The following is a thought train from the other day. It is not written from any specific science or research and is purely my point of view. It is said that grief is love without a place to go. It follows that when we don’t love ourselves we are grieving. Specifically, our soul is grieving. Our soul is love and is sharing that with us in this present moment and we are either not accepting it or not returning it. We are disconnected from that love and so it does not have “a place to go”. This can manifest in...
Goodbye
Traditionally, the New Year is a time for resolutions to change or improve oneself or one’s situation. This year, I am flying in the face of tradition and rather than resolving to “improve” myself, I am saying goodbye to things with the intention of making space for others. Goodbye to being defined by a number. No longer being defined by weight. By income. By the number of hours worked each week. By the number of hours spent exercising per day/week. By how many calories are consumed daily. By how many vaccinations/boosters have been received. By how many cups of coffee...
Distraction
Experiencing distraction? You're in good company.
Surrender
I used to think that surrender meant failure. That it was to be avoided at all costs because it was a sign of weakness and inability. Surrender felt like something that was an absolute last resort because the result of surrender would be pain or death. Well, as it turns out that was one of my mind’s overly dramatic dramatizations of what surrender can offer. A very warlike – us versus them – kind of mentality. The truth, at least for me, is that surrender is essential to growth and happiness. This does not suggest that surrender means giving up...
Break
I wrote this poem about 10 weeks into the pandemic. As a nursing home administrator, the past two years have been an exercise in survival. So much uncertainty. So much fear. So much grief. In the early days, it seemed as though every day (sometimes every hour) brought about some catastrophic news or event. We lived in fight or flight. At that time, our regulations did not allow anyone to come into the building unless they were “essential workers”. This meant that visitors were not allowed under any circumstance. While I certainly understood the reasoning, it was devasting to all...
Feasty
Fear is a wily beast. She lives deep down inside of me and holds the things I only vaguely know of in her belly. She keeps these things hidden with her thick scales, sharp claws, and razor-like fangs. Self-worth, self-love, trust, and faith all roll around inside of her. Sometimes, when she sleeps, she opens her mouth very wide and these things peek out into my inner world and look around. This is usually Feasty’s cue to snap her strong jaws closed before any of her charges escape. I hear Feasty’s soft voice echo inside of my head. You are...