With just a few days to go before Christmas, it’s time to take a look at some of my favourite Christmas specials. Here we go!
Continue reading “A Small Screen Christmas”
Category: General
Christmas Cheer
“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”
– Buddy the Elf
Those holiday ear-worms start assaulting us as early as November 1st. You’ll be out looking for half-price Halloween candy, when you suddenly notice yourself humming along to a familiar tune, but you’re not sure what it is immediately. Then…it hits you – they’re playing Christmas music! Continue reading “Christmas Cheer”
Visions of Sugarplums
“If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet I wouldn’t be more surprised than I am now.”
— Clark W. Griswold (Chevy Chase) in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
It’s that time of year again! Time to hop on that holiday road and get into the spirit of Christmas. Now last year, I documented the ups-and-downs of my holiday cheer in this blog. (You can read all about that starting here.) It definitely helped put my moods into perspective, and, I feel, helped keep my spirit up.
This year, I’ll not be doing the same. I’ve already made an effort to get into the spirit more readily by watching some holiday-themed movies and TV shows, as well as listening to that ever-present Christmas music. For this month’s posts, I wanted to talk about some of my favourite Christmas movies, TV shows and songs.
For today’s post, let’s discuss Christmas movies. Here are my top 5 Christmas movies: Continue reading “Visions of Sugarplums”
The Gift of a Burnout
*As a disclaimer, I need to emphasize that I am not a mental health expert. I am not trained to identify, treat, or support mental health challenges. If you feel that you are in, or heading into a burnout, please see a professional for help.
Over the past 12-18 months (maybe more, it’s really hard for me to know), I’ve been in a slump. I’m not motivated. I’m not overly engaged. I have no drive or ambition. I’ve come to recognize that I’d essentially hit a burnout. Continue reading “The Gift of a Burnout”
Positive Songs for Positive People
Earlier this year, my wife and I took a trip as part of an early 40th birthday present for me. Isabelle surprised me with tickets to the Festival d’été de Québec. The 10-day festival had a wide variety of acts playing, but the point of our trip was to see Foo Fighters. (You can read about the trip in this blog.) As much as I loved finally getting to see the Foo Fighters live in concert, one of the highlights of the night was one of the opening acts; namely Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls. Continue reading “Positive Songs for Positive People”
Small Happy Moments
Sometimes you need to take a moment to recognize the small things that brighten up your day. As much as I try to be mindful and take note of things that are happening in my life, particularly the good ones, but sometimes you get so wrapped up in the minutiae of the day that you overlook it. Continue reading “Small Happy Moments”
Borderline
This is me today.
Once a month, I have a “Talent Development” working group meeting that I run with a few people on my team (there were 5) who want to move into leadership or specialist roles within our company. It’s the one day a month that I love coming into work, and this for a 1-hour discussion. A month ago today, 2 members of that group gave me their notice as they were leaving the company. (And then there were 3)
Our next meeting was booked for today. Earlier this week, one member decided to take a vacation day. On Thursday – the day of our meeting. (And then there were 2).
I came in to the office this morning to a voicemail from one of the group saying she would be out sick today. (And then there was 1) Given that this is a discussion group, it was pointless to carry on with just 1 individual, so I cancelled the meeting.
This has been one of the few pieces keeping me motivated and engaged over the last while. It’s fueled me, and I love finding topics, articles, discussion points for us to tackle. Sadly, I do not see the same passion and commitment from the folks in the group. As a point of example, I assigned a task for them to complete at our last meeting a month ago. Two of them were working on this task yesterday afternoon. An afterthought.
It becomes rather demotivating to pour yourself into your work and the people you work with, but to see so little reciprocity.
Knowing that I have one of my three remaining members looking externally for work, it begs me to ask “do I continue?” I recognize that I am in a period of contraction right now. This contraction will lead to an expansion and things will become unbelievably amazing. It’s the not knowing how long the contraction will take that is the most challenging.
What advice do you have for me? What can I do to re-energize myself? What are your strategies?
How are things? (The real version. Not the ‘Instagram version’)
Earlier today, I was chatting with one of my oldest friends when she asked me a profound question – “How are things? (The real version. Not the ‘Instagram version’)”
This was a very interesting question. Afterwards, the question lingered in my mind and I started to think about our social media lifestyle. It’s true – 90-95% of what people post on social media about themselves is the good stuff, the positive stuff.
Where’s the reality? Why are we so afraid to be truthful and honest with our friends and family? Are we worried that others will judge us? Are we delusional to the point of thinking that everyone else’s life is absolutely perfect and we’re the only ones who have bad days? Continue reading “How are things? (The real version. Not the ‘Instagram version’)”
In Anticipation…
Sometimes the funnest part of a trip or an activity is the anticipation leading up to it. Take for instance my upcoming trip to Walt Disney World. Though my wife and I are unquestionably excited for the trip and know that we will be spending 8 days of pure fun and excitement, all of the time and energy we’ve put into prepping this trip for my 40th birthday has been just as much fun. Continue reading “In Anticipation…”
Intertwined by Fate – The Story of Us
Following my diabetic odyssey in March 2008, I had an opening of consciousness that launched me into a period of change; I went through a shift, if you will. One of the end results of that shift was my relationship with my now-wife, Isabelle. Had it not been for the life altering experience that I went through, I may or may not be married to the love of my life, to my soul mate. I honestly believe that Isabelle and I are soul mates, destined to find one another. And the Universe did all it could, repeatedly, to make sure it happened.
