“Refreshed, excited, enthusiastic…you’ve had breakfast and your coffee. The gas tank is full. There are snacks in the car. You look forward to being on the road. GPS loaded; audio book prepped; water bottle, sunglasses in reach… You’re ready to go. Then out of the blue comes a call. It’s your mom: Dad’s in the hospital – he’s had a stroke. You reel back almost losing your balance upon hearing this. You’re there but not there. A sense of...

“Is it bitter disappointment that descends upon you like a dark cloud? Or a simple shrug of the shoulders and thinking “We’ll do it another time.” Perhaps you are somewhere in the middle: sorry that you won’t be going on the trip after all but allowing a few deep breaths to assuage your momentary disappointment. Expectation can be a double-edged sword. The feeling of anticipation – of looking forward to something special can put you on such a...

“Do you have those moments when you feel like a kid again? Maybe you catch yourself in the mirror and you smile for no reason at all. Perhaps you are hanging out with friends and the enthusiasm is bordering on silliness – but it’s a delightful silliness. You remember a rhyme you sang as a kid, and you sing it again, chuckling at the words that make no sense. Or you decide to skip or trot like a horse down the sidewalk not caring whether anyone...

“The white blooms with their seven petals are layered like dainty butterflies lingering over a green field. They’re so exquisitely poised that any sudden movement would surely topple them from their perch. Delicate, immaculate in their flowing, soft cloaks, you want to touch but respect the seeming fragility. Yet all three flowers have been in bloom for days…how is it that such precariousness can subsist? Though beauty is thought to be...

“The latest colour is all the rage: you’ve never heard the name before – it was called baby blue at one time. Your surroundings are at least five years behind the times of being trendy, on point, in fashion. You worry what your friends will think… Yet looking around, you, despite what the influencers say, feel comfortable. The familiarity of what is soothes you, and you relax in its worn coziness. It breathes you because you have made it,...