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summer slides into sweet autumn

Posted on Sept. 21 2009 by Kate Fagan Taylor, executive director.

This morning at Queenswood, we felt a tang in the morning air, and heard the soft honking of geese drifting across the sky.    As I walked into the building I met Sister Mary Ellen, one of our garden volunteers, taking her cart and rake in hand to begin cleaning leaves out of flower beds. With just a few more weeks of warmth to enjoy summer's blossoms, we'll soon be pulling on sweaters and thinking about the coming holidays.  In my family, we're just starting to think about where we will have Thanksgiving dinner, and who will cook which part of the feast.

Each family has their own recipes and flavours of Thanksgiving. For one friend of mine, it's sweet potatoes, carmelized  with marshmallows. For me, turkey stuffing (which translates as "dressing" for some families) only tastes like real stuffing when it's made according to my grandmother's recipe, accompanied by her classic Cape Cod cranberry sauce. 

Thanksgiving recipes are about more than flavour-- they are about memory, love, connection and belonging.  They help us think about life recipes for happiness and love. 

I still remember a retreat I took a decade ago with a spiritual director who advised me to begin each period of prayer and meditation in a very specific way: by opening my heart to feelings of gratitude.   As days went by, each time I did so, it seemed I could feel my heart physically grow warmer and open like a flower to the warm light of love. My experience on this retreat  seemed to leave my heart flooded with love, more open, bigger, and more able to embrace life.  This experience of gratitude continues to be a gift that is always there, available at any moment, if I open my heart to receive it. 

Like all good recipes, just writing about this one is making me hungry!

As the scents and sights of autumn begin to enfold us, I hope I'll keep remembering to enjoy the feast of thanksgiving every day.

 

 

workplace wellness programs important during economic downturn, reveals buck consultants survey

Posted on Sept. 20, 2009 by Stefan Jonsson, Programs and Marketing Coordinator

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Many employers are increasing their employee wellness communications and most
expect wellness budget cuts will be no greater than other cutbacks, because
these programs help employees cope with issues brought about by the economic
downturn. These are among the survey findings released today by Buck
Consultants, an ACS company and one of the world`s leading human resource and
benefits consulting firms.

"Despite pressure to reduce costs in many other areas of operations, 45 percent
of respondents report increasing their wellness communications to highlight
available services that can assist employees with issues brought on by the
economic downturn," said Ruth Hunt, a principal in Buck`s Communication practice
who co-directed the survey. Areas of support include Employee Assistance Plan
counseling for stress or depression, and the need for financial planning
resources.

Buck conducted its interactive audience survey with employer delegates attending
the 4th Annual Employer Health & Human Capital Congress, held in February 2009.

"Our findings suggest that wellness has `come of age` as a vital benefit
offering, especially during financially difficult times," said Barry Hall, Buck
principal and global wellness leader who also directed the survey. "Since the
onset of the financial crisis, workers` use of wellness services has increased
for 53 percent of respondents, and only five percent have seen a decrease."

Read the rest of the article here.