Understanding Joy

Joy Isn’t What a Lot of People Think It Is I’ve been mulling the idea of joy ever since reading the article The Rachel Hollis Drama Is Why I Don’t Trust Influencers by Bertilla Niveda on Medium. I’m not familiar with Rachel Hollis, but apparently her famous motto is “Choose Joy.” Ms. Niveda’s case against Ms. …

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Normal Doesn’t Exist and Never Has

Seek Better Instead of Normal I realize it’s a bold statement to say that normal doesn’t exist. But stop and think about what normal really is. Is it average? That’s merely a percentage in the middle. By definition, at least two-thirds are on either end. Is it common? But what’s common for your community or …

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I Am Empowered

A Peek into My Process to Conquer Insecurity and Self-criticism People who know me often describe me as strong. I’m calm in a crisis, champion the underdog, and have been strong-willed since childhood — just ask my sisters! What most don’t know is that I have a deep-seated fear of both failure and success. As …

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Transformation

A dream interpreted Unlike many people during the last several months, I haven’t been keen on deep cleaning, or reorganizing, or new hobbies, or cooking, or much of anything constructive. I’ve spent a great deal of my time reading fiction — my historical escape mechanism. Last week, that suddenly changed, and I found myself deep …

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It’s The Little Things

What are the things that get to you? For me, it’s the little things. But it’s also little things that can get me back where I need to be. I’m one of those who, when faced with an emergency, tends to think calmly and logically, not reacting emotionally until everything is done and it’s “safe” …

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Who is Telling Your Story?

We all have a story: who we are, what we’ve done, what we dream. But often we let that story be told by others, instead of telling it ourselves. When I was young, I was: Clumsy A brat Too small to do things Too young to understand Always in trouble Stupid Mean These were all …

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A Time of Refreshing

There’s something about being in the mountains that refreshes my mind and lifts my spirits. Other wild country can do it, too, like the canyon lands of Utah, but high-elevation mountains are the best for me. It’s been three years since I’ve taken a vacation, and that’s too long — for me, anyway. Even before …

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Old Woman Working

I’ve returned to the work world just as many of my peers are about to retire and leave it behind. It’s both harder and more rewarding than I anticipated. The first question people ask is, Why go back? The simple answer is money. House payments and health insurance are the bulk of that. But the …

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Alone And Strong

I was twenty years old when I learned I could be alone and strong at the same time. The Setting I was volunteering in a Christian youth hostel in Amsterdam, Netherlands, after travelling Europe for three months. In some ways my upbringing had left me naïve and vulnerable. But the year and a half in …

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