Category: Inspiration
Becoming Untethered
Tuesday is my last day at Whirlpool. I accepted a Voluntary Retirement Package about 5 weeks ago, and it’s been a bit of an emotional journey. There were days that I was excited. There were days where I questioned my decision. I had a…
Leaving My Comfort Zone
One of my girlfriends is learning to teach virtually. She has taught face-to-face classes for her entire career, so this is no small task. The technology is daunting and feels really clunky. “I keep messing up,” she said with frustration. The content and activities…
Percolating….
Sunday I ventured into the world to get some sunshine and blue skies on a beautiful 70-degree day. One of my favorite little beach towns is Ottawa Beach, home of Holland State Park and the Big Red Lighthouse. A boardwalk meanders beside Lake Macatawa…
The Practices of Healing
I feel like writing but I don’t really know what to write about. Maybe if I just start, I’ll finish. It is the practice, after all, that makes for a habit. It’s not the skill. A guy I talked to the other day kept…
The Art of the Comeback: Resilience
Shania Twain is on the cover of AARP this month. Yes, I’m a member, and, yes, I read the magazine. I hadn’t known what happened to her, but I certainly remember her meteoric rise in country music and can sing several of her toe-tapping,…
A Meaningless Life
“Read Ecclesiastes,” my friend said. “or as much of it as you can take. The message: Everything is meaningless. For me, that’s it. Full Stop.” So I read Ecclesiastes – or as much as I could take. I didn’t remember this chapter from my…
The End of a Decade
We are coming up to the end of the year which is wonderful reflective time, but we are also coming up to the end of a decade. This morning I was trying to recollect where I was at the beginning of this decade and…
Jolene, Soak Me in My Fear
“Does it seem to you that everybody is angry these days?” a friend from back home asked me on Snapchat. “Yes, they are,” I said. But I told him I had learned that anger is a secondary emotion. It’s the more powerful and confident…
Why Are We Lonely? #endloneliness
My friend Bonnie posted a link on Facebook that contained an image of a letter a 90-year-old woman wrote to a neighbor. She asked her if she would be her friend. All of her friends had died, and she was very lonely. It reminded…
Diminishing the Pain of Loss
A friend of mine was anticipating running into an old girlfriend this weekend. He was trying to set himself up to be successful in managing what could be a painful situation with some dignity. I am beginning to plan how to handle a tricky…
Hits of the Past Week
