It was never in the living room. Our lives happened around a slab of wood. Our kitchen table was a sacred space growing up. We did the hard work of developing our beliefs and our character, asked big questions and shared all of our dreams. We fumbled over apologies and worked on humbling ourselves enough to ask for help. It was the spot for homework, dinners, celebrations, mourning, building and mending relationships, and everything else in between. Our family loves to eat and we believe in the beauty of sitting around a table together. “We don't come to the table to fight or to defend. We don't come to prove or to conquer, to draw lines in the sand or to stir...
"It's not good enough yet"I recently heard a child say this and it shocked me. Instead of saying "it's not done yet", they chose to say "it's not good enough yet". I'm sure the concept of "worthiness" is well known by our older kids but I wasn't prepared for a younger child to express it or demonstrate even the slightest understanding of it. Our striving for worth and perfection is seen by others, especially the younger people in our lives. Not only do they pick up on what we say, they also pick up on how we say it and how we respond to situations. When did we start shaping our actions and responses around proving or growing our worth?When did we start believing...
I'm thinking about gaining.This time of year, our society tends to function around the idea of losing. Losing weight, cutting back on social media, TV, sugar - whatever it is. We set goals in December to start working toward at the beginning of January. We spend money on plans, apps, gadgets - anything that will help us obtain the deficits we need. I often wonder if we focused our attention on gaining rather than a deficit, would we find a renewed sense of wonder and passion for our day to day lives? When we operate from a position of "I GET to add this" it can shift our perspectives toward the goals we set as a result. We are too harsh with ourselves. Too image focused, too hungry to...
