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A Grain of Salt Posts

Happy Valentine’s

I have given up on Christmas cards. Oh, I have the best intentions, but it seems some time warp exists in the first days of November, and the next thing I know, it is late January. I am not beating myself up because I accomplish navigating five birthdays and a big holiday for my immediate family of 17 in that time warp. That’s why I love Valentine’s. I feel like I can pay attention to…

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That Was Easy

What a promise. Perhaps like me when you hear, “That was easy.” You think of Staples. Staples claims that at least finding and ordering their offices supplies amid complex living is easy. Here is another group’s take on easy. The United States Navy seals are known for saying, This declaration is that what’s behind is easy. Implied is don’t look for easy in today. I’ve been thinking about another source’s take on what is easy.…

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I Wander. Do you?

Here is my uncomfortable truth. I prefer wandering over following. There is nothing wrong with wandering except when I believe my indiscriminate movement conveys meaning and my restless activity purpose. I know this is not true. Even with “important” goals, a tightly packed calendar can still be filled with the most meaningless activities. What makes my wandering so distressing is that I realize this as an unconscious delay to the uncomfortable pause that thinking and…

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Facebook is Faster than the DMV

Recently, I finished a bike ride on my nearby trail with Gary on a Friday. I have to overcome the grousing that often shows up before the ride. It’s so cold. I’m so tired. The wind is too strong. I am confessing that I complain before I ride. The bike ride took care of that interior critic. I was happily climbing in the van when I realized my driver’s license was gone! I can only…

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Prepare the Way

Are you already starting to breathe heavily and sigh at the approach of Christmas decorations invading store aisles? Has the looming pronouncements of supply chain shortages have you worried about getting your Christmas gift shopping done without delay? Personally, my own resistance to getting sucked into the rush and overwhelm is to honor Advent. Practice a pause to honor the season of making room in my heart for Christmas without adding any more pressure to…

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Look around. Look around.

The pandemic reignited walking around the neighborhood block. My neighborhood is a landscape that has been a part of my life since I was five years old. In the ’70s, I biked, raced, and wandered inside most of the homes in my neighborhood. I at least made it inside the front door for trick or treating. Every porch light was on for that night. In the ’80’s I walked around the block when I returned…

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