I am not sure when it happened, but at some point I realized that owls have special meaning to me. I love it when I notice them, and even more when they notice me.
Artemis, a saw-whet owl.
My husband and I took advantage of the Owl Prowl Series offered by The Center for Wildlife in York, Maine. About 35 people of all ages showed up for this talk even though it was only in the 30’s outside.
Lesson: Love of owls trumps cold weather.
It was held in a covered area, but we were still outside. I wished I had put on long underwear and that I had double-socked. Some people brought towels or blankets to sit on (those wood benches were cold!) but most of us just sucked it up and then forgot about the cold once the talk began and the ‘Owl Ambassadors’ came out to meet us. (Okay, full disclosure–my husband gave up his gloves for me to sit on … my bum was cold!!! 🙂 )Keep reading
Last night I was working on a Vision Board in preparation for a class I am teaching next month. For this particuIar project, I was trying to avoid looking at the words and focus just on the images, so it took me a while to notice how many of the ads in the magazine were drug company ads.
I decided to go back to the beginning and tear out all of the pharmaceutical ads.
I could not believe it!
So many ads telling us that we are broken, faulty, but don’t worry–we can sell you a medication for that! A toxic, potentially deadly, medication.
The most egregious of these is the Gardasil ad. I recently heard this vaccine referred to as “Garda-kill” by Brandy Vaughn (a former drug company rep for Merck). Think about that.Keep reading
Welcome to this month’s BRAVE Interview with Melanie Delorme!
I am a teacher, a wife, a mother, an author who was given the role of bereaved mom in 2008 when my 8-year-old son, Garrett, was accidentally shot and killed in a hunting accident.
It would have been so easy to allow this horrific experience to define me as a grief-stricken mom for the rest of my life. I’m not sure how long it took me to realize that Garrett deserved a better legacy than that.
I also realized that healing and moving forward was my choice.
I try to choose every day to celebrate Garrett’s life and to remember that knowing him for eight years made me a better person.
I spent a lot of time writing in a journal during the first few years after Garrett’s death. I have since turned my writing into a book and published it. It is entitled, After the Flowers Die: A Handbook of Heartache, Hope and Healing After Losing a Child. I do not want any bereaved parent to ever feel alone. I have recently created a website, promoted my book at book signings, participated in my first TV interview, participated in a live grief webinar. Currently I am working on creating a journaling course for grieving parents.Keep reading
Here is this month’s BRAVE Interview with Sylvia Wesley! Enjoy!
WHO are you? I’m a 61-year-old white woman—wife, mother, nurse, and pseudo-bon vivant!
WHAT is your One Brave Thing? Sometimes I feel like just living every day is a Brave Thing and it is difficult to choose a single event! As a nurse, it seems like so many of my ‘brave things’ encompass caring for people—my dad and my brother, who both died of cancer; my mom with multiple surgeries; friends with HIV/AIDS. As a mom I gave birth to twins who were 10 weeks premature and their first 6 months of life was pretty hectic, to put it mildly. As a wife, still being married after 38 years could be considered brave—but probably the bravest aspect there is that I married a black man in 1979, only 12 years after the Supreme Court ruled interracial marriage was not illegal, and our early years involved some struggles in a very white New England. So, after all that, I decided to choose a joyous adventure as my One Brave Thing—I went to Burning Man!
WHEN did you do it?8/28-9/1, 2006
WHERE did it occur?Black Rock Desert, NV
HOW did you make it happen?Mostly my daughter made the initial experience happen. She had been going to Burning Man for a few years and always marveled at how awesome it was and she was sure I would love it. So for my 50th birthday, I was given a ticket to TTITD (aka ‘that thing in the desert’). Which meant I would be sharing camping space with 38,000+ other adventuring nomads for a week in rather hostile environmental conditions, and only knowing one other person. A little scary having to be self-reliant in an unknown situation, camping with my daughter’s friends who only had her assurances that I was ‘fun, non-judgmental, fully capable of taking care of myself, and would not act like everybody’s mother.’ So I packed my bags and flew to LA. We readied all our camping equipment, some party outfits, food and water for a week, and did a 12 hour ride/drive-share to the event with a heretofore unknown person. After 12+ hours, in a very small mini-van, we were all fast friends. Getting to and from is just as much of an adventure as being there!
WHY did you do it?For the adventure! It was one of the best experiences of my life—the bigger-than-life art, the music, the people, the sense of oneness—all magnificent. I came away with a whole new sense of self. And as my daughter predicted, I would want to go every year after that, and did so for the next 7 years. ‘Life’ has since interrupted my annual trek, and I have not been for the past 3 years, but look forward to resuming visits to my personal Mecca in the near future.
Here is this month’s BRAVE Interview with Chris Ann:
The concept of being brave has never been a foreign one to me. Bravery is what I have embodied through out my life. I was brave when I become very ill as a child and had to suffer painful stomach problems when the doctors could not figure the issues until I was an adult. Bravery is what I had to channel when I was a young woman going to the big city of Boston to be an intern. I was so scared to take the train in by myself and navigate the streets of Boston to later become the youngest, degreed Sign Language Interpreter in the State of Massachusetts. I was brave when I was no longer able to work due to a life altering work injury. I was brave when I suffered miscarriage after miscarriage in my pursuit of being a Mom. Brave was all that I could be! Keep reading
So pay attention to the signs and symbols that come your way, or you might miss out on something important!
I could not believe it!
Karen Creamer
