Another year full of challenges, but my daughter survived.
A personal reflection on finding unexpected love and joy after embracing solitude, and the liberating effects of letting go of social media and embracing real connections.
Today is Bell Let's Talk Day, a day focused on mental health awareness. For the past few years, I have been using it to talk about a theme for the next year.
Another challenging year, but coming out stronger than in the past.
[https://i0.wp.com/www.foursides.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/img_5801.jpg] Courtesy of Blue Bottle Coffee [http://www.foursides.ca/blue-bottle-coffee-review/]
Experimenting with publishing mini-thoughts spread amongst the longer pieces here.
There are days when I feel a pull to get out of the home and find silence.
A magical Japanese word that describes me perfectly.
Mindfulness and Buddhism in the east, Stoicism in the west. Both have approaches that have been helpful for me over the years.
> While French is still her second language, her mastery of English is becoming rather scary. If she sees words somewhere, she’s reading it. It doesn’t matter if is a minor sign saying the hours of a business, or a major one like the strata rules for our outdoor pool, she wants to read it. …The problem arises when she is starting to master spelling and typing to go along with her reading skills. She has quickly learned how to type messages to family and friends on my iPhone, and has also managed
> I’m trying to figure out why I don’t write more… why don’t I share my thoughts and ideas more often than I do? Why do I feel so often have this feeling of perpetual stuckness? What’s strange is that I don’t even think I have writers block per se… I have a lot of ideas; it’s just that most of the time whenever I finally sit down to consider an action plan, or sit down to write out particular thoughts and ideas to share online or turn into a story or a product
Partially inspired by Ryan Holiday’s Reading Recommendation [http://ryanholiday.net/reading-newsletter/] Newsletter, I thought I would compile a list of books I have read this past year on my path of mindfulness. Ryan tends to read a lot of books- his emails list at least five books and some are not quick reads. Seeing the books he was reading encouraged me to read more this year, which is part of the reason I was absent [http://www.foursides.ca/37-Absence] from writing on this site. Little by
> Putting the emphasis back on me and not putting so much energy towards negative things that have happened in my life has improved my outlook on life. It is still difficult at times, of course, and I know failure is right around the corner once again. When it does happen though, I will be better prepared to handle it. 36 – What Took You So Long? [https://foursides.ca/36-What-Took-You-So-Long] Last year, I started my exploration of mindfulness and living life in the present moment. I starte
> For the monks, this way of life expressed simplicity. It wasn’t an expression of poverty mentality. With this monastic approach, you don’t worry about survival. You live day-to-day. You think just of today; you don’t think of tomorrow. Tomorrow comes, it doesn’t come- either way, you don’t worry. You continue to live in a very simple way. It is an everyday life of simplicity. The problem is not always how little money you have to spare but, rather, whether you are allowing enough space for yo
Five years ago, I decided to try something new. After months of applying and looking for work, I received an email from a former employer asking me if I could do some work for them from a distance. That led to another hotel contacting me, and off I went on a solo career. Four Sides Hospitality Consulting [http://www.foursidesconsulting.com] was officially registered in the fall of 2011, but the work began in March of that year. After the first few months of landing the first clients, I was fe
When I started reading Deep Work [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1455586692/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1455586692&linkCode=as2&tag=four0b-20&linkId=I3V4JG7WNWFHSQC5] , I first started to read it on my iPad. The reading experience on the iPad is okay, but I was having a hard time focusing on reading the book for very long because of the screen brightness. Turning it down or turning on the new night shift mode (to be released in the next version of iOS) helped a
> Anything that is truly new must feel unfamiliar; if it doesn’t feel unfamiliar it is not truly new. Merlin Mann, Back to Work Podcast 259 [http://5by5.tv/b2w/259] Merlin and Dan had an interesting conversation about a problem I have been struggling with: how much time do you allow children to use an iPad?1 My daughter, Kylie, makes good use of my iPad, almost more than I do. The main app she uses is Netflix, because it allows her greater freedom to pause a show or to select a show based on
> Discipline means getting into what is happening. That is just saying that you have to involve yourself in the situations you encounter in life. We have to go through the process of being part of a situation; otherwise we will not be exposed to this richness. In order to see the delight in a situation, we have to become involved in it. We have to really feel it; we have to touch the whole texture of the complete situation. Then we will be able to relate properly with the actual work involve
> She leaves a lasting impression on their lives in that short amount of time like she has done with me on a nearly daily basis the past five years. I could not be happier and prouder. Happy 5th birthday, Kylie [https://foursides.ca/Number-5/] The fifth year of a person’s life seems to be a big turning point. More independent, able to make better choices, and a young personality starts to really shine through. The base of a personality always seems to be there from a very young age when t
