“Everyone lies in the ER.” That statement stayed in my head long after the fear, panic and state of emergency had lessened. It seems as if we all end up in an emergency room at some point in our lives, either as the person in agony, or the advocate for said person. We recently had two very serious emergencies which led to frantic rushing to emergency rooms. The first to a city hospital. The second to hospital closer to home. As afternoon passed into evening on the day of the

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” - Desmond Tutu 2020. The unimaginable happened and the world shut down. As we tried to take it all in, scrambled to feed our families and homeschool our children, the news kept coming at us. Then in May, we, as a nation, had to face our country’s deep-seated racism in the ugliest way imaginable as we witnessed the murder of George Floyd. Families have suffered through job loss, sickness and death dur

With the shutdown of the country came the shutdown of my writing. I have published exactly two blog posts and one magazine article since THE PANDEMIC. That is not a great amount. Everything else I start to write seems so trivial or else so horrible that it would take pages to delve into even one particular subject out of so many. Today, I opened a new document to make yet another attempt at creativity and inspiration, with perhaps a dash of wit. This is me, trying to write. I

I want to write something amazing, healing and thoughtful. I want my words to make you feel better about everything. I want to use magical phrases that will make your mind rest, stop your thoughts from spinning and dispel your fear and anxious feelings of uncertainty. But I don’t know which words I could use to accomplish that. We are at an anxiety level that many of us have never felt before. Our brains are on high alert all of the time. What the hell do we do with all the f

First things first. Do not make reducing your stress one more thing on the to-do list. If you know you are under stress, you need to address it with love, realism and gentleness. Here are just a few of the ways that stress can manifest itself in your life: Weight Gain/Weight Loss Sleep problems Alcohol abuse Adrenal Fatigue Eczema Food Cravings Mood swings Obsessing Inappropriate reactions to events Heart Palpitations Do any of these resonate with you? Do you notice any of th