Beauty

The Many Ways of Channelling Beauty

One of the most beautiful things about humanity is the diversity of the ways we have come up with for doing the same thing. One easy example: cooking. Various parts of the world do completely different things with the same ingredients, and all have the potential to taste excellent. I for one love having access… Read More The Many Ways of Channelling Beauty

Community, Community Building, Community Development, Consultation, Family, Governance

From Governing One’s Family to Governing the World: Learning to Use the Vital Instrument of Consultation

Someone recently mentioned that there is no institution older than that of marriage, which really got me thinking. If this institution has been part of human society for millennia, why are we still so terrible at maintaining it, with divorce rates in North America so high? No wonder, then, that so many conversations revolve on… Read More From Governing One’s Family to Governing the World: Learning to Use the Vital Instrument of Consultation

Community, Community Building, Community Development, Consultation

Why Compete? Building on Strength as an Approach to Seek Truth

I have had the amazing opportunity, in the last year or so, to both see and be a part of decision-making processes that were very different from what I had experienced previously. Those processes were based on one person convincing the others that his or her opinion was the best. It felt more like a… Read More Why Compete? Building on Strength as an Approach to Seek Truth

Community, Community Building, Personal Development

The “Just Wait” Phenomena: Why Can’t We Build A Different Future?

Back in March, I posted a piece on how certain structures of our society encourage us to live in a state of constant discontent. I was thinking about how, at whatever stage we were in—single, dating, engaged, married, with one child—we were always prodded about “the next thing” that we should be aiming for. It… Read More The “Just Wait” Phenomena: Why Can’t We Build A Different Future?

Book Review, Non Fiction, Self-Help

Book Review: ‘The New Single’, by Tamsen Fadal

About the author: Emmy-award-winning television journalist, producer and author Tamsen Fadal is no stranger to starting over.  Following a very public divorce, Tamsen decided it was time to take her life back, this time as one of a growing group of women: the new single.  A group of women who are learning that finding, fixing and falling (back) in love… Read More Book Review: ‘The New Single’, by Tamsen Fadal

Book Review, Drama, Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction

Book Review: ‘The One that Got Away’ by Bethany Chase

There is a joke that I read some time ago that irritated me to no end. In it, a store that offers free husbands offers women the option to choose a husband from one of six floors. To make a long joke short, women are so hard to please that despite the amazing options available… Read More Book Review: ‘The One that Got Away’ by Bethany Chase

Marriage, Personal Development, Romance

A Valentine’s Day Special: Applying the Lessons of Romantic Love to Other Relationships

Happy Valentine’s Day! Taking a day to celebrate romantic love is sweet indeed. After all, from romantic love is born a family; romantic love creates a healthy space where children are raised; a healthy family creates a strong family; and a strong family unit contributes to the well-being of society. Rethinking that gift, are you… Read More A Valentine’s Day Special: Applying the Lessons of Romantic Love to Other Relationships

Book Review

Book Review: Team Us, by Ashleigh Slater

Marriage is such an important topic for the single, the dating, the engaged, the married, or the divorced –  unsurprisingly so, as it is a fundamental building block of society that helps order the community. And since marriage starts way before we meet that special someone, and since we don’t have to be married to… Read More Book Review: Team Us, by Ashleigh Slater

Book Review

Book Review: Honeymoon Hotel, by Hester Browne

Summertime means reading in the sun with a glass of something refreshingly cold at your side.  Hurrah?  Not always.  I find it increasingly difficult to find a satisfying read amidst the sea of superficial stories that do nothing to contribute to my reflection.  The challenge is invigorating as I scour bookshelf after bookshelf for fiction… Read More Book Review: Honeymoon Hotel, by Hester Browne

General

Putting Your Spouse First: Not Quite What You Thought It Looked Like

The refinement of one’s character is intimately related to the taming of one’s ego, the extreme manifestations of which being both the easiest to identify and to learn to control (no, really, it’s NOT all about you!) But then come the trick questions, the ones we don’t quite expect to be ego driven at all,… Read More Putting Your Spouse First: Not Quite What You Thought It Looked Like