a woman pictured from the chest up holds her head and scowls in frustration.

How do you create a life worth living in a world that feels like it’s already crammed with responsibilities, plans, and projects? Most of us start as children going to school, aiming to get good grades to make our parents happy. Then, as we get older, we focus on getting a good-paying job to afford a nice car and a house, thinking that will bring us joy and satisfaction. Eventually, we start to realize despite all the time and hard work we’ve put in striving to reach the “next level,” we’re still not happy. I’m sure I’m not the only person who woke up oneRead More →

This post is part of my cornerstone content, written years ago, updated for today and still inspiring wisdom and deep understanding. Back in 2008-9, we were living in Tatui, Brazil while my husband built a factory for his work. Blake and I had been arguing, so I took a walk with Tootsie to go cool off. Now, Blake and I don’t argue very often, but like all couples, when we do, it’s painful. Not physically, fortunately, but for me, it felt like my heart and mind were on fire. My gut was in a knot and I was struggling not to cry in public. I was miserable.Read More →

This post is part of my cornerstone content, written years ago, updated for today, and still inspiring wisdom and deep understanding. Grace (noun) Simple elegance or refinement of movement. (verb) To honor or credit to someone or something’s presence. Google search I was out walking Tootsie the other day, and on the inside corner of an S-turn I had a test of grace. We’d been walking for about 20 minutes of our hour-long walk when it happened. We were on the inside corner of the S-turn, which was also a pretty steep hill. There was a car coming up the road from behind us, a lady trying to backRead More →

This post is part of my cornerstone content, originally written back a few years ago, updated for today, and still inspiring wisdom and deep understanding. (This post was originally written in 2015.) Although she’s not quite as exuberant as she used to be, Tootsie still loves to chase the stick and walk every day. Now it’s more of a short stroll she takes to sniff and pee and check up on who else has been through the neighborhood. It’s like FaceBook for dogs.  It was during one of these strolls that I became aware of one of my bad habits. After she had stopped forRead More →

This post is part of my cornerstone content, written years ago, updated for today, and still inspiring wisdom and deep understanding. Many years ago, this word, quintessential, came up when Blake, Garrett, and I played “telephone” one evening. We had a blast despite there were only three of us! Blake would whisper something to Garrett, and then Garrett would come to whisper it to me. Since there were only the three of us, I would go ahead and say it out loud. Being the good boy he is, Garrett was playing the “right” way and repeated what he heard. Well, Blake decided this wasn’t nearlyRead More →