George and Rachel Barker – Don't Be A Cow

Why is Smiling so Important to Being Happy? I’ll give you 3 reasons

Written by George and Rachel Barker on March 5, 2020. Posted in George's Happiness Blog. Leave a Comment

I’ve found it interesting, and yet so true, what smiling can do for your life. In fact, I have found it so amusing that when I stop and think about it long enough it actually makes me chuckle. This mongoose is here because he’s funny. I’ll never forget, many years ago, thumbing through books at a local copy shop while waiting (patiently, of course) for my copies to be ready. I came across a book entitled Convince them in 90 seconds by Nicholas Boothman. As I was flipping through...

Stop and Smell the Flowers

Written by George and Rachel Barker on February 24, 2020. Posted in Live Happy. Live Well.. Leave a Comment

On our blog for Valentine’s Day we suggested to “Stop and Smell the Roses.” Here’s an absolutely wonderful story and some photographs captured in June 2019. [Article published on DIYPhotography.Net. Original link below] PHOTOGRAPHER CAPTURES THE CUTEST SQUIRREL EMBRACING AND SMELLING A FLOWER February 12, 2020 by Ole Henrik Skjelstad You know that humans enjoy smelling flowers, its not a big surprise. A squirrel enjoying an intimate moment with a flower is way rarer....

Can Roses Really Bring Happiness? Absolutely!

Written by George and Rachel Barker on February 13, 2020. Posted in George's Happiness Blog. 2 Comments

Valentines and Roses Because of the time of year, I know where many of your think I’m going with this message. But, trust me, this is not a blog promoting the florist industry (well not exactly)! The Soul of the Rose (1908) – John William Waterhouse We are all familiar with the phrase “stop and smell the roses.” It’s one of those time-tested phrases that I’m sure we’ve all heard and have probably even said a time or two. And yes, we all know it to be true, but do we believe in it enough...

Is there really such a thing as Easy Street?

Written by George and Rachel Barker on February 5, 2020. Posted in George's Happiness Blog. Leave a Comment

I always imagined that Easy Street was this place… where faucets never dripped, lawns never got weeds, the houses never required painting, all the neighbors got along and frequently had BBQ’s, and pets never defecated. Well, it just so happens that one time I did actually find myself on Easy Street. It was a hot and steamy July day in a small town in South Carolina. This was many, many years ago (15?20?) and I was inventorying trees* on the city’s rights of way. As a consulting Arborist/Forester,...

Positively Positive

Written by George and Rachel Barker on January 22, 2020. Posted in George's Happiness Blog. Leave a Comment

It has always been amazing to me … … how easy it is to pick up words and phrases that are tossed around in society. It’s funny because I have noticed that often when I first hear one of these words or phrases I don’t even like it; I start using it in a mocking way. Then the next thing I know without even being conscious of it, I’m using the word with regularity. To make it even worse, most of these words carry negative connotations with them especially in the context...

Two resolutions that will bring about real, positive change

Written by George and Rachel Barker on January 7, 2020. Posted in George's Happiness Blog. Leave a Comment

It’s been a week. How ya doin’? What I find so comical about New Year’s resolutions is that we spend as much time discussing how long it will be before they are broken as we do the resolutions themselves. It’s almost as if we are setting ourselves up for failure right from the very start. Now I realize that many of these resolutions are made in fun and probably after too much New Year’s Eve cheer, but let me offer an alternative that may actually bring more happiness...

… Merry Christmas!

Written by George and Rachel Barker on December 23, 2019. Posted in George's Happiness Blog. Leave a Comment

Do You Ever Feel Like This Poor Little Pine Tree?

Written by George and Rachel Barker on December 15, 2019. Posted in George's Happiness Blog. 1 Comment

We have a nice little walking trail around our yard. Part of this trail goes between a few rows of pine trees that we planted many, many years ago. After our original planting, we came back years later and filled in some holes with more pines. Because the original trees had a head start, the younger trees have grown slowly as they compete for sunlight and nutrients. Although they have been slow growing they have maintained a good level of vigor and health. That is until recently. A few weeks ago,...

Is It Really Thanksgiving Already?

Written by George and Rachel Barker on November 27, 2019. Posted in George's Happiness Blog. Leave a Comment

Yes, that’s right … Thanksgiving is here. It seems that this year I’ve heard more than the normal amount of people shocked that it is already upon us, and this year, it is actually late. I can’t help but to think how Thanksgiving has changed here in the 21st century. If for no other reason, I can point to how Black Friday now begins on Thursday (yet we still call it Black Friday- I digress). No, I’m not going to go on about commercialism, there are enough others who...

Share a Smile Today. Have We Become an ‘Unfriendly’ Society?

Written by George and Rachel Barker on November 19, 2019. Posted in George's Happiness Blog. 1 Comment

Share A Smile Today! Has Society Become Less Friendly? And have you ever witnessed the Power of a Smile and a Friendly Gesture? Today, people spend so much time connected to their electronic devices that they rarely see the world around them. Not only do we have laws forbidding people to use their phones while driving, in many metropolitan areas there are signs on the sidewalks telling pedestrians to put their phones away and pay attention. Has this led to a society that walks through life with...

Author: George and Rachel Barker