How Can a Murderer Change?

Did anyone care to find out why he was “scary” and try to determine a way to change that? In the aftermath of the most recent school shooting in the USA, blogger Hasty Words asked this question. It got me thinking – can we reach out to others in pain and with our love and compassion steer them away from … Read More

Learning to be Vulnerable – #1000Speak

Some moments stay with us, moments that might seem insignificant, nothing much in the grand scheme of life. Many, many years ago, I was at a college dance, in the washrooms, redoing my make-up or washing my hands or whatever else teenage girls do in washrooms. It’s so long ago, I don’t remember. I do remember the young woman who … Read More

Thoughts About Thoughts

Do your thoughts make you who you are? Sometimes it feels that way. Sometimes when I have thoughts I deem “good,” whether they are wise, kind or clever, I feel good. When I have thoughts that seem unkind, selfish or ignorant, I don’t so feel great. Those thoughts come with another one: “You are unkind, selfish, ignorant. Stupid.” Then, it … Read More

Connection For Creativity

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it; they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. Steve Jobs I was looking for quotes for the … Read More

How to Connect When It Feels Hard

A few years ago, I realised that the times I felt most hopeless as a parent were when I felt disconnected, when one of my daughters and I had argued and there seemed to be no bridge between us. I’d be in one room, feeling stuck, and she would be in another. I would see  a long sad path before us in … Read More

We Meet in Emotions

Saturday would have been my father’s birthday. Would have been: in those three words you know something of how I felt yesterday and feel today. As you read my opening sentence, you probably remembered the people who have gone from your life, and whose leaving still causes you, at times, to feel a lump in your throat and prickling behind … Read More