Ready for a dose of the Tao? I came across a yellowed dog-eared book called, “The Tao Speaks. Lao-Tzu’s Whispers of Wisdom.” By chance it opened to the chapter on Virtue where it boldly proclaimed: “A virtuous person is like water and its special characteristics.” Are you as curious as I was to explore this analogy and its meaning?
Read more2020 Resolutions
As 2020 approaches, let’s try something different. Studies show that approximately half of us make New Year's Resolutions, but only a tiny percentage of us fulfill our promises – which means that 92% of those of us who make resolutions wind up feeling like undisciplined losers. Why start the new year with something we know will lead to disappointment? Instead of focusing on all the ways we’re not good enough and beating ourselves up for the ways we wish we would change, let’s try something new.
Read moreCringeworthy Gifts
Are you in the midst of last minute shopping for holiday gifts? Oprah Winfrey is known for posting a “Favorite Things” gift list. This list of cringeworthy gifts is the exact opposite. Collected from stores and catalogs, these presents are great for prank gifts and a good laugh.
Read moreNoah's Ark
Remember the story of Noah’s ark? What if we can learn everything we need to know about how to manage through a crisis from Noah? With a global flood on the horizon, the bible provides very specific instructions: “Make an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Make a roof for it…make lower, middle and upper decks.” I just finished home renovations — those are not simple tasks.
Read moreSnow
When December arrives in the Northeast, we know to anticipate snow — and this week the first snowfall of winter arrived. There’s beauty and tranquility in watching the white blanket of snow float to rest on the earth. Nothing is excluded as it tenderly envelops everything in its path. “Snow cleanses our world of a weary familiarity, a taken-for-granted quality to which our eyes are all too susceptible.” — John Burnside.
Snow is an invitation to slow down and play. Early flakes melt into slush on the heated windshield — and we decelerate respectfully. “Snow brings a special quality with it — the power to stop life as we know it in its tracks.” Nancy Hatch Woodward.
Can you catch drifting snowflakes in your mouth? It's pure joy to feel pinpoints of icy coldness melt onto our welcoming tongues.
Fun in the snow is available to all of us. Neither age nor social order deny us responses that reach back to childhood.
Look up from time to time to rejoice in the beauty of interwoven tree branches outlined in white. “Winter is not a season, it’s a celebration.” — Anamika Mishra
Birds too watch the soft curls of their warm breath float in the frosty winter air.
Our furry friends enjoy romping — then resting — in the slushy white stuff. It’s a treat to cuddle into the warmth of another welcoming body.
Not everyone revels in the cold and there are creative ways to warm up.
Branches laden with powdery whiteness bow to Mother Nature. Oh the beauty of the sun setting behind majestic evergreens.
Ready or not, here comes the snow. Enjoy it!
Sources: Countryliving.com