I’ve been coming into my neighborhood cleaning store to drop off or pick up clothing for years. I usually chat with the same attractive, caramel-colored, 40-something woman at the counter. We talk about politics, children, movies, travel - you name it – for about 5 or 10 minutes, and then we both move on.
From all these brief, casual, accumulated moments – moments that are the glue of any real neighborhood – I’ve come to like this no-baloney woman quite a lot.
One thing I began to notice a few months ago, however, was that she was starting to look pretty haggard. And her conversation was getting bleak.
Here’s a dramatic story that came out of Fargo, ND, about Alison Kohler, a woman who was so traumatized, she’d basically shut down her life, and how her therapist, Connie Bjerk, trained in practicing integrative therapies, helped release her from being controlled by fear, and jump-start a very juicy new chapter in her life, filled with hope, romance and possibility.
Every now and then it really does happen this way. You can read more about it here.
Some of you are already familiar with the powerful Portals to the Self women’s retreats offered by the extraordinarily gifted therapists, Ceci McDonnell and Karen Rosenberg (with Lisa Hernandez teaching integrative yoga), on Isla Mujeres off the Yucatan Coast of Mexico. It’s a wonderfully enriching, creative, exciting growth experience, where you’re guaranteed to be surrounded by wonderful company. The next Circle by the Sea is set for March 17-24, 2012, by the way. Registration for this closes on January 15th.
This poignant poem goes right to the heart, inspiring a rich, open-hearted awareness of what’s precious with its perfectly chosen words and everyday details. Please enjoy and linger over it a little. It’s by Ellen Bass, who co-wrote Courage to Heal with the very gifted Laura Davis. This one is in her latest collection of poems, The Human Line.
If You Knew
What if you knew you'd be the last
to touch someone?
If you were taking tickets, for example,
at the theater, tearing them,
giving back the ragged stubs,
you might take care to touch that palm,
brush your fingertips
along the life line's crease.
When a man pulls his wheeled suitcase
too slowly through the airport, when
the car in front of me doesn't signal,
when the clerk at the pharmacy
won't say Thank you, I don't remember
they're going to die.
A friend told me she'd been with her aunt.
They'd just had lunch and the waiter,
a young gay man with plum black eyes,
joked as he served the coffee, kissed
her aunt's powdered cheek when they left.
Then they walked half a block and her aunt
dropped dead on the sidewalk.
How close does the dragon's spume
have to come? How wide does the crack
in heaven have to split?
What would people look like
if we could see them as they are,
soaked in honey, stung and swollen,
reckless, pinned against time?
Hi Belleruth,
I checked your CD listing, and I didn't see a specific one for hypertension, and I'd rather have something of yours as a resource, so would you recommend your CD on Stress or is there another one that would be appropriate?
A friend found this encouraging message about using guided imagery for help with chemical dependency posted at a website called How Cocaine Destroys Lives for people seeking recovery from cocaine use.
It’s in the context of a review of our CD for Alcohol and Other Drugs, and it’s the kind of comment you love to hear, because it’s the best possible outcome - that the imagery is not just helping with the substance abuse (although that by itself is fine with us), but with more global issues and attitudes as well - kind of like the proverbial halo effect.
So thanks, A. Baranowski, wherever you are, for your hopeful words and kind assessment! I am glad you do not think I’m a silly person!! Same backatcha!! I wish you continued success and joy!!
This 106-year-old Holocaust survivor is some kind of miracle - a combination of inborn sweetness of temperament, musical talent, and great genetic good luck. Somehow she was able to insulate herself from absorbing the horror around her in the concentration camp, through her love of playing music… check her out on this Youtube video.
Scott Simon, the 55 year old NPR reporter who hosts Weekend Edition, gets interviewed about his adoption, 5 years apart, of two little girls from China. Get out your hankies, people, and watch this.
Patricia Neal died last week. She summered on the Vineyard for as long as I can remember, a beloved, friendly, down-to-earth woman who contributed to the life and welfare of this island on a regular basis. Just this past Monday, she allowed her excellent company at dinner to be auctioned off to the highest bidder at the island’s Impossible Dreams fundraiser. I have a set of her candlesticks from the house-and-chachke sale she hosted at her home for Vineyard House, a halfway residence for people in recovery. She knew that people would spring for a traipse through her house, and she gladly offered it.
I love what her kids said her last words to them were.
This amazing Hot Mamma is 92. Her dancing partner, (who also happens to be her great grandson), is 29. They’re dancing “hot salsa” together and, at any age, they’d be judged a super-talented pair.
If you haven’t already seen this video, which has been making the
rounds at AARP and other appreciative venues, do watch this graceful,
flexible dame with the terrific moves and jaw dropping stamina, and
jettison any age-related excuses you've been counting on to get out of doing stuff!
Here’s a dramatic story that came out of Fargo, ND, about Alison Kohler, a woman who was so traumatized, she’d basically shut down her life, and how her therapist, Connie Bjerk, trained in practicing integrative therapies, helped release her from being controlled by fear, and jump-start a very juicy new chapter in her life, filled with hope, romance and possibility. 
Some of you are already familiar with the powerful 
Patricia Neal died last week. She summered on the Vineyard for as long as I can remember, a beloved, friendly, down-to-earth woman who contributed to the life and welfare of this island on a regular basis. Just this past Monday, she allowed her excellent company at dinner to be auctioned off to the highest bidder at the island’s Impossible Dreams fundraiser. I have a set of her candlesticks from the house-and-chachke sale she hosted at her home for Vineyard House, a halfway residence for people in recovery. She knew that people would spring for a traipse through her house, and she gladly offered it.
