My Blog
The path to becoming Wagalicious
Did you feel like I felt Saturday night – horrified, confused, uncertain, and helpless? No matter what your politics are, you have a heart that beats in your chest, you have family members you love and would do anything to keep safe, and if circumstances had been different, those killed and injured ...
Welcome to the Dog Days of Summer. It’s the time of year when traffic is lighter, meetings are smaller, and life gets just a little bit slower for most people.
For much of my life, I thought the phrase came from the observation of how lazy and slow dogs became in the heat of summer. Maybe you thoug...
Today is Made in the USA Day, Thursday is Independence Day, and the short work week means most US workers have more freedom than normal this weekend – four days off instead of two. Today, let’s talk about freedom from a slightly different perspective – let’s talk about the freedom you either do or d...
Are you a Jimmy Buffet fan? A full-on Parrothead? Or maybe you’re someone who never understood the appeal of a man who wore loud shirts, shorts, and performed barefoot in front of thousands of adoring fans?
It doesn’t matter where you land on the Beach Balladeer’s spectrum of fandom, you’ve probabl...
This week marks the summer solstice – it actually happens the day after tomorrow. This week also marks the winter solstice, which oddly enough also happens the day after tomorrow.
How can this be? It depends on your vantage point. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, Thursday at 4:50 PM eastern ti...
When something hurts so much we say that it breaks our heart – does it really, or does it save it?
Have you ever lost someone you love? And yes, pets count. Can you remember the physicalness of the pain – the pain in your chest, the hollowness of your being? What is that? Why is that? And can we ev...
Are you a member of a professional organization? Maybe it’s the American Bar Association, or the Farm Bureau Federation, or the National Association of Broadcasters – there are associations dedicated to nearly every profession that exists. Often, these associations create special recognition days or...
Today is Women’s Golf Day, and whether you’re a golfer or a woman or a woman golfer or none of the foregoing, it’s a great day to talk about sports and how playing your favorite sport contributes to giving you a bigger, better brain and a longer, healthier life.
Human beings were nomadic hunter-gat...
Have you ever thought about belief? We think of our own beliefs as correct and even judge others based on whether they believe the same way we do or not. Our beliefs feel so real, and so true, that we can’t imagine how others could possibly believe differently.
And yet they do. And they always will...
This past Sunday was Mother’s Day. It’s a lovely holiday designed to let moms relax for one day of the year while being appreciated and pampered. It’s a day that features flowers, favorite foods, gifts, and maybe even a macaroni necklace designed by a 3-year-old. Can AI ever replace those? (Please d...
Quick – name a teacher who helped shape who you are today. If you’re like most people, and like me, you can name a few.
Mrs. Sharrett, my 4th grade teacher, who made paying attention pay off. She used operant conditioning on her willing subjects, making intentional mistakes and paying the first stu...
Tomorrow is May Day. It’s also Beltane, a holiday that you may not be familiar with unless you’re from County Limerick or County Wicklow in Ireland, where the Beltane tradition has been constant from the earliest writings in Irish literature. Beltane/May Day marks the midpoint between the spring and...
During the winter months, those of us who live in the northern hemisphere experienced shrinkage. No, not THAT kind of shrinkage. I’m talking about brain shrinkage. Your cerebellum got smaller through the winter months, and as the longer days take over, the part of your brain that controls fine motor...
What do you have such a passion for that you give up your free time to support it? For some people, that’s a sport they play. For some, it’s a hobby like sewing or gardening. And for some, it’s being part of an organization in some sort of volunteer capacity. And whether you know it or not, the worl...
If I told you that there’s one thing that provides you with all the following benefits, would you rush right out and get it?
- More active lifestyle
- Lower blood pressure
- Lower cholesterol
- Significant decrease in heart disease/heart attack
- Lower likelihood of depression
- Lower anxiety levels
- Lo ...
This is the month many Americans dread. We know it’s coming…it comes every year. In the back of our minds, we know we should be more proactive…we should be more organized…we should be more responsible. And yet, here we are again, in April, with that sense of dread looming over us. April 15th. It’s t...
Today let’s talk about creativity. What it is, why it’s important, and how to create a more creative life for yourself.
First, what the heck is creativity? Merriam-Webster’s definition is “the ability to be creative.” Cambridge Dictionary’s definition goes deeper, making it by far the more creative...
In Latin, the word for spring is “ver.” Add an “nal” to it and you get a word that translates to “of the spring.” Tonight at precisely 11:06 Eastern time, the northern hemisphere moves into spring with the official-sounding term “vernal equinox.” Day and night are each approximately 12 hours long on...
It’s a week before spring officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere, so maybe a little bit early for spring cleaning. It’s a month before tax returns in the US are due to be filed, and if you’re like me, perhaps you’ve found a lot of things to do instead of getting organized for that chore.
Toda...
Quick – what’s your name? I bet you know the answer to that question by heart, right? One of the first things parents teach their babies is how to recognize and use names – mama, dada, doggie, and the child’s own name. But what’s in a name and why are they so important that they get an entire week’s...
What do you do with extra time? Just what IS extra time, anyway? This year is a leap year, meaning we have extra time – an entire extra day of time – to get things done. The reason we get that extra day is that the earth’s orbit interval is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds. The extra qu...
Today let’s talk about leaders, and the leader that lives inside each of us. It’s easy to think about leaders as those who are somehow above our level – the president of your division, the president of your company, the president of the United States – and those are all leaders.
Did you know that y...
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, which can only mean one thing – today is Galentine’s Day! What? You’ve never heard of it? Read on…
Galentine’s Day became a thing in 2010, when an episode of the television series Parks and Recreation centered around the deputy director, Leslie Knope, throwing a Galenti...
Do you equate age with wisdom? Many people do, and there’s science to back it up. While youth is revered in our culture, wisdom is, too, and when people are looking for advice, it’s their aging friends and colleagues they turn to. It is true that memory functions can fade with age, and it's also tru...
One twelfth of the year is over. Done. Finished. How much of your comp time, PTO, and vacation time did you take this month? Have you thought about how you’ll use your vacation time this year? And have you calendared it and maybe even planned it down to the itinerary and ticketing?
America is a you...
When was the last time you wrote a letter? Not typed a Word doc letter, not talked-to-texted a letter – when was the last time you put pen to paper and wrote?
OK, so if you still send actual, physical holiday cards, you’re winning on this one!
Today is National Handwriting Day, a “holiday” that be...
To start the new year off on the right foot, I attended a presentation about setting intentions and committing to them. Around the halfway point, when he had walked us through a couple of exercises, the speaker asked us to say aloud, “I am committed to my goals.” Throats opened and the room rang wit...
Do you have a pet? Do you know how influential you are, you pet-owner, you?
As people spent more time with their pets during the pandemic lockdown, and as those without pets realized the value of non-human companionship, all categories of pet purchases – food, veterinary care, training, boarding, y...
Do you even know what day of the week it is? This year, at least Christmas and New Year’s Day both fell on Mondays, so maybe they just showed up as regular three-day holiday weekends for you.
If you have a job that requires staffing 24/7/365, like first responders, health care workers, transportati...
In the majority of homes in North America, yesterday was celebrated with exchanged gifts, special holiday foods, and some extended-family togetherness. And in many of those homes, there were people who felt left out, under-appreciated, and just plain unhappy about some aspects of what they experienc...
There were a few major shifts during and after the pandemic in how we work, and one of them is people realizing that their lives are at least as important as their careers. People looked for jobs that paid more, gave them more satisfaction, more opportunity for advancement, the opportunity to move t...
Have you ever built a gingerbread house? I’ve admired them, wished I could taste them, and never actually built one. Some of them look wonderfully basic and homey, some can be very elaborate, and I wonder how that gingerbread tastes after sitting around through the holidays. Have you ever had a bite...
Quick – what one holiday tradition from your childhood did you love best? Opening gifts? Family game time? Snitching the cookies while they were still warm?
For me, it was the advent candles Mom let my brothers and me burn during the 12 nights before Christmas. She read an article in Good Housekeep...
Unless your eyes are just now opening for the very first time today, you already know today is Giving Tuesday. Today’s newsletter is short and sweet – if you’ll be giving today, please share the link to the organization you’re supporting. If you give at other times of the year, share the link. If yo...
In the United States, Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. In the early 1600’s, when the first Thanksgiving celebration featuring Englishmen in the New World happened, “giving thanks” was how people expressed their gratitude for surviving a tough year, or for bringing in a bountiful harvest.
The tradition...
Are you afraid to stand up in front of an audience and give a presentation? Most people are, including some professional speakers. There you are, unguarded, vulnerable, and relying on your memory and your personality to move the audience to think in a new way, act in a new way, and hopefully not thr...
Welcome to Election Day 2023. Though the news today is largely about who’ll be which party’s candidate for Election Day 2024, did you know that what and whom you vote for today could be far more important to your daily life than the votes you cast a year from today?
What do you care about?
- The q ...
Full disclosure – today’s post is just for fun. OK, you’re right – fun is important for team cohesion, stress relief, and for mental wellbeing, so today’s newsletter might be useful, too.
And it’s mainly for fun, and yes, there’s a prize involved!
Do you love Halloween? I love Halloween – always h...
Our lives are filled with war. War in the mainstream media, war in the social media, and war in the everyday conversations. We don’t have to live in the war zone to be profoundly mentally affected by war.
The social-mediazation of war began with the war in the Ukraine and shows no signs of stopping...
What do they do, these vet’s assistants?
They have the best job ever!
All day with kittens and puppies they play
Getting wags and kisses – so clever!
You’d almost pay to have their day
It just sounds so life-giving…
Vet technicians are almost magicians
Turning snuggles into a living!
What yo...
Today is the day for an observance you probably don’t know about. By the end of this newsletter, I hope you’ll be planning ways to make this day a better one for you and those you love before October 10th 2024. Today’s observance is all about something I work with veterinary teams to improve – menta...
Quick – think back to your early school days – were you bullied or were you the bully? Yes, those are the only two choices I’m giving you.
“But wait,” you might be thinking, “I wasn’t the bully and I wasn’t bullied.” OK, I hear you. Did you know someone who was being bullied? Did you do anything ab...
Do you have a dog? Two? More? Are you dogless and get your dog love from friends’ dogs? Or maybe you’re someone who just doesn’t see the appeal of dogs?
If you love dogs, you’ll probably love this article. If not, read on anyway because there’s probably something here for you despite your distaste ...
What started as an inside joke has turned into a day of silliness that’s celebrated every year on September 19th. Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day – avast, ye mateys, and I’ll tell the tale of the scurvy lads who created this sorry excuse for revelry!
Two friends were playing racquetball on June 6, 199...
Whenever leaders get together to talk about what’s working in their businesses, staff recognition is always high on the list. As a matter of fact, on nearly every list of the top ways to reduce turnover and increase employee engagement, recognition and/or encouragement make the list.
Happy National...
When the word “leader” is bandied about, most people don’t think of recording artists. They usually think of world leaders, prominent business leaders, religious leaders – not famous musical performers.
That’s a mistake because much can be learned from them. As an illustration, let’s look at the li...
Are you a rule-follower or a rule-flaunter? Most of us are firmly in the “it depends” category. Most rules we follow, some of them to the letter, and some we think don’t even apply to us or shouldn’t be rules at all.  So why are there rules and why do we follow them?
A pair of researchers, Sven Ste...
Today, can you focus on spreading joy? Can you find ways to delight people you don’t know, probably won’t ever be friends with, and show them you see and appreciate them?Â
Why, you ask? Hang on – I’ll spill the beans. First, full disclosure – one of my current dogs is a therapy dog, the third one I...
Today is National Relaxation Day and this week is National Aviation Week. What do those two have to do with each other and why should you care? This will tie them together, ease your stress, and give you wings, so read on.Â
Wilbur and Orville Wright didn’t have pilot’s licenses, and no one needs a ...
Let’s talk about happiness today, and how difficult it is for scientists to even define it, much less quantify it for us. A focus on happiness has been in the news so much that now its shadow twin, toxic positivity, is making headlines. In this post, happiness is being discussed as one of the large ...
