Where do you find joy? Why does joy often seem so elusive? What is joy? “Joy” and “happy” are not the same. Happiness is a response to something you experience—watching a funny movie, playing with a grandchild, taking a great vacation or completing something successfully (a class, an athletic endeavor, an interview, even an organizing […]
Category Archives: Creating a Peaceful Home
The antonym for peaceful is “unpeaceful”. Okay, that’s fair but I was thinking of something a little more descriptive like “chaotic”, “tense”, “exhausting” or “stressful.” Are there words you’d add to that list? When you’re stuck, in a place in life, where the world feels loud and tumultuous you need to find shelter from the […]
I pruned a tree right outside the mudroom door. Before I bought it many years ago, I made sure it was a species that would stay small since it’s in a narrow area next to the house. In the beginning, I was very diligent about cutting it back each fall so that it wouldn’t be […]
As I back the car out of the garage, I realize how very fortunate I am to have a garage to “house” my car. Obviously (or maybe not?), most people don’t own cars. We often simply accept (or take for granted) our realities making it easy to forget how much we have. There are […]
Scenario 1: You’ve had a really stressful day: You worked overtime (or over-volunteered), got drenched in a downpour running into the grocery store for dinner because everyone’s screaming,” what’s for dinner?” and, when you finally get home, walk into a house that’s a mess, disorganized, in disrepair and just plain sad. You think, “what the heck am I […]
Do you ever wonder what you could do to bring more peace and joy into your home and world? Do you have lists (in your head, on your phone, on little scraps of paper) of what you’d like to change? I watch the ripples change their size but never leave the stream… and so the […]
As I sat drinking a tea, from a cup I gave my Mom before she died, I thought about my twist on “Twas The Night Before Christmas” from a few years ago. May the end of this calendar year bring you peace, blessings and joy. Kay ‘Twas the day after Christmas and all through the place, […]
The topic of the last three posts—a different kind of abundance—tackles the, often tough, issue of how we experience a fullness of life that’s not tied to an abundance of physical “stuff”. 11/2 part 1– initial questions, why we have so much stuff 11/3 part 2– guidelines for owning possessions, how to define clutter, the […]
I woke up with the word “reentry” on my mind. What did it mean? What was I supposed to do with it? A few months ago, I had the rich honor of sitting with Mary—along with her daughter; my dear friend Monica—a few days before her death. Mary was ninety-six years old and ready to go back […]
When I was in high school, a local furniture store gifted to all of the graduating senior girls a “miniature hope chest”. A hope chest is where, at least in bygone years, a young woman collected items—like household linens—that she’d use when she got married. Maybe the idea was that “hoping for” helped creating the […]
“Look up.” That was the message I was clearly given on a very early, October, morning as I sat at my desk writing. I did as instructed and saw that the cathedral ceiling was, literally, falling down! Fast forward to the second week in December. Over the past eight weeks, the library had to be […]
awareness As I back the car out of the garage, the thermometer moves down to 28°. I’m aware that as winter progresses I adapt to the cold. What would have been shocking in the middle of July is now simply part of the ebb and flow of the season. I get used to it. It […]
the burgeoning light beckons to you but it can’t come in. you’ve closed the door, pulled the shades over the windows, closed your heart first, then your mind, then your spirit to the possibility of possibilities. the heartbreak, the disappointment, the pain, the abandonment created a less-than you, a you that does not trust, but […]
For some people, “New Year’s Resolutions” are a typical part of the winding down of one calendar year and moving onto the next. For others, resolutions have never been a part of their lives. For many of us, it’s haphazard. Some years we’re “all in”—creating a list of what we want to change or accomplish; what we […]
‘Twas the day after Christmas and all through the place, the din of the last day, now a quieter space. The presents are stacked, although all now unwrapped, and the family—well, they really could use a nap. The children were playing with all their new toys, while they remembered gladly the fun and the noise. We sat with […]
On a Wednesday morning a few months ago I sat at the table, my notebook in front of me, a stack of books on my left and big, hot tears running down my face. I was thinking about my granddaughter and how, due to an amazing advance in eye care, her rapidly worsening eye disease […]
Many people—who have never spent a day behind bars—live in self-imposed prisons where they intend to serve out life sentences. Sometimes that’s because they’ve committed a heinous crime and, although not “found out”, they know what they’ve done and choose lifetime penitence. Some have been imprisoned by the words of others, when they’ve been told that […]
It was a quiet house this past weekend and on Saturday evening, my daughter, Erin came up so we could watch a movie together. It was a real tearjerker with an outcome we didn’t immediately anticipate. At the end we were both sobbing; a moment shared as we looked at reality through a different lens. […]
Where do you find joy? Why does joy often seem so elusive? What is joy? “Joy” and “happiness” are not the same. Happiness is a response to something. We experience feeling happy when we’re having fun, spending time with people who make us smile, watching a funny movie, taking a vacation in a place we love, or even completing […]
For the past eight days I’ve been almost entirely absent from email, texts and phone calls. For some people, that would be catastrophic. For me, it was a reminder of how life used to be—when connecting with others, not physically with you, required sending mail or using a phone connected to a wall. Obviously, there are […]
“Love people and use things, not love things and use people.” I’m not sure who first coined this but, sadly, it can’t be said enough. Organization, and the lack of clutter, are an integral part of a calm, joyful home—or organization. It’s tough to get to Peace if you’re surrounded by chaos. That chaos can be created […]
Kintsugi (金継ぎ) is a Japanese word for repairing broken pottery with a special lacquer mixed with gold. The technique recognizes the history of the object, and visibly incorporates the repair into the piece. Rather than trying to disguise what could be considered flaws, attention is brought to them. The item that was broken, and glued […]
Today is Labor Day. This holiday was born out of a desire to celebrate the American labor movement, to honor the economic and social achievements of the worker, and to pay tribute to those whose contributions have helped to make our country prosperous and strong. The Knights of Labor and the Central Labor Union organized the […]
There are meals “big enough to feed the entire family”, books titled “Not Different Enough” and “Good Enough to Be Great”, and songs like “Can’t Get Enough” and “The World Is Not Enough”. We say things like: “I don’t have enough time.” “I’m not rich (powerful, successful, popular, important) enough.” “We didn’t do well enough.” […]
Extraordinary is simply ordinary with “extra” in front of it. Those five little letters change everything! On Friday evening my granddaughter, Lauren, started celebrating her eleventh birthday with eight of her best friends at a sleepover. My daughter, Sara, did a lot of planning, and it was a wonderful event with cake decorating contests, games, jumping on the trampoline, […]
