As you may know, I’m not one for making New Year’s resolutions. Why wait until January 1 to start improving yourself or your life? I’m really good at maintaining healthy new habits, when I feel motivated to do so. But my motivation can strike at any time. Plus, too many New Year’s resolutions are either...
I’ve been meeting lately with holistic healer and coach, Brenda Carey, partly because I’ve become interested in Ayurvedic medicine and partly because after a year and a half spent on sabbatical working to get my mental and physical health back on track, I was starting to become busy again. This time, I wanted to be...
This will be a short post today. I just returned from a three-week vacation to our beloved rental cottage in southwest Ireland. On the fifth day of our trip, I fell and cracked my collarbone. I spent the rest of the vacation in a sling. I’m healing well now, but still mostly typing with one...
I was listening to an interview with brilliant children’s author, Kate DiCamillo, on the On Being Podcast. She told a story of a little boy who was leaning heavily on her while she signed his book. His mother said, “Don’t lean on her, honey.” And the boy answered, “It’s okay, Mom, she knows me.” This...
When I was very young, my brother and I were watching the Jerry Lewis telethon on Labor Day weekend. The local news station had a big fish tank set up outside a hotel and was asking people to come drop off change to help the telethon. My brother and I begged my mom to drive...
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...
I heard mention the other day of the concept of “becoming a hollow bone.” I did a bit of internet research and found that Frank Fools Crow, a revered Lakota Holy Man, said in his work as a healer, he became like a hollow bone in order to be a source for all creation to...
It was pointed out to me by a trusted source that “uncertainty” has settled into my body in unhealthy ways. I wasn’t surprised to hear it. After all, there’s been a lot of uncertainty these past few years for all of us, especially in 2020. In order to loosen the hold uncertainty has had on...
I looked up a quote I heard the other day attributed to Frederick Buechner and this is what I found: “Vocation is the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” His words struck a chord given that I’ve been spending an enormous amount of time in this upside-down world of 2020 trying...
Having worked for years as a writer’s coach, webinar presenter, and speaker, I often run into people who’ve taken a class from me or heard me speak about the importance of making time for their art. They often seem happy to see me, yet can’t quite look me in the eye. And then comes the...