Giving Back and Volunteering

I bet you have heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but are you familiar with Giving Tuesday? Created in 2012, Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving that takes place on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. It encourages people…

As discussed in my previous blogs, there are so many perks to reaching this wonderful milestone, and I finally have the time and the means to follow through in earnest on one of the most pressing items that has remained flickering on my back burner: volunteering.

In 2003, the heartwarming movie Calendar Girls premiered. It was based on the true story of a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women who teamed up to create a sexy calendar to raise money for blood cancer research after one of their husbands died…

Are you one of the many people who are looking after someone who is very ill? Perhaps a spouse, sibling, parent or friend? As you well know, it is a highly tiring and difficult task, however much it is undertaken with love. You may be overloaded with advice…

“Social Connectivity” is science-language for a simple and obvious experience, that of connecting with others. We humans are, like it or not, fundamentally social creatures. Even introverts, such as myself, need to interact with others…

Before Great Gram got hitched at age 20, as they used to say, she was a teacher in a one-room rural Iowa schoolhouse. After marriage, she wasn’t allowed to teach. That was written in her contract. As a teacher, she called her readin’ and writin’…

When you were younger but already adult, your parents most likely helped you in every way they could. Not everyone has such help, but a huge number of us do. And perhaps your grandparents did the same. Maybe it was financial help…

I was looking for a volunteer opportunity in retirement, but I wanted to avoid the deep-brain work I was used to – writing, editing, teaching, and communications and social media strategy, etc. – you know, all the stuff I retired from…

Volunteering can be a life-changing experience that can be both rewarding and humbling. When I made a big life switch several years ago, I promised myself that my new life would involve helping. I didn’t know exactly what that meant at the time…

I recently traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, where music pours from every bar, restaurant and hotel, in a raucous and often heartfelt tribute to life, love and the human condition.
After listening to no fewer than 18 singer-songwriters…