Echoes of Traditions

Last night we decorated our tree.  Like many folks, Tree Decorating Night is an event.   It’s a big deal that we make sure we will all be home for.  Food, laughter, fun and lotsa memories. We have had Chinese food and macaroni’n’cheese for Tree Decorating Night for over a decade…and so naturally, we did …

Stayin’ Alive

I spent the day at a workshop.  Lorrie Brubacher, an awesome therapist and instructor, walked us through the below video…it confirmed and affirmed something that therapists know from sitting with clients. This video encapsulates the day…and a therapist’s work… Before you watch it, though, do me a favour? Please? Before you go farther into this …

3 strategies to get out of debt that aren’t about money

I blogged recently about the ways in which money/debt problems, at their root, aren’t really about money. It follows then, that the way to get out of money/debt problems isn’t about first worrying about the budgets, or debt consolidation, or developing a spreadsheet. Those things are important…but not the first line of resolution. So here …

A Scarf of Warmth, A Basket of Care

It’s lonely to have an eating disorder. Or maybe, people have an eating disorder because they have a loneliness. Or maybe both. I remember the winter that First Husband was thinking he would leave…but had not yet left. I was in such turmoil, I would forget to eat. Sometimes, I was so worried about what …

September 29 is a day when Carolyn had, a decade apart, 2 important declarations.

September 29

Two years ago, I was driving home from the west coast in early September, rather bereft. I was a little scared and a lot lost. You see, I’d been a single mom for almost a decade.  I’d been single-mindedly focused on getting my Junior Tribe Members “all growed up”.  That meant working, driving, cooking, connecting with …

Experience over memory

I remember reading once that a uncluttered home makes for an uncluttered brain and heart.  A person can feel more present and content when there  is a peaceful feeling when there isn’t extra “stuff” cluttering one’s space. As an encouragement to get rid of things, the author wrote something like: “Getting rid of your grandmother’s fancy teapot …