Family, Parenting, Patience, Virtues

Allowing Frustration to Touch You, Your Partner, and Your Children

We tend to shy away from frustration.  Anything that bothers us, we avoid.  I think that, to a certain extent, that’s OK—I mean, why would I purposefully choose to get into the longest line at the grocery store?  But there are situations in which frustration is just a part of life and should be something… Read More Allowing Frustration to Touch You, Your Partner, and Your Children

Media

The Contextual Meaning of a Movie: It Isn’t The Same To All

I’ve been thinking a lot about context lately.  More specifically, the meaning that things have within a certain context. For example, a knife in itself isn’t a bad thing.  But, say, in the hands of a baby or a killer, well…  Enough said. I wish the question of context was as easy when it came… Read More The Contextual Meaning of a Movie: It Isn’t The Same To All

Family, Parenting

Surprisingly Great Things to Have To Make Baby’s First Year Easier

Figuring out what my baby actually needs versus what I am told by a society that over-consumes what my baby needs is an on-going and very interesting experience, especially during baby’s first year.  First off, how difficult is it to keep one’s cool when baby stuff is just so endearingly cute?  All those cute patterns… Read More Surprisingly Great Things to Have To Make Baby’s First Year Easier

Community Building, Marriage

Weddings Bells and Community Building

If marriage is meant to create families—i.e. the building blocks of society—then weddings are part of the process in which societies are built. And interestingly enough, I find that even weddings that are not organised with community building in mind bring people together and develop strong bonds between them like few other events can. I… Read More Weddings Bells and Community Building

Personal Development

Learning To Love Your Stretch Marks

I have always looked at my mothers’ stretch marks with great respect.  As my friends started having kids, I looked at theirs in the same way.  And now that I have my own, I oftentimes stare at them in the mirror, shocked and amazed at what my body managed to do. Surprisingly enough, though, I… Read More Learning To Love Your Stretch Marks

Community Building

The Interconnectedness Of It All: How Understanding Harmony Affects Our Perspective

I recently read a quote that really resonated with me: “The welfare of any segment of humanity is inextricably bound up with the welfare of the whole. Humanity’s collective life suffers when any one group thinks of its own well-being in isolation from that of its neighbours’ or pursues economic gain without regard for how… Read More The Interconnectedness Of It All: How Understanding Harmony Affects Our Perspective

Family, Parenting

Inherent Versus Assigned Worth: Moving Beyond Social Constructs To Appreciate The Role Of Parents

Before having a child, I always wondered how parents did it all.  They were always so busy, constantly on the go, always with something to do.  I hoped to be able to keep the pace once I had children of my own, and looked forward to have such a full and rich life. Since I’ve… Read More Inherent Versus Assigned Worth: Moving Beyond Social Constructs To Appreciate The Role Of Parents

Personal Development, Tools

Time Tracking As A Tool To Build The Life You Want Instead Of Living the Life You Are Caught In

Finding balance in a society that glorifies a limited range of behaviors, most of which are counterproductive to most, makes a complicated task even more complicated.  I recently had a really interesting conversation with a friend of mine.  He mentioned how despite the fact that he doesn’t stop all day long, every day of the… Read More Time Tracking As A Tool To Build The Life You Want Instead Of Living the Life You Are Caught In

Personal Development

The Potent Combination of Resignation and Empowerment

Trying to understand what resignation means is still very new to me, so please bear with me as I attempt, somewhat clumsily, to put into words some thoughts on it for the first time ever on this blog. Being resigned is seen by some as an act of weakness, something someone who has given up… Read More The Potent Combination of Resignation and Empowerment

Community, Community Building, Community Development

The Limitations of Shocking People Out of Apathy In The Hopes Of Building A Better World

One of the greatest obstacles to building a vibrant, healthy global community–i.e. a better world–is the apathy of so many of its members, a large proportion of which go about life within a limited bubble: they go to work, go home, do their shopping, go on vacation, and ignore the negative things happening in the… Read More The Limitations of Shocking People Out of Apathy In The Hopes Of Building A Better World