Living Your Life

Go For It!

February 27th, 2013
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Reach out there and go for it! 
You have to
dream big,
wish hard,
and chase after your goals,
because no one
is going to do it for you.
             ~ Cee Lo Green

Writing About Grief & Finding The Right Words

February 26th, 2013
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I think the hardest thing about writing is writing.                                                ~ Journalist, Author and Screenwriter Nora Ephron During Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony, tributes were paid to those in the film industry who passed away in the past year.  Nora Ephron was among the brilliant people in the entertainment business who sadly died last year.  She most certainly was a bright twinkling star in her own right and the producers of the show chose to display the above quote in her honor. Ephron was a keen observer of American culture and especially the stormy and romantic relationships between men and women. … Read More

Life Is Not a Cereal

February 21st, 2013
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Have you heard of Kid President? While I was on YouTube the other day I discovered this young ball of fire who is very funny and very cute. So today’s post is about laughing because laughter is a tremendous resource for dealing with stress and forgetting how bad your day was.  Laughter is infectious and if you are laughing and smiling then your friends will want to know what’s going on to make you all giggly and then pretty soon they’ll be laughing too! More importantly, laughter may go a long way to reducing and healing the pain you may… Read More

Catching My Breath — Kelly Clarkson

February 20th, 2013
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Kelly Clarkson Singing at President Obama’s Inauguration Five days a week, I drive to and from work and during that time I usually listen to the radio.  I have five stations that I randomly listen to depending on my mood and the pace of the traffic. These days the song that currently makes me go directly to the volume button is Kelly Clarkson’s “Catch My Breath.” It’s a song of strength, a song that gives me a boost of positive energy. To me, the song has the vibe of someone who has survived some kind of a personal journey or… Read More

Two Life Tips

February 18th, 2013
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Say Ohmmmm! My mother gets more magazines than anyone I know.  She always has a huge stack of magazines near her lounge chair and after she whips through them she is always happy to give them away. This weekend I stopped by my parents’ house to visit, catch-up and check in on them and she gave me at least 25 magazines to take home.  Oh don’t worry.  My Mom still has more magazines for herself! Stories about staying healthy and de-stressing always pop out at me and while reading a December 2012 Family Circle magazine, I came upon an article… Read More

Chocolate or Kindness?

February 15th, 2013
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  Finding the Balance of Chocolate and Kindness Don’t let the collar turn you off. Fr. James Martin is a charismatic Jesuit priest who has a Lenten message that can be appreciated by followers of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Folk Religions and even atheists. It’s a simple message but one that is challenging for people (myself included) to practice.  And it doesn’t have to be Lent to make it happen.  We can practice his message any time of the year. Lent is traditionally a time when Catholics give up something.  But suppose instead of giving up chocolate (that would… Read More

A Valentine Message

February 14th, 2013
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Photo Courtesy of French Essence You don’t love someone for their looks,  or their clothes,  or for their fancy car,  but because they sing a song only you can hear.                           ~ Oscar Wilde Happy Valentine’s Day!!… Read More

Roger Rosenblatt’s Reflections

February 13th, 2013
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Some wonderful friends on the West Coast gave me Roger Rosenblatt’s book, Kayak Morning, as a Christmas present.  I was familiar with Rosenblatt as a writer for Time magazine and also as a columnist for The Washington Post, but was unfamiliar with the tragic death of his daughter, Amy Solomon,  a 38-year-old wife and mother of three children, from a heart condition. In Kayak Morning, which was written two years after Amy’s death, Rosenblatt explores the human experience of loss.  His descriptions of his grief and his reflections about his daughter Amy’s death are calm and straightforward yet poignant. It… Read More

Fat Tuesday

February 12th, 2013
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Today is Fat Tuesday. For Catholics, today is the last hurrah before lent begins tomorrow.  That is how Mardi Gras come to be.  Essentially, Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday and with Mardi Gras comes some hard partying and parades and good times before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time of fasting and serious reflection, a time of giving something up or doing something that’s personally hard in order to prepare yourself for the celebration of Easter. This year, once again, my demon is sugar. I know all the bad stuff about sugar and how it… Read More