Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
“Anyone want to share their experiences this week?” I’m stood in front of my third year, Life Strategies class. It’s Friday, the day we have set aside to journal and/or discuss the weekly challenge. This week’s challenge has been to smile at someone new. I never know with this crowd whether or not the challenges […]
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Please forgive the dance, but it is what I do –one step forward, then slide back,shuffle and lose the rhythmand start again. Always reaching forward –heart securely tucked in place –but there is something embedded,cellular – that invites the struggle and so, I dance – yesterday a warriortoday the fooltomorrow only knows multi-faceted,roughly cut,a gemof […]
Read MoreThere is a catch to this week’s challenge: I don’t want you to use the word itself, but to illustrate what resilience means to you. This challenge is open to any form of creativity. Just create a post and link it back here. Look forward to your responses.
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I’ve spent the day preparing enchilada sauce, having harvested a few tomatoes. A neighbour gifted me a handful of jalapeños, which are also going into the pot. Later, the kids are coming for dinner, so I hope my feast turns out. So much of life weaves in ways we never expect, and I am unwilling […]
Read MoreDrooping under the weight of their ripening fruit, our tomato plants have escaped their cages. Wax beans are losing their green tinge, and zucchinis, stretching across the narrow garden bed, are full of promise. Even though we planted late this year, there will be something to harvest. The anticipation is killing us, and yet, we […]
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Child,delightful youth,my heart’s jewel,you are light-bearer,hope for the future – antics haphazard,laughter contagious,spreading joy,sparking imagination – I pray that your spiritremains joyously vibrant,that reality dawns gently –polishes the radianceof your glow. *** I wrote A Child Glows in November of 2018 in celebration of my granddaughters. I have edited here, slightly. Image from personal collection. […]
Read MoreMy daughters gave me a copy of this poem, surrounded by images of me playing with the grandbabies. It always brings me joy. As summer comes to end, and the children return to school, I am already feeling the loss of our time spent together, so; I thought it might be fun this week to […]
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“Maybe there is a purpose to this struggle,” I say, offhanded, to a visiting friend. We have just made our way to the edge of the falls, the trek difficult for me today, as my legs are not cooperating. I’m hanging onto her arm for balance. I’d been telling her about another visit I’d had, […]
Read MoreSurgery behind us, we shift to recovery mode – he gingerly navigating the days of healing, while I try to brush off the cobwebs of exhaustion. As relief washes away the dregs of worry, I am still trying to sort out my emotions. Ric’s condition is black and white – a blockage requiring opening. Problem […]
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“No matter what your religious affiliation, your relationship with God the Father, is directly representative of your relationship to small ‘f’ father.” Although I am paraphrasing here, the words from Joan Borysenko rang true. The workshop was entitled “The Heart of the Healer”. Borysenko was challenging us to examine our beliefs. My father was intolerant, […]
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One Woman's Quest II 