Author: Megan Davia Mikhail
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Roll Tide
After having spent a significantly longer amount of time in traffic in Sweet Home Alabama over the past week on our family driving trip, I had to look up the phrase, “Roll Tide.” What I found I liked. Other than the official greeting and cheer for the University of Alabama, this phrase can also refer…
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One Year Later
The flashback to last year this time is real. What the feelings were, the mood in the air, the strangeness of the unknowns surrounding COVID-19, are all coming back to me now. It’s happening to everyone I talk to. In step with the spring bulbs appearing, the memories of last year are unveiling themselves every…
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State of Wonder
Wonder, a noun: “a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable” – Definition from Oxford Languages. In anticipation of possibly soon visiting Ann Patchett’s bookstore in Nashville, Tennessee, who is one of my favorite author’s, I pay homage to her excellent book of the same name with the…
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Perspective on Life
Having gone through the process of letting go of my mom here on Earth and living on since her death in 2019, I wonder now how much of the experience was a gift from her. For example, she taught me to fight cancer for as long as humanly possible. She taught me grace while I…
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2 Reasons Why Walking Outside Provides Well-Being Benefits
A walk in the woods or on the beach is ideal, but walking outside in any elements can provide a boost in mood and spark creative thinking.
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The Pandemic Hijacked Everyone’s Lives
Finding Avenues of Healing Mentally and Emotionally from the Pandemic
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“Tend and Befriend” to Tear Down Your Pandemic Wall
The “Tend and Befriend theory” is an amazing scientific encapsulation of the positive well-being phenomenon we experience when we take care of our family and friends (tend) and reach out socially to others (befriend).
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Collection: Thrive Global
Thank you to Thrive Global for publishing these Keen Living articles. To make the articles more easily accessible, links will be collected and listed here at Keen Living with the most current article first. If you haven’t subscribed to Keen Living at www.megandaviamikhail.com yet, please do, and you will receive articles as soon as they…
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Building Resiliency
Resiliency is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as, “the ability to recover from or adjust easily to adversity or change.”
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Maria Shriver: Exemplifying Keen Living
“I’ve always seen myself as the kind of person who puts my heart and soul into whatever is before me. It’s something that has always made me feel alive and given me purpose, identity, and meaning. I’ve given my all to my mothering, my family, my work, and my service.” Maria Shriver. January 24, 2021. …
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Persevering with an Exercise Routine
Last year around this same time, I posted on Keen Living about how I started an exercise routine and how to start your own – see January 16, 2020 post for more. What a difference a year makes…no longer am I a gym member due to the restrictions of COVID-19, and at some point these…
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Comparative: Ann Patchett’s “Commonwealth” and “The Dutch House” – Part 2: Forgiveness
In part two of this comparative, the theme of forgiveness will be discussed. Ann Patchett has written these two novels, summaries below,[i] to deal with sibling relationships. What sibling relationship doesn’t have the element of forgiveness woven intricately throughout it? Of course, this process can be dealt with in different ways, and Ann Patchett recognizes…
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Comparative: Ann Patchett’s “Commonwealth” and “The Dutch House” – Part 1: The Sibling Bond
When I first started reading Ann Patchett’s writing, it came from the buzz surrounding her books, specifically, “State of Wonder.” I felt like the people I spoke with who had read her books were filled with excitement when they spoke about her. Without hesitation, the response from a reader of hers is a response of…
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Comparative: William Kent Krueger’s “This Tender Land” and “Ordinary Grace” – Part 3: From Innocence Springs Truth
Welcome back if you have read parts 1 and 2, and welcome if you have not! I will include two short summaries[i] of the books below in the footnotes, if needed. In this series, I am focusing on the intersection in both books of the following themes: the history and treatment of Native American Indians,…
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Comparative: William Kent Krueger’s “This Tender Land” and “Ordinary Grace” – Part 2: Disabilities and Abilities
Welcome back if you have read part 1, and welcome if you have not! I will include two short summaries[i] of the books below in the footnotes, if needed. In this series, I am focusing on the intersection in both books of the following themes: the history and treatment of Native American Indians, characters with…
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