“Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.” ~ Viktor Frankl  When I was about 12 years old, there was a teacher who made an impact on me, by declaring one of my classmates ‘inconsequential’.  I forget what provoked the comment, but it was handed down in a […]

“If you don’t love yourself, you cannot love others.  You will not be able to love others.  If you have no compassion for yourself then you are not able of developing compassion for others.”~Dalai Lama. This world can be a scary place, with examples of hate and violence evident in living color whenever we turn […]

“The good man is the man who, no matter how morally unworthy he has been, is moving to become better.”~John Dewey Do you remember how annoying it was, at the beginning of each school year, when you had to wear those baggy, too tall uniforms, specially designed for you to grow into?  There is that […]

“Be curious, not judgmental”~ Walt Whitman.  I am descended from a set of adventurers, on both sides of my family tree.  Unlike those who declared they were off to ‘discover’ the world, I am pretty sure my great grandfathers were simply looking for opportunities to take care of their families.  And so they boarded ships […]

“The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do it Anyway.” ~ Mother Teresa We are raised to be polite, to say please and thank you, to mind our manners.  And most of us expect the same of others.  But what if the gift you present is not material?  I heard a story last […]

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds, cannot change anything.” ~ George Bernard Shaw.  I am waking up this morning in the Big Easy, city of sin, city of jazz.  I came in for a conference, and so far have not seen any sin, or heard any jazz!  And this […]

“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”  ~ Booker T. Washington. When you graduate from nursing school, you get a Pinning ceremony.  This is separate and apart from the more familiar graduation event, that comes with cap and gown, in a huge auditorium, shared with students you may not know.  For […]

“Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.” ~Samuel Smiles. It has been an interesting couple of weeks.  During National Nurse’s Week I have been privileged to observe nurses at work from a different perspective, while visiting a brave family member in the hospital.  […]

“Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.” ~ Rollo May. I love words.  I encountered a new one the other day, ‘sonder’, which is a noun representing the realization that random people live a life just as complex and vivid as our own.  Most of the time we are so […]

“Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion”~ Buddha. I have always loved the science of anatomy and physiology.  When I was in my teens, my sister gave me an illustrated textbook which sparked my imagination.  It is difficult to imagine what is going on beneath our skin, the constant […]