Bottling Fun

My sister arrived for Easter weekend on Thursday night excited to have a 4-day holiday from work. After her 2-hour drive my husband, Dave, greets her at the door. He has a gigantic grin on his face—not because he is happy to see her (although he loves when his ‘silly sister-in-law’ visits), but he wanted to tell her his big news. “Guess what I’m doing tomorrow?” What Dave? “I’m riding into town. You know why?” No why? “ It’s Friday.”  (Dave’s conversations are riddled with... 

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Just Do It!

EAV:3b924f7fb00d00da This morning I was listening to a class on Money Manifesting Mastery by Andrea Hess and she said that every time you do something new, or out of your comfort zone, your ego will try to keep you safe by sabotaging your efforts. Maybe not at first, but as you persist in creating new habits, there will be feelings of self-doubt, fears of failure, worries of what other people think, procrastination–anything that will convince you to go back to the safety of your old patterns.... 

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Turning Down the Effort Knob…AGAIN!

It doesn’t matter how many times I turn down my ‘Effort Knob’, life has a funny way of sneaking up and making it seem difficult. This past week I had one of life’s many lessons in dealing with my husband Dave. He has Frontotemporal dementia and as it progresses, he is less motivated to do any activities outside of his jigsaw puzzles or exercise. I’m glad that he is still capable of doing these activities but the reality is that I need help to maintain a house, garden, pets, and car while... 

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A Story with a Beautiful Message

This morning I was reading my email and I came across a story that I’ve read several times and each time it settles deep into my heart. It has a beautiful message. Here is an excerpt from the book, The Dash by Linda Ellis and Mac Anderson from Simpletruths.com… In the faint light of the attic, an old man, tall and stooped, bent his great frame and made his way to a stack of boxes that sat near one of the little half-windows. Brushing aside a wisp of cobwebs, he tilted the top box toward... 

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Food for Thought–SELF-LOVE

There is a saying…’you teach what you need to learn’. This is what I’m doing by writing and sharing what I’m learning about self-love. These past few years have been a time of massive personal growth and uncovering the ‘real’ Holly. It isn’t an easy process but definitely worth the sweat and tears that come along with it. Living with a husband with dementia has taught me about unconditional love, patience, surrendering to what is, and living in the present moment. In addition,... 

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Turning Down the Effort Knob

I am taking a year-long intuitive coaching course and one of my biggest lessons has been turning down the Effort knob. I had no idea that I have a tendency to make life more difficult than it really is. For example…before I travel to courses I used to fret about the list of things I had to do for Dave, the house, preparing meals, our pets etc. Last month I was speaking with a fellow colleague and telling her about my list and she simply said…”it  doesn’t have to be hard”.... 

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The Dance

There is a beautiful song written by Garth Brooks titled the Dance. The first time I read part of the lyrics was in an obituary in 1988. A young friend of my son was in a tragic horse accident and her father wrote…”how could I have known you’d ever say goodbye. And now I’m glad I didn’t know the way it all would end the way it all would go. Our lives are better left to chance. I could have missed the pain But I’d of had to miss the dance Holding you”. Every time I experience pain or... 

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Don’t Make Assumptions

It is 5:30 in the morning and our ginger cat with white boots is knocking at the front door. Actually he is scratching at the side glass panels to let me know he has another present for me. Usually I see the minimal remains of his capture (a mouse) but this morning I guess he didn’t feel like eating fur and left most of it for me to pick up. Living in the wild has its ups, downs, good and bad. I love living in the country but it isn’t always rosy. Just before letting our kitty kat in the front... 

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Loneliness and Caregiving

I wrote this blog on caregiving.com and I wanted to share my message on my website as well… Dr. Cacioppo wrote a book called Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection. He says that humans need a deep connection with the people around us and, without it, there is a higher risk for chronic disease and early death. There was a study in 2007 at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center that showed that lonely people were twice as likely to get Alzheimer’s disease late in life.... 

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Loving What You Do Today

Have you ever thought about what you would be doing if you had 6 months to live? I love this question because it makes me stop and think about my life and ask…am I doing what I love to do today? I was reading an article the other day about a study with people who have terminal cancer and are given 6 months to live. Do you know why a significant number of them go into remission? Because for the first time in their life they ‘let go’ of pleasing other people. They aren’t concerned what... 

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