Blogs

With great excitement, we welcomed the newest member of our family to a scheduled photo shoot to capture for posterity four generations in a single photo. I know this can be digitally manipulated now, but we know we were all together in that same space and time. When we walked in, the photographer took control, picked up the baby and placed our grandchild on my dad’s lap. His face immediately lit up in a way I hadn’t seen in years. His voice lifted and lilted in that playful way we choose when communicating with babies. It was fun to witness this moment of familial pride and pleasure.

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Molting is the shedding of “skin, feathers, or a shell to make way for new growth”. We move through our lives in a pulsing progression, development or even reinvention of ourselves. Sometimes, molting for us is just a trial run as we search for something that resonates with what we feel is our authentic selves. For we humans, molting is not a seasonal thing – it has a pace all its own. And breadth, sometimes pushing the edges of what we know to be comfortable. Sometimes it’s stagnant. Not molting can be stifling or even suffocating. Figuring out what to keep and what to shed in this process is work for we alone to do.

We most often use essences internally by making a dosage bottle or adding drops of the essence to our water, but they are versatile and useful in many different applications. We have some ideas to stimulate your creativity as you begin to experiment. [Click on the title above to continue reading.]

I strolled through the front door knowing only that things would be changed. The last time I was in that building was three years ago on the Friday before the world shut down for the pandemic. About three quarters of the employees had returned to work on site. I set my stuff down in a cubicle reserved for guests and made my way through the maze looking for some familiar faces of folks with whom I had worked back then just to say hello. I found one woman of the same vintage as me sitting in a new location. We chatted easily until the inevitable question: “so how are things going here?”. She opened up and the small talk took a turn down a more serious path.

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On her way out of town for the holidays, my wife texted me with a message that restored my faith in humanity. It was a request, not from her, but from or about a neighbor. We don’t really know her all that well. The woman, who lives alone, had recently undergone surgery and would be incapacitated for 4 months. Her daughter reached out to our community Facebook page with a link to a website that I thought was brilliant – Meal Train. It enables someone to connect to a community of friends to advise of a situation and to request meals for someone in need. All the organizational issues are handled by the site – scheduling, dietary restrictions, preferences, open dates, etc. It even has links to Grub Hub, Door Dash and Uber Eats where you can prepay an option or send a gift card if you are not available to cook or just prefer not to. You can forward the link to others and invite them to participate. There are suggestions for etiquette, tips and ideas for meal giving; all the little things to make it more convenient for the recipients. [PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE TO CONTINUE READING]

I smile when I hear people say “I love this song” when they don’t even know the lyrics or what the song is about. Like many, they enjoy the melody, remember one or two catchy words from the lyrics and then infer the meaning of an entire song from that. Take for instance the song Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. How can anyone listen to that song and think that it should be played at religious services? They only hear its gorgeous rhythmic and soaring melody and remember a few key words: Lord, God, Faith, Love and, of course, Hallelujah. But listen to the rest. [Please click on the title above to continue reading.]

While needing to impose some “forced” relaxation recently, I listened with eyes closed and attentive ear to the beautiful piano piece ‘Clair de Lune” by Claude Debussy, part of the four-movement suite Bergamasque. In doing so, I could feel my pulse slow down.

I met my new friend on the dock and after exchanging some pleasantries, we boarded his dinghy with my gear bag to head back to the trawler now sitting quietly at anchor in the river. He drove like an old islander he had met long ago, standing upright in the dinghy, holding firmly to the bow line for balance while using a tiller extension to steer. With his Benson captains' hat, he certainly cut a unique figure. All he needed was a pipe and a rain slicker to complete the look. [PLEASE CLICK ON TITLE ABOVE TO CONTINUE READING]

Long ago, my high-school friend was engaged in one of “those” conversations with his mother. He was behind the wheel as they drove down “The Pike”, that highway between our towns. In response to her question – something like ‘whaddaya want to do with your life’ – he started “I want to help make the world a better place…” She cut him off - “then start by letting into your lane that guy whose had his blinker on for the past quarter mile!” We still laugh about this today, 50 years later. [Please click on the header above to continue reading]

I get dismissive when I hear people habitually use trite, worn-out expressions as a response. It’s like they are pre-loaded on the tip of the tongue and just come driveling out. It feels to me that maybe it’s a crutch so they don’t have to think or process what the conversation is about. Especially so when the expression used doesn’t fit the context. They are not engaged, really, and maybe the use of these idioms helps them think they are. I know I should be more patient, hanging in there longer or trying something different to help usher them to more meaningful dialogue. But too often I don’t.