Fragile: shatterable, easily broken, delicate, overly sensitive, vulnerable Thinking about the human experience, I recognize that many of you understand what it’s like to feel vulnerable and fragile—as if just one more situation or comment could fracture you into a hundred pieces. Maybe you’ve always been very sensitive—aware of your feelings and emotions, cognizant of […]
Tag Archives: Death
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. […]
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.” What emotions do you experience when you don’t feel at peace? Countless situations can be responsible for creating the opposite of a calm and tranquil home:• full-time caregiving for someone with a debilitating physical […]
This morning I voted. I stood in line for just about two hours, winding up and down outdoor lines marked six feet apart. I wore my mask, of course, and boots and gloves and a hat under my hood, but the cold wind still seeped into my veins. But that didn’t matter. The crisp air […]
Two weeks ago, a large, heavy ceramic pot broke into a dozen pieces. I decided to glue it back together. It was time-consuming, requiring a lot of patience—which I sometimes don’t have—as I clamped individual pieces together, waiting for them to dry before adding the next part of the puzzle. Eventually, (with almost an entire […]
From The World Health Organization: “Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. COVID-19 is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans.” As […]
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 […]
I know people who spend money purchasing beautiful art, creating memorable experiences and enjoying gastronomic feasts. Some use their income and energy creating homes that feed their souls. Others live frugally so that they can support causes that pull at their heartstrings. I see people, who have very little financially, give much of what they […]
When I think of courage, the first thing that comes to mind is bravery—military personnel in war zones protecting our freedom; firefighters running into burning buildings carrying out those who are trapped; donors giving a kidney or bone marrow to someone they’ve never met; teenagers standing up to bullies who, once again, are going to terrorize […]
This isn’t a “happy” story about lasagna, green sweaters or cloth napkins. It’s a story about humanness and brokenness. I’m not talking about broken hearts but, rather, broken spirits— when you know you have worth, but can’t count it, when it feels like life has been sucked out of you, when you’ve lost, given up, or […]
Questions for the Day How much of the chaos in our homes, do we create? How do we accomplish “peaceful” when all around us there’s pandemonium? How do we expect to experience calm when our environment is screaming “look at me“? Could you do more with less? When you look around your home what’s extraneous or […]
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 […]
My dreams get mixed-up with what’s real……wait, maybe it’s the other way around; maybe my real life gets mixed-up with my dreams. Is there actually a difference? What used to be curiosities now seem “normal”. What used to be “normal” now seems absurd. I wonder who really fits in anyway? Being like everyone else isn’t […]
The house is quiet except for the dehumidifier running in the background. We had the rainiest summer since 2011 and the rainiest September on record, in 117 years. It reminds me a lot of Portland, Oregon, where I’d visit my daughter, Erin, who lived there for a while. My prayer list is really long right […]
The garbage truck came rolling down the street around 6:40, as I sat with my tea and my book, at the end of my twenty minutes of quality time with God (something I am trying to be much better at starting every day with). I watched as two men jumped off. One turned the trash […]
Tears—big, fat tears; the kind that make some men uncomfortable, and many women sigh—rolled down his cheeks. He lay on a hospital bed, his life nearing the end, spending precious moments with his daughter who sat next to him—this daughter who wasn’t his and was always his. He was only in his sixties. He talked […]
Last Thursday evening, on my way home from my daughter’s house, a driver turned left on red and almost crashed head-on into the side of my car. I was talking to my other daughter and her fiancé (through my car’s speaker of course) when I saw that a car was barreling straight toward me. I […]
“TWO SIDES” words that give life words that kill one thought, turned to action, that makes someone’s day better one thought, turned to action, that causes someone pain fragile moments where futures are built fragile moments where fates are decided hearts bleeding profusely, spilling over the joy of others hearts hardened, unable to move at […]
I woke up around 5am, made my tea, and went outside to write by candlelight. At 6:40 a rooster began crowing, then as the low, somewhat mournful, sound of the train whistle bellowed down in The Valley, a full choir of birds joined their voices in “The Song of The Morning”. Through the branches of the […]
I received quite a few comments and questions about the post from two weeks ago, so today I’m going to “unpack” Going Home. What was the muteness/polio symbolism? The little girl was born with a “handicap” (being mute) and inflicted with one (having polio). I’m sure that most of us have a “handicap”—an impairment or restriction—of […]
Today, I want to tell you a story about a little girl who was born in Wales, Great Britain in the 1930s. She lived with her family in a thatch-roofed cottage on a rocky shoreline, where they had a very simple life—moving through each day the same as the one before. There were seven children and […]
We’re in the midst of a major renovation project at the house. We hired out a few of the trades to do the major plumbing and electricity fit-outs as well as the taping and mudding of the sheetrock after we hung it. (As a side note, getting drywall to look great is a true art!) For […]
peace full home®—intentional living 