Category: Life & Living

There are souls many of us have been blessed to share time with here on Earth. Their presence will never be filled again; their void will always feel apparent; their memory we’ll use to judge all other occasions. Sadly, after these souls left this earthly place, nothing feels quite the same anymore. Holidays and birthdays still come and go with the same regularity, only now they no longer have the same magic. We try to recapture some of it by recreating traditions, recipes, even looking at old pictures, but by the end, we’re reminded of their absence and grieve once again. I realize that not everyone struggles with this sense of loss. Perhaps some are better able to compartmentalize their feelings and find ways to keep moving forward. Though I…

The word “facade” is defined as “a false, superficial or artificial appearance or effect”. While often used to describe a building’s exterior, it’s also used to define people’s obsessive desire to create, and sadly, support a myth about their life. We use heavy cosmetics, altering surgeries, hair dye, fad diets and clothing to help conceal from the world our real earthly age. We burden ourselves with credit card debt, auto loans and home loans with the misguided notion that material possessions will convey to others that we’re wealthier and more successful than we really are. We exude an air of over confidence, dominance and conceit at home and at work in an attempt to hide the demons of insecurity which plague our everyday life. Where’s the danger in all this…

“But here’s the deal, sweet stranger. You deserve to be the protagonist of your own wonderful, bizarre, terrifying little life. If you decide you are enough, you are enough. You don’t need to wait for some grand external validation of your worth before you offer your kindest heart to yourself.” – Kathy Brown Life is a never ending stream of challenges and discoveries. Our society runs rampant with judgmental and envious eyes just waiting for the opportunity to criticize who we are and what we do from one day to the next. But oftentimes the biggest offender behind those judgmental eyes, which so often look to criticize us, are none other than our own. You are enough. Three simple little words with such immense power - only if we’re brave…

Bill Bryson writes travel books. One notable title being A Walk in the Woods about his personal journey across the 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail to reconnect with his native country (and himself), while reinforcing the importance of conserving America’s great wilderness. The book was eventually turned into a movie starring Robert Redford (as Bryson) and Nick Nolte (as his old friend who decides to take the trek with him). Bred from what’s categorized as a travel book, one would assume the movie would lack any kind of inspiration or meaning the viewing audience might apply to their own lives. But this viewer discovered some profound themes which have been running through my head since the concluding credits began rolling. The film's opening shows Bryson frustrated with the current state of…

Many organizations today have adopted a notion that employees should assume positive intent when dealing with other teammates and superiors during meetings or while engaging in conversation (both oral and electronic). I’m a firm believer that yes, it is far more powerful and productive to think positively in life rather than focus on the negative conspiracy theories we often fabricate in our own heads due to a lack of legitimate data. But at the end of the day, the practice to assume positive intent does in fact have a downside. In reality, what organizations are doing is minimizing people’s feelings, thus allowing the offender to walk away with no blame or shame for their disrespect. We call that bullying. We’ve all heard the adage check your emotions at the door…