Nearly every day some seemingly insignificant object or event offers a little life lesson, a spiritual truth or a personal meaning for me. I muse a lot. Today it was the grackles. If you were to say, “You must have too much time on your hands” I would understand. But truthfully, I have always done this. I think it is in my DNA and if you have to blame someone, blame my dad.
Many of us live in a culture that compresses our time to such a degree there is little room for anything that will delay us or interfere with our productivity. We are often a time-driven people. In fact, we are driven in many ways. We want to do everything well, be successful, productive, intelligent, attractive, fit, and at least financially comfortable. We have high expectations for ourselves. Our companies don’t help that by having such high expectations for us to keep proving ourselves to be valuable. On top of that we are parents, spouses, partners, friends, and children who sometimes
Have you ever noticed a slight shift in how you feel about doing something just by changing a word? I cannot seem to help myself when it comes to noticing the power of words. It isn’t like I look for it. Simple everyday words (the nickel variety) and common objects often intrigue and inspire me so much I just have to share them with you. I am a little quirky in my penchant for down-home philosophy. Remember, reading this blog is not a “should” for you (after you read this one). You can always push the delete button! Of course my
I know it sounds strange. You might say, “Duh! Of course parents are people!” But many times once we become a parent we don’t accept ourselves as a real person. Suddenly we become “mother” or “father” and are filled with “should know this” and “should do that” and/or ” should never say or do this or that!” We put unbelievable pressure on ourselves to be perfect. (What a way to squelch our joy and feel like a failure!) Most of the parents I know and love seem to suffer from too much self-condemnation. After all, it IS a huge
Yesterday was cold again and for some reason instead of using my own treadmill or going outside, I decided to go the the fitness center for my work out. In the women’s dressing room there sits a very large set of white scales. So large, in fact, that they called out to me. No one was around so in my stocking feet, I stepped on. It should be noted that the numbers are also huge on these scales, leaving no room for reader error. My reaction? This picture tells it all. Admittedly of late I have noticed my clothes
One thing that amazes me is the power of pictures. I hope you enjoy this picture and feel a sense of wonder in being just who you are, where you are. It seems that this is what these turtles are doing at the moment. This photo was taken by my friend who is in the Florida sun! Another thing that constantly amazes me is the power of words. It seems, however, that their meaning and power is truly an individual matter. That brings me to today’s reflection.
A few years ago on the last week of school I visited an elementary school. It was the traditional year-end hand off of their students with disabilities to the middle school staff. Similar to parents, they wanted to speak on behalf of their children and make sure the middle school staff understood their unique needs! We were deeply in conversation with a young man who was a one-to-one aide for a boy with severe autism when suddenly the fire alarm rang. The young aide fled from the room. As the rest of us were making our obligatory exit and the
Walking Consciously This morning started out to be a crisp one. Some of the snow that fell yesterday had melted by sunset leaving driveways and sidewalks with spots of invisible, paper-thin ice. Black ice. It has “gotten me” on more than one occasion!
For years I have been interested in the wellness field of integrating the mind, body, and soul. I have done several stress management and wellness groups over the last thirty years even before it was a popular topic. For example, I am a big fan of John Kabat-Zin’s excellent work on mindfulness and wellness as well as mindful parenting. As I coach stressed and weary parents, my interest in integrating mind, body, and heart work has resurfaced. It seems that first and foremost stress management begins in noticing our body’s codes. It is a simple place to start. That is
Have you ever known something, taught it, believed it, and still have it come up again and again in fresh ways for you? Lately I have done some mental fall cleaning and have been dusting off old truths. There have been several truths that seem to shine like tarnished silver after it has been cleaned. They remain powerful no matter how many times I am reminded of them. One of those truths is the destructive power of the “b” word that has only three letters and can hurt like stubbing your toe. And I have noticed that the “b” word not