Memoir: When Breath Becomes Air

August 15th, 2016
Posted By:

Lucy Paul Kalanithi

Dr. Lucy Kalanithi and Dr. Paul Kalanithi with their daughter, Elizabeth Acadia. 

Photo Courtesy of Lucy Kalanithi

 

When friends find something special, they want to share it with others.

I recently found a book that is beyond special and today my friends, I would like to share it with you.

“When Breath Becomes Air” is a beautiful and touching book about giving yourself up to the unexpected joys of life but also fighting with every ounce of energy that you have within your being when you find your ability to experience those simple and spectacular moments in life is … Read More

Finding My Place

August 8th, 2016
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There are many reasons why I look forward to my yoga class, but the thing that always brings me back over and over is its ability to help me find my place. By the time I arrive at my class, I usually feel emotionally and physically scattered from work and whatever is going on in my wacky life.  I always start my days with the best of intentions and I try to use my time wisely but somehow things unravel and then I find I am trouble shooting some unexpected crisis.  Of course, there are some days when things go… Read More

Daddy’s Home

June 19th, 2016
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You learn a lot about how to navigate the ups and downs of life by watching your parents. I know I did. The people in charge of raising us, for better or worse, are the people who have the first opportunity at influencing us.  Even when we begin to think we have life figured out for ourselves, we may still think back to something that one of our parents did or said and think to ourselves, “I wonder how they did that?”  “I wonder how they knew that?”  Or  perhaps your parents weren’t so wonderful and you might be thinking, … Read More

Healthy Selfishness

May 31st, 2016
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How was your Memorial Day weekend?  Having that extra day was the best! I hope it was relaxing and the holiday weekend went pretty much the way you had planned it. Before I continue with thoughts about Memorial Day weekend, let me say I am feeling bad about being away from Cry Laugh Heal recently and not posting as often as I would prefer.  I have not forgotten AT ALL about you or the ongoing dialogue we’ve started about working through our grief feelings while also trying to create new lives after the death of a loved one. However, I… Read More

The Name Game

May 13th, 2016
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I am dating myself by asking you this question but it’s for a sweet reason so I’m going to go with it. Do you remember a popular song called The Name Game? It was a big hit when I was a young girl.  In fact, it was a huge hit that aired on the radio constantly.  My friends, siblings and I used to sing it ALL THE TIME because it was so absolutely silly.  We rode a big yellow school bus to elementary school five days a week from our house and I remember for a number of months we… Read More

5 On Friday

April 8th, 2016
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  What a freakin’ roller coaster of a week! Since I feel a bit spun around by the events of the last few days, it’s difficult today to put my thoughts into a few simple declarative sentences. Instead I found this dreamy picture. I really wish I were sitting in this car right now, smelling the fresh salt air and letting the warm ocean breeze play through my hair knowing that I could open the door, run to the beach and go swimming. But since I’m not really sitting in this car, I can do the next best thing:  imagine… Read More

Caregiving And Magical Thinking

April 1st, 2016
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When I typed “caregiving” into the Google search bar the following phrases immediately came up: Caregiving is difficult Caregiving is ruining my marriage Caregiving is a thankless job Caregiving is killing me Wow!.  More and more families are faced with issues of caregiving and are feeling the physical and emotional drain of it no matter how much you care about and love the person you are trying to help. Caregiving can be rewarding in surprising ways but it also can be challenging in ways you never imagined. I come from a large family and I really can’t remember a time… Read More

Sweating For The Wedding

March 24th, 2016
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Jelly beans.  Cookies.  Cakes.  They are all calling out. Especially the jelly beans.  They are like crack for me.  There is a guy in my office who gave up chocolate for Lent and now he has a bowl of jelly beans on his desk which he continues to constantly refresh when the contents get low.  Ugh!  To me, that is just replacing one kind of sugar for another but oh well; each to his own. Anyway, I can’t tell you the amount of self control it takes for me to deny myself the jelly beans as I walk past his… Read More

A Graceful Monday

March 14th, 2016
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Shhhh….something tells me it’s Monday. I’m feeling mellow this morning and perhaps this has something to do with turning the clocks forward this past weekend and losing an hour as we spring forward in to daylight savings time.  I totally love the longer day, full of more daylight and opportunities to socialize outdoors, but I have to admit that it is a bit of an adjustment for the body, especially in the beginning. I’m moving a bit slowly today as I’m sure you might be too.  Sort of like molasses or even like a garden snail. Spring will arrive soon… Read More