Saul was one of the first patients in San Diego to scream at me. I remember the first time seeing him. I went into the field with my nurse to see patients in their homes. We came to his independent living facility (ILF), which was house in a poorer neighborhood in San Diego. I followed…
When I was in Hawaii last week, I visited Painted Church or, more properly, St. Benedict’s Catholic Church. It’s a scenic, little-white-church tucked away in the greenery south of Kona and worth a quick stop. The church is famous for the murals covering the walls and ceiling, painted by Father John Velghe, an untrained folk…
Sleepy Saturday is a good way to describe the last day in Hawaii. We sleep in later than usual after our late night of dancing. We pick up some interesting donuts from a Holy Donuts in Kona—our favorite was the lilikoi (passionfruit) meringue. We relax on the seawall watching swimmers follow the buoy-marked path that…
Right now I’m sitting, wet bum in the volcanic sand, watching the waves and the clouds roll in. I’m alone except for the sand crabs. They range in size from teeny-tiny to about six inches. They dig holes in the sand and then venture in and out of them. If you startle them, they sprint…
I used to pray, as a matter of routine, to be wise. When I was married I think it was summing up something like this: “Please let me figure out how to do enough right things. Please help me to be smarter. Please help me think my way out of this hell. Please help me…
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I’m not thankful. At least, I’m not thankful for probably 95% of my day. I don’t walk around in a cloud of gratitude and satisfied bliss. For all my talk about mindfulness and the positive spin I work to put on my life, I spend…
I have wanted to write more about my wrestle with my faith, but it feels very vulnerable. I am going to try to do that today and I hope, as readers, you will remember my post about the wound that is still healing. I am in the middle of healing this wound, maybe even at…
Since I started learning from Brené Brown, Cheryl Strayed, Elizabeth Gilbert, Glennon Doyle, Eckhart Tolle, Oprah, and Jody Moore (I could go on…), I feel like I’ve been shown the secret entrance to a club that I never knew existed. A club where people openly acknowledged what I have known in my heart and been…
I made it home and I’ve been plunged back into my life of routine. I am caring for my son, working, working out, responding to requests for help related to church, and running my household. It’s been a little overwhelming. The NIH experience, in some ways, felt like a monastic retreat. I was able to…
In Braving the Wilderness, Brené Brown tells a story where she is presenting at a conference. In between scheduled events, Brené is talking with Roshi Joan Halifax and mentions that she feels like resting, but should probably go to the reception. Roshi responds with the following: “Now it’s time to inhale. There is the in-breath…