Where do you notice beauty? Beauty is all around, but sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of it. Beauty /ˈbyuti/ noun – a quality that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, often arising from the senses. Once you…
Endings and Beginnings
There is some sadness in ‘ending’ my monthly newsletter, even as there is excitement about ‘beginning’ a briefer, more regular correspondence. With change there is an end. And endings, by their nature, are poignant. Perhaps you are experiencing your own…
How to Be Happier Every Day: 6 Simple Ways to Improve Your Mood
It may be a new year, but is it really a new you? Let’s face it — it’s unlikely that you’ve suddenly acquired a new wardrobe, started a new career, found a new family, or overhauled your personality. Do not…
Simple Warmth
When 20 small children and 6 adult women are gunned down, life makes no sense. What feels most difficult in a world that loves a cure, is that there is no ‘cure’ for such loss. There is no way to cure death. There is no way to cure the survivors of their lifelong grief. There is no way to erase pain.
The Art of Letting Go
I’ve been learning a lot about letting go lately. Having sent 2 children off to the other side of the world (one to a boarding school in India and one to a gap year in Europe) and also having to…
When Cancer Calls
On Friday June 1st, my beloved husband, Daniel, was diagnosed with colon cancer. He is one of the 112,000 people annually who receive such news. The following week he, at age 46, had his first ever CAT scan, his first…
Time to Bloom
She walked to the front of the room and slid a daisy into the vase. Speaking softly, almost as if to the flower, she murmured, “For my dear mother who passed away two months ago.” I was on the second…
True Love Never Ceases
They come to the site broken by life, hearts crushed by emotional pain. They have lost siblings, spouses, children, parents, best friends and lovers. They come seeking support, assurance that they are not alone in their unbearable grief. Two years…
A Shortcut to Daily Intimacy with Your Beloved: Puppy Love
When you reunite after having been apart, even for a short time, greet each other with enthusiasm, as a dog might greet his beloved owner. Be playful, excited, and grateful that your beloved has reunited with you. Stop what you’re…
Bucket List
I recently read the excellent book Enjoy Every Sandwich: Living Each Day As If It Were Your Last by Lee Lipsenthal, MD. Lee was a doctor, diagnosed with esophagal cancer, who proceeded to write a book about what he was…