Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
As a child, I knew no limits, setting out on adventures with never a fear for how I’d find my way back home. Now, nestled in my home, I limit myself to certainties, fearful of risks. Some days, I wonder about that child, and how it would feel to wander freely, and it makes me […]
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Reading through old journals, so much focuses on lack of money. I express guilt for not providing enough as a single mother, anger for being abandoned by my children’s father, and shame for having to rely on others. The feelings still linger. And then I hear my father’s voice: “The good Lord always provides.” And […]
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I ask my three-year-old self to show me her home, and she points to the floor beneath the formica-topped table in the kitchen. There, caged within the chrome legs of table and chairs, she is out of the path of adult legs, whose movements are as unpredictable as their moods. I ask my four-year-old self […]
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My childhood home was surrounded by fence, bordered by tall cedars – we had a secret to keep. I learned not to trust neighbours. I learned the price of shame. At the back of the yard was a gate that opened onto a field and beyond that a wooded area. There I found serenity, connection, […]
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The best openings are the one’s we carve for ourselves. We spent New Year’s Eve reminiscing about eighteen years of togetherness. Stayed up past midnight, and talked about our future. Hope coloured our words. Sculpting has been on my mind – not literally, but in the sense of chipping away at the outer facade to […]
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Tracks on ice remind me that even in the depth of winter there is movement. I am conflicted by the onset of cold: resigned to spending more time indoors, and already feeling the restlessness set in. Art projects line up, encouraged by the many related gifts I received for Christmas. Writing calls to me too […]
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“Wait till I tell my Mom I’m having hot chocolate for dinner! Do you have marshmallows, too?” she’d excitedly asked the waitress. “No marshmallows, but we have whip cream.” “Oh yum!” Children are so easy to please. I’d been in emergency all day, but didn’t want to cancel plans, so Ric picked her up from […]
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The woman in the mirror is flawedage spots where freckles once sprouted,streaks of white, peppering former auburn,inner scars marking discontent. How then is she expectedto know wholeness? In days when mind was sharpself-confidence wobbled;when spirituality was planted,self-judgment undermined. The path to wholenesspitted with potholes. How often emotion overrodecommon sense, and choicesled her astray, how thickthe […]
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Over brunch, my new acquaintance and I discover we have a lot in common – both former teachers, interested in art and poetry, with a love birds. She is just getting back into life after a long stint of caring for a sick husband, who died a year ago. I am finding my footing in […]
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I’m trying to frame my life with gratitude, adding structure to the chaos I’m experiencing within. So much of life is a gift, and the troubles, minuscule by comparison. Life changes, and along with it, so do our perceptions, our abilities, and our dreams. Sometimes it is a hard pill to swallow, and then; other […]
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One Woman's Quest II 