Awareness greets me each morning, asking, “How will you walk through today?” Almost always, I answer boldly, listing the connections I want to make or projects I’d like to accomplish, desiring to make an impact in the next twenty-four hours. But, on occasion, I whisper, “I have no idea, “my tank is already nearly empty, […]
Category Archives: awareness
Bliss: euphoria, blessedness, felicity, gladness, joy, paradise. Stress: pressure, agony, dread, worry, disquiet, hardship. Your experiences, mindset, and environments color every part of your reality in this life, and how you treat yourself—whether that’s self-flogging and constantly putting yourself last or self-healing and saying “yes,” to the universe—creates a path. I’m not unrealistic enough to […]
In our lifetimes, most of us wear many hats: parent, grandparent, sister, brother, friend, politician, nurse, writer, partner, artist, banker, chef—the list can be never-ending. What are your roles? Are there many in each day? Under those hats, we sometimes put on masks: serious, happy, fulfilled, peaceful, available, generous, confident, approachable, knowledgeable—this list, too, goes […]
This is a story about the goodness of humans mixed with the apprehension of challenges. I love people. I’ve had primarily beautiful experiences with fellow humans. (Of course, there’ve been dark days when I’ve been scared, hurt, or felt like I was going it alone. I imagine some of you may have experienced that too.) […]
Sometimes, I feel like I’m in perpetual “Groundhog Day” (like the 1993 movie Bill Murray starred in). Each set of twenty-four hours seems like a repetition of the one before—learned patterns, a sense of life impotence, the same mundanity or routine. Yet, lying in bed this morning at 6:00, awoken by a jarring alarm, I […]
Time is an incredibly fleeting reality, yet my brain is often on overdrive despite my consciousness of the unhealthiness of that! Thinking about how months, years, and decades fly by, I’ve been contemplating an awareness held for a long time: abundance. All we need to do is turn on the news to see the scarcity that is […]
Apprehension. Unease. Doubt. Anxieties many people I know experience, just as I do. How do we handle angst or process the restless feeling that, for many, often permeates day-to-day life? Years ago, my friend Jill said to me, “We want to know what’s going on in our world, but what we read or hear frightens us, we […]
Awareness and acknowledgment may seem inconsequential, but, in reality, they make a significant difference in our planet’s energy. I’ve always been mindful of sharing what I think if it’s something positive and will walk up to perfect strangers and compliment their hair or outfit or the cuteness of their child and never once has it not elicited a […]
As I sit facing the east, in my quiet time with God and my tea, I see the maple tree as the sun rises each morning. She was here before me—graceful and sturdy, a beautiful paradox. My grandchildren used to climb her branches, and each autumn, they would jump in piles of her vibrant, fallen […]
World Awareness:Children in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya are starving to death while many in our country throw food away. Often, we avoid the images of emaciated humans turning instead to gaze at our beautiful homes with televisions, beds to sleep on, and cabinets and refrigerators overflowing with food, as others watch their children die, helpless […]
One beautiful morning, I turned onto a recently repaved, free of debris road without potholes typical of many thoroughfares with scorching and freezing weather. It was a peaceful drive made better by the smoothness of the street. (It’s often the little things that make us smile.) Significant issues must be remediated before laying new asphalt, creating a pothole, ruts, […]
N.b.: The topic of this post is weighty, spurred on by the massacre in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday. I understand if this is too sensitive for you to read, and respect that your perspective may be different from mine. “Death is part of life.” Five syllables that seem elementary when part of a big-picture conversation […]
Recently, I came across one of my granddaughter’s old books, titled “Inside Out.” It reminded me that we employ different inside and outside voices (and faces) depending on where we are or who we’re with. Often, we’re completely immersed in our material realities, not observing ourselves from the inside out. Sometimes we don’t even acknowledge the parts […]
I was asked by a friend, doing research, some “life queries.” Her questions and my responses follow. Question: What keeps me up at night? Answers: • Nightmares (literally); had one again last night despite being completely violence averse. • Trying to figure out what I’m called to do with the rest of this life. […]
People who wear makeup have been to “beauty bars.” Sometimes they’re swanky shops with perfectly coiffed artists just waiting to paint you in the colors of their choice. Other times, the beauty bar is in a chain store or pharmacy, where you stand perplexed by the hundreds of items promising to make you look “better,” or […]
Awarenesses from an unusually balmy autumn day last week. I sit on the unroofed porch, listening, pondering, observing—a citizen of this world, alone; the sun shining unusually brilliant; maybe that’s just my imagination, but I don’t think so. The light illuminates the table on which I’m writing, creating flecks of green and purple never before […]
Tears—big, fat tears, the kind that makes some men uncomfortable, and many women sigh—rolled down his cheeks. He laid on a hospital bed, his life nearing the end, spending precious moments with the daughter who sat next to him—this daughter who wasn’t his and was always his. He was only in his sixties. He talked about his beloved wife. […]
A thirty-something woman confided that she’s perpetually exhausted—stressful career, young children, constant hamster wheel. It’s tough to manage “Super Mom,” “Stellar Business Person,” and “Amazing Homemaker” at the same time! Of course, she’s tired. Something’s gotta give. I often forget to practice conscious breathing instead, endeavoring to physically and mentally “do everything.” I actually catch myself holding my breath sometimes! Talk about going so […]
Early this morning, I woke up thinking about our hurting world. I try to imagine how women in Afghanistan must feel right now, but having more freedom than most will ever experience, I can’t even touch that fear. I visualize the hateful signs I pass on fellow humans’ houses screaming F**K this or that, aware […]
Like most, or at least many, of the humans I know, I’ve had my fair share of pain in this life. In my three-pound brain, there are times when I feel as if I’ve experienced too much sorrow, but “too much” is incredibly nebulous. What is “too much?” Who measures that? Is there a yardstick […]
My brother, Bob, diagnosed with his first brain tumor at sixteen, died when he was forty. He beat insurmountable odds. In the last years of his life, he was wheelchair-bound, and his brain lived in the past. Incredibly, through all the surgeries and pain, he never once complained or uttered, “why me?” A life that blessed many […]
This post is dedicated to the people who bravely share their vulnerabilities, pain, and feelings of not being enough; the people who believe they don’t fit in or matter or make a difference; the honest and genuine people who speak their truth. The night was calm, almost apathetic, just like her mind and body and, […]
I’ve gotten feedback and questions on last week’s “Home” series, specifically about all the things we own, so today, let’s look at possessions. When did we wrap our arms around a culture that defines us, sometimes almost entirely, by what we own?Does stuff really buy happiness? There’s psychological support that, for many, there is immediate gratification when acquiring something. But, […]
Home WeekMonday: Garages & SocksTuesday: BedroomsWednesday: SpacesThursday: Step-by-StepCreating a home you love requires taking the time to design a personal oasis where you feel relaxed and calm as soon as you walk through the door. So for the last day of “Home Week 2021” let’s take a “tour” of some other rooms in your home. The […]
There’s a Native American legend about two wolves. As the story goes, we have two wolves inside our hearts: a wolf of love and a wolf of hate. The wolf of hate is filled with anger, sorrow, ego, fear, pride, envy, arrogance, greed, and superiority. The heart of the wolf of love overflows with hope, humility, […]
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