Another Mother’s Day

It's Mother's Day It came without a trip to the spa. There were no fancy gifts or big bouquets of flowers. After a lovely lunch with my mothers, I went home to life in all its mom-glory. I did laundry - because I am privileged to have a closet and drawers filled with more clothes...

Surprise! I’m An Introvert

Should I say it louder....for the people in the back? Or maybe for the people sitting right in front of me saying "You are not!" Let me assure you - I AM! I've spent a significant portion of my life believing there was something about me that needed fixing. I struggled to understand why I...

Reflections At the End and the Beginning

We have arrived at the end of another year. As is the custom at this time of year, I have been reviewing the past year to consider what it has held for me. Since I am a numbers person, it seemed appropriate to make a Year by the Numbers list. So...here is what my year...

Back to School

Dear Students: I know there will be tears tonight as you say goodbye to summer fun. But this year you will learn new things; you will grow in ways you cannot imagine; you will discover new things about yourself and your friends. Do not shy away from the struggles you encounter - lean into them...

What We Measure

Photo (by me) is a random yellow flower at the side of my driveway. I don't know what kind it is and did not plant anything here. Although I'll be doing yard work later today, I think this flower will stay for now. Sleeping has become elusive to me and, like most mornings, I was...

Pause for Recognition

This week challenged me. A seemingly unending stream of work gone wrong, equipment breaking, illnesses, excessive heat, misunderstandings, promises unkept, and the other typical trials of life felt unbearable. And the one person who appears to have the innate ability to calm me and remind me to find my center is traveling and not available....

In Bondage to a Servant Life

I may have been born a 'people-pleaser.' I was raised to contemplate the feelings of others. I was raised to examine my impact in the world. I was raised by the golden rule. Somewhere in there, though, I internalized these noble efforts to supersede my own feelings and needs. Along the path to being a...

Just Another Midnight

New Year's Eve is steadily approaching. People all over the world will gather in homes and parks and clubs and restaurants to ring in the new year together. Joyfully they will say goodbye to 2021 and will greet 2022 with hope and with enthusiastic anticipation. It is a tradition that began back in ancient Babylon...

Remember Not to Worry

Are you surprised that we are almost at the end of another year? For me, the interrupted schedules caused by pandemic changes has left time feeling almost irrelevant. It feels like I have endured so much since January, and yet done so little. I have spent too much time on 'what if' and not enough...

What Growth Looks Like

I just finished a book that 2 years ago would have left me cowering in my closet. I just faced vivid imagery of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in New York City as details of the chaos were laid out in steps. I just listened as the author outlined a myriad of threats looming...