Magical Memories

I’m headed to Ohio today to give a keynote on “Whole Person Living” at Lourdes University, a community of learning, reverence, and service.  Maybe it’s the trip to a community that feels so right; for I woke to one of those magical memories.  It was our last night in San Diego and we walked to the Fish Market across from the USS Midway Museum, the moon was rising, making it was one of those perfect evenings.  MaryBeth’s fingers wrapped around mine as we both held Auggie’s leash.  We had a nice meal surrounded by families with small kids, all very interested in Auggie, and after dinner took a bicycle taxi back to the hotel.  What makes a magical memory?  It’s felt through the heart and is filled with a tenderness and warmth that reenergizes our spirit with faith in the power of love.  Be mindful of life’s magical memories, don’t let them slip away.  

Culture of Health

Culture of health and employee engagement had been major themes at the conference, and many of the presenters showed positive productivity and healthcare results to support their value in business sustainability.  However, as a wellness programmer, I was looking for more of the “how to”, or the program strategy or mix that weaves the two together to generate sustainable results.  After carrying two bags into the house, I was sweating profusely, and then I remembered I was back in Houston where we have humidity. 

As I started to carry in the last two bags, I looked up to the flowering vine on our balcony.  The flowers have multiple petals with deep purple cores surrounded by a softer, lighter purple fringe.  I realized the flowers represented a strategy for weaving employee wellness engagement and culture of health together.  A strong line of wellness programming engaging employees on both emotional and transactional levels building self-responsibility and accountability surrounded by department and organizational cultures that support and value health.  Will it was a start – smile.  

Healing Energy of Love

Every morning I feed our two outside cats on the front balcony.  SweetBoy a longhaired Norwegian Forest cat is always patiently waiting, but Precious a shorthaired blond 1/2 Siamese, is usually in the garden below. As I call, “Precious”, he answers back, and immediately scampers up the tree for breakfast.  When I leave for work, he’s waiting by my scooter, or walks me to my car parked around the corner.  Even in rain like today, he walks me to the corner, staying under the umbrella.  At the corner, I reach down and give him one last gentle stroke, and he purrs, “I love you”, and we both feel the exchange of the healing energy called LOVE.  How will you share your healing love energy today?

Aliveness Celebrations

We’ve all had time stop in life moments that touch us deeply and become celebrations of our aliveness.  After three back-to-back meetings I was worn out and walking back to my office on the sky bridge.  They approached from the other direction, she wore a knit cap covering her baldhead with a yellow sunflower on top, and he wore a cowboy hat.  A father with his young daughter, they were laughing as she skipped and he was walking fast trying to keep up.  It wasn’t their laughter, but the warmth of their smiles that instantly started a celebration of aliveness deep inside me.  On your life journey today, be open to others bearing gifts engaging you in celebrations of your aliveness.  

Vanishing Points

After my mom’s funeral, my dad pulled out a box containing all the treasures she had saved from our time together.  My first baby scribbles, school art projects, homemade Christmas cards, and a bundle of letters I’d written her in my summer travels.  I sat on the floor, cried and slowly went through the box reading her handwritten notes.  Before she started our family, she had been an English teacher, so poetry was always a part of our life together, and she had saved my first poem.  She gifted me with the need to put my feelings into poems, and it is through writing I experience what artists must feel as they experiment with different vanishing points offering infinite possibilities, and for me a fuller vision of life.  

Open Your Heart to Wholeness

Mark Nepo in his latest book writes about how our life journeys are scattered paths leading to glimpses of wholeness when we open our hearts.  I was one of the two reactors to Dr. Fredrickson keynote on positivity, and talked about how her work had changed the way I approach my cancer journey.  I ask her for suggestions for our nurses that must move from patient to patient, carrying the cancer burdens, and yet caring in ways that provide hope.  As I started to close the session, and thank her for the science she gave us, my words were covered in tears.  Through the tears, I finally closed to the audience of 400+ with, “What will you do different tomorrow?”  It was a moment where the depths of my feelings had opened my heart and I had felt wholeness.  

Glow Moments

I stood at the window in still darkness; it had been an amazing week.  I’d met Dan Buettner, author of “Thrive”, and Barbara Fredrickson, author of “Positivity”, both spoke about the importance of the connections we share in our lives opening our hearts to happiness, health, and healing.  My son had attended as a student intern 10 years ago, and was back and we had worked together all week.  As the clouds softly brushed across the full moons glow, I realized my week had been awesome because of the life moments shared with family and good friends.  It’s not the connections, but the precious life moments shared through these connections that add a happy glow to our lives.  Share more “glow moments”.