Father’s Day Wishes
A father’s new place To the new dad, wondering what his place is in the family as he gazes down at the brand-new little life in his hands: May you be loved and supported as you enter this new chapter. May you embrace your new role as you are asked to do and be…
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Mismatched memories: Speak your Truth
Mismatched memories Have you ever listened to two people tell the story of a shared experience? It’s amazing what differences can show up when two different sets of memories are at play. One person sees a red car run into a blue one at the intersection, while the person next to them swears it…
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Mother’s Day Wishes
A mother’s new world To the new mom, staring at the tiny, squish-faced baby that sleeps, cries, and poops: May you be surrounded by loving support as you navigate this strange, sleepless new world of motherhood. May your voice be heard and respected, and may your partner be pooped on just as often as…
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You Are Good Enough: An Open Letter
I’ve been seeing a new meme show up on my social media quite often lately. It’s usually very simple text on a plain background. The text usually states something like “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but…” followed by some pearl of wisdom. Some of those pearls are rather profound; others less so.…
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Written in Love
Do you ever look back at your past and think, “There are many pieces of my earlier years that I would erase if I could – but this? This I would keep.” What are your keepers? What makes them special? One of my “keepers” from my earlier life is a favorite old…
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How do you want to grow?
In my part of the world, this has been the epitome of a beautiful spring weekend. Warm sunshine, a little rain, and that magical spring air that lets you just feel the world coming back to life around you. The earliest blooming flowers have already started showing their faces, and my favorite ones – lilacs…
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Seeing the Hidden Picture: Narcissistic Families in 3D
Do you remember those old-school 3D puzzle pictures that used to be printed in the comics section of the newspaper? (Remember physical newspapers?) They looked like a bunch of squiggly lines, or a frozen kaleidoscope at first. There was a trick to seeing the image within the squiggles – you had to let your eyes…
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Love Languages, Part 2: You loving you
And we’re back for part two of the Love Languages miniseries! Last time, we looked at each of the five love languages and how they might be expressed in a relationship. Hopefully more of your relationships look like the healthy version of expressing these languages than the toxic versions. If that is not the case,…
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Love Languages Part 1: You in Relationships
How was your Valentine’s Day? Full of affection, hearts, and chocolate? Wine, cheese, and chick flicks (or sci-fantasy, whatever floats your boat!)? Whether you look forward to the holiday or view it as just another money-maker for greeting card companies, I hope it was a happy day for you. Although the holiday has passed…
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The White Knight Effect
Raise your hand if you are 1000 times more comfortable speaking up in defense of someone else than defending yourself. It feels so much better to help someone else weather a storm of emotional abuse than to take care of yourself, right? You get to feel like a Jedi Knight! You are standing up for…
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