Posts Tagged: laughing

Five Lessons From the Marvelous Mindy Kaling

October 24th, 2014
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Dear Resilient Readers,

I write a lot about the need to rebuild or recreate our lives after experiencing a loss or traumatic life event because it can be frightening and something people would rather not discuss.  In hopes of helping others, I have written about what worked for me but I also try to pass along helpful anecdotes from people who have worked hard to put themselves on that same healing path.

I know for myself that the secret to finding a new way to live my life after my husband died was in taking each day, and sometimes each … Read More

Be Bold Today

October 20th, 2014
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Monday. I know Mondays can be painful. Today was one of those Monday mornings when I turned and looked at the alarm clock and just cursed it something nasty because I wasn’t  ready to get up and go.  Today I have an early appointment and needed to get out of bed to start my morning routine earlier than usual so maybe that’s why I’m feeling a bit cranky but still, time is precious and I am committed to making this a productive day. For no day is a day that should be hurried along.  Monday needs to roll out at… Read More

A Fabulous Friday Mindset

October 17th, 2014
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By the time Friday arrives on my doorstep, I am usually ready to attack a pint of ice cream, preferably Ben & Jerry’s chocolate chip cookie dough. I sometimes allow myself this indulgence because after all it’s Friday and I’m using the ice cream as a way of patting myself on the back for having survived the turmoil of another work week.  I wouldn’t say that eating a pint of ice cream is healing in the classic sense, but it certainly heals my soul at a time when I need it. But also know it’s not good for me.  That… Read More

A Lady From Spokane

October 8th, 2014
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She was a rabid Washington Redskins fan, she took pride in her well-kept hairdo and manicured fingernails, and she loved to have a good stiff drink with a cigarette. She was also a cancer patient and a kind soul who would help you in any way she could. Sadly, yesterday morning, I received a phone call telling me I had lost my good friend to cancer. I had known this lady from Spokane for almost four decades.  I first got to know her and her husband when they lived and worked in Washington, DC.  Then they retired, bought a home… Read More

I Am A Hopeful Sinner

September 29th, 2014
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So early yesterday morning I found myself sitting in church once again mentally going over the week that had just past. I was happy to be quietly sitting in my pew and even happier that the priest who was saying Mass was someone I enjoy listening to. As the familiar and comforting celebration of Mass unfolded, I began to think about some of the things that I said or did that I wished I could take back: times when I was impatient, times when I offered my two cents when I should have kept my mouth shut, times when I… Read More

An Effortless Way To Warm Your Soul

September 26th, 2014
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  Mother Nature may be transitioning us from the warmth and abundance of summer into the cooler and shorter days of autumn, but local farmers are still offering us the bounty of their summer work. Yesterday at the Farmer’s Market near my downtown Washington, DC office, farmers were still selling peaches, zucchini and my personal favorite: tomatoes.  To me, nothing in the produce world beats a homegrown, fresh and ripe tomato.  Tomatoes are simply the best!! Despite what the calendar says, tomatoes are still plentiful right now and can be cooked and frozen as sauces or canned and eaten months… Read More

Lessons from the Spin Cycle

September 24th, 2014
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Photo via Pinterest   Whoa Nelly!! I know what this feels like, don’t you? It feels unexpected, awkward, a little uncontrollable and intense. As though at any moment, what you thought was stable becomes unstable. What you thought was predictable become unpredictable. Mood swings, spontaneous crying and having feelings change very quickly. I think of experiencing this mixture of feelings as being in a spin cycle if you will. When you are unsure of what is coming next.  It truly feels this way when grief has you on the run or a life changing trauma has taken your breath away.… 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

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