Happy October, everyone! It’s officially the month of pumpkins, falling leaves, horror movies, and cooler weather in most places, and I’m beyond thrilled. To me, fall has this mystical quality about it that no other season has, and between sipping on cozy maple lattes and listening to the sweet autumn notes of “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young, I’ve already just about fully sunken into it. It’s definitely a weird time in the world and it seems like there’s never a shortage of negative and/or chaotic topics on just about every social media or news site that most people go on daily. Let’s face it, it all can be exhausting. It…
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When Father’s Day Lands on the Anniversary of Your Dad’s Death
Father’s Day, a day that was started to celebrate the fathers and father figures of the world, hasn’t been fun for me for most of my life, but it was at one point. As many people know, my dad unexpectedly passed away of a heart attack in the summer of 1995, almost two months before my 11th birthday. A week before his passing, I remember sitting in the passenger seat of his car while he sat in the driver’s seat in the parking lot of a store we would frequent together. We had just left the store and I was immersed in the candy he bought me when…
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Friends, “Friends”, and Friends?…OK, maybe not
I recently listened to research professor Brené Brown’s interview on Oprah Winfrey’s SuperSoul Conversations podcast and it got me to thinking about my current struggles with friendships. In Brené’s interview, she talks about what she learned when studying shame and vulnerability in human beings and reflected on her book, The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. In the book, Brené opens up about the difficulty of building real and comfortable friendships and she points out how tough it can be to find a friend who is truly and selflessly willing to be there for us during our struggles…
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A Tribute to Maya Angelou: A Rainbow in My Cloud
In honor of the late Dr. Maya Angelou’s 91st birthday today, I wanted to share an essay I wrote about her and her influence on my life shortly after her passing in May 2014. I hope you enjoy. Dr. Maya Angelou was one of the greatest writers and one of the most essential human beings of our time. So what can be said about her that hasn’t been said before? Not a whole lot. However, the point of this post is not about trying to say something different or outstanding, it’s about honoring one of my most influential role models by sharing my own personal story of inspiration. Dr. Angelou…