Daily journal entry notes tied to trigger topics of the day.
Headspace After the Family Day Long Weekend & Valentine’s Celebrations
Each day of this mid February calendar week holds a different celebration. So, how do we handle the time between social calls to duty on the day?
Today is Lunar New Year with all the gallantry and power of the Year of the Horse. Ramadan begins shortly with shorter fasts as it returns to winter months, Black History Month continues and many more on the Canadian calendar alone.
February Rituals of Happiness for Home-Based or Desk-Bound Workers
Break out the reds and pinks, February has arrived.
In North America, it heralds declarations of love through greeting cards, chocolate, jewelry, flowers, gourmet dinners, and reservations for spa treatments. You’d get the idea that happiness if not full-blown authentic capital L O V E is something exchanged, gifted, and celebrated outwardly. But what about those of us, well most of us now, that are deskbound alongside our automated calendars as we get closer to ‘the official day’ and all that is commercial romance?
Writers’ Routines to Nurture Creative Work and Healthy Longevity
Life Interruptions and the Call for New Routines
Less than 8 years into the launch of my writing career and public relations practice, I had to deal with divorce and, on its stress-bound heels, a diagnosis of chronic illness. Both came with fatigue and frustration. In today’s post, we explore the care and feeding of writers with the practical routines that sustain us into our senior health and working years. We’ve looked at some rituals of writing. So, now we continue with some of the habits of living strong, independent, and creative lives, up until life’s ultimate deadline.
Dark Side of Deadlines
Deadlines: Are they a pressure or a productivity assist for you?
In the last post, we defined deadlines and agreed on their value. They help us get things done. I always tell people to give creatives, in particular, a deadline. Where their mind goes without one will be the stuff of a future post. Today, we explore the dark sides of deadlines, and there are many.
Ways to work with deadlines
I tackle deadline stress and success through the lens of my greatest body of experience – 40 years of writing for the communications and public relations needs of clients in varied industries and work settings. It yielded a great deal of observation that has been useful.
Like many folks, I can often have more clarity and certainty in my work life than navigating even my ‘pro-level’ personal phases.
What Is a Deadline and How It Applies to Living to Deadline
Let’s explore the accepted definitions of “Deadline”
What Is a Deadline, Really?
Traditionally, a deadline is defined as a time or date by which something must be completed. But the origin of the term is much darker. It came from American Civil War prisons, where a “dead line” marked the boundary prisoners could not cross without being shot. From literal life-or-death consequences, it evolved into something more psychological—yet still stressful—applied to the world of publishing, journalism, and the arts.
Today, a deadline is a finish line. A marker of commitment. A line in the sand between “someday” and “done.”
Happy Canada Day to the Nation of Canada and all its owners
158th Canada Day celebrations abound in the land. From Vancouver, on one of the 3 oceans that border the country, I listen to the radio coverage by our official national broadcaster, CBC. The rest of the country is beyond my southern exposure patio door. Drapes are drawn to keep my space cooler and protected from … Read more
Habits rewired: Nighttime Routine Eating, Reading, Lighting
Tonight, 1/11/25, I stopped eating at 6:30 and then found one tiny piece of sourdough, which I defrosted to have with some topping, making for a satisfying, non-sweet chew after a soup and salad dinner.
- Wow, I couldn’t even get to the end of my first sentence in this New Year declaration before I realized I was already breaking the rules.