Personal growth
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List-en to yourself
“We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.” ~Jane Austen, Mansfield Park Did you know that the root of list actually means listen to? When we get quiet and listen to ourselves, we often discover the answers we’ve been seeking. List-making can be a life-changing tool for continuing this inner dialogue. Next Wednesday (Oct.5), I’ll be leading a free community workshop on list-making in the Friends Auditorium at the Royal Oak Public Library. (We’ll have some fun writing a variety of lists in the class.) Meanwhile, I wrote a new article on the benefits of list-making, and you can…
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Domestic arts
“I no longer call such tasks ‘housework.’ I call them the ‘domestic arts,’ paying attention to all the ways they return me to my senses.” ~Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith One of the things I’ve admired about Martha Stewart is the way she elevates homekeeping to an art form. Along these lines, Episcopal priest and author Barbara Brown Taylor finds the sacred in her everyday tasks. In her book, An Altar in the World, she approaches the “domestic arts” with mindfulness — and the belief that cooking our own meals, washing dishes, and taking care of our personal space can be a pleasure and…
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“List Your Way to Self-Discovery” Workshop
“Listmaking is the road from unknowing to knowing. No guru necessary. No therapist. No special diet. No need to suffer. Memories deep in your consciousness will emerge to fill in the blanks.” ~Ilene Segalove and Paul Bob Velick, List Your Self: Listmaking as the Way to Self-Discovery “LIST YOUR WAY TO SELF-DISCOVERY” October 5, 2022 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM at the Royal Oak Public Library – Friends Auditorium Everyone makes grocery lists and “to-do” lists. But did you know that other types of list-making can boost your mental health and improve life satisfaction? Personal lists can serve as tools to empower and understand yourself, help solve problems, and even…
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Storms
“Not all storms come to disrupt your life. Some come to clear your path.” ~Angel Chernoff, Marc & Angel Hack Life Nature has a way of reminding us of who’s in control. Here in southeast Michigan, most of us can recall storms that left us without electricity for days. And in many other parts of the country, major storms have totally devastated the landscape and destroyed homes. Career changes, relationship conflicts, and health crises can also throw us off course or uproot our lives. But as today’s quote suggests, sometimes storms “clear the path” and change things for the better — even though we don’t realize it until we look…
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The hero on your journey
“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.” ~Joseph Campbell Mythologist Joseph Campbell believed that everyone’s life is a “Hero’s Journey.” Along the way, there are metaphorical dragons to face. We each encounter life-changing challenges or setbacks (sometimes other people) that stand in our way. And while we rarely realize it until later, our biggest challenges and darkest moments contain the greatest lessons. For starters, there was the time I had both hips replaced within five months, in my forties, after a crippling battle with osteoarthritis. Though my surgical recovery took a while, I learned a…
