Mental Health: A Sunny Escape

February 15th, 2016
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British beach

 

Dear Winter:

Snow again?? Really??

Even though you are not my favorite season, I know there is no way around you and when the calendar signals that it’s your turn, I need to get ready for the temperature changes and the shorter days.  I dragged out all of my winter geared and prepared myself to get in the habit of layering my clothes.  I reminded myself that the one positive thing about your arrival is the celebration of Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year’s Eve so you do bring some reasons to party.

But still you’ve been hanging around … Read More

Thinking about Cupid

February 12th, 2016
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  In Roman mythology, Cupid is the son of Venus, the goddess of love and this coming weekend is all about Cupid, a funny and fickle little guy associated with the warm and fuzzy feelings of desire, affection and love! What is this thing called love?  Well, it’s one big powerful field of unbelievable emotion that practically knocks you over the first time you experience it.  Being in love and giving love are some of the most exhilarating feelings in the whole world and if I had my way we would all be feeling it as much as possible on… Read More

Earth Wind & Fire Remembered

February 8th, 2016
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Maurice White Courtesy of Getty Images   The music that some bands create can be so distinctive that you know their songs right away.  Almost instantly.  As in when you hear the first few bars of a song, you know it’s theirs and theirs alone. Falling into this unique category would be the fabulous and funky music created by the hit making machine called Earth, Wind & Fire. Maurice White, a major musical talent who founded Earth, Wind & Fire and co-wrote such hits as “Shining Star,” “Sing A Song,” “September,” “Reasons,” and “Fantasy,” sadly died last week in his… Read More

Silly Family Laughter

February 5th, 2016
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My 88-year-old Dad misplaced his checkbook last week and over the weekend a full-on, pull-out-all-the-plugs search effort was executed by our mom, me, my five siblings and even a few grandchildren. We asked our Dad a million questions about the last time he used the checkbook and the last time he remembered seeing it.  We prayed to St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost items, and then finally our Dad decided to call the bank since St. Anthony didn’t deliver the goods.  Thankfully, the bank said there was no activity on the account and no checks had been written on… Read More

Guess Who’s Breathing?

January 29th, 2016
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  I am.  You are.  Everyone is. If we don’t breath, then we’re in big trouble, right? But we can change the rhythm of our breathing depending on what’s happening to us. It sounds so simple doesn’t it?  Just change.  But I have found it takes practice.  It takes being aware of what I’m doing. Many times, without realizing it, I find I am walking around almost holding my breath because I am dealing with two or three things at the same time.  Sometimes I’m at work or I can be at home but I am not fully breathing when… Read More

The Stillness of Snow

January 25th, 2016
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  Photo Courtesy of ABC News   In case you haven’t heard, the Washington, DC area received at least two feet of snow over the weekend. It started as small flakes on Friday afternoon and never stopped snowing until late Saturday night. As some of the local weather forecasters said, the nation’s capital was in the crosshairs of a snow blizzard and the storm delivered enough snow to keep all of us shoveling for days. But the snow and the high winds did something else. Mother Nature forced us to slow down.  To stop our usual routine and just be.… Read More

Best Friends To The Rescue

January 22nd, 2016
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Random and spontaneous acts of kindness are never forgotten. The kind and generous acts that my friends have given to me throughout the years stand out as Technicolor slides in my memory bank. I will never forget the many wonderful gifts of spirit and self that have come my way when I was going through troubled times and when I am reminded of some of them I quickly think of the hospital visits, the long telephone calls and face to face chats, the home cooked meals, and especially the watching of my son when he was a child. I feel… Read More

Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 18th, 2016
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Today as we celebrate the birthday and historic legacy of civil rights activist and minister Martin Luther King, Jr., I find that his words are just as powerful and relevant today as they were when he initially spoke them decades ago. King understood that in the face of racism and discrimination that the first response among most people is to want to protest and fight back in a destructive way.   It’s pretty much human nature for someone who is being abused to want to push back and it would have been easy for King to talk of using angry, armed… Read More

Lodro’s Ah-Ha Insight

January 15th, 2016
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    In the Oscar-award winning movie, Dream Girls, an insightful song is featured about practicing patience.  The lyrics (written by Henry Krieger and Willie Reale) go as follows: I know you have questions Same ones as me How long has it been? How long will it be? When will come the morning To drive the night away? When will come the morning Of a brighter day? Patience, little sisters Patience, little brothers Patience, patience Take each other by the hand Finding patience is something I struggle with.  Constantly.  I put it right out there.  Finding the patience to handle… Read More