It’s Okay to Feel Our Grief
"May your own healing journey bring peaceful moments to your heart this day."
Not Goodbye, but “See You on the Other Side”
"...when our physical body passes away, the inner essence of our being simply travels on . . . continuing to help from the other side."
An Invitation to Calm and Inner Peace
Life’s difficult trials, perhaps more than at any other time, call upon us to dive deep into our spiritual practices.
Grief: “Let It Be”
Grief may come in waves: sometimes barely discernable, like a light drizzle in the background of our days. Other times, it arrives in a sudden heavy downpour of sadness, anger, regret, or fear.
Heart Healing: On the Other Side of Traumatic Stress
Do we know how to set healthy boundaries to keep poisonous words and harmful behaviors from entering the sacred space of our lives?
Unlearning the Old: Creating the New
In creating new ways of being, seek out role models for how you want to be in the world.
Building a More Loving Community this Holiday Season: “Just Listen”
During this holiday season, may our hearts be filled with peace. May our thoughts, words, and actions bring happiness—to ourselves, to others, and to the world. By listening, deeply, with love.
When Life Feels Overwhelming: Seek Wisdom from Within
At times, the world’s chaos may feel overpowering, especially when we are facing a stressful life situation. While we cannot always control outside circumstances, there are things we can do for ourselves to lessen our inner turmoil.
When Words Fail: Grief from Unexpected Loss
When we hear of tragic loss (or experience it ourselves) words are often inadequate to express the depth of our sorrow. Nothing makes it better. When people we dearly love die unexpectedly, there’s no time to mentally or emotionally prepare for their passing.
You Are Worthy, You Are Loved
What we learn during our brief sojourn on this planet is our greatest source of wisdom. Our capacity for continual expansion lights the way toward healing and toward wholeness. Always, our inner knowing is our strength. Affirm daily: I am loved. I am worthy. I am here for a reason.
Renewal: The Healing Powers of Body Movement
Recently, I’ve discovered how beneficial physical movement can be for rejuvenating my personal wellbeing. I don’t mean activities like rushing around on the job or hurrying off to run errands. I mean intentional, mindful body movements that result in feeling better.
Healing the Heart after Loss
When we lose someone we love, there are no simple solutions or ten effortless steps we can follow to “fix” our sorrow (or the sorrow of our friends and family). There are also no magic words or religious gurus—however well intended—that can make everything suddenly better.
Grief: Put It To Use!
We are here on this planet for a reason. Our gifts and our talents are needed, now more than ever. As Gandhi so aptly said, “What you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do it.”
The Grief Journey: Love Has No End
While the intensity of our grief may lessen somewhat with time, our love stays strong, powerful, and constant. Like a full moon shining bright in the night sky, love is the beacon we follow.
2018: BELIEVE
There is just that: Joining together with our friends, family, or neighbors. Remembering what matters. Helping one another when times get tough. Making mistakes. Learning. Getting up again the next day. Starting over. Saying thanks to those people who help us along.
Four Grief Myths to Eliminate Over the Holidays
This holiday season, try to create rituals and ceremonies that celebrate what you hold sacred in your life and in your heart. Be intentional about finding ways to honor your truth. Most importantly, be gentle and be kind – to others, and especially to yourself.
The Flowing Waters of Grief: The Healing Powers of Love
What I’ve learned from the many people I interviewed is that we don’t “get over” the death of someone we love. We also can’t fix or placate the intense sorrow we feel. Our experiences of loss — like our experiences of joy — become significant strands in the web of our life story.
Seeking Solace: On the Shores of Grief
When we find ourselves on the unfamiliar shores of loss ... We can spend however much time we need there, perhaps finding solace beneath the vast night sky, a bight full moon, or the soft glow of the setting sun. We can allow ourselves to feel whatever we feel — no right, no wrong, and no judgment.
Still Quiet Moments: Loss & Healing
As we sit with our sadness, we may decide not to waste time chasing the wrong things. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow likely no longer appeals to us because we understand the impermanent, fleeting beauty of the rainbow’s hues – knowing such splendor will not last. Knowing it is not meant to be here forever, but nevertheless wanting desperately to grasp each precious moment.
Embracing the Mosaic of Our Lives
One piece of my mosaic is this blog. It is a simple thing. It is also a part of me that I share with you. Whatever your work in this world, don’t give up. Valuable fragments often come from ordinary, daily pursuits. No one can duplicate or replace your piece in this life.
2016: The Year We Learn to Love Better
How do we achieve these goals? One way is to begin working together. We can honor our cultural, ethnic, religious, gender, and race differences while also embracing our commonalities. We can try to understand that the real enemies are ignorance, greed, fear, hate, and prejudice. We can refuse to follow any leader who promotes hate. We can joyfully decline to be governed by fear. We can embrace our power to make a difference.
Forgiving the Apology that Never Comes
Forgiveness isn’t easy to write about or to practice in our lives. When the church community I loved broke apart (not once but twice) over disputes regarding two different ministers, the issue of forgiveness was raised by those who opted to leave. I wasn’t able to tackle the topic then. Even now, two years later, I find forgiveness an unsettling area of discussion. I can’t point to one simple solution or easy fix, especially when no one admits fault or wrongdoing yet many people feel deeply hurt.
Sharing Our Sacred Stories
Our lives are worthy, not because of what we do. And certainly not because of what we own, where we live, or how we look. Each of our personal stories—regardless of the details—is sacred. They are sacred because we are spiritual beings. As Marge Piercy once shared in a poetry workshop that took place right after 9/11, art is how we give shape and meaning to our lives. Sharing our stories (and other creative expressions) is also how we connect with one another.
Healing Our Wounds – In Service to Humanity
There are people struggling with the ills of poverty, outlandishly expensive (but necessary) medical procedures, destruction of beautiful, natural environments, and all the challenges and loss that life brings to each of us. There are also millions of people joining together to find new solutions to age-old problems. In Buddhism we are taught, “Do not turn away from suffering. Learn to see others through the eyes of compassion. Create a better future for our children.”
Toward Peace & Healing
Perhaps in 2013 we can find ways to bring peace into our lives and create more peace in the larger world community. To do so, we might have to examine our emotional triggers. We may have to understand the conflict and anger within ourselves. We might need to listen to the suffering we have caused others. We may have to share our own sources of suffering. “Practicing nonviolence is first of all to become nonviolence. … This applies to problems of the family as well as to problems of society.”