Articles
Browse every published article connected to Deborah Martin, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
Articles
Browse every published article connected to Deborah Martin, or search within this exact expert archive.
Did you make the shift to daylight savings with grace and ease? I didn't. Oh, my routine wasn't altered much. Within a day or two, I was past any effects on my circadian rhythm. It's just that twice a year the time change annoys me. Now before I hear from all of you who have a preference one way ...
Let me try something new but please, please, please, let me do it right and well the first time. If we always do things well, always do things right, and people know us as someone who always gets it right, then we've set ourselves up. It's costing us. As my friend John pointed out just ...
Ah, September. It's my favorite time of the year. My flower garden has dulled to browns and just a few yellows from the lingering Black-eyed Susan. But the backyard along the creek bank is in full bloom with goldenrod and wild aster. Yellow and lavender grace the perimeter. The Shaggy Manes are ...
I was paddling a new river a couple of weekends ago and came up behind a beaver. He didn't know I was there. I spoke up, trying to give him fair warning, but by the time I saw him, I was on top of the poor fellow. We were both pretty surprised. As we went down river together at about the same ...
Wonder:n~~To think or speculate curiouslyn~~To be filled with admiration, amazement or awe; marveln~~A cause of surprise, astonishment or admirationn~~A feeling of surprised or puzzled interest, sometimes tinged with admiration. So what is it about wonder that is so remarkable and valuable? I ...
In our striving to succeed, we set goals. Common goals like earn more money, build a bigger business, lose some weight, remodel or build that home, buy that boat or car, get more time off. I call these goals “common” because we boil our definition of success down to the same goals everyone else ...
Ah, February. I look out my window and see nothing but white. Or so it seems in this frozen month. But that's impossible I say and so I challenge myself to see the color. And ever so slowly, the whole host of browns that have been there all along emerges as I notice tree trunks. Then, ...
Everything is in flow here in Northern Michigan. Buckets of water have flowed off the snow-covered roof. That water, along with the melting snow banks is finding its way down the hills to my driveway. I no longer walk to the mailbox, I wade. The maple sap is flowing too. Drive by a good stand of ...
I started to write about Spring Fever because that's what I thought I was experiencing. But a quick trip to my dictionary and quite a bit of contemplatio I've shifted my opinion of my symptoms. I think what I had was “Spring Frenzy.” With this clarity, I was more open to this week's ...
1. As Jersey and Styx (my dogs) say, "It blows the stink off." My dogs mean this a little more literally tha I do. But I do notice that as I allow daily worry and conce s to creep in, I begin to nsmell. 2. It keeps you putting one foot in front of the other. If it's true that movement creates ...
Last month I was on another adventure, fishing Dog Lake in Northern Ontario. That trip really brought home to me the power of the Law of Attraction. I have been reading about and practicing the Law of Attraction for several years now. It started with Lynn Grabhorn’s book, Excuse Me, Your Life ...
There's a fly in my house. It has been here for two days. It's smaller and looks different than the house flies I've seen all winter. And it's bigger than a fruit fly, so I know it didn't come from the bananas in the kitchen. I'm excited. It's the first sign of spring! This fly may be a misfit, ...
Clearing Clutter I live in what I have always considered a pretty clutter-free home. But after reading Karen Kingston's book “Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui,” I've realized I can still do with less. I started last week. The little clutter I have already cleared has had a surprising affect on ...
The big yellow school bus is coming down my road again. The neighborhood kids seem happy. The dogs are not. The kids are no longer around during the day and Jersey is going to drop a little weight without all the treats they have been bringing her this summer. I must admit that when I see the ...
Last week, two people told me they are “coping.” That conce s me. The first time I heard this, I grab the dictionary and I learned that to “cope” is “to struggle or deal, esp. on fairly even terms or with some degree of success.” Even though I read the words “even terms” and “degree of ...
I was paddling a new river a couple of weekends ago and came up behind a beaver. He didn't know I was there. I spoke up, trying to give him fair warning, but by the time I saw him, I was on top of the poor fellow. We were both pretty surprised. As we went down river together at about the same ...
I have had more than my share of exciting times and I’m grateful for every one of them. There was the time the bear came into camp at 11:00 p.m. and we listened to him consume two weeks worth of food for two people and a dog in only six hours. At 5:00 a.m., when it became obvious he had run out ...