How do we measure worth?

July 17, 2024.Reading time 2 minutes.

My therapist recommends that I keep a scrapbook to preserve any accolades and I just laugh. My hubby bought me a leather bound book once for that very reason. I have no idea where it is and am pretty sure it is mostly empty. Not that I haven’t received any positive feedback – just that […]

Celebrate

July 10, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

It’s a month of birthdays here, so celebrations are in order. There is also something about the abundance of green and visiting wildlife that makes me feel celebratory. Hope you are feeling the spirit too.

Magic

July 3, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

My lens seeks the unexpected;magic startling the mundane. Photography teaches me to look again – change the angle of my focus, or reconsider the perspective. Through that one isolating lens, the world is made new. It’s been months since I’ve ventured out with my camera in tow. This post is a reminder to self to […]

Life Story

June 26, 2024.Reading time 2 minutes.

Can’t focus on what I’ll be remembered for tomorrow: too busy living my best self today. “The problem with you,” a friend once told me, “is that you lack commitment.” She was talking about a meditation group that I had organized and facilitated for eighteen months, until my third child was born. With three children […]

Behind

June 21, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I do, sometimes, think of what is behind a photo I’m about to take. Like these wildflowers, blowing in the breeze, the blue of the river adding to the scene. Or the mystery object beyond the grasses. Flowers for Mom. The blurred backdrop lending context. For Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Behind

Rejuvenation

June 19, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

It’s been a while since I’ve been at the beach, but the memories are enough to stir rejuvenation, if I linger on them long enough. How about you?

Mountain (tanka) Thoughts

June 12, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

Ever the mountainPresence looming, commandingClimb! Climb! It beckons – My soul, magnetized, respondsPursuing new heights – compelled. When my mother lost her eyesight, I confessed that I would give up at that point, but here I am, into my second year of failing vision and still climbing. Oh, my loss is not as great as […]

Indifference

June 5, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Worse than hatred, I’ve heard. Indifference. A complete lack of empathy. A turning away. Who hasn’t experienced the helplessness that comes from such a stance? Felt invisible, or worthless? And, in face of overwhelming tragedy in the world, who amongst us has not feigned indifference in order to cope?

Last for May

June 2, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Two heart warming visits – one feathered, one curly-topped.

Selfless

May 29, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

“The heart has unlimited capacity when the mind is willing to focus beyond self.” I wrote these words four days after our first Ukrainian guests arrived. Prior to their arrival, I worried about so much: What will we eat? How will my body cope with noise and commotion? How will we all get along? It […]

Of Trauma Born

Goodbyes tarnishfaith, like ashesscattered My heart grows dismissal,craves a balm of connectionseeks quiet harbour Remind me what it feels like to be safebreath nurturing life,love a rhythmic flow In meditationI reach for peaceimagine salvation But this wayward chaosunrestrainedcements me in doubt Tainted intentionsI lift up to the Universea tempest without hope My soul incubates malicea […]

Hawk (haiku)

Relevance of Story

Stories have power. Parents, teachers, public speakers, and therapists understand that the secret to engaging an audience or connecting with others is through illustration: storytelling. I see it in the eyes of the my grandchildren, who love to hear tales of family history. I’ve seen in the eyes of students, when recognition and understanding light […]