One of the things I love about living in Minnesota is the change of seasons. Each one has a different energy and aspect to appreciate. The rhythm and cycle of the seasons help me feel connected to the earth and to nature. They keep me grounded.
Continue reading “A Curious Question #12: What’s your favorite part of spring?”
For me, some of the most effective learning takes place by contrast. I see the right path when I’m on the wrong one. I see what would be best for me when I’m in a situation that’s not the best.
And this week, I saw what I want while waiting for what I don’t want.
Continue reading “How a No-Show Showed Me What I Want”
I heard an interview once with the wife of Dr. Seuss and she shared something that surprised me. She said that he didn’t write for others. He wrote for himself. If people liked what he wrote, so be it! But that wasn’t the reason he wrote.
I try to follow this example.
Continue reading “A Curious Question #11: Why do you write?”
My sister recently shared an email with me that was from a consultant she follows named Ritu. In the email, Ritu talks about reframing our thoughts on love and the different ways it may show up in our lives. She included a quote from Bishop Jakes that went something like this:
“We expect to find the love we want in the packages we want it to be in. But the Universe sends us the love we need, often in packages we might not expect.”
It was a timely email to read because I’ve been thinking lately about sharing how love arrived on my doorstep last fall in a package I hadn’t been expecting.
Continue reading “Sometimes Love Arrives in Packages We Aren’t Expecting”
There’s a younger man in my office who recently became engaged. He met his now-fiancé in high school and had been dating her for the past 12+ years. When he told me he had proposed, I congratulated him then asked if he’d like a little piece of advice.
“Of course,” he replied.
I said, “Never stop dating each other.”
Continue reading “My Advice to a Newly Engaged Man? Never Stop Dating Each Other”
Recently, I discovered a parable shared by Thich Nhat Hanh in his book How To Relax. It goes something like this:
“The Buddha was having a silent lunch with his monks in the woods. A farmer came hurrying by and asked if they had seen his cows, which had left him that morning. It appeared the farmer was suffering greatly. The Buddha, upon seeing how distraught the farmer was, compassionately told the farmer they had not seen his cows. Once the farmer left, the Buddha turned to his monks and said, “Dear monks, you are very lucky. You don’t have any cows to lose.”
Continue reading “Living a Cling-Free Life”
At the beginning of every year, a dear friend of mine picks her word for the year. It may be a word that represents what she wants to focus on for the year or how she wants to show up.
I love this idea and for last few years I’ve chosen a word for the year as well. One year it was Release, another year it was Trust.
As this new year dawned, I began pondering what my word for this year would be. I think I’ve settled on Explore. I’d like to continue my inner world exploration through meditation and add outer world exploration as well. This can take the form of exploring a new place in the great outdoors or exploring a new idea or activity.
So today I ask you to ponder the same question: What’s your word for this year?
As always, I’d love to hear your responses.
In Parker Palmer’s book, Let Your Life Speak, he talks about how we use the word “make” a lot. We use it when we talk about making friends, babies, and love. But in order for these things to be healthy, we need to be growing them instead. We need to be growing friends, babies, and love. That’s how real development happens.
The same is true for our relationships. Healthy relationships aren’t made. They’re grown. Kute Blackson writes,
“The real purpose of a relationship is about two people coming together to serve the growth and evolution of each other’s soul.”
A healthy relationship is like a plant. It can become stagnant, wilt, or die when we fail to take care of it. Like a plant, our relationships need the following things to be healthy and grow:
Continue reading “Relationships Aren’t Made. They’re Grown.”
Welcome 2021!
As this new year dawns, I have two questions to ponder today:
I welcome your thoughts and wish you happiness and good health in 2021.
In one of my recent posts, I wrote about not letting fear take the wheel and steer and instead to let the Divine take the wheel. As I ponder this further, I don’t think I got it quite right.
I’ve been thinking back to my Getting Still post about the fear based stories our minds tell us and to filter our thoughts with Love to get to the truth. When I think about it now, this filtering process is really about listening to our intuition. And I’m beginning to believe that our intuition is an inner knowing that comes from our connection to the Divine. It’s this inner knowing we must trust to take the wheel and steer because the Divine doesn’t do the driving.
Continue reading “Rethinking Don’t Let Fear Take the Wheel and Steer”
