Worthy Goals for the New Year

January 03, 2014 by Michele Cherie in Contentment

Equilibrium: We long for it. We crave it. We know we need it in our lives. But New Year's resolutions make us nervous. We question if it's worth the effort to attempt changes that we've failed at in the past.

In the past, our resolutions have focused on areas of neglect or low self-control. We frequently target our health. We will exercise more, eat better, have a more balanced life. We will also go to bed earlier, waste less time, and save more money.

Why haven't we already attained our goals? Primarily, we are flawed people living in a world that's not under our control. We also have multiple roles that challenge our focus and fill our schedules: we are spouses, employees, parents, home managers, and self-caretakers. As we target areas for improvement, the others suffer.

At a Signpost: The Place Between 2013 and 2014

December 30, 2013 by Michele Cherie in Learning Resources, Cultural Reflections, Contentment

We're given just a few of these days--days when we corral the Christmas decor back into boxes and try to designate a place for the new clothing and toys. It's the holiday break, and routines are relaxing into leisure while the clutter brings with it a rising sense of chaos. If you're feeling a growing need to straighten everything out, I'm right there with you! But hold off a day or two before you take on your ambitions, because the new year is around the corner, and this is the best time to learn.

Fêtes sans stresse: What Children Can Teach Us

November 27, 2013 by Michele Cherie in Contentment, Home Management

Quel joie, les fêtes! What joy it is to celebrate! But how easy it is to let stress sully our holiday preparations. As a mama of young children, I am reminded of a few tips little ones can offer us during the holidays:

Aim to bless, not to impress. The heart of hospitality lies in our motives.

Responding to Homelessness: Influences and Experiences

November 25, 2013 by Michele Cherie in Contentment, Parenting Books

I attended college in Santa Barbara, California, where the mild Mediterranean climate attracts movie stars, tourists, and the homeless alike. Mental illness was so common among the homeless there that my psychology professor assigned a project that involved observing a street person displaying signs of mental illness, identifying a probable diagnosis, and writing a suggested treatment plan. Several years prior to my arrival on campus, a fellow college student was so troubled by the ever-present homeless population that he dropped his classes, donated the contents of his bank account to a local shelter, and moved onto the street to join them. Clearly, this was neither wise nor a significant solution, but I admire the depth of his concern.

Halloween Howls and A Momentary Lesson on Contentment

October 03, 2013 by Michele Cherie in Contentment, Reflections on Parenting

Yesterday my four-year-old daughter announced that she wanted a different Halloween costume--one from the printed advertisement that she'd seen at her friend's house. "Alex got a costume from the magazine, and Claire bought one from it too. I want one! There was even a Hello Kitty." I'm sure the skeptical look I gave her was disappointing, but she'd been prancing around for two weeks in the fairy costume she'd convinced me to buy at a resale event. "Honey," I told her, "You already chose a costume. We're not buying another one." Normally I'd suggest that she do some extra chores to earn the money to buy what she suddenly fancied, but I figured the catalog she'd seen probably featured costumes that cost more than either of us wanted to pay.

5 Refreshing Tips for Introverted Moms

September 04, 2013 by Michele Cherie in Contentment, Home Management, Reflections on Parenting

Until I read Quiet, I thought introversion was a negative trait. After all, I'm an introvert who has learned that extroverted cheerfulness is one of the best ways to make new friends. I admire people with extroverted personalities (like my husband) because they can quickly express thoughts that take me longer to formulate into words. But Quiet changed my perspective. Author Susan Cain's commentary helped me realize that being introverted is a gift even though it is not often recognized as such by the culture around us.

Growth and Contentment: My Hopes for You

August 25, 2013 by Michele Cherie in Contentment, Reflections on Parenting, Teaching French

I live in Oregon, on the outskirts of a city where there's a scattering of cedar trees native only to this area. Most of the cedars here have grown for over a century, adding growth rings as farmhouses and cookie-cutter housing tracts were built around them. Years ago, I moved into one of those cedar-lined neighborhoods as a newlywed. At the time, I didn't appreciate our house--I'd envisioned something larger, sunnier, and certainly not an hour's drive from my workplace as a French teacher. But it was near the job my husband loved, and he'd purchased it just before we'd gotten engaged. Moving to a point halfway between our workplaces still would have required a moderate commute for both of us. So instead of moving, we agreed that I would leave my teaching position at the end of that year.