Winters’ Day In
Time to spill the tea. Wanna cuppa?
After the Storm (Photo Friday: Become a Gift)
I know that sunflowers think their job is to propagate their species by creating seeds. But today? It was to teach me that even when we've been hammered by life, and everything seems wretched, and we are broken all over the ground, we can still be beautiful.
Photo Friday: Grow Towards the Light
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It's what the sunflowers do." Helen Keller
Taming the Unicorn: 4 Lessons for Turning Your Dreams Into Realities
There is no perfect time, condition, or situation to pursue your dream. Conversely, if you aren't making progress, it isn't because of external circumstances. Yes, these can put road blocks in your way. But if your dream is something you intend to do, no matter what, you will find a way around them.
How Being Unselfish Heals Us
Bitter or better? We can choose how we heal from loss. It's all in what we focus on.
Photo Friday: Stories That Matter
Stories matter. But stories like this--that show real humans being brave and loving and compassionate--they are what matter most.
What's in a Brand? How I became an entrepreneur...
"Sometimes you just have to take the leap and build your wings on the way down." - Kobi Yamada
The story of how I got started in business, and the reasons behind my current branding choices.
Riding the Rails: How to Avoid an Emotional Train Wreck
Are you trapped in the tarry black hole of dwelling on loss? Are you jumping trains trying to hide from it? Or are you figuring out how to keep moving forward with loss as your travelling companion? How to avoid a train wreck on your road to healing, and your dreams.
Just Start
Obstacles will always be there, right in front of everything you want to achieve or do, from painting a room to building a multi-national company. At the beginning, when there are the most obstacles between you and your goal, it is tempting to focus on those and decide that the end result just isn't worth the effort.
If I'm Going to Save the World Today, Maybe I Should Put On Some Pants
When everything extraneous has been stripped from your life by a loss, and you are left naked and broken, sometimes just getting your pants on in the morning is a big deal. But you look for those moments that you see progress, too. Moving forward, whether in small steps, or giant leaps--in the end, that's the only thing I can really ask of myself.
Endings and Beginnings
As a reader, I always thought that the ending was the goal. And it is. But it never occurred to me that it was the well-written middle that actually got me there as inevitably as a cart on a roller coaster track.
If only life had someone writing me out of my "swampy middles."
The Cost of Talent
I am a strong believer in being the best person you can be. Not in some humanist, "you-aren't-living-unless-you-achieve-your-full-potential" way. But in an "I'm-grateful-for-the-person-I-am" way.
Are you grateful for the talents you have?
Being Variegated: Embracing my Inner "Jill of All Trades"
Over the years, I have often wished I could be one of those people who could just focus on one thing and get really good at it, and was frustrated trying to do that over and over. It's about time I accepted myself just the way I am. Are you like this, too?
All The Pretty Flowers
The weekend before last, our dear friends Mark and Colleen came down for an unexpected, but much-enjoyed visit from Yellowknife. Colleen and I took a walk in the woods, and espied some very pretty things.
In Memory of Levi
Levi's eulogy was the most difficult thing I have ever had to write. Not because I didn't know what I wanted to say, because I did.
Sharing Levi's eulogy was the most difficult thing that Jason has ever had to do. But he did.
God gave us both the strength to share the story of this precious little man with those at his funeral yesterday. For those that were unable to attend, I am posting it here.
Keep the Strawberries, Kick the Cinquefoil
We all have "cinquefoil" in our lives. Sometimes it sneaks in because we just don't have the time or energy to deal with it right then. Eventually, though, we have to stop and examine the things we fill our lives with and question, "Is this still of value to me? Is this something I want to nurture right now?"