Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
November 16, 2012, I penned: Cancer, it turns out, it is a powerful proponent of simplicity. Faced with uncertainty, one is forced to examine the complexities of life and cull. Our lives are reduced to three priorities: – Making healthy choices – Caring for relationships – Reducing financial burden. Necessity demands that any extraneous commotion […]
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It is literally days from departure, and the preparations have been, as they say, mighty. Yesterday, we finished off some business with the bank, picked up something for my Mom and had a farewell dinner with my sister. We were not able to complete all the tasks we’d set for ourselves, because a) I am […]
Read MoreI put down the cellphone and glanced to see my husband seething across the table. “I can’t believe you answered that during dinner!” “I thought it was important,” I pleaded for forgiveness. It hadn’t been important, a social call from my sister. “Sorry.” We were dining out; I don’t know what overcame me. I’m usually […]
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“I’d like to be on the road by 10:00 am,” Ric told me the night before our five and half month stay at the beach trailer park ended. “There are high wind warnings for tomorrow afternoon, so we should be at our destination before they hit.” I had pushed myself the night before to get […]
Read More“What’s her name?” “I can’t tell you.” “What? Why not? Do I know her?” “No, Mom. If I tell you her name, you’ll ask too many questions that I’m not ready to answer yet.” “Oh.” “A son is sweetness and strength and mystery;” Call it Mother’s intuition, but I could tell there was someone special […]
Read MoreYesterday, I was ready to give up – on everything. I was convinced that my husband’s distraction meant he didn’t love me and that our marriage was coming to an end. I panicked to think that we are planning to leave home and I will be cut off from family. I convinced myself that I […]
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FREE FROM CODEPENDENCY As I work longer with clients, it is clear that the parenting style that they were subjected to as a child is extremely important in determining how they see the world. This conditioning is often taken into adulthood and causes dysfunction in relationships and in life generally. This includes anyone who feels […]
Read MoreNeeds, it seems, are an important ingredient in any healthy relationship. I’ve been listening to Esther Perel’s podcast: Where Should We Begin? and in almost every couple’s counselling session she records, needs come up. “I’ve never been any good at identifying my needs,” I tell my therapist in a recent session. “In fact, from an […]
Read MoreWhat an incredible story! Claire Fuller creates characters who are flawed and yet sympathetic. Meet Gil, an aging writer and incorrigible Lothario, who sudden obsession with books leads his daughters to be concerned about his state of mind. Meet Ingrid, his wife who has been missing for eleven years, presumed dead, and whose voice haunts […]
Read MoreThe house creaks and cracks with such ferociousness, I am unable to sleep. Perhaps it does not like the starkness of bare walls, the absence of furniture, the finality of boxes stacked and sealed. It is my last night here – just myself, a king sized bed and a complaining house. So much has changed […]
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One Woman's Quest II 