Stewardship of Energy
Continue Reading: Stewardship of EnergyThings We Never Really Own There is an uncomfortable truth that nature quietly teaches us: nothing truly belongs to us. Not the towering oak that shades the garden, not the changing seasons that arrive without our permission, not even the breath we are taking at this very moment. For a time, we are simply entrusted with them. During my years as a hospice spiritual counselor, I came to understand something that no textbook could have…
How To Protect Your Peace: Setting Boundaries & Knowing Yourself
In thinking about this month’s focus, “Protecting Your Peace,” I began MY life. What does it mean to “protect your peace?” Protecting your peace often starts by identifying what’s weighing on your soul. In my story, I found out I was expecting early in my new marriage. Although young and scared, we made our child… Continue Reading
Finding Meaning in Life
I am an early riser. Most mornings, I awake before the sun and I sit and sip my coffee or tea and listen to the sounds of nature. Right now, the morning is filled with bird song and the exchange of different melodies. I learned that 90% of wildlife, including some of the Audubon population,… Continue Reading
The Ability to Pivot
The ability to pivot in tough situations is a hallmark of resilience and is worth focusing on this month as winter changes to spring. Blossoms are plenty this time of year as the trees, bushes, spring bulbs, and perennials begin to erupt with beauty. However, as the weather doesn’t know how to make up its… Continue Reading
Gifts of the Spring Equinox
Ever had to begin again? Start anew? It’s a lot of hard work, isn’t it? Leaving the past behind. But it’s a time effervescent with possibility. A newness to be wholly trusted. For thousands of years, the spring equinox has come bearing gifts of renewal, rebirth, and reawakening to us and the emerging landscape. The… Continue Reading
Reluctancy
Leonard Cohen, from his song, Anthem, once said: “there is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” I find this to be fascinating. As we all know, our first reaction to a significant loss is a crack, if you will, in our life, and we choose, from the pain, to… Continue Reading
Selflessness
Listening to the news, no matter what channel, often portrays the opposite of selflessness. With crime and war being reported around the clock, political slandering of one candidate or another, and the dramatization of weather and other topics, our minds easily shift to negative. Research tells us that the effects of negativity result in cynicism,… Continue Reading
Inspiration
I woke this morning, January 1, 2024, to a small covering of snow. After the rain that our area endured during the Christmas season, I found this to be inspiring. These are the moments of stillness and beauty I talked about in the blog introducing the 2024 theme for the year, Empowering Caregivers through All… Continue Reading
2024: Empowering Family Caregivers through All Seasons
Happy New Year! Every new year brings remembrance, review, and resolutions; it also brings change. The change can be small, such as writing a different year on financial documents, to something bigger, like the planning and cleaning out of closets and drawers. It can also bring about internal changes of self. Vern McLellan, a writer,… Continue Reading
Journey
The holiday season helps us reminisce and reflect. Traditionally, it is about migrating and moving into a new year; about evaluating and setting resolutions for change. Thoughts and questions under consideration may include acceptance of something, processing an emotion, adjusting to a change, or finding a connection. Embarking on life’s journeys, whether in the past,… Continue Reading
Notes from the Garden: The Tree of Life
December Plant of the Month: Tree of Life doTERRA Essential Oil of the Month: Clary Sage If we surrendered to the earth’s intelligence, we could rise up rooted, like trees. – Rainer Maria Rilke The Tree of Life has been a sacred symbol, revered across cultures and religions, for thousands of years. Almost every major civilization and faith… Continue Reading
Gladness
Thank you for joining us this November month of 2023 as we celebrated caregivers during National Family Caregivers Month and our Hope Grows 8th Annual Celebrating YOU! event, our 7th Annual Bob Evans Turkey Meal Deliveries, and Gladness, our Focus of the Month! This month, we talked about the importance of “taking a break” and… Continue Reading
Health & Nutrition with Chef Hanna: Trail Mix Cookies
“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” – James Beard There is debate as to how and when the Pittsburgh cookie table came to be, but there is no question that it’s a Pittsburgh tradition. Some say the tradition came about during the Great Depression. It’s said that wedding guests would bring their favorite… Continue Reading