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As long as there are children, we must have hope. With every birth, a new beginning, an additional story and an opportunity for another dream to be realized.
As parents, grandparents, family members, and engaged adults with children, we have a unique opportunity to watch little ones growing and remember our own innocence and childhood dreams. Some things never change and curiosity and desire begin to germinate in early life. In the past weeks, four children, curious and gifted have expressed their sprouting talents that I’d like to share with you. My friend Mary Beth Stern’s 12-year-old granddaughter, Skylar, was recently featured in a book, The Ludlowe Light 2026, an annual magazine of selected students’ writings at her school in Connecticut. Through Mary Beth, I have watched Skylar’s curiosity blossom and her use of words develop exponentially. Here is her writing: Your Life is but a Painting by Skylar Stern A splash of orange for ambition, A blob of blue for strength, I wield the mighty paintbrush, An extension of my hand. Some purple for curiosity, And yellow for the joy. The canvas blooms with different hues, All of my own command. I add some green for bravery, And crimson for concern. A little here, a little there, All of my own accord. Your life is but a painting, So be the artist, not the muse. It will be yours, and only yours, No matter which paints you choose!
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A favorite client, in her eighties, still working as a therapist, a world traveler and weekend kayaker at nearby lakes, when asked what motivates her active life, answered with the quote, ‘When death finds me, let it find me living.”
I could not agree more and have decided to fully live and explore my community of Scottsdale and why it is frequently ranked as a top 10 city to live in for 2026. Scottsdale was ranked the 3rd happiest city in the US and named the #1 city for jobs in 2026 due to low unemployment and high quality of life. Whether living in Scottsdale or visiting, there is much to enjoy in one of the happiest cities in our country. Here is a short list of Scottsdale and surrounding areas to explore and enjoy: As another birthday approaches at the end of this month, I begin the process of taking inventory of the past year. Looking back and evaluating my “year at a glance” daily planner for appointments, progress, events, trips, relationships, celebrations, challenges, and of course, where and with whom I have spent my time, it becomes clear who I have become and what I have welcomed into my life in the past year. It’s not complicated to look at our lives objectively and begin to see the patterns in which we schedule our time and become who we are and move toward what we truly want. Beginning with our morning routines as simple as exercising, eating, listening to or reading the news or not, do we decide to greet the day or instead regret the day? Anticipating the workday, are we happy and satisfied in our environment and the people we work with, or do we feel a sense of frustration. I hope not. Every birthday reminds us how quickly life moves through us. At a Stanford University commencement speech, the late Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar, urged the graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life’s setbacks…. including death itself. He talked about the questions that he asked himself every morning for 33 years: “If today were the last day of the rest of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? And whenever the answers were ‘no’ for too many days, I knew I had to change something. Your time is limited. Don’t waste your time living someone else’s life."
Who we are is what we think about ourselves in our thinking time. What we desire to have in our lives is how we decide to spend our time imagining, creating and wanting more. Wanting more is the process for learning and growing for our future time. How about happiness in who we are? In his research on happiness, Shawn Achor, author, Harvard professor on human potential, asks the question: "How happy can we be? Why are some people happier than others? What makes the difference between one person to another? How happy can we truly be? The answer is simple; Happiness is experienced not by what happens in the world, but happiness is how your brain processes the world.” Again, the answers are obvious; we have only one choice in order to understand who we are, what we want, and how happy we want to be. Capture the current time, and add time to our days and weeks, by choosing to be who we are in this very moment. Enjoy your time………. it’s who we are and what we have. Love, Hilda How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you Spring Clean? One task at a time. While browsing the internet for a simple Spring-Cleaning Checklist, I discovered Abby Lawson’s Spring-Cleaning Checklist and Frequently Asked Questions. “What month should you start spring cleaning? Though you can start spring cleaning whenever it best fits your schedule, beginning on or around March 20th– the first day of spring– is a good rule of thumb. Most people complete their spring-cleaning tasks in March and April. How do I know how often I should be cleaning each area? There are some cleaning tasks that should be done daily, some that should be done weekly, others that can be done quarterly, and still other cleaning tasks that should be completed yearly. Do people still do spring cleaning? Absolutely! With more people working from home than ever, it is especially important to make sure that we have a clean, healthy environment in which to spend our time.”
March is considered a windy month primarily because it is a transitional season where the atmosphere struggles to balance warming air from the south with cold, retreating winter air from the north. This intense temperature contrast creates steep pressure gradients, resulting in high-speed, gusty winds. March serves as the bridge between winter and spring, creating a volatile atmosphere.
Like consistent weather patterns, our lives exhibit the balance of retreating cooler times with gusting warming winds of events, through our entire lifetime. Circumstances change in everyone’s life, no matter who you are, good and bad, right or wrong exist and the seasons come and go, and nothing lasts forever. Yet we persist in being surprised when our cool and calm personal temperature advances into high speed and gusty winds. In my continual search for interesting ideas, I explore classes, books, movies, documentaries, podcasts, politics, and presentations, including talks at church.
For the month of December, our church pastors explored the subject of ‘Good Friends’, the friends that shape you, the friends that shape your future, and how friendships start with taking initiative and why being present matters most. Here are a few initial aspects I’ve gathered from the weekly presentations. The quality of friends you have reveals the kind of friend you are. Which are the four most popular TV shows on friendship of our lifetime? Mash came in at # 1 - an American war comedy drama television series based on the Korean War aired from September 1972 to February 1983 Cheers, at # 2 – a show about nothing but good friends based in a Boston bar where locals gathered aired for eleven seasons from September 1982 to Mary 1993. Coming in at # 3 Seinfeld started with a pilot episode July 1989 and launched as a regular series in May 1990 to 1998 about the continuing misadventures of neurotic New York City stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally phobic New York City friends. Friends came in at # 4 from September 1994 to May 2004. An American sitcom becoming a cultural phenomenon about six young adults in New York City, known for its relatable characters and memorable storylines. It’s hard to remember life before cell phones. When we were together, we were to gather with each other. Families looked at each other across the dinner table and talked to one another. Riding in a car with friends meant talking to each other and if you didn’t know or remember something, you asked a real person, or looked it up on Encyclopedia Britannica, which engaged your brain, and you didn’t go straight to Google, without engaging the brain.
Like the frog boiling in hot water slowly, not noticing the water getting hotter, we have taken to the lonely-hearts club without warning. Yes, numerous reports and surveys suggest people are experiencing higher levels of loneliness than ever, often described as the loneliness epidemic. Contributing factors include societal individualism, the changing nature of work, and a shift towards more digital and superficial connections. In a time when we appear to be inexplicably divided, I believe we have more that unites us than divides us. We have reasons to be in agreement and in consideration to work together for the good of all, more than ever.
At our core, we all want peace of mind. Not only in our homes and external relationships but in everyday dealings with life circumstances. Getting along with others begins with us. At the very least, considering a ‘response’ instead of a ‘reaction’ could establish a peaceful conversation and resolution. We care about our health and the wellbeing of those who we care about. Who doesn’t want to feel good and be happy? We enjoy good jokes and love laughing out loud and hearing a feel-good story. Nothing spells happiness like a great romantic novel or movie or series with interesting and positive characters solving the age-old problems of cracking a crime or falling in love and rendering a happy ending. Call me old fashioned, but most still love a good ending. In February of this year, I attended Scottsdale Government 101. For 10 weeks, 40 participants were presented with numerous departments that organize building, maintaining and managing our city. The presenters ranged from City Council Members to the department heads of Tourism, Planning, Fire, Police, Water Resources, Zoning, Parks & Recreation, and Courts, including a tour of the Scottsdale Jail. The classes were informative and interesting and gave us an inside view of what it takes to run our city. There was much I didn’t know.
The classes were so thought-provoking and educational, I decided to register for the Scottsdale Citizens Police Academy. My friend Isabel, another perpetual student, and I are like moths to light, drawn to Wednesday evenings from 5 to 8 to discover the foundations of the Police Department. Each week the classes include presentations by 3 departments. For instance, Week 1 was our welcome by the officer who would remain with us during the entire duration. He presented the Body Camera Program followed by the Officer Training Unit. The Body Camera is now required as part of the officer’s uniform. Now I know. According to the Mayo Clinic Staff, the obvious benefits of walking are: Maintain a healthy weight and lose body fat; prevent or manage various conditions, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer and type 2 diabetes; improve cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones and muscles; improve muscle endurance, increase energy levels, improve mood, cognition, memory and sleep; recover balance and coordination; strengthen immune system and reduce stress and tension.
My thoughts on walking: There is knowing when to walk away just before saying something you will regret! I haven’t yet mastered this walk away before saying it, my timing is still off but getting better. In the 1960’s Dionne Warwick sang the hit song, "Walk on by". Part of falling in love includes the pain of failing at love. The song still brings back memories of the heart ache of love as a teenager. If we knew then what we know now, perhaps we would have "Walked on by" sooner. Walking the floor for those who enjoy worry walking. As if walking makes it easier. And according to the Mayo Clinic Staff, walking does reduce stress and tension…. walk away my friend. Walk the Talk. it’s not easy to align our behavior while becoming who we want to be. It takes failing, regrouping, recovering, and learning to communicate who we are, walking the talk. Don’t stop walking and observe the talk. |
AuthorHilda Villaverde is the owner manager and stylist at Pluma Designs, a hair salon studio in Scottsdale, AZ. A recognized public speaker, Hilda earned her Doctorate in Religious Studies with a minor in Pastoral Counseling from Emerson Institute. Archives
July 2026
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