Moving Forward

This year, my intention—and word of the year—is present . Over the last few weeks, I’ve been doing a lot of self-reflection and working to cultivate deeper, more intentional presence. Words carry so much meaning, and I even struggled with whether to continue my practice of choosing a word this New Year. I considered not sharing it publicly at all. Through conversations with family and friends these past few weeks, I was reminded again and again how important it is to honor stillness. With so many distractions, it’s easy to live hurried. I know I often need reminders to slow down and let go. I learned a great deal about that this year and want to continue practicing it. I’m sharing this as a quiet invitation—to step out of urgency and slow down a bit this spring. I’m looking forward to smelling the roses, enjoying the journey, pausing to ask whether something truly pleases me before trying so hard to please others, and trusting the journey without labeling circumstances as good or bad....

Beginning in 2017 to continue my journey of growth, I jumped on the word of the year bandwagon, which for me is a regular or daily practice that I think about each morning.  I start my day with 3 daily gratitude prayers, spiritual study, and try to bring in a morning walk. Through a coaching experience in 2016, I was encouraged to develop a visual or vision board of where I wanted my life to grow each year. This has evolved over the last several years. It really isn't a check off list, but more of a practice or idea that I tried to learn more about and apply to my life. There is so much power in the words we think about and use. Truly a word has so much power. When we name a word with intention, God seems to meet us there. I am learning to be very intentional in my word choice. This year the word was THRIVE, and the lessons I have learned have truly brought peace into my life in a way that is very hard to describe fully in this blog post.  Writing helps me truly apply ref...

Last year my vision for 2024 was peace, and I decided to study peace in depth and to take a year to reframe and better learn how to handle conflict. Many have expressed to me the power of words, but I can honestly say that I really have developed a new appreciation regarding the power a word can have. Within a few days into 2024, our world was turned upside down, with several personal storms entering our family the month of January. I found at the end of the month, I was in prayer, seeking spiritual guidance, counseling, and support. God shows up in times such as this to help us fine tune our spiritual walk and I quickly learned that my response to unforeseen tragedies and trials through community and prayer brought in complete miracles.  Light became possible in a very dark time because I choose to believe and trust in others. I let go and found that 12 months later, relationships grew stronger, and we are finding healing, which was only made possible through the action of peace i...

Reflecting on the Power of Gratitude for 30 Days to conclude 2024! Day 1:  Grateful for my mom, dad, and grandparents. I know that life had not been easy, that they do the best they can, and know that I was blessed to have a family that instilled a sense of service to others and faith.  Day 2:  Rest, recovery, and opportunity to start the healing process for my body in physical therapy are all things I am grateful for today. I can’t believe Thanksgiving break begins now.  Day 3: Grateful that I have been blessed with collaboration opportunities with Dartmouth, a supporting department, and our eclipse collaborative partners.  Day 4:  Grateful for time with Billy Jack, beautiful sunny weather, and memories made. Day 5 & 6:  Nolan made it to Alpine safely and so did we, time together playing games, preparing and eating great food, and for our home. Day 7:  We had so much fun putting up Christmas decorations yesterday as a family. I am so very gra...

In 2019, I began the practice of annual reflection to improve my spiritual, physical, and mental health putting into practice daily journaling/gratitude morning meditation and the development of an annual vision board. In 2022, I spent the entire year studying the art of finding joy. Continuing with this study, I thought it would be important in 2023 to put daily work into learning how to choose joy or recognizing gifts presented to us by the universe daily and to focus on the act of rejoicing in small things. I can say that I am learning to practice joy through the act of rejoicing daily. While I don't always feel positive, I am learning practices and starting to see the fruit from these daily acts. Yes, life is going to be frustrating, people will let us down. At times circumstances are painful, and it is hard to keep going. I sometimes still fail at this, but I through God's help and learning to put my faith in a higher purpose, I am making progress. It is still a daily stru...

 When you are in a season of attack, as I have been,  we learn to have faith. Through seasons of attack and  experience, we develop a strong and unique testimony.  Be Still and Alert. Through stillness, we learn to listen. This is when God speaks to us and helps us process how we should react to events.  I have always loved hiking and nature. This is when I feel most at peace and where I learned to first listen to God. A recent series of events and people continue to remind  me that I need to stop, listen, and pay attention. A recent sermon online populated on my feed last week. The sermon was entitled "For Those Under Attack" and draws on 1st Peter.  In this message, the pastor quotes 1 Peter 5:9:  The devel is like a roaring lion. The roar is a warning and serves as a reminder that we will be alerted if an attack is coming. We must be alert and learn to listen. This morning my new pastor, Coleman, had no idea that I had been seeking God during t...

I found joy in a few moments in 2021. This last year has been a struggle for many but I started the year searching for the meaning of joy. Joy is found through the living practice of gratitude. I found that starting my day with quiet time, focusing on gratitude, greatly aided in finding joy in everyday moments. When evaluating 2020, I realized I had focused primarily on work or the mind and wanted to shift the focus to spiritual wellness in 2021.  While I didn't reach all of my goals, I did make great gains in my spiritual and mental wellness column last year and continue to make great gains in all three targeted areas:  mind, body, and spirit.  This upcoming new year, I would like to place a greater emphasis on body wellness, which I have neglected. I could use more exercise, outdoor time, time away from my computer, less media, which I feel would help me focus on positive messaging. I would like to feel the characteristics of good health through improved flexibility, an...

It is really hard for me to take a break. I have always been wired to achieve, and as a contributor, I am learning that REST is so vitally important to your health. After teaching during COVID-19, I have found myself exhausted.  I have decided to take a break this summer and spent much of the last few days outdoors, walking in nature, reading, feeding my spirit, unplugging, and journaling. I have jotted a few items or thoughts down over the weekend and decided it was time to revisit my personal growth blog. I have come a long way since I started on this journey in 2014 of healing. I believe I had a breakthrough over the last year in 2020. Finally, working on childhood patterns that were developed, I made a lot of headway. As I began noticing patterns in my life that kept reappearing, I began to really equip myself by first recognizing the emotional traumas from my youth and began a commitment to recovery. Part of that recovery is self-reflecting on these topics in th...

Reminders on how we can be kinder to ourselves. Responsibility Versus Blame: Responsibility is making a conscious choice on how you will respond to a situation or idea. How can you learn from this experience? What can you learn from this experience? Blame creates guilt, guilt creates punishment and punishment creates pain. Respond to yourself and life in a loving way. Relax and Meditate: Relaxation is essential to the healing process. We can't heal if we are tense. Mediation and deep breathing helps to be centered. Tell yourself that you love you and all is well. Notice how much easier your body is. Do this several times a day. What is it you need to know today? You can consider this question during meditation. Meditation creates the space in which we can quiet down and listen to your inner self. Become connected to yourself, through meditation. Affirmations : Praise yourself as much as you can daily. Tell yourself, I love you. What can you do today to make yourself happy? ...

Deserted. Not occupied. Not inhabited. Space. The black hole that contains nothing. The vacuum. Realizing that the void is not a new phenomenon for me. The void appears in many roles and forms. Personal relationships, family, significant others, the various roles I play as a life partner, mother, employee, scholar, teacher, promoter, coach, artist, and the list goes on. The black hole is there, and not just with personal relationships. It is there in all the roles I play in this beautiful life.  The void remains as I attempt to fill it with projects, drive, the wrong people, because the emotional needs I had in my youth were not met. Rejection is a feeling I am all to familiar with. Why? I prove myself, strive to reach beyond expectations. Still... the void remains. I set myself up for failure, with the unconscious set up of being let down.  I allow judgement, abandonment, manipulations, lies,  cheating, bullying, emotional abandonment, detachment, and feel devalued. A n...

Growing up my family taught me a large appreciation for the Great Outdoors. Hiking with my father and grandmother early in life formed a spirit of adventure and love for nature.  I feel like we have passed on to my two sons. Growing up in rural Texas, I spent a lot of time hiking around the Colorado River, exploring caves, playing hide and seek with friends in the hill country. In fact, graduation night I will never forget our Glen Rose M&W Ranch adventure. As a college student, I backpacked, canoed, and explored the Great American West.  As young adult hiked the Grand Canyon in 1999, parts of the AT in 1999, 5 trips in a tent across Europe from 1998-2009, Ontario in 2010 and 2012, and have camped in over 33 states. During the last 5 years, like so many became preoccupied with other things and haven't backpacked. I know I haven't backpacked  alone in over 20 years. This last weekend I was fortunate to connect with the North Texas Outdoors Meetup Group and took a le...

A year ago today I entered a new door in this adventure called life. Many friends back in the day might remember a novel that we would share at parties, entitled I Married Adventure, The novel is an excellent memoir of Osa Leighty who married Martin Johnson, a pioneering photographer who toured with the great Jack London.  As a young, inquisitive, and very independent small town girl, I was very attracted to global and worldly approaches. So, in the mid and late 1990's, I got out of Texas, traveling to Mexico, Holland, Belgium, France, Mexico, and around 33 states. I am grateful that I was introduced to new perspectives, ideologies, fantastic museums, and the music...all from a backpack. My two sons later got to tag along and continue to do so with their two very unique parents, who enjoyed the comforts of rural Texas for a home but also took on large adventures. We entered a new adventure last year, for me it is a solo one.  This year has been rough. Single parentin...

t was the fall of 2011, and I was learning how to become a connected educator. Growing up in rural Texas I have always been labeled a free spirit, dreamer, global thinker who preferred to wear rose colored glasses. I am the 17 year old who proudly stated that I was going to become an educator in my local county newspaper because I truly believed that I could assist others to change the world. I developed a strong interest in debate early in high school, which introduced me to a variety of perspectives and forced me to consider other opinions. My parents instilled a strong Christian belief system towards helping others and I have always truly attempted to give all of myself towards special causes. I found myself in 2011 connecting with other passionate educators around the world eager to use technology as a communication vehicle to promote true change. I had seen such a transformation occurring in my small community of Dublin, Texas and skill sets acquired during a 1:1 iOS initi...

Today I am so grateful and humbled by the level of support from complete strangers. The energy guiding a series of unbelievable events surrounding me is nearly impossible to describe. How did I end up here? All of the pain and lessons learned have taught me to the true meaning of faith, perseverance, and I now recognize the power of positive energy and connectivity to others.  All humans and people have a voice and can have a profound impact. A spiritual energy and presence can be so powerful. Life is so beautiful and I can't believe that my future has so many turns. I never dreamed any of my current realities was remotely possible a year ago. The power of an idea, thought, and connectivity via technology can PROFOUNDLY change your course in life. It is great to know that we can all shine and it is our duty to shine in areas that are dark and stagnant. It is wonderful to know that we are supported by a higher power when doing so and that everything happens for a reason. I...