Today–my second sabbath without Sam. He returns from KY this evening after nine days!

I found my way through the woods … and jumped into the spring on my own. LOVE this sanctuary and my solitude! And I can’t wait to see my baby tonight.… More

When we are provoked, our partners and most humans seem unsatisfactory.

When we’re looking for flaws or scapegoats, we’re surrounded. Anything that’s different from the ideal we’ve conjured up can be an excuse to cringe or attack.

When we’re not interested in resolving the differences, they seem insurmountable. We’d rather be right than validate somebody else’s view or reach a compromise (that’s the last thing we want).

As long as somebody else is wrong, we have grounds for dislike. We have an argument to stand on, maybe even a principle to defend, by God.

But when we open up to love, love moves the spotlight from our differences to our sameness. And our differences can seem insignificant … mostly because they are. When we’re open to resolution, to a win-win, it can be easy to find one.

So, how do we avoid getting provoked? And how do we open up to resolution once we are?

We open up to love. We choose to feel love. We choose to feed love. And that can be as simple as closing our eyes and taking a deep breath with the intention of letting love replace fear.… More

At 5’4″, I can APPEAR short next to Sam who’s 6’3″. He jokes that I’m every bit of 5’10”. And in this photo, I APPEAR to be just that!

Love you, Valerie. And thank you Nick for snapping this photo… More