Living Peacefully Blog
Hope
Happy April Fool’s Day, which, according to Wikipedia, is an annual custom on April 1st consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. I always think of my Mom on April Fool’s Day because she was mostly a very stern person who scorned practical jokes, but on April Fool’s...
Noticing What Nurtures You
The other day, I noticed the tiniest little daffodil bud growing in my neighbor’s yard, and it gave me such joy because it means spring is coming. Then, earlier today I stopped working long enough to take this picture of an unknown-to-me bird who had landed on a new...
Choosing Inner Quiet
Brrrr. Is it winter where you live? Here in southern California, the winters are mild and yet still chilly. When I lived in Flagstaff, Arizona, we had 100 inches of snow on average in the winter months. And, believe it or not, I loved shoveling snow because of the...
What Are You Choosing to Bring Into the New Year?
Welcome to 2021! I’m celebrating the possibilities of this New Year and I hope you are too. Just this afternoon, I led a group of NVC enthusiasts from around the world in a 20-minute meditation to welcome in peace and healing to all living beings. It was utterly...
Taking Deep Breaths
As I sit down to write this, I find I am struggling with what to say. I notice that I feel both deeply weary and humbled to realize that this is the last month of 2020… I usually take time to reflect on the passing year in December, and begin to shape my plans for the...
Embracing Humility, Finding Freedom
This past weekend, my wife, Kim, and I went to a friend’s house. I confess it has been hard for me to access JOY these past few months, for reasons I suspect are affecting many of us, so this particular visit with friends was a welcome respite. At one point, I was...
Self Care: Courage in the Midst of Life
I have been taking time to read books lately, which is a kind of luxury I sometimes neglect despite how nurturing reading can be for me. In a moment of extreme stress and tension, I picked up two books that are reminding me of courage, self-care, authenticity, how...
Supporting Hearts that Hurt
Welcome to the first day of August. I am acutely aware of how much our lives have changed since August 2019 – or even just since January 2020! In the USA, my home state of California has taken a huge step backward as we try to curb the upward spiral of COVID-19 cases;...
What Do You Value?
Years ago, Marshall Rosenberg said, “Anger can be a wonderful wake up call to help you understand what you need and what you value.” I have been sitting with this phrase during these devastating months of 2020, pondering what it is that each of us needs and values,...
Looking for the Blessings
As I write this, I am looking out my office window into my new yard and garden. A garden that was planted by parents of a friend of ours. Yesterday I ate the first tomato that they had so lovingly planted and nurtured. The birds are singing and I see many butterflies...