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Showing posts from 2020

Surrounded by Light: Finding peace in the darkness

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This will be a quick post as I want to give you one more story in 2020. And I need this reminder right now, too, because I’m dealing with some new health issues that make my daily life a little darker. Last week Jupiter and Saturn were aligned so close, they appeared to be one star. In fact, many called it the Christmas Star, imagining it was akin to what the shepherds saw over two thousand years ago. There was a limited viewing window; the planets would dip below the horizon about thirty minutes after sunset. So I bundled up in my jacket and gloves and went to the driveway. The clouds were sparse, and I spotted the planets behind a distant treetop. I sat down on my walker and looked up. Although it was dark, all I could see was the light. There was an almost-full moon shining on my left. To my right was our pine tree strung with colorful lightbulbs along with matching strings along the eaves behind me. Straight ahead was the Christmas Star. I smiled and sighed, “I am surrounded by lig

How The Inconvenience of Quarantine can Lead to Beauty: Making deeper connections through total immersion

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I spent the last two weeks living with my sister, and it was beautiful. When I arrived, I was greeted with cheerful hugs from everyone, including my mom who had come over to visit. It had been nine months since I’d last been in her house, and nine months since I’d hugged my family. It was reminiscent of visiting grandparents, aunts, and uncles several states away. However, my sister was only six miles away, living right next door to my parents. This is what Covid has done. It has made everything “long-distance.” From family and friends to book clubs and volunteer groups, and even church, I may as well be dialing in from the middle of nowhere. To get to those hugs, six adults and three children had to quarantine for fourteen days, then remain in quarantine for another two weeks as we gathered together for meals and movies. And did I mention one of those children was my newborn niece? My sister had to convince the hesitant pediatrician to conduct the baby’s wellness checks via telehealth

Be a Cheerleader: The beauty of affirmations, validation, and encouragement

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Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash Yesterday I received an email that made my day. I'd sent an essay to a friend and asked for his feedback, and he'd responded quickly. His first line gave me a rush of joy. "I am blown away by your writing skill, and your ability to be vulnerable and strong at the same time." He went on to praise my gift for writing and thank me for sharing my work. By the end of the note, I was beaming with gratitude. My friend could have just told me the essay was good, and I would have been pleased. But instead, he'd taken the time to be explicitly kind and encouraging. It got me thinking about the other cheerleaders in my life. From my friends' Facebook comments to my weekly visits with my writing partner to greeting card wishes, I cherish their uplifting remarks.  In my volunteer time with Stephen Ministry , we are trained to give each other regular affirmations. At first it sounded funny to say "Good job" or "You are

Beauty On The Back Porch: Answering the call to serve

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Several weeks ago, the Nurture-Care team at my church put forth a program called Front Porch Visits . Anyone who was interested could sign up to deliver or receive a visit and a care package. I've been self-quarantined since March, Zooming with friends and only venturing out to parking lots to pick up groceries or to the drive-through lane at my pharmacy. I thought it would be nice to have someone come to my porch to chat in person, so I filled out the online form and waited for a call. I wanted to feel included and not forgotten. As the designated weekend approached with no word from the church, I wondered if my request had gotten lost.  Then an email from the pastor popped up on my phone. I was delighted to see you had signed up to do a visit. I’d like to assign you Carol Smith. Her husband has severe Alzheimer's and she has been living alone since he moved into memory care. Even though he doesn’t know who she is, she has missed being able to visit him. How would you like to

There's Always a Way to Beauty: Finding joy in access to cold mountain stream

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Like many people, I've been heading to the outdoors to get away from the stress of the pandemic. Earlier this month, we went trail riding in the mountains as we hunted for wild raspberries in our UTV. Usually the mountain air is cooler than the valley, but the sun and the heat seemed to follow us into the forest. We stopped for lunch near a bridge and my husband, Shawn, dipped the dogs in the creek to cool them off. As he came back my way I asked, "Is there any way I can get down to the water, too?" As many of you know, I have a form of muscular dystrophy that limits my physical strength. I knew I couldn't get there on my own. Shawn shook his head. "No, the bank is too steep for me to carry you and there's no level place to stand at the bottom." I sighed, envious of his access to the cool water. But then I decided that I would find a better place. I declared, "I want to put my feet in the water today." As we rode, we spotted hillside springs th

What Would Your Enchantment Say?

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Over the weekend, I attended a virtual workshop called On Being Human with Jen Pastiloff, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Krista Vernoff. It was two hours of self-reflection and affirmation through writing, music, and movement. One of the writing prompts from Elizabeth Gilbert had us thinking about enchantment - that special kind of charm you'd recognize in a child when she's blowing bubbles or chasing a butterfly. Joy. Wonder. Beauty. Enchantment. She had us write a letter to ourselves that began like this: Dear [your name],  I am your Enchantment, and this is what I want to tell you. And could include lines like: The last time I saw you was... I really like it when you... The person/action that makes me leave the room is... I am most at home when... She encouraged us to write freely whatever came to mind, to open ourselves to the world of magic and wonder. This was my letter. Dear Lisa, I am your Enchantment, and this is what I want to tell you. The last time I saw you was last night

Dipped In Beauty: Finding renewal and breaking out of your rut

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In March, at the beginning of the pandemic, I was glad to stay home. As an introvert and homebody, the mandate didn't scare me.  If anything, I was already used to it.  I quit working six years ago due to my  disability , and with limited physical strength, my activity level was minimal. I thought to myself, I've got this. I listened to others as they struggled with the homebound changes and secretly thought, Welcome to my life. Gradually, I began to miss my occasional outings to physical therapy, massage, and book club, but I was still content in my house. Nine weeks in, I wrote about the difficulty in finding Doorways. I spoke of seeing the light through the cracks in the darkness and gave a list of ways to find them for yourself. I was challenged yet hopeful about my days at home. Then my state entered Phase Two of its reopening plan, and people began venturing out again.  However, I had to watch the slow return from my couch. My complex health issues put me in the "at

Three Forces to Bring You Beauty: How a book can change your life

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You always hear people talk about books that have impacted their life so much that it inspired a new action or a shift in perspective but for me, finding that type of book has been a rare occurrence. I've read some memorable fiction, and I’ve learned a lot about history and different cultures, but I had yet to read a book that I could deeply and honestly say changed my personal life. Until now. I won't keep you in suspense. The book is The Lady’s Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness: A Memoir by Sarah Ramey , and I picked it up at my friend’s suggestion for her upcoming book club.  Sarah defines herself as a WOMI, a woman with a mysterious illness. You know these illnesses as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, Lyme disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and a host of other named and unnamed disorders. They are typically invisible, and too often, doctors don't believe they’re real and dismiss them as psychological. The book describes Sarah's years-long journey navigating

Finding Beauty is Hard Sometimes: 7 ways to find Doorways of light amid a crisis

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It's been almost a month since my last post, and in reflecting on the reason, I discovered a truth. Sometimes it's difficult to find Doorways. Doorways are moments of beauty, joy, or emotion that connect us to Something Bigger. Moments that make us smile or reveal the Divine at work in our world. But I've been struggling to find Doorways each day, let alone moments significant enough to write about. Like many around the country, I've been staying home since the middle of March. Nine weeks (and counting) of isolation from the community. Though I'm a practiced homebody who loves a good routine, my routine is becoming a rut. And it shows up each night when I sit down to write my DTH (Doorway, Thankful, Help)  prayer   for the day. In the past, I'd noticed occasional challenges in searching for Doorways, and they usually coincided with "bad days," but it didn't bother me. In fact, I enjoyed the work of looking for a tiny sliver of beauty a

Rooted Feet, Rooted Soul: What makes you feel grounded?

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Like most churches in the country, our local Methodist church is live-streaming its worship services due to the pandemic. So, every Sunday morning at 9:30, I login to Facebook and "go to church."   This morning, we sang an original song written by one of our music leaders. Its lyrics were contemplative and centering, and I was mesmerized by the lilting tune. ( Listen here at the 21:00 mark ) Rooted feet, rooted soul. I am here. I am whole. I took a deep, healing breath and felt connected to something bigger. The pastor asked, “What makes you feel grounded?” I had a vague feeling about my answer, but I didn’t have time to think it through because Shawn and I had plans for the day. After church ended, we packed a lunch, loaded up our new remote control cars, and drove west. Shawn had one place in mind and I had another. We ended up doing a bit of both as we made spontaneous choices along the way. We followed the road where it led, trusting the path we chose

The New Normal: A Global Concert

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It's not a new concept to bring celebrities and musical artists together in one event to raise funds and awareness for a global issue. Just look at the music festivals like Farm Aid, Band Aid, and Live Aid. These events bring people together in a swell of goodwill and celebration to support an important cause. But what happens when concerts are cancelled? When large group  gatherings  are prohibited? This week, Global Citizen had an answer. As an established organization that brings the world's biggest challenges to the forefront, they were in the perfect position to create a virtual concert to say thanks to the frontline workers & ask people to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic. And I almost missed it. My sister called during the first part of the eight-hour event and told me, "You should turn on the TV. We've been watching this concert and dancing around the house. It's been great!" She sounded so joyful, I was intrigued. I co