Bittersweet

I expected that over the following months, there would be a number of reality shifts.

Powering Through

One summer, my husband I bought a Kayak. I’d done a lot of research and found an inflatable one with excellent reviews that fit our budget and space constraints. We had both canoed before, and Jack had once owned a sailboat. A kayak is a little different, and an inflatable differs from a hard body….

New Beginnings

Wherever you find yourself in your life, remember to celebrate the ending of old chapters and the beginning of new ones!

Kicking Fear to the Curb

Since I’ve actively begun rooting out fears and staring them down, I’ve learned I’m not alone in this endeavor. As much as we desire to be fearless, it seems many of us battle with some fear. Speaking in public, catching a deadly illness, or meeting new people are just a few. Those things that make…

Feeling the Heat

I hope your summer is going better than planned. With longer days, the workload has been ramping up here – but that isn’t a complaint. With extended hours of daylight, I’m inclined to go out and enjoy the company of others. Last week I overheard someone say that though it’s just now July, for them,…

Purple Mindfulness

When nothing is certain, everything is possible. ~Unknown After many years, I finally took the plunge and launched my new business as a full-time professional writer. Before leaving my part-time office gig, I had just enough business to justify setting out on my own, and enough set back to carry me for a year. So,…

It’s Easy for You [Part One]

Maybe you’ve heard these, “It’s easy for you to _________ because ______.” “It’s easy for you to be fit you’ve always been healthy” “It’s easy for you to be positive, nothing bad ever happened to you.” “It’s easy for you to be happy, your life is all together.” Some people tend to judge our current state of…

Can You Beat Rejection?

The Question: Have you ever noticed that a certain amount of fear goes with just about any change?  Whether it’s asking for a raise, quitting an old job or starting a new one, buying a home, beginning a new relationship, selling a car, or bringing home a new baby. There’s that “What have I done?”…

What Life Do You Really Want? 7 Questions to ask.

One dear friend of mine and Jack’s was born in China. As a little girl she moved to the United States. In her predominantly white school, she looked and sounded different and was small. She’d left behind extended family, aunts and uncles, cousins and ancestors. Because she was always getting picked on,  Helen felt sad…

Can You Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?

I’m sitting on the couch with my then-boyfriend on New Year’s Eve. We are with his mother a petite and loving woman who I respect and trust. Someone mentions my eighteenth birthday which is about a week away and right then, I get smacked with a realization: I have no life plan. People considered me…

Dreams Like Strings of Lights

What are you dreaming of? It has long been my goal to work for myself. In my early years, I’d been trained that a person got up before the sun, went to work for eight or nine hours and came home beat. For this, you got a paycheck at the end of the week, or two,…

Dream House

I share a lot about having a dream. They’re mighty powerful motivators. They can help you get through a tough job. Dreaming about how you’ll use your degree helps you get through four years of college. My dad was a dreamer. He wanted to build a house and live in the country. He had a…