Having the opportunity talk about core concepts of living simply luxuriously is an opportunity I don’t want to pass up, so when Portland’s AM Northwest asked me to return and be a guest on the show with host Helen Raptis, I said yes (view all of my appearances here or at the bottom of this […]
The skinny jean cut has been in style since 2010 and has hung around for a reason, creating a curvy silhouette, when wore with heels they elongate the body and allow fun to be played with large over-sized tops without looking sloppy. While I will always have a pair or two (okay, maybe three or […]
Letting go (per the focus of this week’s episode of the podcast) and paring down have been at the forefront of my mind lately as I contemplate the reality of packing up not only my house, but my classroom full of 13 years of teaching. And so I found it to be quite serendipitous when […]
“We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”– Joseph Campbell The Simple Sophisticate, episode #41 While the undeniable life truth remains that change is inevitable, even when we seek change, fervently pursue it, letting go of certain aspects of […]
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need.” -The Tao Te Ching It always seems funny to me how life has a way of forcing us to be honest with ourselves even when we try, […]
“We are born with a capacity to dance together but not with the necessary training.” —David Richo As soon as I read the first line in chapter one shown above, the analogy made crystal clear sense of my ignorance about relationships and how to navigate past it: I needed to learn HOW to love, not […]
“Comparison is the death of joy.” ― Mark Twain The thief of joy, if Mark Twain is right, is of our own making. The good news in this revelation reveals each of us can take back our joy. Comparing ourselves to others occurs consciously and unconsciously. Consciously, we may be acutely aware that we follow certain […]
“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.” —Joseph Campbell Gold is 19 times heavier than water and three times as heavy as iron. Knowing this basic fact would be helpful if you were actually paning or mining for gold. Barring […]
Invigorating our everydays takes conscious effort, but it need not be hard. In fact, once we shift the way we look at the routine of our days, we infuse positive habits that provide the levitation to make our everydays extraordinary. Now if you were to search “how to improve your life” on the internet, you […]
“Resilence is more than bouncing back from adversity. People who are resilient keep pursuing their goals in the face of challenges. Consequently, learning how to regulate your brain’s motivational machinery is a key aspect of resilence.” —Rick Hanson, Ph. D, author of Resilient: How to Grown an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength and Happiness Living […]
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living […]
“Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.”– Raymond Lindquist I can remember quite vividly the first time I rode my bike without training wheels. I was four or five years old, and we were bicycling in our neighbors long drive-way. I don’t remember how long I rode with training wheels, but the […]
“If we aren’t aware that these stories are being told — both internally and externally — if we do not even know that they are stories, then we are unwittingly at their mercy and we miss an opportunity to mature.” —Gangaji ~The Simple Sophisticate, episode #125 As fewer and fewer people have landlines as the […]
“Do not allow any negativity or ugliness in your surroundings, or anybody at all, [to] destroy your confidence or affect your growth as a blooming flower. It is very normal for one ugly weed to not want to stand alone.” ― Suzy Kassem ~The Simple Sophisticate podcast, episode #67 The beauty of self-reflection is that it […]
“‘Letting go’ obviously has several meanings. Letting go of the past; letting go of grief. But surely the most resistant is letting go of fixed ideas. Keeping our minds open to a future we can’t see.” -Kathy Horyn ~The Simple Sophisticate podcast, episode #16 Often with our good intentions to set goals for our life, […]
Every relationship between two people is unique. Personalities, cultures, beliefs, interests, experiences, etc, reveal the infinite possibilities of types of couples. However, there are foundational pieces that foster healthy, lasting relationships no matter what two people are involved. For those who know me well, you may be asking, “Why is she writing about relationships? She’s […]
One of the financial blogs I visit frequently is The Simple Dollar, and I recently came across a post that contained a formula regarding how much each of us should save for retirement. Presently, with each month’s budget we all should save 15-20 percent (15% for retirement and 5% for a cushion account for emergencies […]
“All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.” ~Havelock Ellis I write this post as someone who for quite some time believed that having control was the path to happiness. Thankful, I have learned there is a much better and much more satisfying way to achieve fulfillment […]
“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It’s one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it’s another to think that yours is the only path.” –Paul Coelho As humans, we like to know things. We are comforted by certainties, […]
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” –Aristotle With all of the bits and pieces of information we have to remember on a daily basis, relying on habits that require our minds to “just go with it” is a relief – that is of course if the […]
The Atlantic recently posted an article asserting there won’t be a clear end to the pandemic. Rather, the end for each of us will be as unique and differentiated as each one of us and occur on a different timeline. Frequently, the yearning for “returning to normal” may be voiced by those around us, strangers […]
A Francophile’s treasure of a book, comfort clothing to add true luxury to your evening routine, a film for jazz lovers, clothing to transition into fall, a cookbook for simple baking, decor touches, a mystery series set during the Roaring Twenties and much, much more. Books —A Year at Brandywine Cottage: Six Seasons of Beauty, […]
“September is the chosen month for everything that flowers a second time: the month of the second flower; the month of the ripening wine. All these are mysterious advantages for the month September, full of deeper meaning; and above all, it is the month when the earth opens so that we can plant again!” —Karel […]
The Canadian mystery series set in the 1920s I am loving, two new movies on Amazon worth watching, a new novel that takes a look at the famous family of brothers and lesser known sister of the trio, a worthwhile discount on a trusted French skincare company, sales on summer styles and yep, much more! […]
