mindfulness

Listening skills

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Harry Potter World, where even frogs have words.

We all want to be better listeners.   It’s a great skill to have and people like good listeners.  But the sad fact is that while we want to be good listeners, we really want others to listen to us.  We like to talk, and we want people to listen to us, because at the end of the day, it’s really all about us, right?   Seriously, though, I am going to talk about listening.  First of all, there’s hearing and there’s listening.  I hear you but I don’t know what you said because I don’t really care.  To truly listen and absorb meaning, you have to close down your brain to unruly activity and focus completely on the other person.  This is the hard part, for this means it is about the other person, not you.   When you truly listen, a wonderful things happens.  You connect to another person in a very intimate and personal way.  This is how relationships are built. Continue reading →

Ringing in the New Year: looking ahead in 2017

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We rang in the new year quietly with a mildly alcoholic drink and a movie.  No late night parties for us or big celebrations in a bar or hotel ballroom.  Maybe it’s because we’re not in our twenties anymore or just that we enjoy being at home with our canine friends.  Whatever the reason, we were satisfied with our quiet evening at home.  We are at the point where we didn’t even have to explain to each other why we spent our evening at home.  Our priorities had changed.   Continue reading →

Groundhog Day: the day after

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Bill Murray in Groundhog Day

 In the movie   Groundhog Day Bill Murray plays a weatherman who wakes up to discover that each day is February 2nd and is forced to relive it over and over again.   Finally, after what seems like a lifetime of anger, bitterness, nastiness, depression, and a lot of humor, he changes his fate by changing his behavior.  I never tire of watching this movie.  It has such a feel good message of redemption through personal growth.

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Season’s End

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In honor of the end of football season, at least in Philadephia, and because it’s the New Year and the time for new ideas, I asked my husband to write a guest blog.   Larry was eager to write about one of his favorite topics, the Philadelphia Eagles.

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture… We control the horizontal. We control the vertical… we will control all that you see and hear. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to… The Outer Limits.

Coming out onto the field when hope springs eternal

Coming out onto the field when hope springs eternal

Football season is over.  Okay, not really.  Continue reading →

In a holiday frame of mind

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It’s that time of year when we get together with family and friends.  We go to parties and eat and drink too much, stay out too late, spend too much money and flit between a state of bliss and stress.  We want to drift into that place where all we feel is sweetness and light.  Inevitably we are sometimes disappointed.   Our plans don’t come to fruition and our Continue reading →

Getting organized the Japanese way

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I recently heard about a book that promised to change your life.  It’s called “the life-changing magic of tidying up:  the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing” by Marie Kondo.  I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.   I put my name on a list of over 100 waiting to read it at the library and a few days ago I received an email that  a copy was available. Continue reading →