Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
I find myself drawn to clouds, trying to capture their essence. How, at times they rise, like sculptures of the gods… or how they dissipate, leaving wispy trails in their wake – not wanting to let go. I remember cloudless skies of Arizona – the perfection of blue crowning our days. It is that […]
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Choose the type of foundation to build. I want a foundation strong enough to carry me through hard times, yet flexible and able to adapt in the moment. Something sustaining, and solid, but not rigid. Set your footings 2 feet across. Two feet on the ground, firmly planted, well balanced, not alone, but interdependent, both partaking […]
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Inquiry is a trait teachers hope to instil in students – the ability to not just take for granted that which they have been taught, but the curiosity to question evidence, and to research beyond what is given. Questions form the basis of a reflective life. This week’s challenge was to think about the questions […]
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To know I have accomplished something each day, is as important to me as the first cup of tea in the morning. It is the satisfaction of knowing I have contributed, that I have made a stamp (no matter how minute) on the passage of time. Prior to illness, I didn’t think much about accomplishment; […]
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My lens is drawn to windows, not for what I can see beyond, rather for the mystery they invoke. I watch the world through the frame of a window – life passing while I lie still, praying for better days – certain that few would guess that I am here, wonder at my well-being. Now, […]
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It is easy to engage in surroundings when vacationing: all travellers belong, having escaped (even if momentarily) their scripted lives. We project friendliness onto strangers – mothers meeting outside our day-to-day – have new things to discuss. Dare to confess concerns, or approach the personal, and the shunning is immediate. Only peripheral conversations are expected […]
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FaceTime, phone calls and videos exchanged cannot replace in-person chats and hugs, especially when the recipients are grandchildren. I miss chasing eighteen-month-old Auggie around the house, or cuddling with Sloane to “watch something”, or exploring the million why’s of Finn. I miss my grown children, family and friends whom I value deeply. Homecoming, I know, […]
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Biting, the sun’s brilliance – set against a cornflower blue sky – competes with the mustard gold, tangerine orange and chartreuse leaves, shimmering in the breeze the vividness of colours, too sharp for just awakened eyes, begs retreat. I contemplate what I have witnessed, think life is like this: too beautiful at times for words, […]
Read MoreFather worked six days a week, and with the exception of Saturday, was gone from 7:30 am to 10:30 pm. Sundays were reserved for family day: usually church, visiting, and a formal dinner. He could be fun at times, but typically he was tyrannical – angry and critical – calling us idiots, useless, and expletives […]
Read MoreOriginally posted on One Woman's Quest:
? I fear illness. I grew up in a household where dis-ease was the norm. My mother had her first dance with death as a child, then suffered a broken back in her late thirties, followed by three bouts of cancer. In her elder years, she lives with…
One Woman's Quest II 