Inspiration

Cultivating Creativity

5 Practices to Foster the Creative Spirit  Creativity touches all aspects of our lives: writing or woodworking or drawing, cooking in the kitchen, decorating our homes, planting a garden, nurturing relationships, thinking outside the box to solve a problem, and on it goes. While I did have writers in mind when drafting this article, I […]

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True Gifts

The Something of No-Thing~~~ Today I remembered a folktale from my youth about a happy man and his shirt. In the story a king sent his men to find a happy man and bring him his shirt so the king could be happy too. When the king’s men finally find a happy man, they learn

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The Lioness

Present and Presence~~~   I am the lioness Sinewy and steadily I make my way Along the woods line On my left Aware Alert I cross the field To my right Stride down the hill And across the narrow stream My paws refreshed Up to my shelter Greeted by my cubs We lie together beneath

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On Relationships

A Reminder About the Green Grass~~~ Stuff happens. Communication breaks down. Misunderstandings arise. We feel hurt, unseen, unheard, unappreciated, disrespected, unloved even. I liken this to a sports game. Just because there is a foul does not mean we give up on the game. Sometimes we need to just move on and play through.Sometimes we

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A Rhyme and a Reason: For the children and the flowers.

A Rhyme and a Reason: For the children and the flowers. 02/23/2023 At my sister’s on Christmas Day we started talking about American singer-songwriter John Denver. Seeing him in concert years ago inspired by brother-in-love to get a 12-string acoustic guitar and start playing and singing. Naturally, John Denver songs are among his favorites and

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Closer in Death Than in Life: Reflections on a father’s 80th birthday in heaven.

July 12th. My dad would have been 80 years old today. Who knew that my health fanatic father who would not allow me or my siblings to eat sugar or drink soda, except on a birthday or holiday, and who would drink the spinach water from the cooked spinach for its nutrient value, and who

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Motivation 101: Dangling a carrot in the age of Covid.

A special twenty-two-year-old college student, like a niece to me, shared her woes about distance learning online and some on-site learning but with Covid restrictions and not feeling in a groove nor motivated to “hit the books.” This young lady was the speaker at her high school commencement, in the Honor Society, and a natural-born

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The Power to Effect Change: How we can create big changes using simple shifts.

With so much mayhem in 2020, so many of us are feeling helpless and hopeless. So much feels out of our control. While we embrace the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference, I am here to tell you

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Celebrating the Oh Well: The spaghetti squash incident and surviving the unexpected.

Hiss.  The oven is sending out an SOS. I open the door to see the spaghetti squash, which I bake whole, dripping some liquid from its insides onto the bottom of the oven. This has never happened before. I must have overcooked it. Oh well. Lesson learned for future endeavors: always cook the squash in a

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Minneapolis Mirror: Being the change we wish to see.

Outcries for justice and enough already pervade the psyche of the nation and the world. The word “racism” seems to have become a trigger word for people of all races, those who have historically been a target of racial biases, those who have been bystanders as well as upstanders, and even those who may perpetuate

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On Shadows

I used to tell Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” to my English students. I’d start with a sketch on the blackboard. My artistic rendition always left much to be desired but it gave them a reference for the narrative. These people are in a dark cave from birth and have been chained to face the

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My Geraniums

Late fall before the first frost, I take my potted geranium plants into the basement to hibernate for the winter. I put them on a shelf that is next to a west-facing window. Then I cease from watering or taking care of them in any way until spring.  When the weather warms up, I clean

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Ou’ est Notre Dame?

It was true for me too. The first landmark I sought out when in Paris over thirty-four years ago now was Notre Dame.  I was with my college teacher education buddy Karen who talked me into backpacking Europe for a month on an Interrail pass which was the equivalent to the Eurail pass that allowed

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Simple Reminders

I was at yoga class this morning. I love my yoga classes. There are many styles of yoga. I go for the gentle stretch and flow classes where we also hold positions to really get into the stretching and strengthening and balancing. Today I observed that in the midst of being one with my breath

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Little Things

Warm comfortable socks, a soft sweater and cozy blanket, heat from the fireplace on my face. Fresh coffee brewing. The sun rising over the mountain sprinkling sunshine down through the front windows, the first sparkly snow on the ground, a loved one’s smile. The purring of cuddly kitties, the music of the morning birds at

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Spring Scene

I am on a stay-cation this week and a spring cleaning is feeling just right. Lots of greens to eat, a castor oil pack, and sea salt baths. Time to walk outside every day and breathe in fresh air and absorb vitamin D, very necessary after a long, cold, snowy winter. Opening the windows in

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Right Here Now

I love yoga.  I prefer the gentle stretch and restorative yoga classes.  While stretching and strengthening me, they are also helping me slow down and connect with my body and just be. The world is so full of doing that I welcome the being.  My first book The Sea Slug is in part about this.

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The Christmas Closet

I have what I call my Christmas Closet. It’s a simple rustic closet in my guest room. It does remind me of the simple rustic beginnings of this holiday. All year long I squirrel things away. When I see just the right something for someone, I put it in this closet. This past weekend I went

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Be the Gratitude

It was maybe ten years ago now.  It was summertime, and I was in my kitchen at the sink looking out the window at the beauty out back. I suddenly realized I had been in a deep, still, joyous place for most of the day and thought, I should give thanks.  That thought and the

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You’re Almost There

Recently I hiked up a very steep and stepped part of the Appalachian Trail.   I had no idea how challenging it would be.  Along the way, an experienced hiker hung back from the group with me as I alternated between catching my breath and climbing gingerly. Occasionally, hikers coming down would pass us. “How much

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Be Brave

Without any preparation or much forewarning, I ended up on stage earlier this year at an evening rock concert before an audience of middle and high school students and their families.  I was front and center with several musician colleagues of mine, singing and playing the tambourine and having so much fun! After that weekend, my

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