This past Saturday, the Casey clan and their spouses gathered at the Credit River Cemetery in Prior Lake, MN, to honor my husband's parents on what would have been his father's 100th year. It was a truly special gathering with wonderful memories and much laughter being expressed by cousins, children, in-laws and friends from far and wide. Jim Casey had been a pillar in the Credit River Community. He built a housing edition especially designed for first time buyers in Credit River Township and then helped most of them get into those houses by allowing them t[...]
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Karen’s Musings
4 Just this past week end I led a workshop at the Dan Anderson Renewal Center at the Hazelden Foundation in Center City, MN. Twenty women, one man and I sat together over three days and explored how to "Journal Our Way to Spiritual Health." From my perspective the participants met with great success and that's because trust was quickly established as the result of their willingness to be open and vulnerable from the moment they introduced themselves to the close of the workshop on Sunday. When these qualities are coupled with the fact that the participants "da[...]
This no doubt seems to be an odd title for a post but it fits for where I am today. I am experiencing extreme headaches, as the result of deteriorating disks in my upper vertebrae, and the headaches are affecting my attitude, my body temperature, my sense of well-being, (my husband,) even my feelings of adequacy. The bigger issue is that I have a lot of work facing me over the next few weeks and I can't get my mind wrapped around the work that needs to be addressed. That's why I decided to write about my dilemma here. I figured shedding light on it would get[...]
In my last post I said my family was coming and I was thrilled. I want to offer an update. Their visit exceeded my wildest hopes. We talked, laughed, ate lots of great food, and went sight-seeing to the max. Seeing all of it through their eyes, particularly the eyes of Cooper, my 12 year old grand nephew, was the real treat. What a delightful young boy. Clever, bright, funny and eager for his future to unfold. When I think of leaving our world to youngsters like him I am relieved. We are in good hands, indeed. But the real point of this post is t[...]
I had a birthday on Monday and my husband bought me an iPad at my request. Having it for travel, which I do a lot of, makes sense. However, I have been stressed out since getting it home. It's probably a lot like bringing your first child home from the hospital. I never had children but I am leery of every thing I touch. My shoulders hurt, my head hurts and I am already wondering if it will be the problem solver we bought it to be. I have to take a break from it. That's why I am "talking" to you now. Writing is like meditation for me. I am certain that[...]
I have written about this topic before. And I will likely write about it again. It's really shameful and even embarrassing to read on line and in the news magazines, what the various political figures say about each other on a daily basis. Whether it's on the cable channels or the networks, the "news" is filled with the most recent venom that one party or one person has slung at another. In some cases the so-called reporters are slinging the venom themselves. And the American people, the men and women like you and I, are left in the lurch, wondering when[...]
Sticking to a project of any kind provides its own reward. I learned this well while in graduate school. I was an enigma to my friends because I loved writing the multitude of papers that were assigned. And unlike most of them, I didn't put them off until the last minute. I quite intentionally worked on the assigned paper every day, some times only a couple of hours in a day, but I didn't let a day go by without making some progress. It gave me the structure I needed. It felt almost like a sacred undertaking when approached in this way. I don't reme[...]
I was thinking about the reason for our celebration of Memorial day over this past week end. And I think it's good and right that we honor those men and women who have given their lives in the service of our country, but I wonder if we spend enough time honoring those who served, were maimed in some way, physically or emotionally, and who still have to live to the best of their ability with little help from the rest of us. Those men and women are too often forgotten, I fear. Many of them live very anonymous lives, in fact. The streets and alley ways of many[...]
I have referenced This is Water in two earlier posts and now I want to reveal the end of David Lawrence Foster's story. He hung himself in 2008. He had suffered from severe and chronic depression his whole life and gave up when the medication no longer kept it at bay. He was in his early forties. His parents shared that his life had been a roller coaster of depression since childhood. The wonderful thing for all of us is that we have many terrific books to remember him by. (see amazon.com) His way of looking at the world resonated with me. What's ob[...]
I have spent the last 3 hours reading comments from you, the readers, and commenting back in many instances. How thrilling it is for me to be writing and then hearing from you in such a quick turn-around. After nearly thirty years of writing books, this is an interesting departure. I must say, however, that I have heard from thousands of book readers too over the years, both by snail mail and more recently by email. Knowing I am "being heard" is gratifying indeed. It's the hook that will keep me coming back for many years to come. The comments are ins[...]