I am so fortunate to have been a part of many welcoming communities in my life. From the Friends Club which made my high school years bearable to the sorority that was my home away from home in college, the Girl Scout camp that gave me a radically different perspective on life when I worked there after college, the AOII consultant group affectionately termed “The Nine” with whom I traveled across North America for a year, the larger fraternity/sorority community that I have b

Going back for the 35 year reunion of the Girl Scout camp I attended as a kid and worked at for three years after college reminded me of how much that job embraced play in all its myriad forms. We sang before meals, after meals, during meals, while washing the dishes (about washing the dishes) and made games out of so many of the tasks that had to get done everyday. When we weren’t doing that, we were sailing, windsurfing, paddling canoes and kayaks, swimming, playing games i

Sometimes I feel like a walking paradox. I totally empathize with politicians who are labeled flip-floppers (and think it’s totally unfair, by the way), because we all change our minds from time to time. If we are growing at all, it seems logical that even the most deeply held convictions would alter over time. I have always had the gift (curse?) of being able to see the same issue from many different points of view, and even strongly held beliefs on my part can be swayed by

I wrote about this topic in February of 2011, and today I’m reminded that it is still a very relevant theme in my life. I have been very emotional lately, often crying easily during a frustration, and sometimes for a long time. It has been a busy and somewhat difficult six months for me for a number of reasons, and the stress of that prolonged period of discomfort is taking a toll. For two years now, I’ve been taking part in a healer training program that involves energy and

Have you ever had those days when EVERYTHING feels like an enormous struggle? Of course you have. We all have. Sometimes, almost from the moment you get out of bed things seem to go wrong. You burn the toast, stub your toe, get shampoo in your eye and spill coffee on your tax return. All before you even get out the door! I used to call these dork days, because I would just feel like an enormous dork who couldn’t do anything right. I would even wonder, “Who is this bumbling i

There are many movements advocating for a slower pace of life. You may have heard of Slow Food - asking us to sit down as a family or with friends to enjoy a home-cooked meal, rather than eating on the go, over the sink or different meals at different times. The Slow Movement is also gaining momentum - suggesting that we slow our lives down and notice our surroundings more. Interestingly, this one began in Italy as a protest against a McDonalds opening there. Now there are de

I was at my acupuncturist the other day and he said that he read that most New Year’s resolutions are discarded by Valentine’s Day. This is not surprising. I would guess that it’s even earlier than that. The new year gives us a clean slate upon which to create our lives, and most of us are tempted to set goals or make “resolutions” about our behavior. WHY then, are those things given up so early in the game? Because my birthday is the 17th of January, each year I take the t

I have always felt a little bit like an outsider. From as far back as I can remember, I didn’t quite fit in. I was different. I was never the most popular, sought-after friend or the one with the most talent in anything (in anything that mattered anyway). Winning my school’s spelling bee in sixth grade didn’t win me friends or admirers. Being first chair of the trumpet section in the band wasn’t listed in the junior high school yearbook like captain of the basketball team w