The V-Word

My teenage daughter has become sexually active recently and in a passing comment she told me that all her friends think that oral sex is the safest sex they could have and that they feel like it doesn’t even count as real sex. What are the health risks associated with oral sex and are there any precautions short of “just say no” that can make a difference?

It is true that many teenagers consider...

"I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine." ~Kurt Vonnegut Imagine a fire engine showing up as your house is burning...

“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.”  ~Burton Hillis

I have few if any good childhood memories of Christmas, and although I have dedicated my adulthood to reinventing the holiday over the last thirty years, my earliest memories have retained some kind of hold over my holiday experiences. For years I would overcompensate,...

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” -Oscar Wilde

Reducing the holiday experience down to the most basic elements is one way of getting back to the memories that are most precious and the experiences that are most sought after. As cliché as it sounds, late night cookie baking can be as sweet and tender as life gets. This week I have been visiting with one of...

“Faith is a process of leaping into the abyss not on the basis of any certainty about where we shall land, but rather on the belief that we shall land.” -Carter Heyward

Learning to ask the right questions is critical to building a positive relationship to our life. Often the leading question about our life, whether it pertains to work or personal issues begins with “what?” The question of what to...

"When it's over, I want to say:All my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. "-Mary OliverEvery now and again we are given the gift of true presence. Usually it is when we are faced with the stark realization of the fragility of life: the moment of loss or the miraculous reprieve. This is when our gratitude for a...

“Be vigilant: guard your mind against negative thoughts.” -Buddha

It took me 82 days at the beginning of this positivity quest to stop having my negative words and thoughts control me. I had no idea when I began how many negative thoughts I was even having in a day, but I did a little research. Humans have on average between 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts per day, or approximately a new thought every...

“Hope begins in the dark,  the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.  You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”  -Anne Lamott

Some days the best you can do is show up. You agree to not make any big decisions about the future on these days. You are happy for busy work and the small acts of efficiency that can come from moving things around...

“For fast acting relief, try slowing down.” -Lily Tomlin

I know that I am headed in the right corporate direction when our sales manager leaves on Friday with a smile and urges me to “be more and do less.” What a nice idea. Learning to slow down, do one thing at a time, and listen to my body get quiet, these are the lessons that I want to master.

The pain in the neck that I have been nursing is a...