Resilience – Basics
Six Reliable Ways to Deal with Any Disaster
A friend was among 22,000 people evacuated earlier this month from a raging wildfire in the Sierra Nevada. The fire came within three miles of her home before it was contained. This morning she sent me images of the ash on their doorstep and told me of the hugs they gave the firefighters when they […]
From the Middle of a Whirlwind
Every once in a while, everything that needs to be done piles up on top of everything else. I’m coping, for sure, and things will get less congested in a few days. But to create something breathing space, I’m recycling a December 2016 newsletter that is still exceptionally relevant right now: Weather Difficult Times: Be […]
Updated Practices for Resilience for Right Now…and For the Long Haul
When I began posting practices for Resilience for Right Now…and For the Long Haul at the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020), I had no idea, none of us had any idea, how long, how longer than long, this pandemic would be impacting our lives, our resilience, our well-being. I last updated the website page […]
The Tree That Survived 9/11 – A Poignant Symbol of Resilience and Hope
I’ve posted about trees as the iconic metaphors for our own resilience before. Just as we’re coming up on the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, I discover a beautifully illustrated children’s picture book, This Very Tree: A Story of 9/11, Resilience, and Regrowth. It’s a true story, beautifully told, of a Callery […]
In(ter)dependence Day
I have fond childhood memories of the Fourth of July – family picnics and fireworks celebrating Independence Day, naively happy with what I experienced of safety and freedom in 1950’s America. SO naïve that that safety net was not the story of living in America for many of America’s citizens. The civil rights movement was […]
When It Rains, It Pours
2020 has been a year of “when it rains, it pours” for most of us. The catastrophe of the global pandemic, with one crisis or difficulty after another piling on top of each other. Mini-mini example for me: on top of sheltering-in-place for the better part of nine months, not going anywhere, not working with […]
Becoming a Wise Elder
We become elders by accepting life on life’s terms, gradually relinquishing the fight to have it fit our expectations. Elders have no quarrel with the ways of the world. Initiated through many years of loss, they have come to know that life is hard, riddled with failures, betrayals and deaths. They have made peace with […]
Choosing to Choose
Part of my coping with my broken shoulder bone, immobilized in a sling, is discerning what I can no longer do for myself, at least for another month, what I still can do, what I can ask for-allow others to do for me. My daily, mini-excursion into the serenity prayer: God, grant me the serenity […]
Fall-Down-Get-Up – All One Word
Here’s the link to an absolutely delightful – and instructive – 6 minute video Oy Vey to a New Way by Naomi Newman, brilliant co-founder of the Traveling Jewish Theater. Naomi teaches that fall-down-get-up is one word, one action, a seamless response to the difficulties and disasters of life. Deep wisdom in delightfully inspiring theater. […]
Anchors Rather than Answers
No one knows for sure when this pandemic will be over. When it will be safe to eat out, get your hair cut, visit friends without masks, attend a live football game or a live concert, when students can sit in a classroom with fellow students again. For some, coping with so many uncertainties and […]