As we roll into May, signs of spring abound, although the temperature is taking its sweet time to warm up with any consistency here in southern Ontario. Hopefully soon! In the meantime, it’s time for my April 2025 roundup.

In addition to a goals update, my April 2025 roundup has terrific posts on the value of rituals, overcoming worry, and the health impacts of plastics.  

Happy reading!

Cool things I read in April

Since publishing my first monthly roundup at the end of 2020, it has been an honour to introduce you to some of my favourite bloggers. I started the roundup to say thank you to the blogging community and bring attention to talented writers who create inspiring and informative content.

Here are 3 pieces that captured my attention in April.

Rituals Are There to Support You – Retired, and Now What

In this terrific post, Caroline discusses the value of rituals, and how we can turn habits into rituals.

Unlike a habit that’s usually done without much thought (automatically), a ritual is done mindfully with your full attention. I used to think that rituals were only large, complex, and time-consuming activities that wouldn’t fit into my daily life. … But rituals can also be smaller activities that involve a few people, or only yourself.

Rituals Are There to Support You – Retired, and Now What

I Worried a Lot! – Dr. Gerald Stein

Are you a worrier? It sure feels like there’s a lot to worry about these days. In this thoughtful post, Dr. Stein provides thoughts on worry and ways to overcome it. And he treats us to a delightful poetry reading by Helena Bonham Carter.

We learned Alfred E. Neuman wasn’t an idiot after all. He realized that time is always short and one must make the best possible use without letting trepidation get in the way.

I Worried at Lot! – Dr. Gerald Stein

What are the Health Impacts of Plastic? – Yale Climate Connections

As the US President reverses single-use plastic bans, and Canada’s opposition leader threatened to do the same during our recent election campaign, we must all educate ourselves on the impact of these throwaway items on our health. Even if you don’t care about the planet, this post should make you very worried.

The phrase “more research is needed” is a familiar refrain when it comes to understanding the impact of plastic, in particular microplastics, on health. However, a growing foundation of evidence, including a detailed review by the Minderoo-Monoco Commission on Plastics and Human Health, lays out the case that there is enough evidence of harm to take action.

What are the Health Impacts of Plastic? – Yale Climate Connections

What I wrote in April

In case you missed any of them, here are the new posts I published in April here on Boomer Eco Crusader.

• What’s next for global climate agreements? – A Climate Change Collective post
• Stillness – A poem to restore calm
• The Sunday Spark – Cultivating a heart of service
• Buy Canadian from these terrific homegrown brands
• The Sunday Spark – Wishing you the hope of the Easter season
• Earth Day 2025 – Busting renewable energy myths
• The Sunday Spark – A thoughtful return to social media

Plus, I refreshed and republished these posts.

• Do you know the 5 Rs of waste reduction?
• Learn more with these Earth Day activities

And on my retirement coaching site Second Life Vision, I published How balance exercises help with healthy aging.

---

Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.

---

April goals update

April turned into a mixed month on the goals front. Let’s look at how things went.

Fitness goals

As I build toward 400 minutes a week of physical activity, my April goal was 325 minutes a week, along with 2 strength training sessions and 3 balance/flexibility sessions each week.

Lots of walking and hiking during our vacation helped me crush this one with an average of 378 minutes a week. I also met my goal of 2 weekly strength training sessions, but fell just short of my balance/flexibility goal with an average of 2.25 sessions a week.

Reading

I exceeded my goal of reading 4 books in April. Here’s what I read this month:

• Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
• Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old? by Richard Leider and David Shapiro
• Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
• Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn
• The Housemaid’s Wedding by Freida McFadden
• The Fathers, The Sons and The Anxious Ghost by Jamie Adams

Intentional living

As I shared in A thoughtful return to social media, I kept my break from personal social media going for a few days after Easter and put measures in place to limit my daily time on Instagram and Facebook.

Writing

After a solid month with my other goals, my writing goals for April were a bust. I didn’t make any progress of the first draft of my piece for a collaboration I’m working on. And I didn’t get to mapping out and planning my writing activities for the rest of the year.

My May goals

Here are my goals for this month.

• Fitness goals: After crushing it in April, I’ve increased my goal to 350 minutes of physical activity a week, along with 2 strength training and 3 balance/flexibility sessions every week.
• Reading: I expect May to be pretty busy, so I’m keeping my reading goal at 4 books for this month.
• Writing: The two writing goals I didn’t get to in April are back for May. First, I plan to turn the outline of my piece for a collaboration I’m working on into a first draft. And I’ll take some time to map out and plan my writing activities for the rest of the year.
• Other:
  • I’m counting on the weather warming up and our bathroom renovation finally being done so I can knock off the remaining tasks on my spring cleaning checklist.
  • And, I plan to refresh my retirement coaching overview webinar presentation and schedule a date to deliver it in June.

---

Thanks for dropping by to check out my April 2025 roundup. Do you have any exciting news to share? Drop me a comment below to let me know.