What is the greatest gift you have ever received? For me it was the gift of a child through adoption. Other than an organ donation, it’s hard to imagine a greater gift. How can you possibly top that? A few years later, my son’s birth mom donated a kidney to Continue Reading
A Christmas Truce
Have you heard of the Christmas Truce of December, 1914? This had to be one of the most bizarre war-time stories to emerge in wartime. It has been documented in soldier diaries, on camera, and in movies and books. Prince William recently dedicated a memorial in the location where this Continue Reading
Water: An Instant Fuel Pack
Which health goal do you hope to finally conquer in the new year? Mine is to hydrate more. We’ve all heard the recommendation of drinking eight glasses of water a day. After once suffering an acute kidney trauma, and later landing in the ER hooked up to an intravenous pole, Continue Reading
Teen and Tween Travails
During my husband’s late-morning computer class, chatter unexpectedly drifted towards mental health one day. One of his students mentioned the food served in the ‘mental hospital.’ “Were you a visitor there?” a fellow classmate asked her. “No, I was a patient,” she replied. Upon seeing their puzzled face, she added: Continue Reading
Beyond Counting Sheep
Who has trouble staying or falling asleep? Since the pandemic, I’ve heard of more and more people struggling with shut eye. I feel your pain. In this article, I hope to outline strategies- beyond counting sheep – to hopefully demystify this activity and erase some of the dread you may Continue Reading
She’s Going to Blow!
Are You going to Blow? What makes you blow a fuse? Do you burn slowly or erupt quickly? When author Julie Barnhill wrote a book for moms about anger, She’s Going to Blow, she wondered if anyone would want to read it. After a local radio station featured her book, Continue Reading
Dream Dashers and Hope Restorers
How do you react to people squelching your dreams or selling you short? Does this make you dig your heels deeper to prove them wrong, or surrender to low expectations? Balancing Potential and Goals A former colleague of mine, Jeff Atkinson, dug deeper. We both worked in thankless jobs at Continue Reading
The Circle of Mentoring
Who has been a mentor in your life, and who have you mentored? In this post, I hope to show you how the mentee-mentor relationship is a fluid one. Mentors and mentees help each other to become their best selves. Consistency Take Helen from Toronto, Ontario for example. She invested Continue Reading
Where Does Your Light Come From?
When record-breaking fires recently draped the Bay Area in a layer of yellow-gray ash or an apocalyptic orange glow, I often fixated on light. I would peer outside to check the latest color hue and reminisce about my latest nature outing. Each temporary reprieve in the winds would have to Continue Reading
Collective Suffering
How the world has changed since my last post. Little did I know, when I completed my previous entry, that I would soon receive a front row seat on grief. And now, people the world over are dealing with some form of loss. A Life-Changing Text On the last Friday Continue Reading