M. M. MacLellan“In the end, only kindness matters”, Jewel’s haunting lyrics from her song, Hands, is such a beautiful affirmation.
It was several years ago that we set out on a Thailand adventure. When I revisit memories of our experiences with the happy Thai people, it seems Jewel’s mantra expresses perfectly how they choose to honour their lives. It’s very cold on the Manitoba prairie this January day – but what a great opportunity to warm the soul by sharing kindnesses encountered.
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M. M. maclellanI love that our home, like our life, changes and evolves. And fulfills not just our basic immediate needs, but our desires into the future.
It was our starter home. Our family home. Now it’s our “empty nest” and our place to embrace new family (Finally! Daughters!) and a beautiful, new generation. It will be our retirement home. It is our sanctuary. Our friend. Jamie StoufferThe words tumbled out of the mouth of a visiting three-year-old boy. “A zoo?” I wondered, thinking he was perhaps referring to the messy state of my home or the activity level of my kids. When I turned around though I saw his eyes alight as one of our cats bumped and wound herself around his legs in the doorway. He had met the dogs in the backyard on his way in and although a little overwhelmed he was as clearly thrilled. Daniel McMillanFollow any instinctive drive you feel that compels you to create something. The things that come out of these drives are your most expressive works, and they may serve to allow you to cleanse yourself of some unwanted energy or to express something that you are unable to communicate otherwise. It may be that what you create will inspire others who experience it once it is finished.
M. M. MacLellanWhere are you Mr. Robin?? It’s April 27 – and even though you’ve been spotted in the neighbour’s yard…I have yet to see you in mine. And it’s Spring, dammit!! Won’t you come and just make that official?? Later…in a scene reminiscent of The Birds, a flock flew in from the east and settled in our Mountain Ash. The tree was alive with the fluttering of 50 wings! Welcome!!! Renee Cronley“You’re never going to kill storytelling because it’s built into the human plan. We come with it.” —Margaret Atwood Storytelling is often associated with an earlier “analogue” age: an era of paintings and tales around the campfire, but they’re so much more than that. Stories are universal and an integral part of being human. They are how humanity has communicated since the beginning of time by passing along morals and knowledge across generations and connecting us to a history of values. Storytelling has a way of preserving sequences of events with raw emotions and spreading information about wars fought, lessons learned, and good deeds that were done. bonnie NissenI want to introduce you to Stella. She’s the woman living in my head. But before I tell you about Stella, let me tell you a little about myself. For approximately thirty years, I have been in education; first as an education assistant, then classroom teacher and now as a resource teacher. It probably isn’t surprising that I am interested in brain research, particularly as it relates to how the brain processes information and how that impacts learning. Learning involves so many parts: attention, multiple types of memory, processing speed, recovery of stored information, reasoning, decision making, comprehension, language and more. These all work in concert to help us use existing knowledge and generate new knowledge and understanding. However these processes are not necessarily equal in functionality. For example, we may have a great memory but struggle with attention. Dan McMillanPeople often wonder how I have cultivated so many hobbies and interests, some of which have become part-time paid work for me. When I tell them how I’ve achieved this, many people respond with disbelief or comments like, “Well, that might be easy for you, but I could never do that!
M. M. MacLellanI’m not a very good listener… which is an appalling admission for a writer. It’s my wandering and wondering wild mind that flits me from place to place rather than being present to the moment.
Yep I can annoy my partner to no end… appearing to intently watch a tv show or a movie, then having to ask What happened? Can you rewind it? Can we put on closed captioning? In exasperation he will ask, “Weren’t you listening???” M. M. MacLellan “But really, Marilla, one can't stay sad very long in such an interesting world, can one?”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables Spring seems such a long way away as I write this…even though it is April, the wind is whipping the bare branches of maples, and the snow continues to fall….not soft like December snow…but icy little pellets that stab away at my efforts to think positive thoughts. But daily life continues. And I am beginning to glimpse shadows through the veil of a very dark place I occasionally visit. |
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