Lessons From an Autumn Walk
Hard autumn winds don't just blow away leaves; They can also blow away the things in our lives that no longer belong. Listen to find out what else trees can teach us about transformation and healing.
Blog
Truly Thankful (But not for Thanksgiving)
“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.” George Bernard Shaw... Today is the day when many people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving. Like many of you, I will be sharing a collaborative meal and what should be some good connection time with some of my family. I am thankful for that. I’ve had quite a few not so stellar holidays in my life. I will tell you though, I do not honor this day as “Thanksgiving...”
Keep Calm, Andante On
The term “Andante” is a musical tempo. An Andante is a moderately slow, gentle pace. If you listen to the beginning of Carl von Weber’s "Andante e Rondo" you can hear what I mean. Notice how it just keeps rolling on, with a lilt here and lilt there? That’s Andante. 14 years ago, a different kind of Andante came into my life in the form of floofy little rescued “accidental” Lhasapoo. Since my daughter and I are both musicians we wanted to give him a musical name. We decided on Andante, and called him Dante for short. He has always just kept rolling on with a little lilt step here and there. That’s our Dante...
Story Time: Three Young Eagles
Here’s our third story in the “Story Time” series, “Three Young Eagles.” Let’s see what some discomfort can do for us!
Guest Appearances by Grief
"When we lose everything; When our stability is literally washed away, there is no help that will seem like enough... Trauma and grief are most often entwined. As such, in the aftermath of disasters, most of us do some iterations of Jack Worden's "Four Tasks of Mourning..."
SPECIAL EDITION: Hurricanes, Trauma, Epigenetics & Healing
It can be a tall order to stay informed about traumatic events like the recent hurricane, determine how we can be helpful, and not become traumatized in the process. Click here to find out more!
Trauma & Identity
“Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence.” (Peter Levine) Trauma Steals Imagination ME: Do you feel like drawing today? KID: Ok. ME: What do you want to draw? KID: I dunno. What should I draw? ME:...
In Tribute to Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon
“I was here before I came and after I go, I will still be here.” (Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, October 4, 1942 - July 16, 2024. Activist, cultural historian, artist.) I was a young teenager the first time I heard Sweet Honey in the Rock...
Goodbye/Hello
“I don’t know why you say goodbye/ I say hello.” (Paul McCartney) Each Goodbye is Hello When we graduate from a school it’s called a “commencement.” By definition a “commencement” is a beginning. I don’t know about you, but when I go to a “commencement”...
Listening First
“Listen to the wind; It talks. Listen to the silence; It speaks. Listen to your heart; It knows.” (Native American Proverb) “Listen, or your tongue will make you deaf.” (Anonymous) Letting Go of Linus’ Blanket As more and more painful and difficult things happen in...
Telling Those Ugly Holiday Twins Apart
"Holidays have this way of pushing us to do an inventory on whether our lives and relationships are what we want them to be or others are telling us they 'should' be, especially when people or dreams have died, when relationships reveal themselves as unhealthy, when people disappoint us or leave us or blow up our goals and dreams, when we feel like we are not measuring up to what and who we 'should' be? We are going to feel some very un-holiday-like feelings. "In other words, the field is ripe for both depression and grief. "Depression and grief are these obnoxious doppelgänger emotions. They can look so much alike on the surface, but they have opposite needs. It’s sort of like 'Starve a fever, feed a cold.' But fevers are obvious. Depression and grief? Not so much..."
2020 Vision: A gift wrapped in barbed wire
“Grief always comes bearing gifts. Unfortunately, they are sometimes wrapped in barbed wire.” Seeing clearly Welp… To be fair, I really did believe that 2020 was going to be a year of focus and clarity. I wasn’t wrong. I really wish it had been delivered...
Pieces of Peace (When it all falls to pieces)
“You find peace, not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” (Eckhart Tolle) There’s that internal locus of control again Well thank you, Eckhart Tolle. Frankly, there are an awful lot of circumstances of our...
Why Settle for Happy
"Happiness is not a goal; It’s a biproduct." (Eleanor Roosevelt) Why settle for just happy? I have a number of clients who are either naturally positive people, or who have worked hard to become so. It’s important to them to “look on the bright side,”...
Strong Broken Hearts
Hearts are amazing things. When they break, it feels as though we can never be whole again. What we previously knew as love gets dashed on the rocks, shattered into a millions fragments and scattered all over the landscape of our lives. It feels at...
Holiday Grief 102
In “Holiday Grief, part two: Sneaky Grief” we will look at some unusual presentations of grief that might just surprise you. Holidays have a way of amplifying our challenging emotions. Understanding what’s going on inside can often be the first step in managing things more...
Holiday Grief 101
Managing grief is always a challenge, but at the holidays, the difficulties seem to be magnified. Understanding what’s going on and making strategies for your wellbeing can really help! Click The Link Above To View A Video
Helping Those Who Are Grieving
Click here for an exceptional article on how to help those who are grieving, written by Megan Devine: How to Help a Grieving Friend: 11 Things to Do When You’re Not Sure What to Do