If the past decade was the decade of searching and finding and looking for stuff, this coming decade is going to be the decade of filtering and going to your friends for recommendations. ~Esther Dyson

Algorithms work well for what they do, but, they have no heart! I would much rather listen to other writers and readers when it comes to reading recommendations. Why?

Algorithms don’t give me a reason why I should read an article — but people do. A personal recommendation comes with a set of intellectual and emotional triggers. …

Humans crave, dream about, obsess over, search for, and pray for love. Can you think of any meaningful relationships that don’t require some form of love to be successful? I can’t.

If love is that important, then it’s reasonable to think that it affects our perspective, attitudes, mental health, spirituality, and happiness. In fact, we’d probably all agree that it belongs under the category of ‘necessity’.

Love comes in many forms. We humans most often think in the terms of romantic love. …

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. ~Anne Lamott

Finding, maintaining, and keeping our physical, mental, and emotional balance during times of stress and anxiety is as tricky as finding a perfectly secluded beach on which we can relax and recharge our frayed minds and hearts.

But before we get to the part about managing our stress, let’s first identify where the likely sources of our stress are.

Origins of Stress

Life at the best of times has its own set of stresses. However, when those stresses are compounded by situations beyond our ability to…

“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” ~Luciano Pavarotti

I’ve often wondered where the food traditions in my family originated. I learned a lot of my cooking skills from my grandmother and mother, two generations before me, and they would have done the same. As best as I can ascertain, my maternal heritage is English/Scottish, so I started looking in that direction.

When I got to the history of Medieval cooking, I began to see the similarities. I call myself…

Forewarned is forearmed is a proverb that is hundreds of years old. A proverb is a short, common saying or phrase. These common sayings are language tools that particularly give advice or share a universal truth, or impart wisdom. Source

How many times have I said or thought, “I wished I’d known that before…”

But then again, if I’d known, would I have taken it to heart, put it into action, and reap the benefits? I like to think I’m intelligent and humble enough to do such a thing. …

When it Comes to Aging: What are the Expectations vs. Reality Factors?

If you’ve reached the age of forty, you’ve most likely have given this question a passing thought. If you’ve passed the age of sixty years, it’s on your mind a lot.

Of course, there is credible information written on the subject of aging everywhere. A simple Google search will render pages and pages of articles filled with medical and scientific facts and conjectures.

But wouldn’t it be great if we could get first-hand opinions from real ‘Old Persons’ themselves. Nothing scientific or researched-based, just simple personal thoughts on…

Unless you’re over sixty and born in the USA, you’re probably scratching your head and wondering what on earth is a Burma Shave sign. Let me help you out.

Burma-Shave advertising signs, with their humorous, serial jingles, were spaced far apart on the roadside and made sense only to someone traveling at 35 miles per hour. From the 1920s to the 1960s, motorists had fun piecing the rhymes together, one phrase at a time, and reaching the wry, witty punch line. ~Source

I remember those long, long, long drives across the desert highways that were pure torture for a kid…

Be tough in the way a blade of grass is: rooted, willing to lean, and at peace with what is around it. ~Natalie Goldberg

We walk, run, jump, stomp, dig, mow, feed, water, trim, roll, and weed this amazing vegetation. But most of all, we just enjoy looking at the luscious green color and feeling the plushy softness beneath our bare feet.

In the small town where I live in the southern part of the USA, the condition of one’s lawn is a symbol of character and status. A well-manicured lawn is coveted and envied. …