i wait all year for this:  the cooler air, the changing leaves, the family feasting, but more than anything, the sense of gratitude that illuminates every good thing.  a thankful heart gives more and receives more.

a blessed holiday to all my clients and friends.  may the spirit of thanksgiving blanket you in warmth and love throughout your days.

as we delight in the occasional cool breeze and crisp air, leaves are beginning to turn color and float to the ground.  this is completely predictable, of course; it is part of the seasonal pattern.

what do i need to change in myself now, and what kind of movement would be most productive?  it is healthy to be asking these questions and to hit the re-design button in our lives when a new path might offer new challenges and opportunities that will contribute to our overall growth.

when i returned to brooklyn years ago for my 25th high school reunion, i was surprised at how many of my classmates had never left, had never ventured from where they had been born.

where does your soul long to be?  and what would it take for you to get there?

i hope i never outgrow the joy of brand new school supplies:  a box of perfectly pointed crayons in every imaginable color, freshly sharpened pencils, smooth lined paper and flowing ink--- each one brimming with possibilities of what can be learned and created that hasn't been present until now.

before the summer ends, i want to consider the wisdom of angel tarot cards, churn the best peach buttermilk ice cream, hike at congaree, and explore brevard with my favorite sidekick. 

what learning opportunities await you, and will you allow yourself to jump in with both feet?

it's all about freedom:  freedom from external demands on my time and energy,  freedom from wanting what i can't have,  freedom from expectations (including my own) of who i should be. 

there is the most delicious kind of freedom in getting lost for the day, walking away from the plan in order to follow whatever adventure presents itself before me.

so get lost!  and i say that with high reverence for the spirit that yearns to be free.

summer beckons us to slow down, to rest, and to play more.  for me, that looks like early morning walks along the greenway and paddles out on the river, reading every new book that strikes my fancy, and picnic suppers out on the back porch.  summer is a time to indulge our whims, the desires of our hearts that have lain dormant in the cooler months.

what is your inner child longing for, and how will you respond? 

there are so many lives i want to remember this holiday, though none of them were lost in military battles.

there was my high school social studies teacher who taught me about the myth of sisyphus during one of my darker, adolescent storms.

there was the therapist who listened patiently as i cried through the early months of adulthood and asked me only one question when i finally came up for air:  did you marry the wrong man?

there was the patchwork of older women who became surrogate moms to me because i still need(ed) guidance and direction sometimes.

and most of all there was papa, who would have turned 97 this month.  he taught me the most important lessons of all:  to live with a full and open heart and to hold onto hope no matter what.

thank you to all of them for their truth, their wisdom, their kindness, and their care.  the love they poured into me is what fuels what i give to others.

"the crucifixion is only a set-up for the resurrection."  marianne williamson's spiritual writings have inspired me for years, and the preceding quote is one of her most powerful.  we can focus on the agony of the crucifixion in our own lives or the rebirth that resurrection brings.  sometimes the difference between victory and defeat comes down to where we place our sustained attention.