“TREES” the trees call to me they know me by name they weep spilling their leaves and pods over the earth their hearts are heavy with the knowledge that destruction surrounds their planet i whisper, “i don’t know what to do; i don’t know how to stop it” the trees call to me they know […]
Category Archives: Peace Full Home/Intentional Living
Awareness greets me each morning. She asks, “what will you do with today?” Almost always, I answer boldly, listing what I’d like to accomplish; knowing how I desire to make a difference in the next 24 hours. But, every once in a while, I whisper, “I have no idea”. My tank is already close to empty […]
There are times when our peace-full living is disrupted. It can happen suddenly, almost like a switch being flipped, turning off the power of love, the power of faith, the power of hope. It can happen slowly and insidiously, leaving us stumbling around in the dark, often not knowing how, why or even when our […]
Yesterday marked the first day of a new school year in my area; hopefully a fresh start and an opportunity for new beginnings. Sometimes this new start is celebratory and exciting. Ideally, students are coming in with a “blank slate”, ready to seize the opportunities in front of them. Hopefully, the experience is positive. Maybe the students […]
Dear Readers, This post is dedicated to all of you who have struggled through the loss of a loved one long before he or she left this earth. A MILLION GOODBYES he lies with the sleeping woman; her, curled up in a ball, fragile, innocent like a child; him, arms wrapped around her, not […]
What I usually see is simply a mirage—an illusory construct created by my imagining. It seems like the beginning and end of reality because that’s as far as my human brain usually takes me. But, what I assume are concrete boundaries are simply my own limitations. When I look closely, however, and choose to consider what’s beyond […]
I woke up, brushed my teeth, threw on a t-shirt and pair of yoga pants and headed out for a walk with Vero, my little rescue dog. It was 6:50 on an absolutely perfect Sunday morning. Vero scampered as we trekked up the hill (yep, he actually scampers); him stopping often to smell something, me […]
We are spirit energy, stuck in (mostly) clunky bodies, with three-pound brains directing much (often most) of our living. We forget all the time that we mere mortals are much more alike than we are different. THE COFFEE SHOP The lights in the coffee shop are still on. The traveler drags his bag […]
ONCE UPON A TIME when i was young, i ran through soft, green grass unafraid of mud squishing between my toes, unafraid of worms or bugs or other creatures. i heard all the morning birdsong, i saw bunnies scamper looking for food. i waited for the deer to stop by in the dark, and partake […]
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 […]
I was pulling weeds, outside my front porch, on a beautiful summer night before the dark swept away the light. I had a purpose—remove the weeds in order to allow the plants I want there to have a chance to grow. Larry (my husband) sat with me, weeding too. He (a significantly more structured person than me) is pretty methodical. […]
One morning, I was talking to someone who said, “I just can’t get out of the teacup.” What I heard was, “I’m stuck in this really small space and when I try to climb out, I just slide back down to the bottom.” The teacup felt like heartache to me, and not knowing how to […]
LOST what have we lost between our youth and where we are now? have we given up our collective, universal desire to feel important, to be loved, to matter? what have we left behind because we thought we “outgrew” those child-like, innocent things? have we stopped being hypnotized by the flames of a fire or […]
It seems like we expend an awful lot of energy trying to “fit in”, which can mean a lot of different things depending on where you are right now. It changes significantly depending on who you’re with and is often fueled by the winds of just a few. I’m also aware that many of us […]
Constant Change Most of us understand, at least from a big picture perspective, that Change is Constant. When it impacts our lives personally, however (in relationships, lifestyles, abilities), it often terrorizes us. Most of us don’t like change throwing itself at us without invitation! When stuck in patterns of the past—whether that’s “woe is me” or “whoa, […]
Today is Memorial Day in The United States of America—a day for formally remembering the men and women who died while serving in our armed forces. This special day of remembrance began after The America Civil War to honor the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in that armed conflict. There were over 625,000 (almost […]
Many times, in order to live into our best selves, we have to start a change process—ridding ourselves of old habits that no longer serve us, traditions that bring us down instead of up, and memories that tell a story filled with woe. But, that change, even though it’s necessary, can be work. It’s easy […]
Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of “things”, so what I did have mattered—including my plastic doll named Sharon. The first time she started falling apart, my Dad put her back together with electrical tape. Over the next couple of years, she required quite a bit of that black tape. Did I think that made Sharon […]
Seven years ago, I was encouraged by my dear friend, Betsy, to join a Habitat For Humanity, “Women Build” committee. Our group was brainstorming fund-raising ideas and Annie, a member of our team (and now a close friend), came up with the concept for “She Nailed It!”—an all women, relay nail-hammering competition, that not only […]
Phenomenon—a fact or circumstance that’s observed, but sometimes difficult to explain or even understand. It’s about consciousness and what we experience and how that affects us. What we “feel” exists because we’re experiencing it. Psychological Phenomena refers to mental processes, like: • The Placebo Effect—if a patient believes that he’s taking something that’s supposed to heal him (even […]
“stop! in the name of love before you break my heart think it over” (The Supremes, 1965) Asking someone to “stop” before you’re heartbroken may not work, because another person is making that decision. But, “stopping” and “thinking it over” when you’re able to make choices is very different. Many of us don’t physically slow down, let […]
Have you ever felt overwhelmed, defeated or exhausted because, in spite of how hard you love, work or “put yourself out there” it doesn’t seem to be enough? Have you ever stood at the door of hopelessness, believing that if you take one more step you could “walk off the edge?” I’ve felt that way. […]
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 […]
On Saturday, as my daughter was driving home, she saw a small, older woman standing on a street corner holding a sign saying, “I need help. Can you spare any money?” She drove past, stopped at the traffic light, then went back. She gave the woman the $20 she had in her wallet. The woman […]
Five Really Short Stories 1. While I waited for a friend, I sat at a tiny bistro table, with a cup of cinnamon-plum tea. Two women sitting close to me were talking. One of them said to the other, “you really have a servant heart.” It was expressed so simply. She didn’t say, “you give so […]
