“Out to pasture” is a derogatory label no one aspires to. That’s why my bicycle ride out Moose Lake Road to Sawyer County S last summer took me by surprise. The 26-mile route from our cabin is one of my favorites, especially in the second half of June when wildflowers are in full bloom! The …
A Fish Out OF Water
I’m not much of a fisherman, but as summer draws to a close, I thought a fishing story might be in order. Our daughter Julia and husband Ryan spent a month and a half at the cabin with us this summer. (The teaching profession has some advantages!). While on the pontoon boat touring the perimeter …
Wisdom From Grandma
Two weeks ago, we became Grandparents! How lucky we are to witness the cycle of birth. I only got to know one of my Grandparents, My Grandma Laura Coats. I was very fond of her. Grandma was born in 1899. She lived the first half of her life on a small farm without indoor plumbing …
Awareness Part 8, Conclusion
There is a famous optical illusion that simultaneously depicts the face and shoulders of a fashionable young woman and a decrepit old woman. Most people immediately recognize one image but have difficulty seeing the other. The illusion reminds me of our current political environment. Opposing sides see different worlds, proving the adage that the world …
Awareness Part 7, We
"The miracle of we*” is one of the most beautifully descriptive phrases I know. Life is relationships enabled by awareness. "We" is a relationship of the highest level, the "black belt" of awareness. There is nothing to stop us from a life filled with "We." Yet, too often, it's in short supply! Perhaps if we …
Awareness Part 6, Radiance:
The former minister at our neighborhood church was gifted in an unusual way. He didn’t “preach”. He didn’t need to. His presence alone brought joy to people’s lives. Everyone felt it. I never got to know him on a personal basis, but just to shake hands with him made me feel better. I used to …
Awareness Part 5, Resonance
Remember the Beach Boys song “Good Vibrations”? That song is about connections. “I’m pickin' up good vibrationsShe's giving me the excitations” Resonance happens when a connection is made. There are millions of things going on around us all the time. We resonate with some and are “blind” to others. What determines which is which? My …
Awareness Part 4, Presence
Let’s try something. If you will, take a breath in, then release it. What did you notice in the space between the breath in and its release? Probably nothing, right? That simple exercise is a metaphor for life. The future slips so quickly into the past, we fail to notice the present moment! “Life is …
Awareness Part 3, Flow:
I often find myself watching other people. One of the things I’ve noticed is people who have hobbies and outside interests seem happier than those who don’t. I wondered why, so I decided to look into it. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, an early pioneer in the study of happiness, provides a possible explanation in his 1990 book, …
Awareness: Part 2, Ego
The essence of who we are is deeper than our body or even our thoughts. Something inside us is aware of these! Peeling back the onion as far as one can, we find that our deepest essence is that awareness. It is most commonly experienced as the voice in our head that looks outward …
Towards A Life Well-Lived 