Category: Inspiration
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The gift of curiosity
by Jay Hiller, November 4, 2023 Photo by Josh Mills on Unsplash Right now there are a couple of mid-level stressors that make me anxious. Just by accident, on my way to work I heard a recommendation by a psychiatrist that a good thing to do when you’re feeling anxious is to be curious about…
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Our purpose in a troubled world
By Jay Hiller, October 13, 2023 Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash The world has been going to hell in a handbasket for a very long time, I read in the Austin paper over 30 years ago. The speaker was a veteran of World War II. He meant that we can get through whatever’s troubling…
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Impossible Pool Vibes
By Jay Hiller, September 24, 2023 Photo by john labelette on Unsplash Our neighborhood pool is nice. I don’t think of it as a good place to lap swim. And I had reservations yesterday when my husband suggested going there to swim in the late afternoon. ‘Full of kids, warm as bath water,” I thought.…
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Something beautiful, Wild Asana
By Jay Hiller, September 16, 2023 The writing in the book Wild Asana: Animals, Yoga and Connecting Our Practice to the Natural World is absolutely beautiful. In each chapter the author, Alison Zak, focuses on one yoga pose and connects it to the animal it’s named after. Ms. Zak is an author, yoga teacher, anthropologist…
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Exercise and optimism
by Jay Hiller, August 31, 2023 Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash My week included a bunch of dumb worky-work stuff, a Tuesday night with only two hours of sleep and two days of sub-optimal amounts of exercise. When I got home this afternoon, I felt down and lethargic. I didn’t make my way toward…
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Two good podcasts targeted at those of us in our third act
By Jay Hiller, July 21, 2023 I have a long commute during the school year. Podcasts keep that time from being lost. Photo by Melanie Pongratz on Unsplash In the last three weeks I’ve listened to an episode each from two podcasts directed at women who are older. They’re different in that one of them…
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First kickball game
By Jay Hiller, June 12, 2023 Photo by Valeriia Miller on Unsplash The story of my first kickball game, might be the story of why for a long time, I thought of myself as someone who didn’t like to exercise. My family lived in Bogotá, Colombia for most of my first 4 years of elementary…
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Finish something
By Jay Hiller, May 24, 2023 Photo by Reid Naaykens on Unsplash There are two unfinished needlepoint projects under my desk. I started one of them in 2002 and the second one in 2006. I know the point where I stopped working on them and every time I glance in their direction it zaps a…
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Book review
Wave Woman: The Life and Struggles of a Surfing Pioneer by Jay Hiller, May 18, 2023 Betty Pelmbroke Winstedt’s life is lovingly recounted by her daughter in the book, Wave Woman. Wave Woman: The Life and Struggles of a Surfing Pioneer by Vicky Heldreich Durand is a unique biography. It’s the story of Betty Pelmbroke…
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The hardest part is putting on your shoes
By Jay Hiller, May 16, 2023 Photo by LOGAN WEAVER | @LGNWVR on Unsplash I’m writing this post as a stall to working out. It’s been a busy day and it would be easy to lie on the couch and waste a bunch of time scrolling through a device. My husband always says the hardest…