This is a week of great loss.  The vacancy we feel when a person dies is filled with everything they were to us.  The imprint of Dee Marino’s life has touched countless people. I attended Dee’s celebration of life today. If you had been there you would have witnessed what love is. Dee has always been  a great lady, strong in character, overflowing with love. Who lived her life to give, to nourish and make whole so many of us.  She was a woman of elegance, wisdom, and generosity. Dee and her husband Jim of sixty years have had an unshakable love. Their love will forever shine through their children and grandchildren. I miss her and I am so grateful for her friendship and the time we spent together.   On the back of her memorial picture is the following poem by,   Veronica A. Shoffstall   After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul and you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning and company doesn’t always mean security....

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If that gorgeous girl you fall in love with could make all your dreams come true. If the man you love, could be what you thought he was. If the architect, the hairdresser, the doctor, the banker… if only they could all be what you believed they were on your first meeting, before the shine wore off, when the illusion was firmly in place, when you couldn’t see reality, when all seemed so right. If only our reality was what we dreamed it to be. We hold our dreams deep within, keeping us filled with   expectations while waiting for life to reveal our hidden desires. Simply said we want things to get better so we dream of change. Our ability to view the future, hoping change will happen gives us strength. To imagine reminds us of the sweetness of life, offering an unexpected gentleness we can embrace to ease us through our challenging times. We dream to acquire treasures, health, friendships and love. What we envision to possess motivates us to create, to flourish...

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Most people want to be loved and to love. Some of us are recluses yet even they will surface for some tenderness. The rest of us hope to feel love and desire on a regular bases. There is a mysterious essence, an unseen connection, that can suddenly overwhelm you. We catch their eye hear their voice and something resonates within us drawing us towards them. Words aren’t necessary we somehow know we’re destined to know this person. How many of you have met someone and knew you would spend time together? This is the mystery of love. What happens when we love? We take the step, open the door and enter into the world of two. Hypnotized and intoxicated on happiness, often found in the physical, we gladly merge our beings. After time we poke our head out and start to notice our life is changing. Our view of the world is altered in some way. We are different. We might be considerate of the other person, care for them, adore them, or we might...

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Why is he acting like this? He’s distant. Why is she nagging me? She’s not nice to me. You don’t know them; they are new. The thrilling emotions leading you to their heart have disappeared inhibiting your passions. The one you desired with great intensity, the one you could not live without, whose touch was your only quest, remains blocked by the emptiness you feel.  Why should we be any different from the world we live in? The green fades and the hills brown, coldness swells rising from below and falling from above yet we see beauty. Nature displays her winter face in coldness, adorned in the snow-covered landscape. We find ourselves admiring each snowflake taking the time to notice the barren trees and frozen lakes with fondness. Without criticism we accept the change in season while understanding more is coming.  Still when encountering periods of renewal our vision is short. We think love will never return. So we blame one another and sometimes look to others to dress our heart’s desires. Imagine you are...

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When one part of our life dies another part is born. This is such a common occurrence yet when we are in the grips of endings it is the rare person who is confident that a new and better life is inevitable. The pain of creating a new life is much greater than giving birth to a human life. The pain can last for years and all faith in a new life filled with love and happiness feels permanently out of reach, not just for now but forever. We are all in a constant orbit, circling, traveling, and looking for and wanting love. At times we don’t have love, then we have love and sometimes we think we have it, yet we’re not sure. One day love is ours and then one day love is gone.  Some people protest they don’t need love. Others give up looking but deep within they long for the magic, the healing, the wholeness, that can happen when we click with that one person, when we feel our life...

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I feel closed out, shut out, a terrible feeling; he won’t listen to my opinion. I have a voice and he’s not interested in listening.  His abandonment is meant to slay my personal expression! Well it’s working I’m definitely stymied. Has this happened to you? I had just received this text from my man: “I’ve been contemplating life and us and what I know for sure is that I love you.” All was bliss. Now because I spoke my mind, he has cut off all communication with me. I remain disconnected lying in an abyss.  Has he met someone else? Am I part of the ancient triangle with the truth hidden from me? Why is it that what is not said, drives the relationship temperature up or down. Shakily, I attempt to go about my daily life. No longer do his text serve as a balm to my life. The text sound announcing the arrival of his sweet words caressed my soul with promises, is now absent. The cell alert signaling love, is replaced by...

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You encounter more traffic, fewer parking places, more people in the aisles and longer checkout lines; it’s the season of mutual celebration. Don’t miss your holiday pearls. The challenge, take a note pad or use your iPad, tablet, iPhone or Android to record every time someone is helpful, waits for you to merge into traffic or takes an extra few minutes to make your life a little smoother, these are your pearls. When you’re smiling because you see something beautiful or when you’re surprised with laughter, these are your pearls. The handshakes, the hugs, the kisses you receive, the attention you give and enjoy, the sparkle in their eyes and yours, the warm sun, the light of the moon, these are life’s staples.  Count them, take note, and don’t miss any of them, they’re meant for you. Pearls drop and dollop into your everyday existence, zipping right by without notice, collect them, cherish them, they are your gifts. Your strands reveal your kaleidoscope, the rhythms of your life. Notice how many Pearls you can...

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It’s a New Year, a time of optimism. We now have another opportunity to fulfill our dreams. As we enter January our hopes are renewed, we share the spirit of the New Year with the entire planet. Our personal resolutions are meant to transform us. Are you ready? Can you change in one year? We are complex individuals. Change happens slowly or not at all even when we want our life to be better, we are hesitant to make the effort. What do we need to do, what steps and what actions will further our goals? When someone tells us “no” it sparks us to embrace the opposite and ignore the “no” and move forward. How many successful people were told they can’t do something, they aren’t good enough, not talented enough or not smart enough? Guess what they did, they achieved what the experts said they could never do. So we can experiment, tell yourself no and see if you want to do something more than ever. Sometimes it takes a powerful uprooting...

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