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Just a Bit Different
Money problems, type 1:
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"I'm proud that everything I have I earned all on my own." 		Building Together Again
Occupy a Better Future
Don't forget about the price tag
We are all connected
Nickel and diming our lives
Hearing and saying "I appreciate you."
The purpose of technology is community
Celebrate small moments
Thankful for people
The strength around us
The leaf is proud:
a tribute to helping each other

Cleaning the workbench:
Children become adults

No power tonight:
Quieting a busy life



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"The things we want are really the times we share."

"If I had only one thing I would take a smile over an iPad."

~ Rob Hueniken

From the category archives:

Moving forward

Thumbnail image for Going Paleo – Sandwich in a Bowl

Going Paleo – Sandwich in a Bowl

February 18, 2010

Sandwich in a bowl : Tuna, cucumber and two types of peppers. Sure it’s a salad but I got it at a sandwich bar. Just ask for a bowl instead of bread ! Unlike other “diets”, the Paleo diet is actually a food lifestyle connecting us to our strong and healthy ancestors. As you can tell from its other names, the Stone-age diet and the Hunter-gatherer diet, the Paleo diet isn’t chock full of bread, cereal or deep-fried anything. “Going Paleo” means eating the great foods that were available before agriculture and livestock turned humans from lean, fit people into [...]

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Hearing and saying “I appreciate you”

January 7, 2010

Our world depends on a lot of people getting things done. We all have our roles and our tasks, and every day has more than enough to do. And swirling through our days are people. Some of them we see every day, like those we work with. Some people we only see for a minute, like those who help us in checkout lines or at a restaurant. Some we walk by and never share a word with. But all of the people in our days are, in fact, real and caring people. And all of them, in some way, are [...]

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Taylor Swift is a talented and insightful singer

Know and Show your Heart

November 5, 2009

In a recent song by Taylor Swift, a young woman laments that her guy-friend cannot see that she would make a great girlfriend. The song, titled “You Belong with Me“, is beautifully written, with a simple, down home beginning and a strong, soaring finale. Listening to the song it is easy to ask, “Why is this guy so blind to what is right in front of him?” As the singer narrates, the young man is attracted — as our society encourages — to a different woman, a fancier woman, who wears short skirts and high heels. The downside? His current [...]

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Thumbnail image for A different perspective can help us reach our goal

A different perspective can help us reach our goal

October 5, 2009

As the stage designer for an 1100-seat auditorium I get to spend a lot of time up a ladder, reaching for things. Drapery, fishing line, cable ties and scissors are just some of the items I carry, tweak and twist while 10 feet off the ground.  I have a great respect for the stage, especially when I get to stand on it instead of looking down at it from a ladder. A recent stage design was based on the community theme of “Being Connected”, and used gears and steel trusses to give a mechanical representation of people being connected in [...]

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You will be eating again soon

October 3, 2009

The finishing moment of many pleasant restaurant meals is having a fortune cookie. Dropped off with the cheque, fortune cookies are a final treat, and usually a source of optimistic wisdom. So it surprised me when I opened my fortune cookie to find this message: “You may be hungry soon: order a takeout now.” At first I thought that the cookie writer was expanding upon an old joke about Chinese food burning off quickly, but then I read it again. Yes, I would be hungry soon — not “may be hungry soon”. I would want something to eat, and I [...]

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Going through life on an angle

September 29, 2009

One of my favorite people is a friend who challenges himself in many fun and interesting ways. Whether it is acting on the local stage, shooting video, or leaning into the wind on a motorcycle or sailboat, this is a person who participates in life. He is also a very caring person, and works as the videographer for a hospital — a role in which he sees many of the poignant and challenging moments of family and personal life. He takes people’s concerns very seriously, but is also quick with a smile. He cares about people and knows that being [...]

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Thumbnail image for We are all connected

We are all connected

September 28, 2009

"I'm alone, on my own, cast apart, and I'm scared" – these thoughts should only happen to each of us just once. Our first moment of feeling that we are doing life on our own should be our last. When our parent hugs us that first time should be the start of a lifetime of knowing "I am part of more." People need people. People love people. People love being with people and it shouldn't be a peep-hole but a full view, with laughter and singing and hands helping — together. That is what people love. That is what people [...]

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Exercising has great benefits

September 22, 2009

I was going to title this article “Exercise is great” but many people haven’t yet found a type of exercise they like. What is without doubt is that exercising has great benefits for each of us. It was only two or three generations ago that most of our families were working on farms, getting their daily exercise helping in the field or out in the barn. Those were the leaner, healthier days of fewer treats, less driving and a less manic lifestyle. When you contrast the simple farm life to today’s urban life the differences seem huge. I have gone [...]

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Thumbnail image for The rabbit knows he’s delicious

The rabbit knows he’s delicious

September 16, 2009

We all have our weaknesses, and most of us know what they are.  We also have our strengths, and those are what we need to focus on sharing. Sitting in the backyard with my friend we saw a rabbit. It was doing what rabbits spend a lot of time doing — sitting very still and sniffing the air. “Do you think the rabbit knows it’s cute?” asked my friend.  “No,” I replied, “but the rabbit knows he’s delicious.” From the moment a rabbit is born he is told that he would be a very tasty meal. He won’t become less [...]

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Thumbnail image for Someone that someone cares about

Someone that someone cares about

September 12, 2009

As people discovered with the Six Degrees of Separation, we are all connected in surprisingly few steps. While walking in the mall, driving down the road, or having lunch, we are near to people that someone close to us knows and cares about. It is an illusion that our days are filled with true strangers — an illusion that continues because we spend most of our time “getting things done” rather than getting to know our community. A photography project called Being Toronto uses a portable photography studio to take free portraits of the people making up the city. In [...]

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