27 08, 2026

The Loneliness of Secrets: Finding Connection Through Vulnerability

By |2026-08-27T11:29:45-06:00August 27th, 2026|Emotional Healing, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

I grew up in a household where we children were given one very clear instruction: what happened inside our home stayed inside our home.

We were never to discuss it with others, much less write about it publicly. Even as a child, I understood there was a reason for the secrecy.

Some of what happened behind those doors was inappropriate; some of it crossed far more serious lines.

My brothers seemed to accept the silence differently. To them, families had secrets. You kept them hidden.

That was simply how the world worked. For many years, I did the same.

Writing about those years now is not an act of revenge. My parents are no longer here, and exposing their […]

23 08, 2026

Notes From George – It Is What It Is, Until It’s Not

By |2026-08-23T13:22:05-06:00August 23rd, 2026|Notes From George Collections, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

George used to say, “It is what it is. Until it’s not.” Simple words, but they held a truth I struggled for years to understand. So much of life is right in front of us, yet we spend enormous amounts of energy wishing it were different. George rarely did that. He had an unusual ability to accept what was.

He didn’t look at our father and spend his life wishing he had been a different man. He didn’t expect our stepmother to become someone she wasn’t. That didn’t mean George approved of what happened to us or that it didn’t hurt him. He simply understood that fighting reality wouldn’t change it. He used to […]

23 08, 2026

What Difficult People Can Teach Us About Healing and Boundaries

By |2026-08-23T12:15:51-06:00August 23rd, 2026|Emotional Healing, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

Everyone who crosses our path has something to teach us. The people who bring kindness and consistency into our lives teach us about companionship, friendship, love, and trust.

They remind us what it feels like to be valued, supported, and cared for.

The difficult people teach us differently. Their behavior may disappoint us, frustrate us, or even hurt us, but sometimes those encounters reveal places within us that still need attention. They can uncover old wounds, emotional triggers, and vulnerabilities we may not have realized were still tender.

When someone criticizes our choices, we can learn to protect our sense of self and establish healthier boundaries. When someone’s words or actions cause us […]

23 08, 2026

Beneath My Silence — When I Feel Unseen

By |2026-08-23T10:56:54-06:00August 23rd, 2026|Beneath My Silence - Poems, Emotional Healing, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

I learned young how quickly a life can disappear. One day there was a mother, a home, animals I loved, a room that knew my name, books and toys, friends and familiar hallways.

And then there wasn’t.

No goodbye to the life before. No place to put the memories. No permission to speak of what had been mine.

I learned to carry it quietly.

Perhaps that is why silence still finds the tender places in me. Why an unanswered call can become more than an unanswered call.

Why someone’s absence can awaken an old question:

Did I matter?

I have spent years trying not to ask too much of people.

I listen to their stories ~
their work, their families, […]

22 08, 2026

Whispers To The Soul – The Hero’s Journey Later in Life: Becoming Who You Want to Be

By |2026-08-22T12:04:06-06:00August 22nd, 2026|Personal Growth, Whispers To The Soul Collections, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

The Hero’s Journey Doesn’t End When We Grow Older

We often imagine the Hero’s Journey as the story of someone young. They leave the familiar behind, step into the unknown, encounter challenges, discover their strength, and eventually become someone they could not have imagined at the beginning.

But what happens when the call comes later in life?

What happens when we have already built the career, raised the family, cared for others, survived disappointment, experienced loss, celebrated accomplishments, and spent decades becoming the person we thought we were supposed to be?

Sometimes another call arrives. And this one sounds very different.

A career ends ~

or simply stops feeling meaningful.

Children grow up and build lives of their own.

A […]

6 08, 2026

The Girl Left Behind – Who My Mother Was Before I Lost Her

By |2026-08-06T12:32:47-06:00August 6th, 2026|Collections, The Girl Left Behind Collections, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

My mother, Frances Marion Bell, was born on January 25, 1925, in Oakland, California. It was a cold, rainy January day. Her parents, George E. Bell and Helen Bell, welcomed their second daughter into the world with love. According to my grandfather, her birth was quick.

They named her Frances Marion.

My grandfather had been born in England, and my grandmother, Helen, in Massachusetts. Whether they chose the name because of its meaning or simply because they loved it, I’ll never know. But it suited her perfectly.

The name Frances is often associated with freedom, independence, and a strong sense of self. My mother embodied those qualities. She was a free spirit, quietly confident and deeply compassionate.

Since her […]

6 08, 2026

Beneath My Silence – If Love Finds Me Again

By |2026-08-06T11:01:56-06:00August 6th, 2026|Beneath My Silence - Poems, Collections, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

If love ever finds me again, I hope it arrives gently. I hope it’s someone who hears the words I never quite know how to say, and understands the silence between them.

Someone who delights in the little things ~

not because they are grand, but because they matter to me.

Someone who chooses me, even on ordinary days, and reminds me through small, quiet gestures that I am never an afterthought. I hope for a heart that feels like home ~

steady, kind, and unwavering.

A presence that brings peace rather than uncertainty. A hand that reaches for mine when life becomes difficult, without waiting to be asked. Someone who protects not by control, but […]

30 07, 2026

Whispers To The Soul – When the Heart Goes Unspoken

By |2026-07-30T14:51:30-06:00July 30th, 2026|Emotional Healing, Whispers To The Soul Collections, Why Wisdom Is Harder Than You Think|0 Comments

There is something within us that longs to be expressed. The more we give voice to what lives inside us ~

our joy, our sorrow, our fears, our hopes ~

the more fully alive we become.

Expression is not merely speaking; it is allowing what is within us to find its rightful place in the world.

What remains unspoken does not simply disappear. It settles quietly beneath the surface. Over time, those unspoken feelings can create distance between our heart and our daily lives.

They become layers we learn to live around, until we forget they are there. We may begin to believe that life itself has grown dull, when in truth […]

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