Mom’s green thumb was legendary. In addition to a phalanx of houseplants, every April she started hundreds of vegetable seeds inside under grow lights in order to plant green sprouted seedlings. Plants in Northern Minnesota need a head start in the short, 135-day, Zone 4 growing season. As a farmer’s daughter, a farmer’s wife, and …
Tag: family
Creating as a Form of Meditation
Those of us who live or have lived with the problem of addiction in a relative or friend know what it means to over-utilize the left side of the brain. You know, the side that controls thinking, logic, analyzing, keeping things in order and figuring things out. We come up with hundreds of “if only’s” …
Living a Better Financial Story
In his book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller tells a powerful story he calls, “How Jason Saved His Family.” After returning from Los Angeles, where he took part in a storytelling workshop, Don got together with his friend, Jason, and learned of some trouble Jason and his wife were having with …
The Ties That Bind – Marriage As a Team
If you ever have been part of a winning team, you know what synergy means. It is like magic, When a couple becomes committed to each other, they become a team. It means they leave their respective families and join together to make a new family that is the first family and the roots of …
How to Keep Your Sanity During the Holidays
I hate the holidays. I know that seems like a strong statement, but — even at nearly six years sober — I still find the holidays incredibly challenging. It’s a time loaded with expectations, increased tensions in relationships, competing priorities, stress, and good old family dynamics. As if that isn’t enough, we can start to …
Creating Closeness With Compassionate Communication: A Nonviolent Approach
Personal communication too often fails us. A conversation can go south in a second when a nasty feeling erupts in our gut. The other person did something that strikes us as wrong, and they’re going to pay. Blame and vengeance hijack the conversation. Or we duck out of the conversation ASAP and let this feeling …
Do I Really Need to Put Up With My Crazy Family
It never fails. About this time of year every year I start getting a pain in my gut and dread with no clear explanation why. Upon later reflection I realize why. It’s because I have to see my family — who are incredibly crazy… and the holidays are coming. I feel guilty thinking this way. …
Cultural Savvy, Staying Healthy in an Often Unhealthy Culture
Most of us don’t think about our circumstances. We are like fish swimming in a body of water that is getting ever more poisonous. We don’t see how sick we are becoming simply due to the toxicity of the water. We adapt to living with environmental hazards and minimize toxicity. After all, other fish swim …