Happy 2010!

A new year is well under way and all I can say is – Thank goodness! Last year was truly a year I would like to forget. .Just leave it behind and look forward. So far so good. January has been O.K. and February is feeling like it just might be a turning point. A chance to regroup and start to do things a little differently. I am not alone in this feeling. Many of my clients have expressed a sense of ending things that do not serve them, whether it be a job, a relationship or even the way they look at the world around them.

I was talking to a dear friend of mine who is a healer about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. She pointed out that the energy that was released and shook that ground not only sent physical shockwaves throughout the world but also emotional and spiritual tremors as well. We all feel it in our lives. Look around and see how this has infiltrated our unconscious. People seem more on edge. More prone to frustration or anger. Even here, far away from the epicenter we understand that things can shift and change in an instant. Read More →

It’s October and I feel slightly relieved somehow. As if the breath I’ve been holding for months can finally be exhaled. Perhaps I have decided not to wait for the other shoe to drop..cause it kinda has already. Or maybe it’s just the fact that I can now look forward to the slow, inexorable slide into darkness and winter. It’s something I can count on. I know that days will get shorter, the air will become colder and my wardrobe will gain a few layers. No problem. Any dreariness in the weather is completely expected. I’m ready.

I find that people from New England, like myself, don’t wonder if it’s gonna be a hard winter…they just know it will. Snow, sleet, bitter cold winds..sure..it’s all going to happen. So why complain? It’s part of that beautiful cycle of seasons. I’m not a fatalist. I’m not a doomsayer. I’m just a realist. There will be weather. Read More →

The idea that April is the cruelest month no longer works for me. August is now the real winner of that dubious sobriquet. I could point to many factors that have led me to feel this way but the only one that really matters is the death of my father. He died on August 24th at the age of 91. It was a beautiful day here in Seattle. The kind of day that makes you want to play hooky from work. The kind of day that makes you forget your worries. Full of sun and a slight breeze, that day had all the makings of a great vacation postcard. “Beautiful day, wish you were here.”

That morning I found myself on the beach at Golden Gardens with my daughter, Louisa. She and I had planned a little picnic and playtime together. I was looking forward to a cheerful, fun and relaxed day. And as luck or the universe would have it ,my cellphone rang just as a found the perfect parking space. The ensuing conversations were quick and confusing. My Dad had passed out and was on his way to the hospital. A mix of terror and dread washed through me. I struggled to get Lu out of the car, making sure we had all the trappings of a beach picnic – blanket, snacks, bucket, shovel and water bottle. Read More →

The heat is over. For now. And I’m thankful. I just takes a few days of upper 90’s (sans AC) to make me realize mid 80’s ain’t no big thing. It’s called better living through contrast. I bless the sun because now I know what cool can feel like. We tend to learn best by what hurts, what works and what to let go of. I think it helps to realize that when life sucks and we’re in the middle of some kind of suffering we are, at the same time, learning the true nature of joy and happiness. It may be as simple the subsiding of a particular pain…or, the sudden drop of temperature – from 100 to 90. It all becomes relative. I woke up after a few oppressive days to see the thermometer firmly standing at 85 and felt a sudden surge of joy. Weird.

Now, what have I learned? That I can deal with heat? Yeah. That when I’m in the midst a hard day or hard week, I am actually getting a clue to how great life can be? Hmm.. Only if I got my awareness on. So, I just pray sometimes that I can be open and clear enough for the wisdom of relativity.

I don’t ask for hardship or heartache to help me learn but I know in the end there might be an insight or at least a good song.