Many have tried to define happiness, but the older I get, the more I believe gratitude is at the heart of true happiness. It’s the “secret sauce” that binds everything else together and makes happiness such a delicious state of mind. “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and gratitude is […]
Self-Knowledge (Connect with Self)
Get In The Flow Of Simply Enough
A book that delivers on its promise This book really delivers on the promise of its subtitle. I found it both inspiring and practical, and that’s a combination hard to achieve. Simply Enough: Create space for what matters is a fresh and important contribution to today’s popular conversations about simple living and decluttering. Instead of […]
September’s Driving Lesson: Learn To Shift Gears
Even if I hadn’t been paying attention to the calendar, the weather here in the Shenandoah Valley this week has loudly proclaimed the arrival of Fall. When I saw the thermometer’s 45 degrees yesterday morning, I donned a jacket to walk up the driveway to get the newspaper. The air was clear, cool, and invigorating. […]
Life Is Beautiful…and Hard
Thanks to a recommendation from my highschool friend Becky Rusell, I recently finished reading Kate Bowler’s remarkable and moving book Everything Happens For A Reason: and other lies I’ve loved. (Amazon link) When Kate Bowler was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer, she was 35, happily married, and had a newborn son named Zach. She was […]
Is It Well With Your Soul?
In our time on this earth, we are both body and soul. We are bombarded with advice on how to take care care of our bodies (though many of us do it quite poorly), but the nourishment and care for our souls is not such a mainstream topic. It should be. I have certainly been […]
What Masks Need To Come Off?
This updated and expanded post appeared originally in the February 2021 issue of Heartspoken’s “Compass Points” newsletter. If you’d like to be the first to get my content straight to your Inbox, subscribe to “Compass Points” using the form below or in the sidebar. After the last year (2020), we’ll never think of masks the […]
My New Year’s Message: Open Your Heart And Mind
I’m bringing this back from its original publication on this blog in 2015. Its message is timeless and it still expresses my deepest wish for you in the year ahead. And remember, every single day is a new beginning, even if you’re reading this in July. Forget the New Year’s resolutions At least for today… […]
A Song To Myself ~ New Year Prayer
I am so happy to repost this prayer from my friend Robyn Harrison, who generously agreed to let me share this poignant poem she wrote several years ago. The gorgeous photograph above is one of hers as well. She says she pulls this poem out each year, dusts it off, changes the date, and reads […]