Kerri On Down The Road

 I cannot remember a time in my life when I felt so compelled to move forward, to shed reminders of the past, and to make room for what lies ahead.  I am a sentimental person at heart, and often find it difficult to physically release items and tokens that have been given to me or that I have collected through relationships, experiences, and other routine aspects of life.  From time to time, I have found myself in need of a good purge, usually because I need more room to store things, or have a significant move on the horizon, and the thought of packing spurs me into action.  Those clean-out sessions are reactionary in nature -- often, decisions being made about what to keep and what to pitch are made on the fly and without much thought. rat This time, the urge to trim has come from a different place entirely.  I started to notice a desire to cull my belongings as the winter solstice arrived a couple of weeks ago.  Heading out of the year of the snake and i...

 There is no denying it, I am not the best plant mom out there.  I enjoy having plants in my home. I love the tranquility their greenery brings to a room, and as a result, I own quite a few.  Despite my appreciation of houseplants, my ability to nurture them often falls short.  I do not know their proper names.  I do not talk to them unless I am apologizing for letting their soil become dry.  I often sit down at the end of the night, ready to read and unwind, when I notice their droopiness and promise to water them first thing the next day.  I then imagine them staring at me, blatantly drinking water, and ignoring their thirst.  Anytime I bring a new plant home, I ensure it is of the "hearty" variety, meaning that it can withstand some neglect and irregular maintenance. Succulents and pothos have been reliable go-tos over the years, and I've even managed to keep an orchid and snake plant going much longer than I had ever imagined possible. So ther...

 The Instagram algorithm got me again.  This time, it wasn't clothing or a new running program that was guaranteed to shave minutes off my next marathon.  Nope.  This was all about balance, in the form of a funky and fun-looking balance board.  I watched numerous videos of people of all ages trying to remain stable on the precarious-looking rubber band that was attached to the board, all with the promise of various fitness benefits and improvements to be had by only spending minutes a day on this contraption.  Of course, I was curious.  I am wrapping up a university course on fitness and exercise programming at the moment, and we have talked about the importance of balance and mobility in an overall wellness routine, especially as one ages.  And well, this one is aging. Fortunately, before I was able to add anything to a cart, I remembered that this was not the first time I'd wandered down the path of balance in my fitness quest.  I pushed my...

 I had many moments of hesitation before writing this post.  Speaking about pleasure is something I am not entirely comfortable with or familiar with.  Pleasure has often felt like something other people can indulge in, but not me.  It has felt like an elusive and sometimes scary word, as it conjures up the idea of losing oneself in sensation and feeling, and for someone who enjoys a sense of control and knowing where things are headed, this all sounds incredibly unsettling. Having said that, I have also felt left out and incomplete at times, knowing that this area of my life has been unexplored and often simply ignored.  So, how does one begin a pleasure practice, and what would that even look like? The more I thought about this, and through halting conversations with trusted others, I have come to the conclusion that pleasure is inherently unique and not a one-size-fits-all type of experience.  Are you someone who is thrilled by touch, or is taste or scen...

 If you live in Toronto or come here to visit, you will most likely find yourself nudging up against a construction project of some sort.  Often these feel like never-ending and puzzling occurrences - what exactly is the end-goal, and didn't they just finish working on this not long ago? Regardless of the reason for the interruption, it is something that we cannot seem to escape, no matter the season.  As I type this, there has been a large, orange construction sign sitting on my front lawn for several months now.  I once thought that it was a temporary fixture, but now believe that it is a perpetual addition to our yard, as there always appears to be construction of some sort on the horizon. Looking out my window this morning at that very sign, I began to think about how this type of ongoing work appears in other areas of life.  I will put my hand up as someone who feels like they are in a continuing state of construction or renewal.  There always seems to...