Tag: Writing
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Breathe…
We all do it. If we are lucky, it is automatic and pain-free. We don’t even think about it. Paying attention to breath is meditation 101, the most basic mindful awareness practice. I’ve used box breathing (four counts inhale, four counts hold, four counts exhale and four counts hold) during dentist visits. Six breaths per…
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Look It Up…
Raise your hand if you remember going to the library and shuffling through the card catalog to access not-so-secret codes leading to research information. Keep your hand up if you miss that. The worst was when one card led to another, and another. Then there was the toppling book stack from which you jotted not…
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Welcome, Stranger…
It is easy to dismiss or avoid contact with strangers; those who express their culture, love, gender, nationality and religious beliefs differently. I believe all people are deserving of equal treatment and acceptance, but living that truth is a different matter. While I work to fill social gaps created by a recent move, I encounter…
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Wrap It Up…
My neighbor recently told me about her family matriarch; 103 years old, living independently and other than using a walker and giving up her car keys a few years ago, is still joyfully ruling their roost. She is my hero. I want to know what she eats. Has she cracked a code to create her…
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Upgrade…
I am choosing upgrades as a theme for 2026. Sounds good, right? I don’t mean the ones that come with a cost attached, I’m talking about self-doled upgrades. Like adding a few exercises to my morning routine and pre-mixing ingredients for morning smoothies, walking more and taking the right kinds of supplements to well, supplement…
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Pretending…
I recently engaged in a pretend world with two experts, my 6- and 9-year-old granddaughters, while visiting our daughter and her family overseas (more on the joys of travel in Wednesday’s Substack post). We played the Restaurant Game because I had made them each an apron with pockets for their notepads and pens, because in…
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Remember When…
Do you remember when a phone was just a phone? Way back when, before answering machines, a ringing phone as you unlocked your front door was an adrenal jolt. Your heart raced as you stumbled up the stairs or around the corner to answer. You lifted the top half of the princess phone and heard…
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New Year, New Words, New You…
Welcome to a fresh start of new: habits, ideas, projects, paths. I eschewed the tradition of a New Years’ Resolution years ago (it’s the only one I ever kept). Still I love the excitement of turning the calendar to twelve months of blank squares, begging to be filled with forward moving plans and positive thinking.…
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Delight in the Light…
Yesterday was Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, and yet, it falls during the season of light; candles in various faith traditions flicker amidst strings of bulbs adorning houses and trees. While my family celebrates the birth of the Christ Child (in faith-based as well as commercial traditions), I appreciate and respect other…
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It’s All About The Love…
In last Wednesday’s Substack post I mentioned the 10 ELAN Principles by which I strive to live. ELAN was a self-development course I created and facilitated a few years ago, hopefully to the benefit of all who participated. These principles have since informed my life and these posts: 1. Honor a Higher Power = Love God by…
Patty Mayeux Blog 