This month I'm working on giving myself something my mother offered to give me countless times throughout my teenage years: an attitude adjustment. I'd been struggling with what to focus on this month (and yes, I know that we're already ten days into the month and I'm late to the game); I really want to...
Happiness
What Is "Enough" In the Middle of Winter?
Happy New Year! How's 2017 going for you so far? We've been having a lovely time; the kids are off school, so yesterday we went on a train adventure to the Natural History Museum (Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet), and today James and I are trying to get a couple hours of work in while the kids play at a...
Celebrating the Winter Solstice
Today is the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. This morning the sun rose at 8:43am, and it will set this afternoon at 2:46pm. We won't see any of that, though, because the sun's entire path across the sky is obscured by clouds. Today feels dark and closed-in, and I've felt an overwhelming tiredness that...
Happiness Project: Building Community Through Winter Traditions
This month in my happiness project I'm focusing on building traditions and community for our family. Last week I wrote about forgoing Christmas gifts in order to donate money to organizations that help to build the kind of world we want to live in. This whole month, though, I've been working on surrounding ourselves with friends and loved ones to help...
Savoring
Today I'm pleased to share another guest post from my lovely friend Sophia. You can read her first post on Dear Sabrina, a rumination on decision-making, here.
Building a Better World With My Wallet
Last week I wrote about focusing on community and tradition for the next month of my happiness project. While we've been trying to fill our social calendar, I've also been trying to empty our bank account.
Happiness Project: Month 4—Community and Tradition
I'm plugging away with my happiness project despite the great lethargy I feel now at the beginning of my third trimester. I'm growing quite uncomfortable, and at the same time unsure of how I'm going to make it through the next three months. The darkness of winter is creeping in (sunrise: 8:25; sunset: 2:51) and our Vitamin D...
Happiness Project Check-In, and Some Thoughts on Meaning and Happiness
So way back when, at the beginning of October, I got started with the second month of my happiness project, focused on making our home a cozy haven. I was doing quite well with getting our home in order, organizing and sorting (and donating) as well as rearranging and decorating. And then halfway through the...
Thoughts on Family, Geography, and Home
While we were in Michigan after my father's death, we had the great fortune to spend time with extended family. One of my favorite moments was the Saturday before Halloween, when James and I took the kids to a pumpkin patch and brought home a haul of pumpkins to carve with my Uncles Lee and Chris. Carving pumpkins...
Spending 1-on-1 Time With Kids
I'm finally back. I was a bit ambitious to think that I'd be able to get right back to posting on Wednesday, the day after we returned from the US. I was essentially immobilized by exhaustion and jet lag our first day home (I cannot sleep sitting up on airplanes), and just as I was beginning to feel...