This is a follow-up to Episode 30, which is titled "Less Stress, More Happiness." In that episode, I talked about a simple daily practice that I learned from a friend. Entailing only a breath in and a breath out followed by a short, declarative statement, it's incredibly useful in lifting one's focus from stressful thoughts to higher, happier ones.

I have found, though, that sometimes I want to embellish what is already a powerful statement, so that's what this episode is all about.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

This short essay is the second in an as yet undetermined number of episodes in my "What if ..." series. The first episode also launched Everyday Creation, which debuted in early February 2024. However, I rewrote and re-recorded that episode so many times — I truly lost count — that it took me nine months, off and on, to get it to the point where I was ready to move on to the second in the series .

I say all this to explain why the first "What if ..." is Episode 1 and this one is Episode 68. Quite a spread between the two, isn't there?

In the interim, I did a couple of related essays, though they're titled differently. If you want to check them out too, they're Episodes 55 and 57: "Smile on a Summer's Day" and "Picturing a Kinder, Gentler World," respectively.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

This is the first of four excerpts from a longer interview with family medicine physician Adeola Fakolade, MD. In this short episode, Adeola traces her path from Nigeria to the U.S.

The full interview with Adeola is episode 62, and the other excerpts are episodes 65, 66 and 67.

Hope you enjoy listening to this accomplished professional who's good-humored, personable and a delightful teller of her stories.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.