A Letter from Ego
Dear Julie, It’s me; your ego. I thought it was time for me to write you because lately I am showing up in your thoughts a lot. You remember… a couple of weeks ago when you could not scale an …
Shame and Vulnerability
Finding Peace in Emotional Wrestling
I have been thinking about personal growth a lot lately. Personal growth is such a double-edged sword. On the one hand there is this budding awareness about life, love, relationships, and soul that is exhilarating. I cherish all the ways …
Red Shiny Ball
Hiking lately has offered me an opportunity to get outside and experience the world. Some days, the heavy clouds cover the sun and shroud the world in gray. Some days, fresh snow and frozen frost has covered our landscape in …
Raindrops Keep Falling
I have not cried today. Of course, it is only 4:10 p.m. and there is still time. I did not cry all day on Wednesday. It has been weeks of tears since test results showed my heart is not doing …
The Passage of Time
I remember the look of my mother’s knees when she was the age I am now. They were often swollen from arthritis, with wrinkles encasing them like little smiley faces of skin. Her ankles also carried the marks of the …
An Open Letter to My Clients
You humble me. You come into my office week after week and you let your most vulnerable self be seen by me. But this last week you unsettled me. Looking inside yourself, you plucked out the most undesirable part of you and compared …
Suffering+Shame=ultimate heartbreak
Yesterday, I preached about human suffering and the relationship with God as we suffer. Normally, I am a listener in church. But preaching is an opportunity for me to offer testimony about how faith works for me. And I relish …
Owning our Brokenness Together
Brokenness. I have never liked this word. I never appreciated brokenness when it is applied to my car or my computer. It creates a sizzle of fear to run down my spine. But when the word brokenness is applied to …
And the Melody Plays On
If individual therapy is like a duet, then group therapy is a symphony. It carries the melodies of many voices and yet, somehow it creates a sense of rhythm and harmony that nourishes the soul. I love doing one on …
Owning Our Grief Without Comparison
Comparison. It is something I see in many aspects of our lives. I even see it in suffering. Sometimes when I am sitting with other breast cancer patients, I hear subtle comparisons between women who have different types of the …
