Completion challenge: Surviving and thriving at harvest time
I always thought harvesting was the fun part of the growing cycle. I still do; I just didn’t realize that it could be such hard work. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I planted so many apple trees, but I certainly wasn’t considering what it would take to pick, move, wash, and press […]
Wiggle your toes to calm your mind
Recently, I wrote about “Breaking the grip of self-judgment.” This week, I discovered some tools that can help. In Positive Intelligence Shirzad Chamine writes that we all have a judge. It ain’t just me. That judge, in turn, sub-contracts part of his work to a merry band of saboteurs custom-matched to our personalities. All it takes to send them out is a […]
Did Darwin Get it Wrong?
At the suggestion of a friend, I recently watched Fantastic Fungi. Normally, a movie about mycelium and mushrooms wouldn’t be my top pick for date night, but both my husband and I loved the film. Beyond being exquisite, the movie felt life-changing. The idea that our world has a living, renewable resource that has been in […]
Saying yes to life, even then, even now
In these crazy times, as the world changes in unpredictable ways, where do we turn to find meaning? I don’t mean the ultimate capital “M” Meaning, or “The Meaning of Life” a la Monty Python, but a meaning that sounds like a “Yes” within us and adds some purpose to our days. That yes […]
Find the heroes you need
The Netflix movie about Michelle Obama has just been released, and I cried watching the trailer. Like millions of others, I miss her presence in the White House. Watching the film’s trailer made me realize how hungry I am, starved really, for true heroes with her grace who stand up for others. When I say […]
Why I won’t “manage” my rage
I ran into an artist friend of mine before a concert last weekend, a gracious, considerate, soft-spoken woman. In a brief “how are you?” we looked into each other’s eyes and found a common answer: rage. In that instant, we dropped pretending that “It’s OK,” (we’re both pretty nice,) and admitted that the world is […]
Freedom’s not just another word
“Freedom’s just another word for nothing else to lose.” Kris Kristofferson Last week I lost a piece of my heart: our foster dog Jackson. After many bouts of sobbing, I found myself in a peaceful stupor, when the word freedom came to me as if Jackson had sent it. Strange. I decided it might be […]
To hold as we are held
My Mom was not the perfect Mom. I was far from being the ideal daughter. I constantly challenged her during the late ’60s with my drugs, sex, and hitchhiking, marches against the Vietnam War, and grungy clothes, There’s a picture of me where I am wearing long hair, no bra and an Indian bedspread made […]
Find Your Inner Porpoise
The books written about Purpose or “Finding Your Inner Purpose” on Amazon have it almost right. They just spelled it wrong. Change a few letters and you’ll have more fun. Finding a purpose can feel heavy. A porpoise is buoyant. Just to be clear, I think having a deep sensing about the “why” of life can help […]
What does real accountability look like? (It might go beyond what you think…)
What does it mean to be fully accountable, taking responsibility for one’s actions as well as for one’s legacy? The business world approaches accountability as a virtue, a buzz word that’s synonymous with good performance as in, “Yep, I got it, I’ll do it right away” or “Yes, it was my mistake, and I’ll fix […]