You Are Merrily Appreciated

December 24th, 2015
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christmas capitol

 

I pause today to extend my best wishes to all no matter what holiday you may celebrate this time of year.

Throughout this holiday season, may peace and joy be with you and your families.

Holidays are great opportunities to celebrate life but I find they are also difficult to manage because we bring so many emotions and expectations to them each and every year.  Don’t think I am being a Scrooge when I say that the decorations, the music, the food, and the rituals are important, but I am of the mindset these days that if something doesn’t … Read More

Holiday Breathing Space

December 11th, 2015
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As the calendar pulls me closer to the holidays, I am feeling those inner twinges that happen when my time starts being crunched by competing priorities at work and home. I try to look ahead and plan to prevent this feeling of running out of time to shop, cook and decorate but this year, somehow, it snuck up on me. It started a few days ago when I thought I knew what to buy for some family members and then I found out that the person already had the thing I had in mind and then some of the other… Read More

A Letter to Hallie Biden

June 11th, 2015
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Beau Biden and his family:                                                 Wife Hallie Biden (Left) Daughter Natalie (Middle) and Son Hunter (Right).                                                 Special to The News Journal/SAQUAN STIMPSON Dearest Hallie: We have never met but my thoughts are with you this morning. Please accept my sincerest condolences upon the death of your beloved husband, Beau Biden.  His funeral this past Saturday was touching and heartbreaking and by allowing his Mass to be aired on television, you gave others the opportunity to grieve with you and also to draw strength from the open and emotional manner in which the Biden family gracefully handled the heartbreak of Beau’s… Read More

First Birthday In Heaven

May 25th, 2015
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Today may be your first Memorial Day without a loved one. My heart goes out to you and your family as you try to process the overwhelming feelings of loss while also trying to figure out how to go on with your lives.  How can you make your way down this long, winding and sometimes brutal path?  It’s a path you do not want and yet, even as you try to reject it, you find it is one you are slowly learning to walk. ou may feel alone but you are not.  You are loved and many want to offer… Read More

Ways of Encouragement

May 21st, 2015
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You’re having a day. Guess what?  So am I! Let’s join each other in encouragement. We know it’s hard.  It’s stressful and sometimes it’s even lonely and painful. And yet I know I don’t want to give up.  And I know you don’t want to either.  Because right around that corner or even the next time we try to go at a problem and process those feelings of frustration, there is the possibility that it could go away. Right? What is the purpose of always being in a position of trying to solve something?  Sometimes I’m not sure.  Sometimes, I… Read More

Monday Calm & Renewal

May 18th, 2015
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It’s Monday.  I know.  I hear myself joining you in a collective groan. But instead of immediately thinking of all the things I need to accomplish this week, I am going to pause.  And breathe.  Deeply.  Closing my eyes again (not to go back to sleep) and letting my neck slowly drop as I breathe in and remain still. I am determined not to be in a hurry.  I don’t want to rush and I don’t want to be late but I also need to fill my emotional reserves with a feeling of inner calm before I tackle a new… Read More

Are You My Mommy?

May 10th, 2015
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Thank goodness that mothers come in all shapes, sizes, ages and cultures! There are all kinds of mothers, each healing and loving in their own way and trying to do what they think is best for their precious children.  Today we celebrate the many wondrous things our mothers do for us out of the goodness of their huge loving hearts. Everyone has some kind of a Mom: traditional, surrogate, birth mother, step mother and adopted mother.  No matter what the silly label, mothering a child is one of the most important jobs in the world.  I have loved every minute… Read More

5 Things Money Can’t Buy

May 5th, 2015
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Hi there Resilient Readers: I’ve been off the grid for a while and am happy to be back.  I needed to take a bit of break but I missed you A LOT and hope your life is currently full of some magical mixture of love, laughter and vibrant health. While I have been juggling some challenging issues affecting my family and friends, it has pushed me into having some spirited conversations and lots of quiet thought about what really makes life go ’round. I think it pretty much comes down to five things, and for me, the following five things… Read More

Those Confounding Gremlins

April 10th, 2015
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Off and on for about the last month, I have had what the awesome Dr. Brene Brown (author of the New York Times bestselling book Daring Greatly) calls “gremlins” in my head, talking to me in a way that makes me occasionally question the validity of some of my decisions and personal projects. You know those gremlins.  The inner voices which can cause you to second guess what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.  Or they make you feel uncomfortable or afraid about life in general.  Sometimes I let the gremlins in and sometimes I don’t.  I try really… Read More