In the last few years, I have experienced four deaths that were very close to me. It has not been easy, but I have learned so much about this very sensitive yet private and delicate topic. I decided I would write out some of my thoughts about death, and maybe it might even help some… Read More The Powerful Experience of Death: Guest Post by Katie Danner
Learning is essential for both personal development and the building of a community. But it’s easier said than done. When, for example, one has spent a lot of time and poured a lot of energy into one’s education, it can be quite a blow to hear that one might be wrong. Similarly, when one identifies… Read More What’s Love Got To Do With It? The Importance Of Love In Community-Building
There are many reasons why people have kids. Some of these reasons are downright amazing, some of them are just absolutely terrible, and most of them lie somewhere in between these two extremes. Some of my friends have done it because it’s just the next logical step in their lives. Some of them did it… Read More Excellence And Detachment In Parenting: Reaching That Tough Sweet Spot
Back in 2008, I twisted my ankle really badly—so badly, in fact, that I had to use a crutch for at least 3 months, and surgery was an option being considered. While re-reading this post on how something as simple as walking had become mentally exhausting yet surprisingly relaxing, I was struck by how so… Read More Making the Most of Some Really Unlucky Times: The Story of an Amazing Family
Extreme ways of thinking often cause us to dig ourselves into a very deep hole. I’ve done that myself quite a number of times, ending up in some very uncomfortable places. I do hope that my hole-digging days are over, but then again, just like you, I’m an imperfect human being—so hopefully there are going… Read More Money and Happiness: The Confounding Factor, Part II
We tend to shy away from frustration. Anything that bothers us, we avoid. I think that, to a certain extent, that’s OK—I mean, why would I purposefully choose to get into the longest line at the grocery store? But there are situations in which frustration is just a part of life and should be something… Read More Allowing Frustration to Touch You, Your Partner, and Your Children
I remember being a kid and learning about virtues. One week, we would learn about courage. The other, love; then another, about courage. On and on it went—with one major question, brought up again and again by my friends and I, remaining largely unanswered: what about the relationship between these virtues? I can’t blame my… Read More The Delicate Dance of Virtues
Just like so many others around me, I have been struggling with my relationship with mistakes (as reflected in this, this, and this post). The beacons lighting the way to a better me become major obstacles to my development when they are seen as negative feedback. Taking the time to observe a baby at play… Read More Learning From The Little Ones: Daily Lessons In Perseverance
A post I wrote back in September 2008 about doing your best out of fear triggered a reflection on the difference between disciplining your child versus teaching your child discipline. My husband and I feel strongly that we do not want to discipline our child in the sense of saying no to everything we think… Read More Teaching Discipline Rather Than Disciplining
The refinement of one’s character is intimately related to the taming of one’s ego, the extreme manifestations of which being both the easiest to identify and to learn to control (no, really, it’s NOT all about you!) But then come the trick questions, the ones we don’t quite expect to be ego driven at all,… Read More Putting Your Spouse First: Not Quite What You Thought It Looked Like