Do you recall your “best moments” in life? Was it when you fell in love, your first kiss, the birth of your first child or that beautiful sunset that stirred something deep within your heart? It might have been that trip to Bali or some other exotic place that you wished would never end. How about that day when you walked across the stage and received your University degree? ...
Today, October 5th, is World Teachers’ Day and the theme this year is: The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher. I’m thankful for all the qualified and unqualified teachers who have been my teachers. In the small, third-world country in which I grew up and was educated, primary school teachers were not “qualified.” There was a Teacher’s College but I’m not sure that many teachers went there. Yet, thankfully they taught us and we learned. They just knew how to teach. ...
There’s a new book out that I came across at a Chapters/Indigo bookstore this past week. It’s called “Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness.” The author is Ingrid Fetell Lee who is a designer. She has a design blog called “The Aesthetics of Joy.” The concept of joy for me has always been that it’s something out of reach that I have to find - elusive and precious. But, Ingrid Fetell Lee dispels that idea of joy in her book by showing how we can find joy and create joy in the here and now. The author says " At the heart of this book lies the idea that joy isn’t just something we find. It’s also something we can make, for ourselves and for those around us." ...
For those of you who aren’t aware of this, today, September 21st, is the International Day of Peace or known to some as World Peace Day. It’s a day designated by the United Nations for individuals and nations globally to pay attention to matters of peace. In his 100 day count-down message, this is what the Secretary-General had to say: “It is time all nations and all people live up to the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human race. This year marks the 70th anniversary of that landmark document.” ...
It may come as a surprise to some that people of all ages wonder about their purpose in life. At every stage of the life cycle, there is this quest for answers to life’s eternal questions. Very often I find myself with other seniors or middle-aged people who say I wonder why I’m here. What do I need to do now? This happened the other day when I was with some women friends. Somehow in the course of conversing on many different topics, “purpose” came up. Two people said they weren’t sure what their purpose was which is fine. Others said that taking care of children, grandchildren, work, or volunteering, was their purpose in life now. Others yet were confused about how to find purpose. ...
As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others. ~ Audrey Hepburn As those lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer slowly draw to a close, I’ve begun thinking about Fall. It’s time to think about doing something useful with my time. This thinking resulted in my procuring an application form to volunteer in a “Leading to Reading Program” once a week. It’s held and sponsored by the Toronto Public Library. It’s a wonderful opportunity to help children having difficulty with reading improve their skills. ...
Birthdays are celebrations of life when you are present to celebrate and can be actively involved in the celebration. A “Celebration of Life” for you happens when you’re no longer around for the celebration - you’re dead. (Jean) Thankfully, I’m around for this year’s celebration of my birthday today. I have been actively involved in expressing the way in which I want to spend this birthday. At times, my life’s journey has felt like being on a roller-coaster ride and other times like a cruise ship sailing smoothly along. ...
[caption id=“attachment_3671” align=“alignnone” width=“525”] “Cakes are special. Every birthday, every celebration ends with something sweet, a cake, and people remember. It’s all about the memories.” — Buddy Valastro[/caption] Canada’s 151st Birthday! It’s a time for all Canadians to celebrate - indigenous people, immigrants, refugees, and those who consider themselves to be truly Canadian. Canada has come a long way since I first arrived here in 1968 and so have I. It’s hard to believe that this country I came to as an immigrant fifty years ago is home. But it is. Countries grow just as people grow and it’s been wonderful to experience some of the many changes over the last 50 years. ...
I’d like to think of this blogging venture as the “little blog that grew” in its own time. I loved my brother’s blog and his posts. It was on a whim that I wrote my first blog post. This happened after a visit to Niagara Falls where I visited the Butterfly Conservatory. I took many photos and made up a post called “Metamorphosis.” I shared this post with my brother and told him to link the two - mine and his. Even then, I wasn’t really sure what I was asking him to do. He immediately hosted me on his blog under the name I had chosen - Late Blooms. The date was April 22, 2012. This was how it all began. ...
This post is about the ports our cruise ship stopped at on our Alaskan visit. My two earlier posts were also about this wonderful journey and some of my experiences there. We sailed on the MS Noordam on May 27th, 2018 and returned last Sunday, June 3rd. An amazing trip! HAINES, ALASKA [caption id=“attachment_4040” align=“alignnone” width=“525”] The population of Haines is small - about 2,400 people. I got the feeling that I had gone back in time and that this place was a quiet, peaceful place.[/caption] ...