Write with TLC

For much of my life, every time I let me out to play, work, or live, something went wrong. Someone would hurt me, or I would hurt someone.  I’d lose a friend. I would disappoint someone. I’d see that look of judgment. Mostly though I ended up feeling like I didn't belong, that I didn't fit in, that something was wrong with me. I would then retreat behind my mask and secure it in place. I was reminded of how prevalent my mask has been in my life recently while reading  Love Warrior  by Glennon Doyle. She describes her representative in much the same way I've often described putting on my mask for the world. Her descriptions of her reactions to expectations and conformity lined up far more with my experience than I want to acknowledge. I squirmed in my seat every time she referred to her representative. In fact, I kept wanting to change the word representative to mask because it lined up so well with my experience with my mask. I was drawn back to Glennon's descri...

Together Alone We sit so far away Yet so close in heart Every thought holds you near Every emotion gives me hope Every teardrop mends the tears I listen for your words As we stare into the sky Looking for ways to feel We aren’t so far apart I see you on the street Step aside – six feet Keep you safe Keep me safe So that one of these days All this time alone Will lead to us being together We’ve gotten through worse We’ve survived arguments and hurtful words We’ve gone our separate ways for far worse reasons Yet now as we contemplate when we’ll next see each other A virtual hug A virtual kiss A virtual cup of tea Is all we can give As we navigate this reality So that someday, some time in the future Hopefully sooner rather than later We can cross the street to stand Hand to hand Smile to smile Hug Kiss Drink a cup of tea Laugh about that time The one time when the world Forced us to be isolated When we had to find ways to be Together al...

As I watch reaction to the Corona COVID-19 virus, I'm struck by the extremes. I see every reaction from panic to those who are mocking anyone who takes it seriously. I have one friend who is a health professional who is mocking people for taking the threat seriously. Sighs! I suppose I fall someplace in the middle. I don't feel panicked. I also won't be mocking anyone for taking the threat seriously, even if they take it a bit more seriously than I do. Perhaps they have a good reason. For me, I'm choosing to take precautions, perhaps a few more than usual, but I'm not drastically changing my life. Given my whole food plant-based diet that focuses on anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant foods and my overall good health, if I get it at all I'm likely to be one of those people who get it so mildly that my risk of spreading it would be higher than my risk of getting seriously ill. So, yes, I'm being a bit more cognizant because my immediate circle of loved o...

For the past year or so, I've been researching morning routines as a way to improve productivity. I'm always looking for ways to improve my productivity, so I started studying this idea of a morning routine. As I watched videos and listened to talks, I thought about my own morning routine. We all have a morning routine even if we don't think we do. The morning routine consists of the things we do each morning as we prepare for our day. Some are the usual - brush our teeth, shower, etc. Some are more personalized - our chosen workout if we have on, meditating, a cup of coffee or tea, etc. As I looked at my morning routine, I started to question if adding some of the things I was learning would improve my overall productivity. I already made my bed, practiced yoga, and meditated every morning. That seemed like a good start. But... there were all these other things I could do. I found several different recommendations for writing in a morning journal or writing morning p...

We all inhabit this Earth together, all of us. Our Earth is the heart of humanity, of life as we know it. Without the Earth, the lifeblood that supports humanity, all life, to survive ceases to be. People's reluctance to safeguard our Earth would be more of a surprise if people weren't so reluctant to care for their own hearts and bodies until they suffer a catastrophic scare. We treat both our bodies and our planet as if they owe us instead of acknowledging the role they play in our existence. Treatment of our bodies and our Earth are so intertwined that when we mistreat one we harm the other. When we treat one well, treating the other better follows naturally, at least to some degree. When I started really looking into how to be healthy, I kept coming back to the same things. Eat well, put fewer toxins in and on my body, and use fewer chemicals in my life. It took me a little longer to acknowledge those same things are necessary to keep the Earth vibrant and productive....

What does it mean to eat healthy? Let's be clear, food can be pleasurable and can even taste good, but the primary focus of food is health. Food provides energy and nutrition. Food boosts or depletes the immune system. Food supports our health or destroys it. Food is a necessity whether we like it or not. We are bombarded with opinions and research, some legitimate and some biased. We are told by a million different sources that the same thing is healthy and unhealthy. We are lead to believe we MUST eat this thing or that thing. All of this has created a food industry more interested in collecting our money than in providing nutritional value.  Food-like substances are sold as food far too often. Far too many people buy them thinking they are getting what they need and then wondering why their health is so poor.  Sometimes doctors prescribe these food-like substances rather than push their patients to put forth a tiny bit more effort to get the nutrition they need f...

The flip side of fear of success is fear of failure. Both end up in paralysis, have some of the same triggers, and share some of the same roots. It can be hard to discern which is which. I've struggled with both, and at times still do. Fear of failure for me was a need to be perfect. I equated perfection with love. I could only be loved if I was perfect. I could only be perfect if I was successful at everything. Failure wasn't an option. An "A" was never good enough in school. Everything I did could be better.  Early in my life I developed a fear of failure that at times has stifled my creativity, my progress, and even lead to complete inaction. In some ways my fear of failure contributed to my later fear of success. I started life confident that I could and would do whatever I wanted, but as I began to encounter those little digs that meant I could never be perfect and the harder I tried to be perfect, the more my imperfections haunted me. When I was assaul...

I have a small confession to make. I hate the abortion debate. I hate it with a passion. Abortion should not be a political issue. Abortion is a personal issue of health and well-being.  If we focused on health and well-being, we would focus on ways to prevent the need for abortions by finding ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies rather than condemning those who make the choice. For example, sex education, affordable access to birth control, and affordable access to healthcare are all ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies and therefore lower the abortion rates. I know several women who have had abortions.  There are always reasons. There are always circumstances. There are always  situations. Not a single woman I know who has had an abortion came to the decision easily or lightly. Some of those women still claim to be anti-choice. The women who still claim to be anti-choice explain that their abortions were okay because they had "good reasons unlike those other wome...

My latest endeavor, Vegan Cooking with TLC , combines my love of writing with my love of cooking. I love going into the kitchen, taking a recipe or two as inspiration and creating my own version of it. I love to look in the pantry and the refrigerator and pull out some ingredients and combine them to come up with something new. When I adopted an oil-free, plant-based, whole food diet a few years ago, I suddenly faced an opportunity to really play with recipes as I adapted old recipes to meet a plant-based diet as well as adapting vegan recipes to meet an oil-free diet. As I shared my recipes with other people, many of my meat eating friends were surprised my recipes were vegan. Some even asked for the recipes. Over time as I shared more and more of the recipes I developed, I began to think about starting a recipe blog. I started by seeing if I could come up with year's worth of recipes. Once I did that, I decided it was time to share my recipes as well as my journey to a plan...

Last year I blogged about my feelings that we should have Breast Health Awareness Month rather than Breast Cancer Awareness month in the post, Friends, Enemies, Breasts . This year, I'm going simpler. I've decided to share a poem, Friends, Enemies, Breasts, I wrote in December 2010. The poem is included in my book of poetry,  Reflections in Silhouette: Poems . Friends, Enemies, Breasts As a young girl I eagerly anticipated your arrival I watched for you daily You would show the world my maturity You took your time arriving I exercised to encourage you I flexed to make you noticeable I wore a training bra on my flat chest to coach your growth I imagined how you’d look As a teenager You embarrassed me You just wouldn’t stick out enough You refused to enlarge You brought on teasing nicknames Baby Boobs And I hated you for it I willed you to grow I begged you to grow You stubbornly refused I found ways to disguise you I wore shirts a...