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The Inspirational Story of Our Magnolia Tree: Perseverance, Growth, and Resilience
About 16 years ago, Neal and the girls gave me a magnolia for Mother’s Day. We planted it in the backyard, near the deck, and that baby grew and bloomed over the years, making me happy. In 2016, we were redoing our septic, and the magnolia had to be moved further. So, we moved her, and she thrived. A few years later, we had a harsh winter and heavy snowfall. One day, I woke up and saw that a heavy branch from a nearby tree had fallen on the magnolia, splitting it in half and breaking the very top. I was devastated. I thought she would never come back from this.…
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Finding Balance And Joy This Holiday Season!
As I try to gather my thoughts and put something useful on paper, I can feel the weight of all that has happened this year. We have three weeks to the end of 2023, and much changed in the world and our personal lives. December is the last month of the year and the first month of winter. It is also the month of many cultural and religious celebrations and rituals. Most people would agree that December can be hectic. Articles on surviving family get-togethers, gift shopping, traveling, and social events are hard to miss. The thing is, I love this season and its rituals, and the older I become, the…
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The Power of the Questions We Ask Ourselves
Is it necessary? This question has been with me for a while. I have been asking it of myself and my clients. It was the theme of this month’s gathering, and it is the focus of this post. We are approaching the Fall equinox and the season that ushers and celebrates change in a most spectacular way. I believe this question can be extremely useful as we try to figure out our next steps. What prompted the question? It all began as I was scrolling down my Twitter feed. I came across comments that people were making on a specific thread. The comments covered a range, but what struck me was…
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Saying No: An Act of Self-Care and Self-Respect
Imagine a river. Its source is at the top of a mountain. The river travels toward the sea, and its water supply is renewed by rain and melted snow. The river winds through villages and towns, and it becomes strong and plentiful along the way. The people living along the river banks use the water to grow and sustain their crops. They are grateful, but soon, they begin to take the river and its abundance for granted. They have come to believe that the river will be there forever, filled with cool, clean water for them to use and support their lives. Then, slowly, things begin to change. There has been a…
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Continued Lessons on Boundaries and Finding Balance
We are well into June, the garden is blooming, and I have resumed my hand-to-hand combat with the Queen. What is that supposed to mean? You may ask. Allow me to take you back to the beginning. When we bought our house twenty-six years ago, there were no established gardens, and I was still a novice gardener. However, there were mature trees and bushes, an abundance of rosa multiflora (wild rose), an invasive dense shrub, a 90-ft weeping willow, and pachysandra, hostas, and periwinkle growing along the stone walls and near the house. A stream cut across the backyard and into the woodland beyond. The property was wild, beautiful, and brimming…
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The Edge of New Beginnings
There was a full moon last night. I woke up early and went downstairs to make myself a cup of hot water with lemon. I fed the kitty and stood by the kitchen window, waiting for the water to boil. The house was quiet. Outside, the full moon was casting its light on the snow-covered yard. I stood there, breathing, looking up, and in this precious moment, my heart was full, and my mind at peace. When you regain a sense of your life as a journey of discovery, you return to rhythm with yourself.When you take the time to travel with reverence, a richer life unfolds before you.Moments of beauty…
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Homecoming
I drove through town today, a drive that I have probably done thousands of times in the last 27 years, in all kinds of weather. Today’s ride was beautiful, with trees putting on a spectacular and colorful show. New England knows how to dress for fall, no doubt. I drove slowly, leisurely, taking in the colors against the grey autumn sky. As I looked at various buildings and corners of our small town, I found myself going down memory lane. A lot has changed in the last 27 years. Places that I used to love and frequent, alone and with the girls when they were growing up, are not here anymore.…
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The Flow Of Our Days
“The secret heart of time is change and growth.Each new experience that awakens in you adds to your soul and deepens your memory. John O’DohohueExcerpt from Anam Cara This is the summer that followed the year when life as we knew it stopped. After having lived through the last 14 months, it is only natural that there’s an urgency to begin again, to resume life as we knew it. We lived through the darkness of winter. We experienced loss. We learned to navigate contradictions.We opened up to aspects of ourselves that needed to be seen. We found ways to reach out and remind each other that we’re here. We got creative.…
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On Absorbing Joy
Hello everyone, How are you feeling? I just wanted to let you know that I’m thinking of you and sending you all warmth and peace. Today, I’m sitting down to write about something really important and hard to remember as we’re navigating these days of uncertainty and anxiety. For the sake of our own resilience, we need to strengthen our capacity to accept and absorb joy. Sharon Salzberg It’s been getting harder and harder to find our capacity for absorbing joy, hasn’t it? We’re in the midst of a pandemic and there’s no end in sight. People are losing their lives and livelihoods. Then, there’s the election on Tuesday, and emotions…
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A Time to Breathe – An Invitation
“To pause is to go on a pilgrimage into ourselves. We discover something new every time.” It’s never been easy being a woman. These days, it’s beyond challenging. Women have become caretakers on overdrive. We’re negotiating profound changes and heightened emotions, along with the logistics of caring for the home, family, our professional lives, and our communities. Our well-being and sanity are being undermined daily. Let’s face it, does self-care even make the list? Where do we start? When do we even get the time to breathe? Yet, here’s another fact. In order to cross the gauntlet of our current reality and make it to the other side, we need to…
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Sacred Space
Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again. Joseph Campbell Lately, I’ve been waking up even earlier than usual. Fall has already made its entrance, and I find that I need more quiet, alone time with myself. It’s dark outside when I make my way downstairs. The light arrives faintly around 6 am. Nature comes alive when we’re going to sleep, and the animals wrap up their activity as the morning light announces itself. The coyotes are having a howling convention in the late evening hours. As I tiptoe around my kitchen in the early morning hours, I catch glimpses of activity I wouldn’t have noticed…
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The Transformation Process
“Sweetheart, you are in pain. Relax. Take a breath. Let’s pay attention to what is happening. Then we’ll figure out what to do.” –– Sylvia Boorstein Recently, I came across this quote by Sylvia Boorstein. This was not the first time I read that, in her effort to cultivate loving-kindness, Sylvia addresses herself as “Sweetheart,” especially when self-criticism and self-doubt bubble up. Today, as my daughter and I were driving to visit a friend, I found myself sharing these words with her and talking about the importance of practicing loving-kindness and how this practice needs to also include ourselves. It has never been easy for me to include myself in the…
