Personal growth
-
Breaking your silence
“Once you start to speak, people will yell at you….or put you down and suggest it’s personal. And the world won’t end. And the speaking will get easier and easier. And you will lose some friends and lovers, and realize you don’t miss them. And new ones will find you and cherish you. And at last you’ll know with surprising certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking.” ~ Audre Lorde I thought of Audre Lorde’s words yesterday while editing another post about finding the courage to express our views — both personal and political. I thought about how difficult it has been, historically, for some people (especially women) to raise their…
-
How to save the world
“This is the way we save the world: one peaceful word, one act of compassion, one long sweet nap, one burst of laughter at a time.” ~Martha Beck, Finding Your Way in a Wild New World Consuming the news can make me feel hopeless and sad. And it doesn’t matter which newspaper, or which news station, has my attention at the moment. No matter how they spin it, there’s a lot of ugliness out there. I long for a new age of unity, peace, decency, and civility. I wonder if that’s even possible anymore. As Martha Beck notes in today’s quote, each of us can take small steps toward healing —…
-
Off the beaten path
“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.” ~Samuel Johnson Are you still following the same old paths and patterns that worked for a while — but aren’t serving you anymore? As creatures of habit, we often allow our routines to dictate how we spend our lives. We buy the same brand of coffee, eat at the same restaurants, follow the usual route with the dog, and wear the same outfits even though we have a closet stuffed with rarely worn clothing. And we wonder why the heck we’re bored with everything. Summer is a great time to shake things…
-
Social Skills 101
“Talk to someone about themselves and they’ll listen for hours.” ~Dale Carnegie Years before Oprah made “life coach” a household term, my father followed the work of Dale Carnegie, one of America’s most prolific authors of self-improvement guides. Dad kept a well-thumbed copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People next to the wingback chair where he read nightly. Today, I believe Carnegie’s advice on how to be a great conversationalist and a thoughtful friend is among the best I’ve found. To read a column I wrote about this topic for The Oakland Press, please click here. Photo by Cindy La Ferle for MediaNews Group
-
Vacation
“It is always our own self that we find at the end of the journey. The sooner we face that self, the better.” ~Ella Maillart, travel writer Summer is synonymous with vacations. For most of us, to go on a vacation means to “vacate” our place of residence and change our routines. We travel to find adventure or excitement; to escape our problems; or to experience something different. We might look for something new to learn. Or we might retreat quietly for rest and reflection. In doing so, we learn more about ourselves — what matters to us; what we want from life. I think the best vacations send us…
