Posts Tagged: healing

The Ever-Changing Game of Life

September 22nd, 2014
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A Quote By Mary Oliver

A Quote By Mary Oliver

The wise quote above, written by Mary Oliver, seems on the surface to be expressing a rather obvious idea. Right?

When I first read it, I almost dismissed it for I had brought Oliver’s thought into my mind too quickly and didn’t really let the underlying message sink in. Then I read it again and let it float around in my mind while I began to apply it to my own life.

How many times do I go through the day rereading the chapter I read the day before?  In other words, if I keep … Read More

A Kitchen Dream Come True

September 19th, 2014
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You have to speak Your dream out loud.                ~ Kelly Corrigan Today is good news about holding on to your dreams and never giving up on them.  At the beginning of this year, I wrote about a dream of mine: to upgrade my kitchen (http://crylaughheal.com/dream-a-little-dream/). And guess what?  It is finally happening!! True to Kelly Corrigan’s inspirational saying above, I kept talking about it, researching it, saving for it and finally reached the point of giving the project a green light.  It’s been a bit scary watching the kitchen be totally demolished (I haven’t had a working oven, refrigerator or… Read More

4 Bodacious Roses

September 15th, 2014
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These days, I am all about finding natural ways to calm and quiet my thoughts.  Being around nature, and flowers in particular, has a calming and healing effect on my mood. Lavender is usually my “go to” scent for calming my jangled nerves but I also love the light and airy scent of roses.  When I take the time to be mindful of roses, each individual delicate petal, its soft colors and position of its bloom facing the sun, I am distracted from the noise around me and slowly begin to discover an inner stillness.  Sadly, at this time of… Read More

9/11: Healing & Resilience

September 11th, 2014
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On the thirteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, my thoughts today are with the people whose lives changed so tragically and so dramatically when their loved ones died. It may not feel to them as if thirteen years has passed since this horrific event.  It may feel as though their loss happened yesterday.  That’s the trick that grief can sometimes play on us.  For no matter how much time has passed, no matter how much work has been put out to move the healing process forward, the anniversary of losing a loved one is a day filled with powerful conflicting… Read More

A Change Is Gonna Come

September 8th, 2014
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I am happier when I have an idea of what my day is going to bring, but most of the time I really have no idea what the next 24 hours is going to be like. I know the time of appointments, deadlines, and fun stuff, such as having lunch or dinner with friends or family, but otherwise my time is pretty much open for anything.  Excuse my French, but shit happens, as they say, and life can throw me and you a surprise curve ball without a heads up that it’s coming our way.  I don’t know why it… Read More

Someone by Alice McDermott

September 4th, 2014
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Someone  by Alice McDermott was given to me as a Christmas gift but I purposely set it aside because I knew that I wanted to savor every word of this novel.  I knew it was going to be special and I was right. I thoroughly enjoyed reading McDermott’s award-winning book, Charming Billy, and so I was familiar with McDermott’s incredible gift of creating characters that you feel you know, sentences that make you stop and go back and reread them several times and her mastery of quietly leading you into her magical stories. Someone is set in Brooklyn in the… Read More

Friends Forever: Billy Crystal & Robin Williams

August 27th, 2014
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Comedian Billy Crystal’s tribute to Robin Williams during Monday night’s Emmy Awards was moving because it stripped away the glitter and glitz and glamour of Hollywood and spoke of something essential: the gift of friendship. Crystal talked about what a great friend Robin Williams was to him and to try and imagine the two of them just hanging out together as two down-to-earth dudes was special in itself.  We see comedians and actors performing together all the time and they look like they are enjoying each other but we really don’t know if it’s genuine.  It could be an act.  … Read More

Plenty of Positive

August 25th, 2014
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Lots of children and parents in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia are waking up earlier than usual this morning and wondering what happened to the easy breezy days of summer.  They are looking at the calendar and staring at today’s date and thinking, “How did this happen?  How could today be the first day of school?” A new school year is time to look forward with a sense of hope.  It’s a chance to do things a little different and a little better.  First days of anything offer the opportunity for a fresh start.  Of course, there may also be… Read More

Baking Zukey Bonanza Bread

August 22nd, 2014
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Many of our most powerful memories are tied to food. A spectacular cake served at one of our birthdays, a delicious meal eaten at a special restaurant, or a dish made by someone we love. One of my favorite summer memories is remembering the dinners I used to have at a beach restaurant that sadly doesn’t exist anymore.  It was a comfortable family restaurant with great food and friendly service and it was a relaxing place to go after a day spent on the beach.  Our son was about seven or eight years old when my late husband and I… Read More