A simple tree by the roadside stands…
On Finding the Word …
For months I’ve been trying to find the word that describes what I’m feeling inside these past 12 months. Is it fear? Is it dread? Is it anger? Yes, it is all of these things, but while those words are part of it, they don’t quite satisfy my need to find just the right word. Labeling things helps me keep[…]
On the Path to Peace…
I’ve heard the phrase “protect your peace” tossed around in self-development circles. It sounds good, but protecting my peace makes it seem like I have it hidden away somewhere, behind lock and key, where no one can get to it. That’s no way to live. I consider myself a nice person. I hold doors for people. I say, “thank[…]
On Forgiveness
January 15 was the birthday of someone I haven’t spoken to in over two years, and not spoken civilly to in about 9. I’ve been thinking a lot of forgiveness lately. Someone’s said recently that forgiveness isn’t acceptance, it is giving up the hope that the past could be different. I don’t know if the person who said that is[…]
On Perspective (a modern day Cinderella story)…
I was walking along on my morning sunrise walk when I spotted this lost shoe off in the distance. My curiosity peaked, I began to imagine the scenario of how that lovely bright blue shoe ended up on the side of a rural road in Oklahoma. I thought of a modern day Cinderella, racing home to make curfew after a[…]
On Surprises…
I am reading The Book of Awakening, Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have, by Mark Nepo. (This is a wonderful, non-denominational daily devotional). The devotional for April 21 is The Gift of Surprise. One of the things I know about myself is that I love surprises, I just want to know about them[…]
On a very different St. Patrick’s Day.
March 17, 2020 looks very different than March 17, 2019. A year ago, I was sharing interesting Irish facts on social media and looking forward to tipping back a few pints of Guinness in celebration of my people. Who would have believed a year later, I would be embracing sobriety and all St. Patrick’s Day celebrations would be canceled? Had[…]
On Becoming
Most people who know me, know I love a good sunrise. But, I doubt they know why. I love sunrises because it is visual evidence that the night is becoming the day. The dark becoming the light. When I see that sun come up, in the words of Alexander Pope, “hope spring eternal.” Starting each day with the sunrise, watching[…]
Happy New Year. 2020.
The picture shows an actual page from my journal, dated January 1, 2019. a full year ago. You may not be able to read my handwriting (no one can), so the list goes: Morning Person Write everyday (even if it’s just this journal, but strive for more). Utilize and plan every hour of the day so as to not waste[…]
A Year Ago…
A year ago, I never saw sunrises like this. A year ago, on November 17, 2018, my dear friend David Gray died. I was still heavily mourning the death of my mother four months earlier, a loss so devastating I felt I hadn’t taken a breath since she took her last. I was still in mourning for my beloved heartdog[…]