Working My Way Through

It’s easy for me to delude myself.  After all, I don’t know what I don’t know.  And I don’t recognize my behavior when it is so common to me that it strikes no strident note. Most of my less-than-admirable behaviors just work themselves through my hours and days without my notice.  They form themselves into […]

Opinions

Your opinion is your opinion, your perception is your perception–do not confuse them with “facts” or “truth”. Wars have been fought and millions have been killed because of the inability of men to understand the idea that EVERYBODY has a different viewpoint.John Moore  I’m wondering when my opinions become the strongest. Or more to the […]

Be Who You Are

“Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”James Baldwin Dear One, I hear you. And I see that you want to tuck into your place of safety and pull the comfy walls around you. Having a nest is a good thing. Having a hidey-hole can be […]

Loving Who Is

Relationship challenges don’t disappear.  I have a difficult person in my life and because I can’t walk away from family I must continually dive back in, difficult or not. And if I walk my own talk, I must love the people I love and accept them for who they are. In my self-examination before the […]

Together – We Are More!

“If you want to know yourself, look at your friends.” When I read this posit several years ago I began seeing my friends differently. After all, it’s a way to look outward for a little self-knowledge. When I look at my friends, what do I see of myself? Why are they my friends and I […]

In a Word: Racism

I am fortunate enough to have groups of women with whom I can share my thoughts. One such gathering has chosen a list of words.  Each month we discuss what one of the words means to us. What feelings it engenders. What we can learn about ourselves in a context of thought and discussion about […]

Being Me

“We already have everything we need. There is no need for self-improvement. All these trips that we lay on ourselves (…) never touch our basic wealth. They are like clouds that temporarily block the sun. But all the time our warmth and brilliance are right here. This is who we really are.” ― Pema Chödrön […]

#BlogActionDay

I believe in action. In my later years, though, my actions have become a little more thoughtful. It may be that I choose my battles more carefully, but I think it is because I now understand that the nuances of change are sometimes imperceptible. I recognize that some of my bold moves of the past […]

A Recipe for Aging (or Reconciling the Age Account)

Aging and parenting create an interesting combination. It is an heirloom recipe that I must dig from past history and review from time to time until I can do it from memory. I’m grappling with the ingredients again since my daughter’s illness.* From the negative side it would be titled, “My Life in Redundancy“.  A […]

Taking Care

When is volunteerism avoidance? I remember clearly my gritchy response when my father praised an older sister for her visible presence in Kiwanis. “She does great volunteer work,” he bragged. “Big deal,” I snarled. “She won’t even visit her own mother.” Well, there’s always more to the story, isn’t there? But for me at that […]