My Way – Always in Need of Encouragement

I’m always amazed by how just a little encouragement can change everything. Like magic, someone’s willingness to come alongside makes all the difference.
I spent 2 hours yesterday with someone who has the gift of encouraging others. Two hours with this new friend was like seeing myself as Cinderella at the ball, instead of Cinderella on [...]

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My Way – Tryin’ to Chill

p.s. to yesterday’s post. I can’t believe I didn’t put her first on my list of people keeping me sane. Kathy is the number one, first in line, go-to woman when I need a good dose of how it really is. What would I ever do without you, girl?

The other thing? Trying a little zen [...]

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My Way – Thinking Too Hard

Sometimes the “cure” of psychotherapy is worse than whatever disease you might be in therapy for. This is certainly true of this psychotherapist – yes, moi. I’ve been hyper-thinking lately and, to answer Dr. Phil, no it’s not really working for me. Introspection, journaling, getting in touch with my feelings, and increasing self-awareness – logical [...]

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My Way?

My first mentor, Ray, had a saying about two kinds of people. I’m a sucker for that one. There are two kinds of people in the world – blank and blank. Fill in the blanks.
Ray was my boss, the person who convinced me I would be a good counselor. He said, [...]

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Giving Notice

The Committee returned from hiatus in Florida this week – with a vengeance. It seems they read about themselves while they were gone, decided they’d been duped, and loaded up with vitriol to take up the cause. They took me down for awhile. Luckily I called my friend Judi to see if she could help [...]

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Hope – the Final Word

Often I find it difficult to be the author of a blog like this, to dance around the line of propriety when it comes to matters of my own personal musings and struggles. The soul is a sometimes cloudy place. Mine has been overcast for several months now.
Hope is a topic that has been the [...]

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Hope-go-round

You need money to make money.
To get a good job, you need experience. To get experience, you need a job.
Good things will come to those who have hope. If you lose hope then nothing good will happen.
Can anyone explain this to me?

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Some Big Words About Hope

If hope is not wishing, then what is it?
I’m searching for the ontology and the phenomenology of this thing called hope. Faith and trust as well, while I’m at it. These are juicy human necessities of the soul, substances I could use right now, if I could just settle them into my heart.
Religion/faith systems/communities of [...]

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If Wishes Were Horses

Hope Lesson 2: There’s a difference between hope and magical thinking.
I just don’t know what it is. I have a pink magic wand at the office. I bring it out when I need to make a point. It flashes and lights up, and it’s fun to swing around, but so far it’s not produced [...]

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The Audacity of Hope

I have a love-hate relationship with hope. Is that too weird to admit?
I’m thinking about this because I find myself in the vulnerable position of hoping big – of letting my hope stir on a national scale.
Like a pack of weaned puppies – Irish Setters, Labradors, or Golden Retrievers – I just had to let [...]

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