In my winter meditations I learn to work with my hobgoblins. And it leads me to reflect on the happiness research that tells us that, once our fundamental needs are met, happiness has nothing to do with income. But with a roof over my head, a safe place to sleep and food in my belly, I […]
Love & Duty
“May I do my work out of love, and not out of duty.” I say this every day as part of my morning prayer. I added it in a few years back, when homeschooling Saoirse and Ula was at its most challenging. Like every over-achieving mom, I was having a hard time sorting out what […]
Ghosts or souls?
Apparently there’s not just a ghost in the basement. There seems to be more than one. “It’s like a room full of noisy children down there!” My friend Joellyn, a psychic, gave us the macabre news shortly after the cafe opened when she was coming by to purchase meats. “They’re harmless,” she assured me as […]
Pink Elephants
Maybe we can’t control our thoughts. But we can watch and learn from them. Ula heaves her bag onto the bench next to the door, wipes a strand of wayward hair from her glasses and gives a big sigh. It is Saturday night. She and Saoirse were with friends all day, while Bob went to […]
How I earned my pets’ respect
I thought I just needed to take care of the animals, like I take care of everything else. Then I learned the importance of sitting still. I am sitting in my office, the room lit only by firelight. Dusky, my Poodle-Yorkie-Mongrel, is sprawled across my lap. Ramona, my cat, mews her greeting and hops up […]