November is National Family Caregivers Month

Posted November 5th, 2021

This is a time across our nation to honor our family caregivers: to recognize the challenges that family caregivers face, and how they manage their day and night as they offer care around the clock! There is just so much that our family caregivers do!  For many of you, caregiving can truly be a 24 […]

Autumn and Letting Go

Posted September 29th, 2021

Our weather has been more than a little unpredictable, but autumn is coming. Soon the weather will be cooler more often!!  The world will literally look different as the trees shed their leaves and provide a new cover for the earth.  I read a marvelous description of this change the other day by  Sarah Addison […]

Self-care Isn’t Selfish

Posted August 25th, 2021

What is self-care? The term “self-care” is a buzzword in certain circles, but what does it actually mean, and how does one start doing it? Authors Lee and Miller defined self-care as, “a process of purposeful engagement in practices that promote holistic health and well-being of the self.” If that seems a little vague, it’s in part […]

Reflections

Posted May 26th, 2021

Life can be challenging: Unexpected trials, upended plans, suspended dreams, bodies we suddenly can’t trust, needs that seem engulfing, skills that just come up short. Do you relate? Mindboggling as it is, somehow it just helps to know that others can feel the same. Equally as staggering a thought is that somehow, during our times […]

Peace

Posted May 19th, 2021

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”  Buddha We are living in conflictual times. Health concerns, political and societal unrest, perhaps financial uncertainty all impact the conflict that so many of us are struggling with. Last fall as I was standing in line to cast my absentee ballot, people around me began talking […]

Expressive Writing, What is It?

Posted May 12th, 2021

One of psychotherapy’s main beliefs is that putting thoughts and feelings into words may produce mental health benefits. Of course, this also applies to cancer patients, who face the countless psychological issues that can arise in the face of a serious illness. Participating in therapy, however, isn’t the only way to give voice to one’s internal world […]

Sing Anyway

Posted May 5th, 2021

“Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.” – Emory Austin I love this thought from Emory Austin. I am reminded of an experience with my grandmother. I called her Mom Mom. I loved her deeply. She lived far away from me, so it was always a celebration when she came […]

What Do You Put In Your Pocket?

Posted April 28th, 2021

When my kids were little, we began a little ritual of putting something in our pockets each day. You see, we had moved about 950 miles from where our kids had lived all of their young lives. Everything was different. Weather. Accents. Scenery. There was understandable sadness in missing their home and friends. There was […]

Take a Small Step

Posted April 21st, 2021

I remember times in my life when everything seemed totally overwhelming. I just did not know what to do. Life felt like it had kicked the breath totally out of me. Have you experienced those kinds of difficult periods? Sometimes they come around loss … of job, of health, of a precious person. Sometimes they […]

Sharing Energy

Posted April 14th, 2021

Do you have a favorite flower? It is very difficult for me to choose a favorite, for there is such a vast array of floral beauty! I must say, though, that I am perhaps drawn most to the sunflower. What an amazingly stunning flower. They are unusually tall for a flower, some growing to as […]