Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Transitions & Change, Identity, Life Balance, Repatriation, Writing, tagged #MyGlobalLife LinkUp, blogging, building a life, career, change, choice, community, connection, expat, gift, identity, loss, needs, opportunity, priorities, re-entry transition, re-imagining, redefining, reinvention, repat, Repatriation, SmallPlanetStudio, values, vulnerability, wants, writing on March 28, 2014 | 4 Comments »
Lately I’ve been doing a fair bit of writing on re-entry transition because, well, I’m several months into repatriation after four years in the Netherlands. I do so not simply because it’s what is foremost in my thoughts and daily actions, but also to understand. Writing about repatriation helps me grasp significance, identify patterns, comprehend […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Expats A to Z, Identity, Repatriation, tagged adult Third Culture Kid, ATCK, change, cross-cultural, culture shock, expat, expatriate life, identity, identity congruence, leaving, loss, patience, repatriate, TCK, Third Culture Kid, thrive, transitions, who we are on January 20, 2014 | 6 Comments »
Time for another entry under Expats A to Z, a series of posts about the little things that can make a difference in how we approach some of the challenges and experiences of expatriate – and repatriate – life. I’m talking about those qualities and traits we can nurture within us not only to simply survive, but thrive amid […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Holidays, Identity, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Repatriation, Writing, tagged 2013, 2014, being in the moment, bigger picture, blogging, building a life, change, creativity, cross-cultural, culture, daily resolutions, expat, global nomad, identity, larger view, mindfulness, New Year's Resolutions, reflection, reflective interlude, repat, Repatriation, resolution, TCK, transitions, writing on January 12, 2014 | 2 Comments »
In my latest blog post, Intermezzo, I wrote of taking stock of 2013, a year which for several reasons I’m glad to see in my rear view mirror. That’s not to say that many wonderful things didn’t happen last year, they did. But there were some unexpected challenges on top of some tough moments, and […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Holidays, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Repatriation, Travel, Writing, tagged 'in the moment', 2013, Adapt and Thrive Across Cultures, being present, change, Christmas, continuous intentional observation without judgment, deaths, emotional resilience, expats, expectations, family, grieving, holidays, illusion of perfection, intermezzo, Jane Dean, Jo Parfitt, Lisa Hall, loss, mindfulness, mourning, New Year's, reflection, Repatriation, solitude, Summertime Publishing, The Emotionally Resilient Expat: Engage, transitions, travel, turbulence, turmoil, wanderlust, writing on January 6, 2014 | 6 Comments »
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been taking it easy. Really easy. As in not doing much of anything other than what absolutely, positively needed to get done. For example, that time spent pulling together receipts, filling out reimbursement claims for our international health care provider, making photocopies of the entire stack and then standing […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Identity, Re-entry Reality, Repatriation, United States, tagged all over the world, around the globe, art, change, cultures, decorating, drawings, expat life, experiences, family, growing old together, home, icons, lifetime, marriage, memories, paintings, parenthood, pictures, prints, Repatriation, sculpture, statues, travel, values on November 7, 2013 | 8 Comments »
As mentioned in Under Construction, I hope you’ll join me as I navigate the re-entry stage in our repatriation journey. Every three months I’ll share a series of ‘snapshot’ blog posts about the particulars of building a new life from scratch, filed under the post category Re-entry Reality. I’ll look at everything from making a home, engaging socially, staying […]
Posted in Blogging, Change, Emotional Resilience, Expat Transitions & Change, September 11th, Writing, tagged bonds, change, colleagues, destruction, friends, healing, loss, moving, pain, people, reflection, remembrance, September 11th, terror, transitions, writing on September 11, 2013 | 2 Comments »
Behind the scenes I’ve been working on a number of posts about what’s been going on and what I’ve been up to these past weeks and months. It’s been a whirlwind of motion, a cacophony of change, some tough moments scattered among positive and uplifting ones, along with the more mundane. (Is there ever a […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, Netherlands, Repatriation, Sandwich Generation, Writing, tagged blogging, book, change, cross-cultural, expat, expat life, family, Netherlands, publication, Repatriation, social media, transitions, US, writing on August 12, 2013 | 29 Comments »
Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Yours truly, sheepishly shrugging while simultaneously cringing at how pathetic this looks. When last I posted several weeks ages ago, I dropped the bombshell we were moving back to the US this summer. That news was indeed incendiary on a personal basis as we had fully expected […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Holidays, Light Bulb Moments, tagged 2013, blogging, centering, change, community, contemplation, creativity, emotional resilience, gratitude, Happy New Year, New Year's Eve, reflection, resolutions, writing on January 1, 2013 | 24 Comments »
I know that everyone is either partying hard, out and about and thus not reading blog posts, or already in bed. I’m not one to judge, so whatever floats your boat… Or you’ve been busy and only now are finding your way to reading this. So I’m going to keep it short and sweet. When you […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Expats A to Z, Repatriation, Third Culture Kids (TCKs), Expat Teens, Travel, tagged aware, caring, change, considerate, cross-cultural, culture shock, cultures, definitions, expat, expat transitions, expatriate, Expats A to Z, fits us to a T, global living, heedful, helping others along the way, intercultural, kind, living abroad, meanings, meditative, nomadic life, reasoned, reflective, Repatriation, TCKs, Third Culture Kids, thoughtful, traveling on December 4, 2012 | 12 Comments »
Earlier this year I introduced Expats A to Z, a new series of posts about the little things that can make a difference in how we approach some of the challenges and experiences of expat life. I’m talking about those qualities and traits that we can nurture within us not only to simply survive but thrive […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Blogging, Catarina Chronicles, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Dutch Life, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Holidays, Netherlands, United States, Writing, tagged Americans, autumn, Autumn Equals Change, blogging, Catarina, change, costumes, creativity, culture, decisions, different, dressed up, Dutchies, Expat Focus, expat life, faces painted, fairies, favorite season, fresh, ghost, ghouls, goblins, Halloween, holidays, internationals, Little Red Riding Hood, magical, makeup, Nederland, Netherlands, new, seasons, The Hague, trick-or-treaters, United States, witches, writing, zombies on November 1, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Yesterday was Halloween, and it was a smashing one indeed. It began dry and sunny (two big pluses during autumn here) and remained so throughout the day; Halloween night was, well, amazing. Halloween is HUGE in the United States, and every year, more and more Dutchies and other internationals join Americans in celebrating this fun-filled holiday. Cross-culturalism at its […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Albert Heijn, Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Family & Friends, First Year Blur, Light Bulb Moments, New to Nederland, Our Animals, tagged Albert Heijn, balancing act, bravery, cat, change, Charley, courage, expat life, expat transition, isolation, limbo, loneliness, Netherlands, new expat, tightrope, walk the ledge on April 28, 2012 | 20 Comments »
It was a chance encounter yesterday on a crowded street that sent me back in time. As I turned the corner onto our nearby shopping street affectionately known as ‘the Fred,’ I caught a snippet of conversation. The young woman was seated at one of the outside tables of a local restaurant, twirling her forefinger along […]
Posted in Authors (Other), Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Identity, Riveting Expat Reads, Writing, tagged Anne P. Copeland, change, cultural adjustments, cultural dimensions, cultural sensitivity, cultural transitions, culture shock, expat transitions, identity, In Their Own Voice: Intercultural Meaning in Everyday Stories, Marissa Lombardi, The Interchange Institute, writing on April 18, 2012 | 6 Comments »
Earlier this year I read what I can only describe as an incredibly uplifting book, but I am only now getting around to sharing it with you. Shame on me, because it is the kind of informative, thought-provoking book that stays on your mind long after you read it. Its name? In Their Own Voice: […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Identity, Light Bulb Moments, Riveting Expat Reads, Turning Points Book, Writing, tagged aspirations, book launch, change, fear, identity, Jo Parfitt, Kate Cobb, light bulb moments, longings, regrets, transformation, Turning Points book, writing on November 1, 2011 | 22 Comments »
It’s finally here. Today is Tuesday, November 1st. As I mentioned a couple days ago in And What Might YOUR Turning Point Be?, today also happens to be the global book launch of Turning Points: 25 Inspiring Stories From Women Entrepreneurs Who Have Turned Their Careers and Their Lives Around. The book concept is the […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Expat Authors & Others, Light Bulb Moments, Riveting Expat Reads, Turning Points Book, Work, Writing, tagged book launch, change, inspiring women, pivotal moment, reinvention, renewal, Turning Points book, women entrepreneurs, writing on October 30, 2011 | 16 Comments »
Ever have one of those days, weeks or even months where you are so busy you can barely see straight? Where you absolutely, positively must keep a note pad near you at all times to capture the overflow of thoughts and reminders sloshing around in your brain? Well, I’ve been having an entire season like that. […]
Posted in Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Doing What I Can to Help, Emotional Resilience, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Global Issues, tagged change, depression, emotional resilience, expat life, living abroad, loss, Mayo Clinic, sadness, transitions, WebMD, writing on September 29, 2011 | 16 Comments »
During the summer I was approached by an editor at a new site, AdaptingAbroad.com, to write two companion articles on expats and emotional resilience. The first article was to focus on what expats may risk if they find themselves lacking in emotional resilience.* I agreed, and found the experience particularly stimulating because I tend to write from […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Change, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Light Bulb Moments, Work, tagged change, Department of Defense, embrace change, expat transition on July 29, 2011 | 10 Comments »
Once again, Maria over at I Was an Expat Wife has hit the proverbial nail on the head. She wrote a great piece recently Can Previous Expat Experience Help With Adjustment? that I hope you’ll take the chance to read. In it, she examines whether having prior expat experience can affect one’s ability to adjust […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Life Balance, Riveting Expat Reads, Third Culture Kids (TCKs), Expat Teens, tagged Barbara Schaetti, change, David Pollock, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, emotional resilience, expat, Robin Pascoe, Ruth Van Reken, Tina Quick, transitions on June 11, 2011 | 4 Comments »
I’ve been working on a five-part series on Emotional Resilience in Expat Life, and a couple days ago the second article, on Transitions & Change, was published on I Am Expat. As mentioned previously, emotional resilience is generally defined as being able to deal with and adapt to whatever challenges, setbacks and unpleasant curve balls […]
Posted in Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Family & Friends, Food and Drink, Life Balance, tagged celebrate, change, combining old and new, holidays on December 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
One thing you learn early on as an expat is that in order to celebrate the holidays, you have to recognize what rituals and traditions are absolutely essential. Yesterday an article I wrote on this very topic was published at http://www.iamexpat.nl. Certainly non-expats who move away from family and friends have to deal with similar issues. It’s just that as an […]
Posted in Change, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, tagged anger, change, compassion, improvement on December 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I was sipping my coffee this morning, reading various newspapers and blogs online. I happened upon an advice column. Now before you start rolling your eyes at the tendency of many advice-givers to deliver their ‘holier than thou’ prognostications, let me tell you. I enjoy this particular columnist (syndicated Carolyn Hax) precisely because she is […]
Posted in Change, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, tagged 2011, change, eliminating things, making changes, personal improvements on December 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
When I saw the prompt (from Sam Davidson) for Day 11 of the December Reverb10 challenge, I was very excited! Then a little anxious. Finally, a bit overwhelmed. Here’s the prompt: What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things […]
my read shelf:
