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meaning

Jodi with babies in lap

What Do You Most Wish for Your Children?

December 11, 2017 By Jodi

I was flipping through a local magazine for moms last week when I came across an interview with the cover mom, a local business owner. One of the questions, thrown unceremoniously into the middle of the interview, was, "Your biggest wish for your kids is..." Can you guess the answer?

Trail through autumn forest

Happiness Project Check-In, and Some Thoughts on Meaning and Happiness

November 30, 2016 By Jodi

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...

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misty mountainside happiness and grief

Happiness isn't big enough

October 17, 2016 By Jodi

Last week I wrote a post considering the question of whether seeking happiness actually makes us miserable, as some maintain. (Spoiler alert: I don't think so.) I was moved by the comments to that post, and all week I've been thinking about this one: In the 1960s, there were some very popular and influential books that accused American...

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seeking-happiness-girl-running

Does Seeking Happiness Make Us Miserable?

October 10, 2016 By Jodi

Over the weekend I noticed an essay on Vox titled America is obsessed with happiness--and it's making us miserable. Obviously, given all that I have written about happiness here, including my own efforts to do a happiness project, the title jumped out at me. Even without reading the essay, that title gave me a prick of discomfort...

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dock-in-fog-water

Why You Shouldn't Follow Your Passion

August 17, 2016 By Jodi

Follow your passion.  We've all heard it a million times, right? Follow your bliss. Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life. The admonitions to find exciting, deeply fulfilling work--with the implied or else. I don't know where I first heard this, but I do know it was somehow embedded in me from early on. Because of...

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beautiful_reasons_happy

Starting a happiness project

May 31, 2016 By Jodi

Have you heard of The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin? I stumbled across the book, and then Rubin's website, a few years ago. I was really taken by how clear and, well, smart her writing was. I tend to shy away from anything overly self-help-y and anything that relies on positive thinking to make life changes, but I felt that...

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About Jodi

I just repatriated from Sweden to the US with my British husband and three young kids. I started this site while living in Sweden to build the conversations and community we've had with loved ones around the world, and to create a space to share thoughts about life, beauty, motherhood, and everything else. read more →

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Recent Posts

A Trick to Making Vacation More Pleasurable

January 24, 2017 By Jodi 5 Comments

Jodi and August running in the waves

Last winter we went to Portugal for a month. We stayed in a lovely town outside of Lisbon and we found a Swedish school, where we sent August a couple days per week. Some days James and I took turns taking care of the boys so that the other could put in a few hours of work (I...

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Would You Stay at the Ice Hotel?

August 19, 2016 By Jodi 2 Comments

I know it's still summer for most of you but for some reason today I'm thinking about the Ice Hotel in northern Sweden. The hotel is in the village of Jukkasjärvi, north of the Arctic Circle. Every spring the hotel and accompanying art exhibition melts back into the Torne River from where the ice is harvested. And...

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Making Hard Parenting Choices (i.e. Preparing for Another Big Change)

November 27, 2017 By Jodi 5 Comments

Boys dressed as superheroes, kinda

Although we're finally settling into a new rhythm and set of routines, we're preparing for some significant changes come January. Because we haven't had enough life-shattering change in the last few months...

Sharing (More) Big News

January 25, 2018 By Jodi 6 Comments

White house with white fence in autumn

Sorry for the recent silence. (Seems like I've made that apology too much lately.) It was unexpected even to me that I would disappear from this space for over a month, but I've been working on something lately that has taken every moment of my free time....

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About Dear Sabrina

Welcome! Dear Sabrina is a lifestyle blog for the thinking woman (and man, if men read lifestyle blogs). I hope that visiting this site gives you something to think about, makes you laugh, or shows you something new. If you want to further connect, find me on one of networks below or send an email.
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