Where Everybody Knew Our Name

Like many boomers, I grew up in a neighbourhood where everybody knew our names.

Not only did they know our names, they knew exactly where we lived, the names of our parents and pets, and probably what we had for dinner the night before. We played tag and hide and seek until the street lights went on, organized lavish theatre productions in our backyards, skated on ice rinks that stretched across several backyards, and delivered casseroles baked by our mothers to those who were sick or had lost a loved one.

While most of us were second or… More Posted on 01-23-11

Is Today’s Play Reducing Resourcefulness?

It started when my sister told me she had recently asked her son why none of his friends wanted to hang out at their house. My eleven year old nephew explained that since they were the only ones within their extensive network who didn’t own an Xbox or a Wii, their friends wouldn’t come over because they couldn’t play video games.

While my sister and her husband had always been clear about not wanting video games for their kids, they admitted to wavering at that point not wanting their kids to be the outsiders. It’s not that they thought… More Posted on 01-16-11

To Getting It Right in the New Year

Today a guy at the grocery store checkout waved me through ahead of him because I only had two items. I understand that in the whole scheme of life, it wasn’t a big deal but it did do a lot to lift my spirits, particularly as when I thanked him, he shrugged and said, “It’s nothing at all really, it’s just the right thing to do.”

Innocuous as it was, the exchange made me think that as we enter a new year, “doing the right thing” is a worthy resolution each of us could make. Let’s simply resolve to… More Posted on 01-09-11

Road to Joy

While I expected the holidays to be quiet, this year it was almost too quiet.

Everyone within my networks seemed to kick back and relax in a major way. It was almost as if we took a collective deep breath and decided we needed a break from daily stress, a lack of free time, and work that too often is a main priority. For the first time in years, emails were almost non-existent as most of us seemed to have stepped away from our computers.

While traditionally the holidays have been a signal to buy more, seek distraction, and… More Posted on 01-02-11