Life Lessons

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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Shine On

A deadly weapon gets into the hands of a troubled teen and seventeen people die with others wounded and a town, a county, a state, and a nation reel from the shock of it all. Our world got loud. We didn’t hear the whispers so life had to shout:Take care of the children.Heed the warning

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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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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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