FIERCE BOUNDARIES Fierce boundaries hold me upright these days. I ignore my doubting voice and stand tall in my boundaries. Major changes are happening both within and without every sentient being on this earth. In honor of Earth Day , the renewal of spring and in light of all these changes within and without, today I honor the journeys. As adults it is our responsibility to foster love and support around us. We cannot uphold that responsibility unless we honor love and suppo

What a Journey! I am unraveling years and years of fear, anger, trauma and pain! These words are not only an oral representation of huge changes happening within me, they are emotive images, memories, boxed up energy, tornados of loss and pain. I am truly unraveling, and what is reappearing, I trust, is who I really am. I am letting myself out and it is terrifying. I spent a night listening to sleep story after sleep story, gentle words and images to keep my freaked out brain

SPACE FOR WONDER In that envelope of time when I just wake up, eyes still closed on the edge of sleep, I am in my special time when I ask questions, see images, carefully maneuvering around my sleeping ego. I don’t want to wake her just yet as she’s all about schedules and customs, timelines, judgments, and to-do lists. This is where I can sit in silence, take my time, breathe in clarity and be with those that support me beyond the veil. This is truly my place where I am alwa

It Takes Courage   I’m an introvert at heart and enjoy my time alone. I never knew who I was until I found my authenticity. Until I listened. Until I took the time to hear me.   My courage is a gift as I work through deeply embedded memories of pre-verbal abuse and understand why my inner pain has loitered around my life’s journey until it could be heard, witnessed and understood.   My silence is a gift. I feared it as a threat until I turned inward and took the time to be wi

Patterns Disclaimer: the word “F*$k is used several times. At some point years and years ago, I noticed that life offers patterns. I first became aware of these patterns after my daughter was born in 1981, as I received the chaotic, devastating news of her terminal illness, and my survival. I began to write. I do not like writing, sitting with a pen and paper, finding words that make sense. Every time I write, my inner critic rises and begins combing through my words, finding

The most wonderful gift we can give ourselves is to listen to ourselves. No matter if we are sobbing, worrying, screaming or lamenting, we listen from our soul. We listen from our heart. We listen. Because each one of us is worth the effort to be present for. Imagine if you were in front of a small child feeling lost, crying, fretting, or joyful. You would get down to their eye level and listen to them. That is the gift you are giving yourself when you sit in silence. Our wor

I Am a Mother Mountain Written in 1992 and revised in 2026 A simple photograph can feel like an explosion of my senses Catapulting me back 60 plus years Causing a reflection of my life from the lens of a bird looking at the whys and hows of my circumstances.   I have to ask why we suffer? I have to ask why it’s necessary for hurt others? I have to ask.   And yet here the adult stands having survived the abuse. The adult has laughed and cried. The adult has celebrated and wept

Our Breath is Our Bridge It is astonishing how my wounded child influences my behaviors and actions that have curtailed my comfort, my sense of peace and my sense of wellbeing.   Part of my trauma-based therapy has invited me to visualize a safe environment. I build this environment with my imagination that supports me, eases me into a relaxing surrender.   With awareness, I breathe in and I slowly breathe out I relax into my comforting breath.   This is a meditation about co

Coming Home If I could stand in the street and wait, wait for anyone to come up to me and ask what is the meaning of their life, I would say to them, the meaning of your life is that you matter. You matter in this world. Your presence is important. I see you. You belong here. You belong. Healing happens. If I stay in my corner of the world and continue to ask why trauma happened to me, my inner child can’t find answers.  If I place my inner, loving adult next to me, my questi

NO MORE OTHERING The story of my past holds so much trauma that it blurs my present.  I feel I have been swimming upstream against the force of life. I have always been in the passenger seat, not at the wheel, feeling misaligned reacting to injustice, and suffering. It is also an irony that I have felt so stifled while my body grew into maturity ultimately whole and complete. Yet inside, my wounded child is hiding, reacting, and struggling. As I undergo trauma-based therapy,

BREATHE Each one of us is working hard in our lives to find little successes and these successes help us find some solace during these challenging times. Every day I cultivate something inspiration to help me stay sane and some days are much harder than others.   I wanted to share these words by Matt Kahn on Emotional Fitness.  We are our own advocates. I stand up to take care of me. I invite you to use your good advocating skills for you.   EMOTIONAL FITNESS Excerpted from M

One Day at a Time This is a poem I heard at my Unitarian Universalist Church in Medfield a few weeks ago. It really spoke to me when I heard it. I've lived most of my life by living one day at a time, and it helps to be reminded of what that means. When things aren't going well, it's good to focus on today and not on what one is worrying about. -- Thea Iberall Start where you stand Start where you stand and never mind the past, The past won't help you in beginning new, If you

Big Love I made the decision to take the word “frustrated” out of my language. Frustrated feels hopeless, and I don’t want to feel hopeless in my inside or outside world. Hope helps me feel better. Hope gives me a reason to wake up in the morning, even on mornings when I have had very little sleep. Hope holds creativity and the good smell of something I just baked, and finding order in a chaotic room. Instead, I am using the word “challenged.” To be challenged means I will fi

LIFE IS NOT MY FAULT! I made the hard decision to begin trauma-based therapy four weeks ago. The pot is stirred and life feels like a field of land mines. I am okay, if I take time to remember to grant myself space to recover after sessions and remember one moment at a time. I am accountable to my decisions and take action for change. I have had enough physical pain in my life that I claimed “enough”. Life pissed me off a long time ago and I got angry but didn’t know what to

Surrendering It takes a lot of courage to live in this world. We walk this earth together. There is a reason why we suffer. There is a reason why we experience triggers. There is a reason why we fear. There is a reason why we love. There is a reason why we struggle. There is a reason why we doubt. There is a reason why we witness suffering There is a reason why we lose ourselves. Our souls seek wholeness with our humanness And what better way to seek this merger is through ex

My Inner Sanctum on this Solstice   I often share my belief in silence. I preface my explanation by saying I am a meditation teacher, but not really. Sitting in silence cannot be defined by meditation. It is more a practice of sitting in my own energy while listening and trusting in silence.   Sometimes the practice of sitting in my power leads to tears and anxiety, a distraction of my ego to keep me small in a familiar place buying into the illusion of my smallness. And alwa

We Breathe We live in unusual times. The world is amidst transcendent change, and like a fish, we can’t yet see beyond the water we reside in because we’re still surviving the storm.  Roots buried in complacency are shaken loose. People are dying. People are surviving. Hearts break open as a global movement of awakenings of massive proportions takes place.   It’s exciting and terrifying. We feel helpless and find power in presence. We react in stunned silence and thankfully o

I See Me I manage my fear. I manage PTSD from years of fear. I walk through fear and there is still more. An inside voice feeds me worries that build into mountains and I become immobilized. I am unsafe with myself. Sitting in silence has helped me uncover this hidden presence always reminding me. Life is hard when I am unsafe. Nothing feels doable. Nothing feels manageable. I have uncovered limitation after limitation as I slow down and listen. The difference between my inne

BE KIND TO YOURSELF I was recently reminded of the author, A.A. Milne and his book, Winnie the Pooh , about a kindhearted, honey-loving bear named Winnie the Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. The main characters include a timid piglet, a gloomy donkey named Eeyore, a wise owl, a maternal kangaroo named Kanga with her joey Roo, a busy rabbit, and the boy who owns them all, Christopher Robin. The stories revolve around their simple adventures, which often highligh

REACH BEYOND FOR YOUR INNER LIGHT With gratitude I open this morning’s meditation. I enjoy greeting each of you. Saturday morning greetings have become a sound byte that resonates respect, warmth and an authentic salutation that I feel in my heart. Sometimes I have fun with it as I say your names; always I feel excitement in its redundancy. The language of the heart can be challenging to express at times because of all the emotions that ride along with it. I witness your hear