Dear Readers, Yesterday, I reached out to a dozen fellow humans➀ with three questions. COVID-19 was the topic of two of them. I’ll post those answers tomorrow. The third question was one I never imagined asking: “With all the hatred, violence, anger, and pain our country is experiencing, how do we move forward and make a difference?” […]
Category Archives: Peace Full Home/Intentional Living
Many years ago, I experienced moving in and out of the dark. Someone I love was in crisis, and there were times I feared a tragic outcome. It was terrifying and tested my strengths and beliefs. I was walking in the dark. But, in that dark, there was still light. I was continually shown the […]
I am a journeyer, traveling through this life, looking and seeking, searching and learning. I pick up things as I journey— a book, a photograph, a postcard and put them in my backpack. Sometimes, I take those things out and look at them, mostly at night, mostly when I’m alone. I smile, I laugh. I […]
When my grandson Ethan was young, a friend gave him the book, “How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?”. It’s about dinosaurs (children) who do all sorts of kid-like things that make parents frazzled, but then turn around and do something sweet that touches their hearts. The last sentence in the book is “…that’s when […]
Pre, COVID-19, I parked next to a car with this bumper sticker: “A Closed Mind is a wonderful thing to lose.” When I went back, two women were in the car, so I knocked on the driver’s window and shared how much I love that message, which led to a short conversation about life. Closed-mindedness, unreceptive to […]
(continued from “Moving From Overwhelmed to Serene and Peaceful, Part I”) When you’re overwhelmed, and life is exhausting, you need to “step aside” for a while by moving away from environments or relationships that impede you from living into your highest self. There are also things you may have to “set aside” like fear, anger, […]
In the midst of COVID-19, it seems like many of us are in one of two camps. Camp 1 is overflowing with people who are overwhelmed, frustrated or exhausted. Camp 2 holds those who are at the other end of the spectrum and feel defeated, sad, bored, or lonely. How are you holding up? Which camp is […]
The world looks very different right now. Much that we’ve taken for granted has disappeared, pushing us to rethink our lives and priorities. Many of us have had to recreate day-to-day life. For some, that brings physical solitude that’s punctuated by virtual visits and phone conversations. For others, it means complete isolation or, on the […]
CHOICES peace, peace, precious peace pain, pain, poignant pain hope, hope, honored hope hate, hate, horrid hate love, love, lasting love loss, loss, lonely loss faith, faith, fervent faith fear, fear, fractious fear peace, hope, love, faith pain, hate, loss, fear all of these are part of life which of these […]
During a time of upheaval, it can be tough to remain positive. Uncertainty is unnerving, but we have a responsibility to, now possibly more than ever, live into our highest selves. One way of doing that is by looking through a different lens. Since many of us are out of work, working from home or leaving […]
“Different Views” their upbringings and lives to this point were very similar; they both knew good and bad, happiness and sorrow but, they chose to walk through life very differently. his house and life were full; overfull really, but he was like an empty vessel; his heart devoid of love, not believing in the possibility of meaningful human […]
I’m aware, so often, of the fragility of each moment (this one is slipping away as I finish this sentence). Most of us assume so much: that we’ll still be breathing at the end of this day, that our loved ones will continue to be part of our lives, that we’ll have food to eat […]
Almost every day, I talk with someone about life. Yeah, I know, that’s a really enormous topic but those conversations aren’t usually about tackling “the big picture”; just little clips of it. I realize that what I write about is often insignificant in the grand scheme of our planet (and I never want to lose sight of the […]
January is the month my Dad passed back to spirit side. He was an amazing man. This is part of the eulogy I wrote for his funeral twenty years ago. I remember it like it was yesterday….. It was Christmas Eve, 1966—a year with a storm so huge we couldn’t open the back door. Dad was […]
For those who feel despair and those who offer hope; for those who are scared and those who show love, and for those who are lost and those who guide the way, these poems are for you. FINDING HOPE worlds collide the past and the present slamming into each other— painfully, without regard for the […]
A teenager doesn’t make the football team. He starts swearing about how wrong and stupid the coaches are. A teenager doesn’t have anyone to sit with at lunch. He remembers how his father always told him he was “unlovable”. A couple sits with a large group, in a restaurant, to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They […]
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 […]
For some, “New Year’s Resolutions” are an annual part of closing one calendar year and moving onto the next. Others never participate in that practice. 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 resolve to do. Other years, we simply roll […]
As I sat drinking my tea, from a cup I gave my Mom before she died, I thought about my twist on “Twas The Night Before Christmas” written what now seems like many years ago when my grandchildren were much younger; I wanted to share this retelling with you. May the end of this calendar […]
Santa Claus and presents seem to be the driving force around Christmas, in spite of plenty of manger scenes. It can be easy to get caught up in the frenzy of gift-giving and sometimes (maybe often) lose the meaning behind the celebration. Christmas, for many, is a “secular holiday”. I love this time of year. […]
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 […]
If you had limitless resources and time, what would you pursue? What is your dream? Maybe your dream is moving somewhere warmer, quitting the job you hate and doing something fulfilling, traveling to beautiful places or finding the right person to share life with. Perhaps it’s hearing someone say, “What can I do for you; […]
11/21/19, a note to God: Hi God, Years continue to rush by in what seems like the blink of an eye. The last one flew by faster than the previous ten, and much more quickly than the twenty before that. The first thirty—well, they seemed to meander slowly; like a lazy river taking its time, enjoying the […]
For some people, “I’m sorry” spills out of their mouths as easily as saying, “hi”. They have a lifetime subscription to: • the “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than approval club” or • the “I can do whatever I want; then just say, ‘I’m sorry’ club” “I’m sorry” is said so often that it’s effortless. There’s […]
Who are you: when you’re alone, beyond what you do for a living, outside your relationships, in the dark when no one’s watching, when you question life, when you’re scared or tired or fed-up? Who are you…really? In the hustle and bustle of life, it can be easy to sometimes forget who we are at […]
peace full home®—intentional living 