Visual Blog
Why talking about end-of-life matters
Grandmothers are often smart and insightful women. For Dr. Robert McDermid, an ICU doc and hospital administrator, it was his grandmother who taught him what being a doctor truly meant. It was her last lesson of life. As she lay on her death bed, she opened her eyes,...
Celebrating JP’s Life
Suddenly I no longer had a brother who lived nearby. Earlier this year my younger brother JP died. A current of shock and grief pulsed through my body - followed by action. There were things to be done, and decisions to be made. Would we have a traditional church...
The legacy of a family business
A business starts with an idea, identifying a need and bringing/building a skillset to match. When you introduce family dynamics to the equation, keeping the momentum and success going for 100 years through four generations is a notable achievement and most definitely...
Instructions for Living a Life
Have you heard of Mary Oliver? In my humble opinion she is one of the best poets who ever lived. Why? Because she sees the possibilities and vulnerabilities of life in a way that speaks to me and many of her fans. I offer one of her excellent writings that, given my...
Collecting Memories, One Speaker at a Time
Have you ever watched a TEDx talk and thought, what an interesting perspective, I didn’t know that? Have you ever thought that you would like to go to a TED event but either didn’t get the invite or it cost too much? Well, you are in luck. The 2021 TEDx Bear Creek...
September Traditions of Self Care
It was 20 years ago that I began a September ritual that has saved my life, saved my sanity. This message is for the moms out there of school aged kids. So, summer is over. It’s been weird, it’s been fun and likely it’s been a bit exhausting. You might have been...
I gave away some of my best friends last weekend.
I gave away some of my best friends last weekend and now I regret it. I’ve had a visceral response to this clearing out of ‘things’. Lately there has been purging going on at my house and I’ve heard maybe at yours too. It’s been over two years since I’ve stopped...
Tell your stories with an easy Time Line for collecting memories
Okay so how many times this week did you hear “Stay At Home” or “These are unprecedented times”? I imagine you’ve likely heard this many, many times. Our lives are evolving as we maneuver our way through this Covid crisis, getting less scheduled and more house...
The magic of smell and your memory bank
Last summer I was cycling down a street in Montreal on a hot humid night when WHAM it hit me! There’s that smell! Barbeque smoke wafted through the air, and the humidity added to the intensity. I am immediately taken back 30...
Self-Care through Visual Storytelling
The more life memories we collect using visual storytelling, the more I see the self-care that happens in the process. Above are some of Bob’s final thoughts about his legacy story and they show how much love and gratitude came...
