Elements of Happiness

I was at a Mother’s Day dinner at my brother’s house last month. I was talking about how hard it is to read aloud your own writing in an interesting voice. In developing my podcast, Live Action Coaching, I had written intros to each coaching demonstration and was horrified to hear the dullness in my…

One of the joys of the season are the beautiful cards I receive–both traditional and e-cards. Here’s one that I received recently, created by an artist/graphic designer friend, Marie Carija. Visit her website to see more of her vibrant work.   The other type of holiday cards that are catching my attention are ones from…

I grew up playing the flute and became fairly accomplished in high school. I have played off and on as an adult, never getting past my peak as a teenager in technique, but steadily developing a more sensitive ear and the ability to make music. Last week, I attended one of my son’s band concerts.…

Last week, I blogged about the small things in life that give us pleasure–pomegranates, lost objects found, sunrises. I think of this as having gratitude. When I think of gratefulness, I think of the big stuff–freedom, family, health. I was reminded of all that I have to be grateful for in one day recently. That…

I’ve been delighted with small surprises in the last few days. Over the weekend, I was sitting next to a woman at a karate tournament who was eating pomegranate seeds. "Is that a pomegranate?" I was curious as I had only seen the dried pomegranates in lovely wreaths from Smith and Hawken and fresh pomegranates…