On the Bright Side

I recently stopped following a friend’s Facebook posts. It’s so disconcerting to think you know someone, have fun with them in social situations, and then read their Facebook posts and think, who is this person? Life is too short to allow someone else’s myopic vision of the world interfere with my blood pressure. But my decision to ‘unfollow’ felt like a cop out - a sort of ‘if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem’ scenario. I resist the urge to confront him because, despite the public arena that is Facebook, I feel like it’s “his” page so he has the right to say whatever he wants and I have the right not to read it. It’s s new kind of social dilemma. If we were having a conversation I would offer my thoughts on things, but posts on Facebook are not really an invitation for discussion. I find that people who post political or religious views are not looking for dissenters. Just cheerleaders. It got me thinking about my role in the bigger picture.   Allow...

The old adage about one door closing and another opening proved true. After my rejection from graduate school, I started looking in other directions for ways to continue my quest for growth. I stumbled upon a fellowship opportunity to study at Oxford this summer in England and **spoiler alert ** I got it! My inner critic reached for her bull horn, but changed gears and merely whispered instead, maybe just don’t announce this pipe dream... let the chips fall where they may, but GO FOR IT! I have to say I’ve become pretty adept at redirecting the negative talk. Go for it was about to be followed up by you probably won’t get it anyway and, like a New Age Ninja, I swiftly cut that thought off at the pass. The funny thing was how I did it. I’d been sitting at the park with my dog. It’s become a favorite meditation practice for me, practice being the operative word because stopping the inner chatter in this head is like herding cats. The battle between my positive side and my negative s...

Life`s a Beach By Jonna Shutowick. M.S. Ed.   My inspiration this month comes from the Starfish Story. Before I begin, let me recount a version of the story here for you, just in case you haven’t heard it before:  A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement. She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!” The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one!” - Adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley After my first year a...

The recent triple disaster in Japan has once again taught us that in the throes of tragedy, our possessions mean nothing. There have been amazing stories coming out of the region. Journalists, poets, songwriters, and artists have been tapping into the raw emotion of it all and the common thread of many of these stories is the importance of human connection and really nothing else. People who have lost everything are managing to focus on their gratitude that they were somehow spared and acknowledging that, while losing literally everything (and even everyone in some cases) is incredibly painful and traumatic, it brings you back to the core of who you are as a human being and what is important to you. In times of despair people come together and often the best traits in us emerge. I have read stories of heroism, kindness, generosity, selflessness and in each one the person sharing their story expressed in some way their gratitude for the recognition that material things do not matte...