Back at the new year, I wrote about resolutions and how I find January a depressing time to try to commit to a large goal or purpose for the coming year. I was drawn to indigenous traditions I had heard of that used the Spring Equinox as a time to set goals and intentions, which …
Category Archives: Mindfulness
Regaining Focus
The last two years have felt like a blur. Time slowed and warped – my memories are all hazy. Did that happen this past year or was that 2020? I honestly have no idea. It seemed like we were living in an episode of The Twilight Zone. I’m not one for specific resolutions at a …
Free Will…?
Since the Enlightenment days in the 18th century or even earlier, there has been a debate on whether free will actually exists or not. There are educated, scholarly people who do not believe in the existence of free will. There are esoteric, philosophical arguments on both sides that do not feel very practical to day-to-day …
If Only
I keep thinking about the attack on the Capital from January 6th. I keep thinking about the fact that people – Congresspeople, their family members, members of the Press, building staff – were afraid for their lives, and have had to immediately go back to work at the place where it happened. What additional echoes …
Open to Chaos
Recently, I read that some Native cultures celebrate the Spring Equinox the way white Americans celebrate New Year’s, with resolutions and goals and new beginnings. It makes much more sense to me. Let January be the worst month of the year as it is, dark and cold with winter nowhere close to ending. Not exactly …
Weary
The sky has been gray, gray, gray this past week in the PNW, and I always forget how much that affects me. I have been feeling glum, anxious, restless, and undone. I feel this mounting pressure of Christmas on the way, and knowing how different it will be this year makes me feel even more …
Fate vs Manifestation
I just finished the phenomenal The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd. It tells the story of Ana, a Middle Eastern woman from 2,000 years ago with a voice, a vision, and a powerful drive inside her to live her own life and story. There are many pieces of the book that are going …
My Best Life
I’m periodically checking in to this online faith conference that is live this weekend. I got to hear Jeff Chu ask a question along the lines of: “Have our imaginations also fallen victim to the evils and suffering present in the world?” He was asking, what are we living for? What good thing do we …
Musical Thoughts
I’ve been reading a very nerdy book on neuroscience lately, called The Brain’s Way of Healing, by Norman Doidge. It’s been fascinating on many levels, both professionally (in my role as a physiotherapist) and personally. Our bodies and our brains are so amazing! In one part of the book, he was discussing the question “Where, …
Look Up
My family went camping this past weekend. Far away from the city’s lights, the night sky was inky black. We got lucky with a cloudless night, and the stars were popping out of the sky. The kids had (finally) fallen asleep in the camper, and my husband and I got to sit out by the …
This Joyful, Messy Life 