Notes to My Loves

    I wonder. I wonder a lot.  I think of my life and wonder what it would look like if I were living it in someone else's skin. I think about all that I have in this world living in this country called America. I wonder if I am doing enough with what I have. Am I truly living a servant's life? If I was gone tomorrow would my life's work be done? Would I have used my time wisely?  Would I have done enough to really make a difference?      I also think about the fact that when we strip away all that anyone has, we are more alike than we will ever be different. I am so much like so many other women across the globe. I have a sacred sisterhood, with these other women. A bond that I share with women I have never met. It is thicker than blood. It can not be measured with man's mathematical equations. It can not be understood unless you have traveled its paths.      It is called motherhood and it cuts to the very heart of our civilization on Earth.  This sisterhood is roote

F earless. Free from all fear. Brave. Courageous. Undaunted. When was the last time you felt this way?  What were you doing that gave you this bliss? Was it something new or something sweetly familiar? Did it take you to new exciting places or keep you safe in the warm comfort of what you know?     Today I saw fearlessness. I saw the sparkle in the eye of 9 . I heard the strength in his voice about something he was excited to do, yet had never done before. Something he has been asking to try and conquer yet had no background or parental guidance to do so. Today 9 decided to take on the world of snowboarding!      It amazes me how different children are. From a young age he has been fearless. This has not always been comfortable for a first time mom as I felt he would surely hurt himself at any given moment. I cannot even count how many times I thoroughly thought his face would be bitten off by every neighborhood dog he greeted a bit too close. However, as the years have passed, I ha

      It is amazing the situations you find yourself in when you are a parent that you NEVER thought you would be in. The words you professed that would never eek from your mouth often bellow over and over again. And then there are the words that you absolutely never imagined would utter from your lips such as......"What is in your mouth? Come here...what is in your mouth? Is that SUPER GLUE IN YOUR MOUTH??????"      Yup. You read that right. Recently we had quite a sticky situation in our house. The exact course of events has not been completely extrapolated as of yet. However, we have come to a couple of conclusions. One, our daughter is like a crow. She will take anything little and miniature and claim it as her own and find a home for it somewhere in her room. Her stealth like ability has this happen all long before you even realize you are missing it. Second, a tube of Super Glue Gel looks a lot like a tube of lip gloss to a two and a half year old. And three, never sa

    P eople are creatures of their environment and their own free will. Some are loved, cherished, admired and nurtured. Some are mistreated, angry, abandoned, and broken. Some are a kaleidoscope of both. Mixed and matched with both brilliance and brutality.     Some are go-getters who can't wait to help the next person they haven't even met yet. They are filled with light and a contagious zest for life. These are the people who we are drawn to. The people who we call when we need to hear sound advice. Individuals who we look at and wish we were more like. We look at how they live and wonder how we can capture that whimsical essence.     Then there are others we meet in life. Sometimes we choose to have these people in our lives, while other times they are thrust there haphazardly. With them, they bring anger and angst. They spew words of volcanic vulgarity and leave us shell shocked. Maybe these people have long had their light extinguished. Perhaps they see each new day as

W hat if everything we had in our house was something that we absolutely loved, used, or needed? What would that house look like? Imagine your living room or bed room right now......does it look differently? Thought so.      I have pondered this phrase, "Loved, used, or needed" since hearing about it today with a friend over lunch. We discussed how we have all this 'stuff' around us. Some of it is physical stuff and some of it is emotional stuff. Some of it is needed and other stuff, like the hat box which held the cards at my wedding nearly 13 years ago, is basically a major dust collector in my basement. It sits there, silent and patient still adorned with the beads my mother lovingly hot glued to its top. Will it ever have another use? I don't know.       After today's lunch discussion, over a fabulous chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries, I ask myself the question "Do I love it, use it, or need this hat box?" The answer is simply no. I hav

     Content. An adjective describing living in a "state of peaceful happiness". It sounds so simple. So zen like.  So calming and free from chaos. Like a page out of a travel magazine showing glowing sands and azure waters. Yet this seven letter word is so elusive for many of us who live in today's rapid fire world. It is an art that meanders throughout many aspects of our lives, yet cannot easily be mastered.      I have made this my New Year's Resolution this year. To cultivate this art for myself and for you, 962. For some, they will embark on losing weight, or scaling a mountain, or running a marathon. Those are all great goals. I too have goals this year, but I don't think being 'content' is a goal that can be attained the same as others. There is no magic finish line that you can cross to see this goal as finished. No bells and whistles that announce you have made it.  It is more like a gardener who is cultivating his small crop.      This year ma