I propose that we enlarge Mother’s Day to honor not just our biological mothers but our spiritual mothers as well. They are the...
Celebrating Christmas in a Climate-Changed World
GUEST POST by JANET WEIL “Someday soon we all will be together If the fates allow Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow So have yourself a merry little Christmas now…” — By Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane Judaism is my religion, but I do have a favorite (secular) Christmas song: “Have yourself a merry little Christmas.” [...]
Impeachment Hearing’s Stars, Rethinking Gifts, Family & More!
Impeachment Hearing’s Stars Hats off to Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and Dr. Fiona Hill. Both women testified this week in the impeachment hearings. They were professional, calm and collected, speaking in respectful tones as they described Trump’s corrupt, mishandling of US- Ukraine polices. Trump was true to form as he tweeted [...]
Yes, To Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks!
“Don’t try to explain a lot to her. She’s too old to get it.” (Two clerks at a Best Buy referring to an older woman in the market for a new TV.) This is typical of the way older adults are stereotyped in our youth-obsessed culture. I won’t stand for it! I’m in my eighth decade, and I’m anything but set in my ways. I continue [...]
My Picks for Winter Reads
While I’m not a fan of cold weather and snowstorms, winter is my favorite reading season. I read all year long, but I read differently in winter. It’s when I indulge in slow reading, lingering over beautiful passages and re-reading treasured authors. I love the backdrop of winter reading: my phone’s ringer turned off, a fire in the [...]
The Week I Became A Little Old Lady
Even though I’m in my 8th decade, most days I feel youngish, energetic and in step with the world, old, but not really old. This past week my self-image was radically challenged when a few random encounters forced me to recognize that I am often seen as a little old lady–a likely stereotype given my short stature and thin frame. [...]
CA Fires, A New Diet, A New Play & More!
California’s Fires I’ve been following the horrific California fires, and grateful that my son who lives in Santa Monica has been spared evacuation and fires near him, but I can’t stop thinking about the long term implications of California’s raging fires. Does it mean as the climate activist, Bill McKibben, asserts that California [...]
Awakening to Bliss
GUEST POST by MARGIE MARTIN CAMPBELL Have you ever felt blissful on a hot summer afternoon when the air was so still you could only get a very small breeze by swinging in the old porch swing? The one that Grandpa built all those years ago before you were born. Sure, the house windows are up with screens in place to “let a little air [...]
Goddesses: Then and Now, A Gripping Memoir & More!
A Lovely Video The other day, needing a source of lightness and inspiration, I re-watched the film, “The Goddess Remembered.” It’s a documentary that tells the story of the Women’s Spirituality movement that flourished here in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. The historical perspective on the goddess era is beautifully told through [...]
Finding My Bliss
GUEST POST by EMMA MACAILLEN I am unsure that I ever find my bliss. I think it finds me. I do sense that there are preconditions in order for it to present itself. Perhaps I need to get out of my own way in order for that to happen, or at least “out of my mind.” I think bliss is a state of the awakened heart. I have glimpses [...]
The Journey Home to Self: Spirituality Late in Life
Aging has brought a renewed interest in the spiritual questions I grappled with during my late night college bull sessions. Is there a God? Can prayer make a difference in one’s life? What is my spiritual path? In my middle years I was too busy raising children and building a career to grapple with meaning of life questions with the [...]