Reflections
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Reflections :: Concerning the Topic of Love
On the Topic of Love: When I was approached to write for this site it was concerning the topic of love. Not romantic love. Rather, how to be loving. In a practical, real-life, day after day way. A standing in a non-moving line in the grocery store, getting cut-off on the freeway, or coming home to find out yet again that the internet is down kind-of-way. There is a fundamental ancient meditation practice from India known as Vipassana. It teaches a person to steadily witness from within this moment. A primary principle of Vipassana is a Sanskrit word, Anicha. Western translation of Anicha means changing. Anicha is taught as…
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Family :: An Interview with My Grown-up Daughter
Instead of reading this mom’s memories and reflections on what it was like to raise my children, I thought you, dear readers, might be more interested in my grown up daughter’s perspective. So I worked up a few questions and sat down with my daughter Molly in what I told her was a “no holds barred” interview on growing up with me as her mom. To be honest, I knew she liked me so it wasn’t much of a risk, but I was surprised at her favorite memories (some seemingly insignificant moments), and what were the most important ways I helped her get through her tough middle school years.…
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Reflections: The Need to Understand
The Art of Communicating Well: As always is the case, writing a reflections piece for this site with a theme of love or relationships comes out of my personal experience. I teach, and teaching is how I learn. Similar to this reciprocal exchange, writing has long been the tool that I use to teach myself. Today’s idea has been floating around for a while, and I will address it today as means of pinning it down to explore it a little better. Last month I had an ugly breakdown in communication with someone that I respect a great deal. I can count on one hand the amount of times that something like…
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To Ponder Love
Most mornings I begin with meditation. Like so many words associated with the inner-life, or that potentially eek towards the edge of spirituality or even religion, it seems to me that maybe these days there ought to be a glossary attached when a person writes or speaks. Therefor, in the interest of context, let me just say that I use that word to equate my personal period of quiet and introspection in the morning. It is, to be clear, the period of time that counts and not at all the actual practice. I am a big advocate of learning and using tools such as breathing and present-centeredness that help…
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Reflections: Dropping the Stones
On a soul level there is an inner reckoning that takes place during the holidays. Regardless of whether or not we honor the process, the season grants a pause of contemplation in which we take stock. Specific to this is a measure of our year’s gains, and too a more sullen depth awareness of losses or sacrifices that may have been at stake. We quietly account, if we take the pause to consider within. This is part of the human rhythm which inter-webs us all, and natural as the flux of the seasons or regularity of the here-then-gone-again moon. This year’s reflection seemed to have repeated expression, or in other words, a…
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Reflections: Being Content With Our Choices
One of the reasons we have a section on dandelion moms called Reflections is for women to share in their observations about the choices they made and offer some insight to women who are in the beginning, middle or even later stages of motherhood. One of my favorite illustrations from Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts, is the one where Charlie Brown is sitting by the pond with Snoopy and says “In the Book of Life, the answers aren’t in the back.” How true is that observation! As women we need to trust our gut instincts and do what works for ourselves and our families. This might mean working at home, not working, or working outside the home. …
