“I have found that if you love life, life will love you back!”
—Arthur Rubinstein—

I know. It’s February, the month when love takes the spotlight. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you are a Miss, Mrs., or Ms., February can be a tough month to get through. There are so many expectations surrounding Valentine’s Day, many begin to compare their relationship—or lack of a relationship—to the unrealistic romantic fiction coming out of Hollywood, or to the love birds who constantly post their never-ending happiness on social media.

However, this month doesn’t have to be difficult. There are so many aspects of love to celebrate and so much more to the whole love thing than just being in a relationship. This year, whether you are involved in a great love affair or not, celebrate love for all it can be. Don’t let this month be anything but a reason to celebrate, for love is a many splendid thing. Here are some ideas:

Life deals out situations that can be stressful. Maybe not always quite as stressful as the last few years, but nonetheless, we all experience ups and downs, of which both can heighten stress. However, there is another kind of stress we all endure—self-imposed stress. Completely unnecessary, but we do it anyway.

What? You don’t think YOU add stress to your life? Let me give you an example: When is the last time you carried only two bags of groceries—one in each hand— into the house after shopping? Probably when you only bought two bags of groceries. Otherwise, you more than likely attempt to carry most of them at once, which is stressful. Carrying all those bags at once creates pain and chaos, thus escalating stress and frustration! And, for what? To avoid that dreadful 23-foot walk back and forth to your car?

I have a surprise for you, especially those of you who are interested in writing!

This past fall, Lynne Miller, Trustee Liaison, Public Library Foundation of Beaufort County, and Linda Farrenkopf, President of Hilton Head Branch Friends of the Library, put their heads together to create an Artist-in-Residency program at the Beaufort County Library System. They took their idea to Beaufort County Library Director Amanda Dickman, who had been thinking of the same thing. These like minds came together to make this idea a reality.

Thanks to a grant from The Public Library Foundation of Beaufort County, the Beaufort County Library has announced that its first Artist-in-Residency program will begin later this month. I am honored to announce they chose ME as the inaugural Artist-in-Residence.

“Folks are usually about
as happy as they make
their minds up to be.”
—Abraham Lincoln—

As a species, we humans are always glad to put things behind us. I vividly remember New Year’s Eve on December 31, 2019, as everyone was “beyond ready” to leave 2019 in the dust. Sayonara 2019; you sucked! The year 2020 was bound to be better and more promising. Well, that didn’t work out, and I can’t even remember what was so wrong with 2019 that we all wanted it to go away. Can you?

The truth is life is hard. Every year has good and bad moments. That’s how life is, right when you think you can make a good run for it, you break your foot or get a flat tire. However, in the grand scheme of our planet, Americans, especially those of us who are lucky enough to live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, have it pretty good, even on a bad day. We have access to clean water, good medical care, overall friendly people, a variety of churches with the freedom to attend which ever one we want—or not at all. We have delicious, fresh, clean seafood, beautiful landscapes, every modern-day convenience, and even on the worst day, we can drive across the bridge, look out at a stunning sprawling view and know we are home. Some days we even get to see a dolphin or two welcoming us.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Oh wait. That was last month. But…it is the most wonderful time of the year to lose weight. I know that’s your New Year’s resolution. I also know 87.3 percent of those who set weight loss as a New Year’s resolution, do not succeed. Why? Well, the real reason is weight loss is a mental game. If you’re not ready mentally, it’s just not going to happen. But this year let’s blame it on something else and take the pressure off. People don’t stick to their weight loss goals because it’s all become just too complicated and confusing.

Weight loss truly has become over complicated. It’s a gazillion dollar industry that offers an equal gazillion paths to success. However, they all have one thing in common: You HAVE to change your eating habits. Back in the day, when I went on my first diet (I think I was 12-years-old.), it was all about calories. The basic premise was if you consumed less calories than your body needed to function, you would lose weight. In fact, once a deficit of approximately 3,400 calories was reached, a pound was lost—not that complicated, right?