There Was a Day

New printer

There was a day when any 

new technology had only one cord. One cord and plug in, and one button for on and off. But galloping technology that includes wifi 

~ you know, that thing that carries all our emails and searches and connections to a myriad of devises ~ races past me while I plod along using my laptop, tablet, cellphone 

for the mundane until one of them quits ~ 

goes to that great ‘cloud’ in 

the wifi universe leaving behind 

the big piece of plastic, ports, gears and ink.

The new piece of wifi life 

needs a technician 

~ not my skill set ~ 

to get them all working 

in concert ~ just so 

I can use my new printer. 

“We are stuck with technology when what 

we really want is just stuff that works.”

~ Douglas Adams, 

The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One

p.s. You still have to plug it in and push the on and off button.

At the Brandt Centre - Curling with Skill

Active and aware, the two curling teams were well matched until the very last rock was thrown. In this Brier match, the Saskatchewan team lost to Nova Scotia by three points. The first game I attended in many years, I was enthralled with their skill and precisions. One sheet over, Team Canada won their game handily. Their opponent was one of two Alberta teams. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the game of curling as a spectator. It is a quality game.

“The strategy is the tough part - it’s seeing things three shots ahead.”

~ Jared Allen 

(ex-NFL football player who took up curling after retirement)

One of Those Phases

Photo taken March 29, 2019 in Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, BC

Upsetting the balance of

any of life’s ‘phases’

rocks our worlds with 

sticks and stones or with

bright balloons and music

while we set our course in

our own uncharted waters.

Upsetting the balance of

established, yet faded, 

patterns stirs up debris scattered & stacked in closets and drawers to be waded through ~ or not ~

while we pay our bills 

do the laundry and get groceries.

Upsetting the balance of life

in the spirit of transition?

Easier to navigate with

strength, skills and beliefs 

learned from sometimes tiresome lessons

throughout life’s growing seasons.

Retirement ~ just one of those phases.

“A transition period is a period between two transition periods.”

~ George Stigler, (1911 to 1991American economist, 

1982 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

Brilliance

A spinning top clothed 

in curls and hairspray ~

ideas, plans, goals, dreams

hands waving wildly in the air

“Pick me!” “Pick me!”

wordy abundance spilling 

over one another, pushing 

through skills and manners

tempered by genuine caring

hanging back til summoned forth.

“Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.”

~ Alfred Tennyson

Author's note: Edited February 09, 2024

Transferable Skills ~ 2

For every job we do ~
employment that pays for our lives 
activity we participate in ~
there are skills that we learn.

Skills found in 
Policy and Procedure manuals
How-to manuals
Cook Books

And then there is just experience:
Packing pears and apples is not unlike
Packing dishes and books
Empty cardboard boxes of any kind
often need the bottoms shored up.
The challenge?
Fix the bottom of the box so fruit would not fall through.

The memory of those times is wonderful and fresh and fun
Laughter and chatter
finding the biggest, the most perfect, or the oddest apple or pear
Talking about recipes and sharing stories of canning successes or disasters.
Talking with people from all across Canada.
Sending pears and apples to homes in trucks, cars and in planes
And so I’ve asked my friends to ‘help’ with my move….
Thanks Wendy and Allen, Judy, Jacquie, Brigitte, and all the others!!

“In wisdom gathered over time I have found 

that every experience is a form of exploration.”

~ Ansel Adams

Stability Wanted

Life skills held and honed

against epilepsy’s whet stone.

Sharpness depends on balance.

Letting Go

In transition ~ whether forward or back

letting go - a skill we frequently lack

thinking not of this part of change

steps are taken that seem quite strange!

letting go of things we’ve had

peaceful life or chaos so very sad.

adjusting to bumps along the way 

habits grounding every day.

So bit by bit, things leave our grasp

Opportunities arise that we can clasp.

“Open your arms to change, but don’t let to of your values.”

~ Dalai Lama

Riding with Stress

Life stressors like bicycle wheels, turn steadily round, over moments in each day, tires over gravel.

Our lives, the frame we sit on.

Any life journeys have unpredictable roads ~ smoothed, potholed, sharp rocks, or soft mounds.

Daily, we practice skills to survive

until balance in resting and riding is sound.

If we do all the work, it can help us avoid

active epilepsy’s often unpredictable wounds.

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive

but those who can best manage change.”

~ Charles Darwin

Nurturing Life as It Is

In my many years of nursing, I have taken education days for seminars, workshops and in-services about many areas of health care.

Attending these, sometimes willingly, sometimes not (but don’t tell), they have all been pieces of career development and were often tied to only my current employer.

Some were mandatory, some voluntary.

The workshop I attended this past two days will be useful both

in my career life and in my personal life

in situations that I pray never, ever occur.

However,

I do know that there is potential

as long as people are alive

someone  - a stranger, an acquaintance, a loved one or maybe a close friend -

will wish that they were no longer a part of this earthly community 

will have a plan put in place to relieve whatever emotional turmoil exists within them.

This is suicidal ideation, suicidal thinking.

The word ‘suicide’, not favored by many, is a reality.

World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10.

The practice and information received today begins to develop basic skills enabling assistance every day should they be required.

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst 

into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all 

be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”

~ Albert Schweitzer

Established in Calgary, Alberta 

the ASIST program was developed by LivingWorks Education Inc.

Information about the ASIST program (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training)

can be found at www.livingworks.net

The ASIST program has centers in 

Calgary, Alberta  

Fayetteville, North Carolina

Nunawading, Victoria, Australia

Auckland, New Zealand

University Hospital of Northern Norway

Believe in Yourself

Learn lessons

outside of a classroom ~

light passionate ideas with 

strength of heart

skill of mind

wisdom of soul

Learn to trust yourself ~

find the gold on your own horizon.

“As soon as you trust yourself,

you will know how to live.”

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust

Transferable Skills ~ 1

Transfers ~

strips of paper allowing transfer 

bus to bus

decals that transfer a picture from 

paper to skin

Skills ~

abilities to 

think

be 

do

In our compartmentalized world

there seems to be a misguided belief that 

when we leave one area of life for another

there is a 

separation

there should be 

dismissal

Leaving school ~

book learning comes with us.

But what about

how we studied

how well we played with others

Leaving home and family for

the adult world with different responsibilities, 

we take family rules and mores with us.

but what about

how we ate and slept

how we participated in community

Leaving one job for another job

our resumes precede us.

But what about 

our personally crafted work ethic

how well we worked with others

Our experiences may be 

compartments or chapters

but each individual is filled with 

outcomes of trial and error.

A veritable tool shed of 

transferable skills that can

support us in any phase of our life.

“If animals play, this is because play is useful in 

the struggle for survival; because play practices 

and so perfects the skills needed in adult life”

~ Susanna Miller