Once when my daughter was in college, we were driving down the freeway to some event. She was justifiably upset about something that had happened to her. We allowed her to rant, we validated her right to be angry, we agreed that an injustice had occurred, we offered solutions, but she was locked in a...
The other night at a local concert, singer-songwriter Maia Sharp talked about a conversation that took place when her long-term relationship was coming to an end. Her partner said, “You’re gonna make a nice girl miserable someday.” Maia must have gotten a certain look on her face, because her girlfriend then added, “Oh my God....
This post originally ran on Oct. 31, 2015, but it’s worth a revisit: Today is Halloween, which means you are no doubt getting ready for a party or filling your bowl with candy for the trick-or-treaters or, if you are the parent of a teenager, like me, cleaning your house before his/her friends arrive to...
I was chatting with a woman at a fundraiser about her career at our local university. She described several roles she’d played. “Wow,” I said. “You must have been there quite a while.” “Thirty-one years,” she said. By the tone in her voice, it was clear she felt that amount of time was significant, meaningful,...
A friend and I made a pact to focus on joy for 30 days. The funny thing is, after 18 months of pandemic, social and political unrest, climate disasters, and more, I was having trouble connecting to what brings me joy. I decided to focus on really simple, kinda silly things. At the top of...
I was listening to an old interview with Louise Hay on the Hay House podcast, You Can Heal Your Life. Louise said when people started coming to her for help, she noticed that all of their problems fell into four categories, money, health, relationships, and creativity. At first, she tried to address each category separately...
I’ve been taking a course sponsored by Mike Dooley (the guy who writes the daily Notes from the Universe). He shared some guidance he received while practicing channeling: “It’s more important to love life than to have fun.” He explained when you love life, fun is automatic. But if you decide to have fun, that’s...
Not long ago, 14-year-old Russell Horning, a.k.a. “The Backpack Kid”, originated a dance called “The Floss.” It’s a catchy little move sequence in which your straightened arms swing back and forth across your body while your hips move in a quick pendulum motion. When the dance first got popular, I asked my daughter to teach...
A friend loaned me the DVD, Evolve Your Brain: the Science of Changing Your Mind, by Dr. Joe Dispenza. I’m aware of Dr. Joe and have read one of his books, so I knew to expect some interesting science around how our minds and emotions create our lives, but about halfway through the lecture, he...
When I was a kid, I loved reruns of I Love Lucy. In one episode, Lucy and her gang are visiting Paris and she is arrested for unintentionally passing off counterfeit money. At the police station, no one speaks English. But Lucy’s husband, Ricky, speaks Spanish and English. A local drunk at the station speaks...