At this time of year, many of us put pressure on ourselves by striving for perfection. Whether it be the perfect gift, the perfect meal, or the perfect gathering, we set standards that create unnecessary stress when our loved ones would be happy with something simple. If you’re facing the task of planning a get-together, read on for five ideas for low cost and low … Continue reading Ideas for Low Cost and Low Fuss Winter Gatherings
Dancing is beautiful and is waiting for us! Imagine stepping onto the dance floor, feeling the music pulse through your body, and being carried away by the beat. Yes, dancing isn’t just about moving your body—it’s a powerful practice that nurtures our physical and mental well-being in ways we might not even realize. Why Dance? Dancing is more than just a recreational activity—it’s a holistic … Continue reading Dancing: A Joyful Path to Physical and Mental Well-being
Last week, I had a chance to celebrate my upcoming retirement with work friends and colleagues. As I look back on my career, I’ve been thinking a lot about the value of work friendships. I’ve worked in a lot of roles with many different people over the years. When I look back, the most memorable accomplishments were with teams I felt a strong social connection … Continue reading The Value of Work Friendships
In the heart of Scandinavia, nestled among the fjords and forests, lies a cultural tradition that embodies warmth, camaraderie, and relaxation: fika. Originating from Sweden, fika is more than just a coffee break; it’s a cherished ritual that celebrates the simple joys of life and fosters meaningful connections with others. Fika, much like its Danish and Norwegian counterpart hygge, is deeply rooted in the concept … Continue reading Fika: the Swedish Tradition of Togetherness and Relaxation
Life is sometimes intricate and difficult, and we may encounter a profound and occasionally perplexing phenomenon known as the Dark Night of the Soul, a time when the soul traverses the shadowy realms of inner turmoil, questioning, and existential crisis. While this may sound like an ominous journey, it is, in fact, a transformative process that holds the potential for profound personal growth and self-discovery. … Continue reading A Self-compassionate Journey through the Dark Night of the Soul
The art of cultivating human relationships is so important that it is not surprising that the book of Dale Carnegie, How to win friends and influence people, published a long ago (1936) but still very current, has sold the most copies worldwide. Carnagie’s book needs to be interpreted under the current circumstances, where technology has changed dramatically the way we communicate and we relate to one another. … Continue reading How to Relate Successfully – The Art of Cultivating Human Relationships
We wait long for the weekend and sometimes we start from the mid of the week to dream about what we would do. But has it ever happened to you on Sunday afternoons, to feel discomfort, sadness, nostalgia, sometimes a very annoying sense of emptiness? And you don’t know how to explain it? This is called Sunday Blues. The idea of going back to … Continue reading Sunday Blues, How to Tackle the Sunday Sadness about Monday
Have you been lucky enough to have never dealt with anxiety disorders? Or, even worse, depression? If this is the case, you may not understand what it means to be in such a situation of psychological distress. Nevertheless, if you experienced anxiety, you may have faced some difficulties with your relatives, or also circle of friends. Out of fear or ignorance of what anxiety and … Continue reading How Do You Deal with Anxiety?
Hi everyone, Happy Sunday! My recent experience showed me that you can get all you want and be the richest person in the world, but if you don’t have anyone to share it with, it does not mean much. This is a (unfortunately) new understanding for me because I have always been goal-oriented (goals that did not include family or friends) and I have not … Continue reading Family and Friends
The etymology of “atelophobia” comes from the Greek atelophobia, a word composed of atelés (meaning imperfect, incomplete) and phóbos (or fear, phobia) and it means fear of imperfection. A large number of people suffer from atelophobia, a constant feeling of imperfection and inadequacy. Discontent with one’s own aesthetic appearance, search for a perfection that does not exist, fear of never being up to it. For … Continue reading Fear of Imperfection, AKA Atelophobia
Hello! You know how often we talk about the food we eat and how it affects our body. What we put inside affects the way our body functions. I agree with that. But I agree with more: what we put in our minds affects our soul (or psyche). Here is what I mean. Let’s say your friends are people who gossip a lot. That means … Continue reading Food for Soul
Hello! Today’s topic is blessings. Everyone one of us have things we can be grateful for. Some of those things are so ordinary that we may not even see them as blessings. For example, if we can have the means to have breakfast and dinner every day, that is a blessing. I had broken my wrist a few years ago and I could not use … Continue reading Ordinary Blessings
Hello! How was your week? Hopefully, you had a peaceful week! I have been thinking about this lately (well, I actually think a lot about this always, but more so recently): Why are the people in our lives in our lives (friends or romantic interests)? Why do we attract them? Or how do they end up in our lives? I am a huge advocate of … Continue reading Why do we attract certain people?
Hi everyone, I thought maybe talking about human connection is a good topic for today because why not. We might at times feel like connecting with people is a waste of time. ‘Oh, if we meet, we will talk for an hour. I’d rather do this work’ or ‘I won’t call my mom. I will sleep.’ We might think of or say things like this. … Continue reading Side Benefits of Friendship
I fondly remember the days of grammar-school playgrounds; of brown-bagged lunches; of field trips to museums, caverns, and coal mines. I remember the sense of belonging within those classroom walls. There was a constance amongst us kids: a comradery that strengthened with each lesson, each game, each talent show. The questions we asked were not stupid, but welcomed. We were family. And as the decades … Continue reading SnapDragon Speaks: On The Same Side.
-Previously posted on Snippets of SnapDragon– So I sat down with amateur blogger SnapDragon X., to ask her a thing or two about life. She wore an over-sized teal dress/shirt thing, which she said seems to have become her unofficial uniform as of late. Her polka-dotted leggings undoubtedly completed the Practical-Mom outfit. Plus, there may or may not have been a smear of child-snot on … Continue reading SnapDragon Speaks: On Herself.
Hi everyone, I want to talk about some acts of kindness today. Recently, I have been observing some small things that make people happy and this made me think that being kind may not be hard after all. The acts of kindness that I want to talk about today all involve reminding them that you remember them. Say, you have a friend that you hung … Continue reading Just be kind; It is not difficult
Hi all, Have you thought about how humans are incredibly simple and yet complicated at the same time? I sometimes think about it. I want to put out some of my thoughts on it here. Humans are very simple in some senses. We all need the same things. Food, love, money to get by etc. In that sense, if we are fed, have family and … Continue reading Are we complicated or simple? A little bit of both.
Hi everyone! How are you all doing? I had some interesting experiences recently with some people and that brought to my mind the question of how we should see the people who walk into our lives. I tend to think that anything we experience is ultimately good. Some are just good. Some are good by their resultant state. For example, I had a hard year … Continue reading If you are in my life, you are good.
Hi everyone, Let’s talk about the sense of belonging today. We naturally want to belong to a place or person. We want to be part of a community. We therefore value family and we tend to prioritize them. Family partially gives us our personality. Then, we also belong to a group of friends and colleagues, a class, a neighborhood, a religious group etc., which gives … Continue reading Do You Belong?
