Creating Sparks That Last & All Things Relationships

How to fix dating shortfalls Image credit Tyler Nix via Unsplash The 3 Dating Tendencies Quite honestly, I think all relationships have a combination of Logan's 3 dating tendencies. The trick is to juggle each of them in equal measure. The Romanticizer: The reality is that there are no perfect relationships. Period. We have to accept that there are ups and downs in every single relationship on earth. Once we can accept that fact, it is easier to move towards improving the quality of our interactions without striving for perfection. The Maximizer: Whether it's you or your partner who has unrealistic expectations of the other, it's important to state your boundaries. That is the secret sauce to maintaining integrity in your relationships. Respectful boundaries deserve respect. The Hesitater: If your self-doubt is based on either of the above tendencies, you need to look at your 'why'. Once you appreciate your personality for its strengths you will have a deeper unders

Love is a commitment, not a feeling Quoted from Gretchen Rubin: My husband has to put up with me putting dirty dishes in the sink, not the dishwasher, and I have to put up with him buying more without seeing what we already have. Ask me how much soy sauce we have! And my daughter puts empty containers back in the fridge or cupboard. But love conquers all. What are your kitchen squabbles?   Below is a fabulous article from Grace Dent at The Guardian that epitomizes the nature of love and our commitment to those we love. https://www.betterapp.us/posts/12671688

Sometimes sombre, sometimes humorous, always enlightening Something wonderful is happening so I wanted to share the excitement with you. In 7 months I will be a published author! I have written my memoir which is an expansion of ‘Creating Sparks that Last,’ which you might already have read. If you haven’t, it’s available at the link in the top post; it will give you the backstory to my memoir. If you’re unable to access the link I’ll gladly email the ebook/pdf document to you. Anyway, back to my memoir, ‘En Route: The best is yet to be.’ In the unraveling of my inherent people-pleasing practices I uncover a hidden dragon within. This self-empowerment helps me give voice to my opinions; to speak up in trying times and to face adversity head on. From all this self-discovery I learn new ways of engaging in all my relationship dynamics. From siblings, to offspring, in-laws, parents and partner, I find my identity and mightily so! If you’d like the same empowerment for your life, register

It’s Not Funny Treating our mental health well like we should our physical health is a necessity. To this end, James and I indulged ourselves with a Gold Class movie night out. We went the whole hog as they say – pre-ordering snacks to be delivered to us periodically through the movie. Lounging back in our recliner chairs sipping on tannin rich merlot, the aroma swirling around my nostrils, I was basking in the sheer opulence.    These are important moments to take for ourselves, and each other.  The movie we chose was Joker. In light of a recent emotional meltdown I had had regarding my career, this was a particularly sensitive story for us to follow. It was a dark storyline with uncomfortable truths to follow, but oh so necessary for us as individuals and for the greater community as a universal whole. Doing something out of the ordinary, watching a movie out of the ordinary nudges us towards growth. Understanding of others. Tolerance towards others. Compassion towards our own state

 “ We meet ourselves in a thousand disguises on the path of life .” Carl Jung This is the end screen of a video that I tried valiantly to upload. It’s an introduction to my first date with my husband to give you a little backstory about how we met. If you’d like to listen, it will be uploaded on my Instagram and Facebook accounts. Both are named Elora Canne.  Facebook Instagram I was 18 when I got a call from this husky voiced man who I was immediately drawn to. Mutual friends had introduced us as I was too shy to ask anyone to my Year 12 Formal. I thought this 22 year old man epitomized the height of maturity for calling me ahead of the Year 12 Formal for a pre-date instead. This was to ensure we’d hit it off and not ruin the Formal. How considerate! How mature! On our pre-date there were 6 of us out for dinner and we had a merry time with a few glasses of wine (it’s legal at 18 in South Africa). My date offered me another glass of wine and in my prim and proper 18 year old voice I re

Stepping out of your comfort zone creates a new one Churchill Street Trail, Hobart Tasmania This was one of those date events that I initially really didn’t want to go on. Now before you cast me aside, hear me out. James wanted me to go away with him. Not being ungrateful here but there is always a lot to organize if I were to join James on our trip away. Okay I came to my senses and off we went to Hobart in Tasmania. Because we had time on our hands we chose to dedicate one entire day to our Date Event. Saturday morning began atop Mt Nelson. We felt like we had lost all hope of ever getting home. The mountain was crisp with the chill winter air. The mist surrounding us felt isolating. Wild. Churchill Street trail plumped up all of our senses and set them to vibrating with life. We slipped and slid down shiny slimy rocks and thick chocolatey mud, we trundled over sodden winter leaves trampled into the ground and trod with care over bridges decayed with age. Talk about stepping out of o

The Way to a Man’s Heart Image credit to Unsplash by Raissa Lara Lütolf Armed with a glass of velvety smooth Merlot and James with an ice cold beer we joined the hustle of talking, laughing guests standing around bar tables with our behinds perched on wire barstools. While it was fun to blend in with the loud and raucous customers around us, James and I longed for a space to sit comfortably where we could talk to each other instead of shouting at each other, albeit kindly. “Should we find somewhere else to have dinner?” James yelled at me. “Sure,” I screamed back into his ear. So much fun. Leaving the warmth of those cozy blankets behind, James and I headed for a restaurant with a water view on Darling Harbour. One of our favourites is Bungalow 8 and to our delight, they had revamped their eatery into private booth spaces.  Ours was particularly intimate with a sign that implored, “Please, no sledding.” Let me emphasize that the courtyard in question was no more than a two metre square