Caring For Yourself

Ask The Lightning Bugs

June 15th, 2017
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Lightning-Bugs

 

Many would say that the oppressive heat that has been visiting the Washington, DC area is proof.

Or they might say that the proof is in the feast of freshly picked juicy strawberries that fill the local grocery stores and farmer’s markets.

On the other hand, the roses and hydrangeas are bursting in bloom and that could also be proof.

But for me, the proof that Summer is here is the seemingly instant appearance of lightning bugs that tease and flit through the warm summer air.

I saw the first ones of Summer the other night when I went … Read More

5 Fabulous Ways to Heal

June 8th, 2017
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Healing. What a great word!  When I say it or think about it, I feel warm inside, as though I just ate a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. Our opportunities to find healing are all around us, just waiting for us to reach out.  We can let the passage of time take its own course by hoping, hoping, hoping that healing feelings will eventually wash over us or we can act on trying to heal our inner selves when we feel ready to face the sad or traumatic feelings that we carry in our hearts.  Feeling the pain and talking… Read More

5 Great Places To Laugh

May 30th, 2017
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There are a handful of people in my life who can make me laugh so hard that I CAN NOT get my breath and one of them is my brother, Scotty. He has an unbelievable sense of humor.  I’m not telling tales out of school when I say that hands down he does the best imitation of our mother and the fact that he usually does it in front of her makes it even funnier.  Not to worry.  Our Mom thinks he is funny too and she always laughs at his skits, especially the ones featuring her! My brother can… Read More

Finding Your Light

May 25th, 2017
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    Each of us has a unique set of skills that are nestled within us. Maybe you are fabulous listener.  Maybe you always have a positive outlook.  Perhaps you have a way of organizing your thoughts or possessions in a way that helps others.  Or it could be that you own the priceless gift for making people laugh. We all have our strengths and today’s post is about those amazing people who have the skill set that enables them to read a situation and then put themselves out there to help other people feel relieved and renewed in the… Read More

5 Purifying Places to Cry

May 16th, 2017
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Emmy Award Winning Actor Jon Hamm as Mad Men’s Don Draper (Yes, Men Do Cry & That’s Okay) Sometimes the feeling starts in my throat. It feels tight.  I try to swallow a few times to see if that will make it go away. The next thing I know a lump has formed as I begin to feel my eyes well up with water.  I try looking up at the ceiling because a good friend told me this is a trick she uses to prevent crying. Or I pinch the bridge of my nose so that I focus on the … Read More

Quiet Help From A Friend

March 24th, 2017
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Life sometimes reminds me of a science experiment. Some days it’s a spontaneous experiment gone bad and then other days it can turn out to be an explosion of joy, as in a science experiment gone fabulous. The science I am reminded of today has to do with the classic law of physics that we all learned in school and that is: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Conversations can sometimes fall into this law of physics, many of them revolving around that push-pull, turning into equal and opposite reactions of a dynamic conversation or they… Read More

Daddy Daughter Ballet

February 17th, 2017
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      I took ballet lessons for almost ten years and I would have loved to have taken at least one class with my Dad. I know he would have been up for it — even if it meant wearing a pink tutu.  I know it would have been pure fun! I laugh to myself just thinking about what it would have been like if we had had the chance to dance together that way.  At 89 years old, my Dad still has a strong resilient spirit even though he recently began receiving hospice care. I began to imagine … Read More

Love Connections

February 14th, 2017
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Valentine’s Day may be what some people call a “Hallmark Holiday” but love is always worth celebrating whether you embrace all of the commercial hoopla or just quietly light a candle, give a meaningful hug or tap out a telephone number to connect with a special person. Love gives us hope.  Love makes us feel all tingly inside and helps our resilient hearts beat a little faster.  Love is exciting. Love is also risky.  To find it is definitely a roll of the emotional dice and, depending on the person, you may want to immediately throw the dice.  Or as … Read More

Take A Deep Breath

January 29th, 2017
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  Dear Resilient Friends: I have been away for awhile but have not forgotten about you.  2017 started off in a difficult direction for my family.  Both of our parents have been ill, requiring hospitalization and additional involvement from me and my five siblings.  We are striving every day to do our best to give loving care and attention to both parents, splitting our time between the hospital and our parents house often amidst a swirl of new medical terms and medicines while we carry on with our jobs and other personal responsibilities. We are trying to ease their pain… Read More