Posts Tagged: trauma

Staying Focused

September 6th, 2018
Posted By:

Victoria Magazine PumpkinPhoto Courtesy of Victoria Magazine

When I recently flipped my desk calendar over to the month of September, I also looked back to the previous summer months and the multitude of handwritten notes that were scattered on and around the pages reminding me about appointments and things to do.

While I didn’t get as much accomplished during Summer as I had thought I would, I made pretty good progress.

I’m sure I’m not alone in finding that projects don’t evolve as quickly or as easily as you would like them to.  There always seems to be unexpected steps that pop … Read More

Hitting The Pause Button

September 17th, 2015
Posted By:

  This post may seem random but I promise if you hang with me I think you’ll see where I’m going. When I get home from work in the evening, I need to get out of my thoughts and do something that distracts me or relaxes me from whatever happened during the day.  I think it’s fair to say that most of us need to tune out the noise of everyday life and protect our well being. For me, I have to switch gears and clear my mind of work stuff.  There are usually two ways for me to do… Read More

I’m Still Here

June 9th, 2014
Posted By:

I’m still here. These are words of determination and strength.  They come from facing up to a cold hard truth about a new reality that life has given us to handle.  It could be the loss of a loved one or an unexpected and tragic diagnosis, accident or attack.  The person saying these words  is often trying to tell you that they are still searching or have found a new way to live through the pain and suffering of this change in their life. I’m still here. I used these words many times after my husband died.  For me they… Read More

Widowed Fathers Reaching Out

April 23rd, 2013
Posted By:

I know a few widowed mothers and have great respect for how they handle the role of single parent.I don’t know any widowed fathers so I have always been curious about how they juggle the demands of raising children and handling their work careers. I imagine that a family member helps them; maybe a mother, a sister or even a brother.  Or maybe the fathers had already hired someone to help them when their wives sadly became too ill or were weakened by treatments. But after reading the insightful New York Times story below, I found that widowed fathers and… Read More

The Art of Resilience

March 15th, 2013
Posted By:

Being Proactive Can Strengthen Your Resilience The subject of resilience totally fascinates me. Resilience is being able to bounce back after being tossed around by life.  Trying to figure out why one person bounces back from a life trauma and another person breaks from the pain tells us something about the human condition don’t you think? It’s a roll of the dice. It’s the $64 million question. The ability to stay on track and keep your focus, the ability to develop an inner strength in the face of adversity is inspiring to me and in turn I draw strength from… Read More

Finding Grief Support

October 24th, 2012
Posted By:

I recently went back to the beginning of Cry Laugh Heal and read my the first post from 2010 and it brought all the crazy grieving feelings back to me: exhaustion, numbness, raw emotions, the scary future and sometimes even laughter! But it also reminded how great my support group was during that time and how it gave me the priceless gift of hope and helped me feel that life really would get better (somehow?!?!) even though my sweetheart of a husband died.  As I met with my small group twice a month, some sessions were incredibly upsetting and some… Read More

Still I Rise By Maya Angelou

September 6th, 2012
Posted By:

Oh, Maya Angelou, you are one talented and wise woman! Her poem, Still I Rise, tells us about what it means to face life’s difficulties with courage and patience.  Staying committed to walk your journey and refusing to give up is not easy, but as long as we can take that first step and reach out for help, it can be done. Take Maya Angelou’s hand, read her inspiring thoughts and feel her strength in the following verses: Still I Rise By Maya Angelou You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me… Read More

Discovering Kris Carr

May 22nd, 2011
Posted By:

A relative who is also a close friend was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and while visiting her she introduced me to the awesome books written by The New York Times best-selling author Kris Carr. I don’t know how I missed her but I am now totally taken with her philosophy of assessing your personal priorities in order to successfully battle cancer and become a “wellness warrior.” Carr’s blueprint for self-examination helps you to take stock of how much you actually exercise (not enough), what you actually eat (room for improvement) and what you should eat (more veggies) to how… Read More

A Pocket of Surprising Memories

March 26th, 2011
Posted By:

The whole world is watching as the Japanese rebuild their lives with quiet diligence. News reports show incredible pictures of houses ripped from the earth, cars piled on top of each other and even the concrete tsunami walls built for protection have been broken up and easily tossed aside.  And then there is the nuclear issue…The enormity of the human and physical devastation in Japan as a result of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami is difficult to comprehend and just seems endless. But one man in particular stands out for me.  I recently read an interview with this Japanese… Read More