She is a devoted wife, a loving mother, a supreme grandmother, and beloved by all.

Mom and I often have our “catch-up time” on the family room couch, just to talk about life. We sit with our sweet labrador dog (at that time sleepy-sweet and ready to go to bed).

It’s one of my favourite things to simply listen to and share with my mom. Often we go over positives, a funny incident, or something that needs praying.

My mom is incredibly understanding. She has a loving heart, a listening heart. An ever-present for her children and her family, it’s her number one call in life. And that’s despite being an amazing, successful musician. She has it all — but in a balanced way. I find it a model for myself and how I would like to live.

So I’ve got something I am working on that I can give to my mom. I’d like to Give My Mom a Smile.

When people are very understanding we have a tendency to open up to them…they are compassionate, present and listening. Which means it’s an easy thing to do!

Families are beautiful in how they give to each other. They cheer you on and help you when you are down. There’s nothing wrong with that, as a family should be there for us as we are for them. Still, I’d like to be thoughtful about sharing the challenges. 

Here’s the reason why. My mother has done so much for me, and I want to give her that gift back. And one of the best ways to do that, is to give her joy.

Your mother loves you and wants the best for you. Moms are ready to help their children with anything they need and that includes a listening ear. But they also want you to be happy.

And they are happy when you are happy.

So what can you do to increase your mom’s happiness?

The next time you have a challenge, could you approach it a different way? Why not find another source?

Could you…

…quiet your mind

…go to a movie

…get a massage

…take a nap

…reason through the positives

…pray

…meditate?

What could you do to rest your heart and come back to

Give Your Mom A Smile?

Our mothers have done so much for us. One way we can do something for them is to show them we are happy. Let’s work on this today, Give Your Mother A Smile.

Fig¹. Photo by Mitchell Griest on Unsplash  Fig². Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash  Fig³. Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash  Fig⁴. Photo by Thiago Cerqueira on Unsplash

Philo of Alexandria

Hellenistic Jewish philosopher

Someone is off today.

They really weren’t nice to you.

But you can be a great leader.. .and see beyond that.   

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a silent battle 

So you can understand… that there might be something else going on. 

You can be compassionate.  

You can see their perspective, even if you don’t know exactly what it is… seeing their perspective you might realise they:

Had a tough early childhood

Unloving parents

An unkind sibling

Insecurity

They lost their job 

They just don’t feel well

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a silent battle 

There are so many things that might not be well with their heart.  

And so we can be compassionate, and love them through it, no matter how they treat us.   

I’m Seeing Your Perspective, 

Philo of Alexandria, a Hellenized Jew also called Judaeus Philo, is a figure that spans two cultures, the Greek and the Hebrew. When Hebrew mythical thought met Greek philosophical thought in the first century B.C.E. it was only natural that someone would try to develop speculative and philosophical justification for Judaism in terms of Greek philosophy. Thus Philo produced a synthesis of both traditions developing concepts for future Hellenistic interpretation of messianic Hebrew thought, especially by Clement of Alexandria, Christian Apologists like Athenagoras, Theophilus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and by Origen. He may have influenced Paul, his contemporary, and perhaps the authors of the Gospel of John (C. H. Dodd) and the Epistle to the Hebrews (R. Williamson and H. W. Attridge). In the process, he laid the foundations for the development of Christianity in the West and in the East, as we know it today. 

Images: Fig 1. Photo by Andrew Neel from Pexels, Fig 2. Photo by Alexandra Mirgheș on Unsplash, Fig. 3 Photo by Rebrand Cities from Pexels, Fig. 4 Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash, 

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– Henry David Thoreau

Author, Philosopher, Poet,

Abolitionist, and Naturalist

That is our life purpose. To follow our calling in our own specially designed way. And so we will succeed, because the measurement is solely on how you uniquely pursue your talents, goals, and qualities. Everyone has a different picture of success, his or her own beautiful expression.

I Love Your Expression,

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an author, philosopher, poet, abolitionist, and naturalist. He grew up in Massachusetts, into the “modest New England family” of John Thoreau, a pencil maker, and Cynthia Dunbar. He had two older siblings, Helen and John Jr., and a younger sister, Sophia. Thoreau’s birthplace still exists on Virginia Road in Concord. He studied at Harvard College between 1833 and 1837.

After college, he opened a grammar school with his brother in Concord, Massachusetts. During this time, he met Ralph Waldo Emerson who introduced him to other writers and encouraged him to publish his thoughts. He is the author of Walden, which is a philosophical argument for simple living and preservation of natural environment.  He also had other important writings on natural history, environmentalism and civil disobedience.

Bio Source: Wikipedia  Fig¹. Photo by Ian Stauffer on Unsplash

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–Terri, from Coudersport, PA,

as seen on Dark Chocolate Dove Wrapper

Terri has it right. What a joy to enjoy dark chocolate, which I love, with a truly inspired quote.

Life affords us so many ways to love, and how important we keep doing so. At the same time, we have to be careful, and so Trust, or entrusting ourselves to others, perhaps must be a bit more rare.  I wish it weren’t so… however, everyone is on their pathway of personal growth. So we must honor them, honor ourselves: We should always love, but not necessarily entrust to others.

As far as paddling one’s own canoe. As my Oma says, “You’d better put a little elbow grease into that.” She was always ensuring she had pulled her weight. In fact, when I went over to Oma’s for a sleepover as a young child, even at the age of 8 or 9, our fun together — was working together. We scrubbed the kitchen floor on hands and knees, sharpened pencils, and wrote up a list for the freezer so she knew what was in there. She taught me to care about being clean, ordered and organized, which made her home special. She made it fun. I loved working with my Oma.

Terri, we thank you for a quote which has delighted us all!

Fig¹ Photo by Mayur Gala on Unsplash ; Fig² Photo by Pixabay on Pexels

– Paul Gauguin

French Post-Impressionist Artist

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was an artist who was renowned for his Post Impressionism painting in the 19th century. He was an innovator in the use of bold colors. At the same time, he also brought out the meaning of each subject. He balanced authenticity with innovation.

What we can learn from Paul Gauguin: Let’s ‘see’ differently. Don’t use your eyes.  Instead, use “meaning” to see.

What’s meaningful to you? Be bold in recognizing it. You’ll see an amazing painting of goodness, kindness and abundance all around you, if you will just see.

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist who was not well appreciated until after his death. Gauguin was born in Paris to Clovis Gauguin and Aline Chazal on June 7, 1848.His father, a 34-year-old liberal journalist, came from a family of entrepreneurs residing in Orléans. He was compelled to flee France when the newspaper for which he wrote was suppressed by French authorities.

Gauguin was later recognized for his experimental use of colors and synthetist style that were distinguishably different from Impressionism. His work was influential to the French avant-garde and many modern artists, such as Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse. Many of his paintings were in the possession of Russian collector Sergei Shchukin. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer. His bold experimentation with coloring led directly to the Synthetist style of modern art, while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings, under the influence of the cloisonnist style, paved the way to Primitivism and the return to the pastoral. He was also an influential proponent of wood engraving and woodcuts as art forms.

In 1873, he married a Danish woman, Mette-Sophie Gad (1850–1920). Over the next ten years, they had five children.

BioSource: Wikipedia; Images: Fig¹．Photo by Taelynn Christopher on Unsplash, Fig²．Photo by Irina on flickr

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– Jim Abbott

Professional Baseball Player

A wonderful model for us. Don’t be held back by anything!

So what if you don’t have a hand… you can be a pitcher. Jim Abbott did.

What’s holding you back today?

Don’t let it. Don’t let it. Get out there, get over it, and achieve your best you.

Yes, You Can Do It!

Jim Abbott is a former Major League Baseball pitcher, who played despite having been born without a right hand. He played for teams including the California Angels, New York Yankees, and Chicago White Sox. In 1993, Abbott threw a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians, and in 1988 pitched the final game to win the United States an unofficial gold medal in the Summer Olympics. Throughout his career, teams tried to exploit the fact that Abbott played with one hand, but their tactics were never effective.

Today, Abbott works as a motivational speaker, living in California with his wife, two children, and their dog. His parents still live in Michigan, where he grew up. Abbott and his family take the summer off each year to stay at the lake and visit with family and friends.

Bio Source: Wikipedia; Image: Fig¹．Photo from Jim Abbott Website  Fig²．Photo from Wikimedia

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I am one of those fortunate people who will not need to board a flight this holiday. My family is local: My parents live 45 minutes away on the Peninsula, and my sister, brother-in-law and nephews and niece live about 1 mile from my parents.

That’s truly been a joy for me, the simple presence of family.   Being able to babysit last-minute; experiencing the chaos of taking care of kids during ‘meltdown time’ at 5 pm with a 6, 4 and 1 year old when they were growing up; celebrating their progress on their soccer field; scootering with them to ice cream on a warm summer night, after dinner.

Why do we allow ourselves to live apart? Why is it so accepted?

I know I am fortunate.  Sometimes people have to move because of marriage. A new job. Taking care of an elderly parent.  All very legitimate reasons which contribute to family, and yet, also separate…

In a Gallup Poll, 16% of the world said they would like to move to another country.  This comes from both dire situations (such as Somalia) to the desire for luxury or adventure.  But in one region the rates are lower than Europe and America: Asia.  Due to progress in political freedoms and enhanced economic opportunities, many Asians are staying put: Only 10% desire to move.   But there’s another factor as well: Close family ties, and a cultural commitment to taking care of family, keeps the desire to move low.

Let’s learn, if we are so fortunate, from this cultural and familial commitment to keep family close…

Bio Source: Image: Fig1 Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash; Fig 2 photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash;

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What is so profound is his discovery of the connections that have happened in our past.

Community was in the form of groups, religion, churches, community leagues, philosophies, salons, discussions and in-person gatherings. As someone who loves volunteering, I love community. Community means spending time together.

Yet a shift is happening. Machine-learning and AI are starting to assume the wisdom of how we should group. The wisdom of how we should communicate and the wisdom of our actions. “Group data” is dictating how our communities should act, how we should act, and what we are going to do.

I love community — and I also love technology. I believe it can be used for good. Many companies can use AI and these behavioral predictions to help people in health, business predictions, and operations, reducing costs. This kind of AI is all good.

But how discomforting that AI transcends into our personal sphere. Now, more than ever, many of us long for a true, heartfelt connection. Long for caring about the world, long for caring about each other. And machine learning is supposed to be our glue? Machine learning is going to tell us how are going to connect and when and how?

I’m not sure we want to be categorized by group behaviors, by computer algorithms that say when we should talk, when we need to meet, or predict how we’re going to behave.

However, this may well help companies and their sales teams. It will help companies create and deliver products that may appeal to us. But the line has to stop when it starts to dictate how we act, feel, or how we will act or feel.

There’s a part of life that shouldn’t be categorized. There’s a part of human connection that should be considered priceless, unquantifiable. There is a part of us that all long for the literary salon,

the community group with a potluck,

the book club where we are all nurturing and listening to each other

and the warm church or synagogue or temple gathering.

We’re not asking to be quantified.

Let’s go find and nurture community the old-fashioned, connected way. It will create deep relationships and help us be our best. We can be grateful for advancement in technology, but keep community personal. If we listen to our hearts, we will know when we need to meet, with whom and where. We must be sure to

listen to our hearts.

Let’s Go Out And Find Some Community,

Yuval Noah Harari was born in Kiryat Ata, Israel, in 1976 and grew up in a secular Jewish family with Lebanese and Eastern European roots in Haifa, Israel. Harari is gay and in 2002 met his husband Itzik Yahav, whom he calls “my internet of all things”. Yahav is also Harari’s personal manager. They married in a civil ceremony in Toronto in Canada. The couple lives in a moshav (a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms), Mesilat Zion, near Jerusalem.

Harari received his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford in 2002, and is currently a lecturer at the Department of History, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Harari originally specialized in world history, medieval history and military history. His current research focuses on macro-historical questions. As of the end of 2018, his books have sold 19 million copies worldwide.

Harari lectures around the world on the topics explored in his books and articles, and has written for publications such as The Guardian, Financial Times, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Economist and Nature magazine. He also offers his knowledge and time to various organizations and audiences on a voluntary basis.

Biosource: Yuval Noah Harari Official Website, Wikipedia; Images: Fig. 1: Photo by Rawpixel on Unsplash, Fig. 2:  Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash, Fig. 3: Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash, Fig. 4: Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash, Fig. 5: Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash, Fig. 6: Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash, Fig. 7: Photo by Gabriel Garcia Marengo on Unsplash, Fig. 8: Photo by Nicole Honeywill on Unsplash, Fig. 9: Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash.

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— Beverly Sills

Operatic Soprano

We all go through troubles. That doesn’t mean it wrecks our day. It doesn’t color every moment!  Beverly Sills, one of our most prolific singers in the world, maintained a positive attitude dispite the challenges.

Be cheery and filled with good wishes for all, including yourself.

The world is so tough, but you can be a flower spreading light and joy. Let your cheer spread….the world needs you.

No matter how tough Beverly Sills’s life was, she continued to deliver cheer. She was one of our most prolific singers, and she just sang with cheer and excellence again and again.

We all can use some cheer. Start with you. See the good, emphasize the good and we go forward on that plane of cheer. No matter the challenges, cheer will buy you higher.

Beverly Sills was a world-class musician and vocal artist. She supported the arts and helped bring some of the musical institutions back to financial viability, such as City Opera. It faced extreme financial troubles and was the hardest hit during the AIDS crisis. They lost dozens of valuable conductors, musicians, singers and operations people. They were hit hard financially, and heart-wise.

But Beverly Sills used her influence, financial power, personality and knowledge of music to turn around their future. It looked hopeless – and she made it full of hope! She brought cheer back through her cheery personality and expectation of good.

The sun still shines, even when covered by a cloud. It’s still there. So is your happiness. So is your joy. Sometimes it seems covered a bit, and then, we rediscover it in a more resplendent, beautiful way.

I’m Going Forward with Cheerfulness for You and Me,

Beverly Sills was a singer and opera star. She was born Belle Miriam Silverman on May 25, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. A gifted soprano, Sills was one of America’s most famous opera performers. At the age of three, she won a radio contest and soon began singing on the radio regularly as Bubbles Silverman. Sills studied opera with a voice coach as a child, and made her operatic debut in 1947 at the Philadelphia Civic Opera. After years of trying, Beverly Sills achieved her dream of singing with the New York City Opera in 1955. She played the role of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, earning strong reviews. After taking some time away from the stage to handle family matters, she returned stronger than ever in the 1966 New York City Opera production of Handel’s Julius Caesar.

During her long career, Beverly Sills received many honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980. She has written books about her life, including 1987’s Beverly: An Autobiography. She was married to journalist Peter B. Greenough from 1956 until his death in 2006. The couple had two children together. In her retirement, Beverly Sills continued a life of charitable work, notably as a longtime chairwoman of the board of trustees of the March of Dimes.

Bio Source: Wikipedia  Fig¹: Judith Grossman on Unsplush  Fig²: Claude-Pascal Perna on flickr

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Inhale courage, exhale fear

Inhale courage, exhale fear…

Every day you can make a step towards your goals. Every day you can be a kinder person. Every day, you can give and receive more love. Inhale the courage to do so, exhale any fear that is preventing you.

Inhaling Love For You And The World,

Fig¹. Photo by Erik Brolin on Unsplash  Fig².  Photo by madison Lavern on Unsplash

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