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When I was in my early 20’s, I worked on a ship called The Seabird in Alaska as a steward. We got 2 days off a month and on one of my day’s off, we were in Glacier Bay National Park. Another crew member was off that day, too, and we decided to get a double sea kayak and kayak around an island we were anchored next to and eat lunch on shore. We found a neat spot, grounded the kayak and started walking to find a place to eat our sandwiches. We turned a corner and about 20 feet in front of us wasRead More →

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I first heard of this idea about turning your waiting room into a classroom from Jessica Sowards of Roots and Refuge fame on Youtube. She is a homesteader that has built a fandom revolving around sustainable gardening and growth. She grows things for a living, and not just food. She’s a terrific sower of all things good–physically and spiritually. Jessica grew up in the Vilonia, Arkansas area, which is close to where I grew up in Cabot, so I feel a certain kinship with her because we started out in the same soil. Yesterday evening, I decided to take a long walk and I calledRead More →

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I believe compassion is one of those concepts that gets misinterpreted A LOT today. I remember when I experienced true compassion for someone that, to put it bluntly, I despised with every fiber of my being. I disagreed with her on pretty much every level. She was in my extended family circle, so she was in my life periodically due to who she was married to, but I tried to avoid her as much as possible. Her husband was having severe health issues, and I knew that she was cheating on him. In an unguarded moment, I witnessed her emotionally fall apart while he wasRead More →

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Every year in August since my mother passed, I fly out to Arkansas and my step-father and I drive to the 4 Corners area of the United States for a couple of weeks. This is our 4th trip. Mom died in 2021, and this year we will be staying mostly in the Crested Butte area of Colorado. We’ll be doing a lot of exploring and my step-father has a little gold-panning set-up that we will be having fun with during our daily excursions. This is the time of year when I make myself a pair of earrings for the trip. Last year’s pair, pictured below,Read More →

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How to Actually Practice It Gratitude has saved me from making a shitty experience even worse during many times in my life. I know what you may be thinking. How practical is it to be grateful for something that impacts you initially in a negative or painful way? I learned about true gratitude when I was 17. I had a 1967 Mustang that was a functional piece of art. My grandmother owned it before it was gifted to me for my 16th birthday. My father had it painted a beautiful blue and that car was my ticket to freedom in so many ways. One morning,Read More →