Making happiness happen

Greetings! I went for a 5K run this morning and wanted to share what's making me happy:

I had written a A to L fun post back in May, so just for fun I jotted down a list of twelve simple things, from M to Z, minus X and Z, that I plan to do in the next ten days to continue making happiness happen for me:

1. Meet my friends to go to a farmers' market.
2. Nap one afternoon when I feel like it.
3. Open and re-read a comic book we have at home.
4. Pick up a gift for my cousin's wedding.
5. Quick packing for my upcoming trip.
6. Ride the ferry to Centre Island on a weekday when there is no crowd. 
7. Share unhurried coffee chat time with my husband.
8. Take photos of what makes me feel happy.
9. Undertake to plan another discovery walk. The previous one was fun.
10. View wildlife and sailboats by the harbour.
11. Write a happy birthday card to a relative.
12. Yoga practice every other day.

That's it from me. I hope you're making happiness happen for yourself each day.

A to L fun

I was thinking about simple fun experiences making me happy this week. I'm writing them from A to L, kind of using Denyse's A-L optional prompt, and will join her link up.

My A to L fun experiences:

1. Art exhibitions that are free to the public: One of them is Kader Attia's The Field of Emotion which features an installation of seventeen roughly-hewn wooden busts of wounded soldiers arranged before a projection of J'accuse, a 1919/1938 antiwar film by French film director Abel Gance. Another one is the Asian Heritage Month Festival 2018, Art and Photo exhibitions, featuring many beautiful art work and photos.

The Field of Emotion by Kader Attia

Asian Heritage Month Festival 2018 exhibitions

2. Blogging using a free Blogger template: I'm blogging mostly on Sunday and Wednesday, and connecting with bloggers internationally. Speaking of connections, on Wednesday May 9, we have our monthly Wellness Wednesday link up for May. The optional prompt is Healthy hair and skincare tips, or any wellness-related posts that you may have. Please feel free to join in on the fun.

3. Coffee chats with my friends: There are plenty of coffee places where we can sit down, spend a few dollars for coffee drinks, and catch up on our news. Do you agree with the sign below?

4. Daffodils in the public gardens: These flowers are seasonal where I live. On a sunshiny spring day, they seem to exude joy, happiness, and energy.

 
5. Email message: From my Finnish friend to let me know she's got ferry tickets to go to Tallinn and will meet me there in about three weeks. I am so excited!

6. Free French lessons on Duolingo: I'm taking them daily to improve my fluency. Or for under CAD$5 in Toronto, je peux acheter une baguette ou deux croissants et un petit café.

7. Gardens with spring flowers: Like the Toronto Music Garden where I saw small carpets of pretty blue flowers at this time of the year. I love to explore the local parks and gardens in my city.

8. Hugs and happy moments at home with my family: We hung out, prepared a few platters of food, some drinks, had dessert (see next item), and chatted until it was time to go to bed.

9. Ice cream, first scoop of the year: Saturday was sunny, with high temperature 22 C, and ice cream was on sale so I got a container of vanilla ice cream for under CAD$5 to share with my family.

10. Jelly beans in ten flavours in a cheery-looking box: The flavours are blueberry, buttered popcorn, cinnamon, coconut, licorice, sunkist tangerine, green apple, juicy pear, watermelon, and very cherry. Have you ever tried them? Which flavour is your favourite?

11. Koi fish: Like those seen swimming in a pond, at the base of Lena and the Swan statue, in the Allan Gardens Conservatory. The Conservatory is free to the public. Did you know that the koi fish symbolize good luck, abundance, courage, and perseverance?

12. Lake Ontario and the trail along the shoreline: This is where I enjoy my daily walk and nature. I'm loving where I live.

The Empire Sandy in Toronto Harbour

There's my dozen of free or low cost experiences making me happy this week.

How about you? I'd love to know your fun experiences. Please share.

Taking stock: Seize the day

Monday April 23 started with a glorious spring morning. The sun was shining. The blue skies were postcard-perfect. I went for my daily walk, admiring nature and my surroundings. I took a few pictures, one of them was the beautiful pink flower above.

Monday April 23 afternoon was a sad and unsettling time for many people in my city. The sunny day turned to tragedy as a man drove a van, deliberately rammed into pedestrians, killing ten and injuring sixteen. He then had a tense standoff with a police officer before his arrest.

I know the streets and the intersections where the van attack happened. I walked that stretch before. Even though I was far from the site of the incident on Monday afternoon, the immediate increased security in the downtown core made me feel different.

Since Monday afternoon, I've read that a local resident created a memorial site at a park near where the attack happened for people to come and express their condolences. A local florist offered free flowers for people to take with them, to make them feel better. Thousands from around the world have shown their support. Acts of kindness and support to show we care. Yes, we care. #TorontoStrong

My thoughts are with all of those so deeply touched by this tragedy. Sadly, this is another reminder to hug our loved ones and seize the day today.

Taking stock: Win circles

Greetings! I read this article where Neil Pasricha wrote about finding 'win circles' in life to create positive habits. It prompted me to think about the ripple effect and to take stock of my own win circles.

I looked around for a picture of water circles, which I thought I had in my photo collection, but couldn't find it. So I used a Canva ocean water template for my header picture in this post. It came with the words carpe diem in the centre, just perfect!

Neil defined win circles as 'any series of small habits that positively impact each other in a circular and never-ending fashion'. I came up with three examples of my own.

My three win circle examples:

1. I added a 5K morning walk to my day, in addition to my regular exercise routine. I enjoy observing nature during my walk, I get the extra exercise, and I sleep better. After a good night's sleep, I'm more likely to go for another 5K walk the next day.

2. I set a goal to look for humour and smile or laugh every day. As I find humour, I share it with my family or friends, and we all smile or laugh. Smiling or laughing relaxes me. The fun moments strengthen my familial or social relationships. When I'm relaxed, I'm more likely to look for humour, or to book another meet-up, or to think about the fun time we had, which makes me smile.

3. Each morning I set three small goals to achieve that day. They're usually one for my health (e.g. walk 5K), one for my family or friends (e.g. make dinner tonight), and one for fun (e.g. watch a movie). It's easy to come up with three, to remember just three things, and to complete three. I feel satisfied at the end of the day. I sleep better. After having a satisfying day and a good night's sleep, I'm more likely to set another three small goals the next morning.

I'm thinking about what other tiny positive habits that I have or can do to create more win circles in my life. I'm keeping my eyes out for them.

How about you? What are your win circle examples?

Winter fun list

Dear friends and readers,

Today's post has two parts:
  1) An update on my list of 5 simple pleasures for the holidays.
  2) My Winter fun list for the period of December 21, 2017 to March 20, 2018.

Two birds one stone means the post is a little bit longer than usual so grab your coffee or tea before you read on.

PART 1 - Update on my five simple pleasures for the holidays

1. Make donations to help those in need: Yes, we donated cash to a local community centre, and the Out of the Cold program which serves hot meals to those in need. We also donated non-perishable food items to a local food drive.

2. View the various light displays in the city centre: Yes, some of my favourites are the 100-feet tall and sparkly red Christmas tree, the life-sized silvery reindeer at Eaton Centre, and the festive lights at Nathan Phillips Square.

Christmas tree in Eaton Centre

Christmas reindeer in Eaton Centre

Nathan Phillips Square

3. Listen to choirs singing joyous seasonal music: Sure did. We were at St Andrew's church for the dramatic readings of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and choir singing.

4. Taste freshly baked goods with chocolate or ginger or cinnamon flavour: My husband baked a batch of delicious and cute-as-a-button cookies with cinnamon flavour. We've been eating them this week. I think we he'll bake again next week :)

5. Enjoy a big family gathering and dinner on Boxing Day (December 26): Coming soon. I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone, and enjoying dinner with my extended family.

PART 2 - My Winter Fun List

My winter fun list is shorter than the previous three seasonal lists (spring, summer, and fall) because I'd like to spend some time working towards my goal of living light by reducing my material possessions. I made some progress on this goal in 2017 and will continue until I'm satisfied.

For each item on my winter fun list, I have a time frame or a numeric count for me to track my rate of completion. I plan to report my progress on the 21st day of each month.

1. Exercise one hour daily: From December 21 to March 20, my target count of exercise sessions is 11 in December, 31 in January, 28 in February, and 20 in March. I'll vary my exercises with yoga, walking, swimming, strength training in the gym, stretching, and running short distances.

2. Continue learning Spanish 15 minutes daily: I've been doing online Spanish lessons throughout 2017. From December 21 to March 20, my target count of online sessions is 11 in December, 31 in January, 28 in February, and 20 in March. Knowing basic Spanish was useful when I visited Costa Rica and Spain. It will be useful again for my upcoming trip (see below).

3. Enjoy three fun family outings: We have one big family gathering confirmed for December 26, one long weekend family trip booked in January, and another long weekend family trip booked in February.

4. Go on five coffee or lunch dates with my friends: I'll wait until after New Year's to book the dates and will aim to go to some or all of my five favourite coffee shops.

5. Attend seven cultural events: I'm excited to have a series of art and entertainment events lined up throughout the winter so I can get out there and experience new sights and sounds.

6. Start a new blog link-up: I've proposed a new monthly Wellness Wednesday link-up with fellow bloggers in the New Year. The first link up is on Wednesday January 10, with Wellness goals as the topic. Easy, right? I hope you'll join in on the fun. The more the merrier, so we can share, inspire, and support each other.

7. Plan an independent trip to Chile: This includes activities such as reading travel guides, designing my itinerary, booking the essentials, etc. Having had wonderful experiences in Argentina and Peru, I look forward to exploring another country in South America.

8. Explore Chile in March: A new adventure awaits! If you've been to Chile, I'd love to hear your comments.

I look forward to enjoying the holidays with my family and friends, and completing my winter fun list with much enthusiasm. Happy holidays to you and your loved ones!

An InLinkz Link-up

5 huge benefits of living car-free

What are the Top 5 huge benefits that I’ve gained from living car-free for the past twenty five years?

You’ll find my answer in my second guest post appearing on Donna Connolly’s fabulous blog Retirement Reflections as part of her Sunday Guest Post Series. Please hop on over, check it out, and leave a comment.

While you’re visiting her site, treat yourself to Donna’s articles about her trek on the Camino Trail. It looks like we both enjoy walking.

I hope to see you there!

5 simple pleasures for the holidays

December is a very festive month where I live. The earlier sunset time brings on lots of lights in the city. The cooler temperatures and the occasional snow flurries make us wonder if we'll be having a white Christmas. The window displays at the banks, office buildings, and stores are fantastic to look at. There are several holiday fairs to visit as well, like the Swedish Christmas Fair that I wrote about here.

For many years now, my family and I intentionally keep a very simple holiday plan, focusing on being together, having lots of free time, and sharing sensory experiences. We stay away from buying material things that we do not need.

Today I’m sharing my list of five simple pleasures for the holidays, and linking up with several other bloggers who also have fabulous holiday plans. Thanks, Leslie, for coordinating the link-up.

My five simple pleasures for the holidays:

1. Make donations to help those in need. We usually donate money, non-perishable food items, clothing, and/ or winter accessories.

2. View the various light displays in the city centre. There are many to view near where I live. I hope to capture some of the fantastic light displays with my camera, and if the pictures turn out well, I'll post them on my blog.

3. Listen to choirs singing joyous seasonal music. It's always so uplifting to hear the amazing vocals.

4. Taste freshly baked goods with chocolate or ginger or cinnamon flavour. Sometimes we bake them at home, sometimes we buy from the local bakery. They seem to bring warmth to the season.

5. Enjoy a big family gathering and dinner on Boxing Day (December 26). This gathering usually includes my parents, my siblings, their spouses, their children, and my family. We pick December 26 since it's a statutory holiday in my province, and to avoid schedule conflict with Christmas Eve or Christmas Day parties. We rotate the hosting duty annually among the siblings and co-ordinate the food items that every family unit brings to the gathering. It's our happy time to chat, share news, eat, drink, laugh, and take pictures.

The above five activities always make us feel good and create warm family memories.

Your turn...What five fun activities do you do for the holidays?

An InLinkz Link-up