Category: Trauma, Self-awareness, Inner peace

Have you ever noticed the intense action on peony buds?  My budding peonies are covered with workaholic ants. To be honest, I don’t know how many hours a single ant puts in – yes, they all look alike – but ants certainly are busy at dawn and keep working until dusk. Do some ants work… Continue reading Peony Pearls

As May’s Mental Health Awareness Month comes to a close, can we say that the U.S. is more “aware” of the precious bodymind health of all citizens? It has been another challenging month with an average of about one mass killing weekly and little movement in the halls of government to address meaningful gun control… Continue reading The Armor of Wisdom

If you ever doubted the interdependent web of all existence, the orange daylight sun in Chicago — after wildfires went on a rampage in Canada — was an eerie reminder that what affects one part of the planet affects us all. This interdependence is apparent everywhere. In giving garden tours recently in Lurie Garden in… Continue reading Nature’s Balancing Act

Every day is Mother’s Day. All of us owe thanks to mothers for bringing us through 9 months of magical transformation, labor and delivery. All of us are children of mothers and fathers, whether we know our biological parents or not. Some give birth while still kids. Some want to give birth and for one… Continue reading Mothers: An Endangered Species?

Recognize Your Own Ageism Do you want to live in a place of your choosing? Nearly everyone, regardless of their age or disability, has reported in surveys that they prefer living in a community rather than an institution. The Administration for Community Living (ACL) was established to maximize the independence and well-being of people with… Continue reading Ageism Pearl

What are the parallels of writing and everyday life? Here are a few nuggets. I was invited to illuminate book publishing and blogging for the Illinois Women’s Press Association this past weekend. Synchronicity smiled upon me as hot-off-the-press copies of my new book, Transforming Retirement: Rewire and Grow Your Legacy, reached my doorstep 24 hours… Continue reading Pearls and Perils of Writing (and Life)

What, if anything, came into fruition for you during pandemic times? My third book, Transforming Retirement: Rewire and Grow Your Legacy is my fruit of many years’ growth, both before and during the pandemic. When I lost the publisher of my first two books (my editor was furloughed in the pandemic), I had to search… Continue reading Pandemic Pearls II

Cell biologist Bruce Lipton suggests that Charles Darwin may have been wrong about evolutionary gradualism. In a 1972 controversial paper, paleontologists Niles Eldredge and Steven Jay Gould proposed that evolution occurs in spurts (“sudden jumps”) and introduced their Punctuated Equilibrium theory. Eldredge/Gould argued that species have relative equilibrium until their development is “punctuated” by rapid… Continue reading Biodiversity Pearls

SuperAgers are social butterflies according to research; they flutter between family members and/or friends, often flitting off to join volunteer possibilities in their communities where they make new acquaintances. Does this sound like you? Perhaps you are more introverted and such fluttering around drives you a bit crazy. As Carl Jung wrote in Modern Man… Continue reading SuperAging Pearls

Have you ever attended a conference that gave you hope for our collective future? I attended one last week — the American Society on Aging (ASA) in Atlanta. I was pleased with my presentation, “What Part of Your Bodymind is Retired? What Part of Your Bodymind Says, ‘Never?’” I was thrilled to meet many people… Continue reading Bodymind Pearls for Aging