“The glassblower knows: while in the heat of beginning, any shape is possible.  Once hardened, the only way to change is to break.”  – Mark Nepo This was today’s reading from The Book of Awakening – Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have Imagine my surprise when I opened today’s reading and found this...

Yesterday was the first day of Lent, a time when Christians often make an attempt to “give something up” for forty days in order to induce some reflection on the sacrifice of Christ.  As Christians, we are not the only faith that gives things up from time to time in order to focus ourselves on sacrifice and to return to what is truly important. Following...

Last month in a regular update I receive from an executive coach our company used to work with I received a bit of a wake up call.  Roger, the coach, was telling us all that he had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor.  It was a jolt out of the blue just as he was contemplating retirement and what the “next” phase of life would be for him. ...

Two weekends ago I was fortunate enough to visit the 9-11 memorial at the site of the World Trade Center.  It is hard to believe that is has been more than ten years since that horrible day in our country’s history.  I was joined on the tour by two of my children, my oldest daughter, Lindsay and my youngest child, Jack.  Jack was only 2 1/2 on 9-11-01 so I...

This is one of my favorite quotes from one of my all time favorite movies “It’s a wonderful life”. This past weekend I celebrated my 50th birthday. I celebrated with friends and family in a way that really drove home for me how truly fortunate I am to have the life that I do. Friends traveled from Florida, North Carolina, Washington DC, and Texas to...

Last night in our final class of Channeling Aristotle we discussed the role of a person as citizen. Aristotle felt this role trumped all others. Our professor asked us “What is the first freedom”? Our class gave no strong response. His answer – The freedom to govern yourself. We the People. We govern ourselves. We choose. We get what WE choose. ...

I am fascinated by adventure and often looking to create new adventures for myself. While shuffling through old family papers I came across the letters of a reluctant adventurer from my family. Her name was Maddie Abbott and she was just 16 years old when her adventure began. It was 1860 and war was brewing in America. Maddie and her three siblings had lost their...

Last week my husband and I had the pleasure of spending the day with some retired friends who spend about 50% of their time living in a small cabin on the South Platte River in the foothills of Douglas County, Colorado. It was an exquisite crisp fall day. We met up with them mid-morning and took a tour of their tiny 2 bedroom cabin. I think it is probably...

On Tuesday night I had the pleasure of attending my daughter’s high school choir concert. I was really moved by a number of the songs. After the concert I thought a lot about how the arts in our schools are losing funding even though they are so very critical to the development of our children. Before you stop reading thinking this a rant about education...

After our lazy morning on the porch and a late breakfast, we loaded two canoes and two kayaks on the truck. We headed out down the dusty, winding gravel road upstream for a little outing on the river. We parked at a State Park – $2 – and drove down to the lot by the river. There was a building near the river called the Shot Tower. This is an old Civil War...