Engagement at Work

Work? Do you like it? According to American research (and I’m not sure Canada would be far different on this one), only 30% of employees find themselves engaged at work. Yikes!   “For most of us…work is a depleting, dispiriting experience.” Schwartz and Porath Two ways in which I connect with this: 1. I remember …

Hump Day Nudge: Hugs

Hugs save lives…literally… And hugs are good for us: lower depression and anxiety increase immunity decrease blood pressure reduced pain improve quality of marriage and other relationships reduce the effects of stress Hugs take courage. Hugs are best given with permission. Hugs make the world a better place.  Hugs create connection…and we are created for …

Does Social Media comfort or numb grief?

I spent some time on Laurie Kilmartin’s twitter account today (twitter handle: anylaurie16), which became very popular as she live tweeted her experience of her father’s last days in early March this year.  Now…to be clear, she’s a professional joke writer (for Conan) and a comedienne in her own right, and so her tweets about …

Wholehearted Living

Yesterday was one of those days…chaotically full. It was the last “Advanced Communication Skills” class with my class of Occupational Therapy students and I figger they don’t get much fun in their lives…actually, they really don’t get any time at all to have fun…so as a closing activity we played this game called “Bite the …

100 days of no dessert Part 2

In Part 1, I explained why I started this crazy adventure of no desserts, sweets, or chocolate…a matter of integrity…if I’m gonna work with clients as they bravely confront their numbing behaviours, I better step up and enter the same arena myself! I was going to treat this sugar-comfort-numbing thing like an addiction.  Because I needed wanted …

Attunement vs tuned out

In this age of instant and available communication with most anybody we know available with a few taps, the world isn’t an oyster, it’s a cell phone. Think for a moment.  What do you do when:   you are caught behind someone in a grocery line who needs a price check that is taking, like, …

Hump Day Nudge: Tears for Beauty

I remember years ago, going to the baseball movie, The Rookie, with a rough and tumble 8 year old.  The boy loved baseball. Late in the movie, we watched the underdog-struggling-pitcher finally making it to the big leagues. The pitcher goes down the long hallway from the dugout after the game towards the showers. He …