December 2018

In-Between Week:  Christmas just passed, the new year just around the corner. I have been spending these long nights and short days ruminating about life, meaning, the effort we put into work and play. I’ve been playing with ideas and thoughts about what’s been working, what hasn’t, and what we have to offer in service to the world. One of the themes that keeps coming back to me is joy. Joy is a funny word.

In my early 20’s, I moved to the Big Island of Hawaii. Like many people my age, living in paradise seemed like a fabulous idea that was a little less perfect when one is poor, naive and young. Especially the poor part. I had gone to Hawaii thinking I would become a massage therapist, a great idea (theoretically) for a single mom with a degree in Anthropology looking for a career that would

Story: Feedback! This isn't QUITE a story, but I got some fantastic feedback from last week's words and I wanted to share it with you. One of my readers emailed me back feeling a bit upset that I was "fat-shaming" in my reference to the "corn-fed" young man who whisked Bethany away to Missouri. Here's what I wrote back to the reader: Thank you so much for your feedback! The guy that my dear Bethany married

52 weeks of gratitude complete! When I started this weekly email, it felt so daunting and a little scary. I was worried about a year-long commitment. What if I got sick? Or tired? Or didn’t feel grateful? Could I really pull this off? But it turns out that it was fine. In fact, it was better than fine. The 52 weeks of gratitude added a dose of happiness to my life. And my

Story: Once upon a time I decided to open a cyber cafe. I had a vague idea that I could turn my expensive coffee habit into a money-making venture. I found a guy online who was selling all his old cafe equipment. I borrowed a big truck and drove three hours one way to pick up all his equipment: bistro tables, chairs, dishes, espresso machine, a couple three-bay stainless steel sinks. Basically I bought