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Stillness

Very often my mind is so full and active it’s like New York City in there, churning and noisy, I have conversations with myself that often run me in circles.

At night, I’m tired, I go to bed, pull up the covers, and close my eyes and my brain says “YEA! No distractions it’s time to solve problems and wonder ‘why I did I say THAT to THEM’ or ‘why did I eat that for dinner?’ or ‘WHAT IF I CAN NEVER GET ON AN AIRPLANE AGAIN?!…” and on she goes. 

I do all sorts of things to distract myself to quiet my mind and find some stillness. 

I will begin with repetitions like “all is well, and I am well” or “the time to rest is now” and say it 20-30 times, just to get my mind to slow down.

Or, I’ll begin to say the Lord’s Prayer in my head until I find myself saying… “Our Father, who art in Heaven … hum, what I should cook for supper tomorrow?”.  Then I’ll stop and start over until I can say the entire prayer without distraction then I can begin to relax.  When I’m complet...

It’s Summer!

Summer is generally time to take off and have some fun. While this summer is a far cry better than summer 2020, Steve and I are still staying close to home. I’m just not ready to get on a plane and travel freely yet.

My incredible 97-year-old mother in law has been staying at home these past 15 months as well. She told me recently of the joy it brings her to sit in her recliner, look out her window and see the magnolias tree with buds beginning to bloom. She has looked out that same window for 60+ years onto her wooded back yard and still even now, she is finding unexpected beauty.

Each day she shares the number of buds that have blossomed into flowers and the delight in her voice is palpable. She inspired me to be more intentional about appreciating the beauty in small focused spaces around me. It’s easy to look at a view you’ve seen a million times and not really “see” it.

It’s also easy to look at a person you’ve know a long time and not really “see” the...

Hi everyone,

On my walk this morning it was so foggy I could hardly see 5 feet in front of me. I have walked on the same country road for 35+ years yet today it felt mysterious and foreign. I was uncertain about who or what I might run into and I became tentative and cautious.

Foggy uncertainty is what most of the world has been experiencing in the past 11 months isn't it?  Our usual path has been obscured from view and our familiar landmarks and reference points have been upended.

Over this past year, I too have had many moments of bewilderment and had to stop and pause to recalibrate my direction.

When a gymnast on the balance beam begins to fall, she doesn't just keep going, she stops, regains her balance, focuses on her next move and only then continues on.

This week I facilitated a Zoom call with 60+ hospice Chief Clinical and Operations Officers from across the US. The levels of exhaustion and frustration are still very high, vaccine rollouts are stimied, finding ...

THE BEST AND WORST OF TIMES

Here we are, the first week of November 2020, and we have broken two all-time highs: 

• more American's voted in this Presidential election than ever before in the history of our nation and 
• COVID19 cases frighteningly hit all-time highs this week, higher than any time since the pandemic began only nine months ago

To say these are challenging times is a gross understatement. I am reminded of the historical novel A Tale of Two Cities (1859), by Charles Dickens.

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…". 

And now, 160 years later, we still facing similar dilemmas. Half of us say it is a season of Light, and half of us say it is a season of Darkness. I say, yes, it is both. It is the best and wors...