by Kate | Jan 10, 2024 | Chronic healing, joy
We often think emotions are driven by circumstances. It seems that way sometimes. When things go as we want them to go, we label it “good” and feel happy. When things don’t go our way, we label it “bad” and feel sad or angry. It’s the labeling that gives rise to the...
by Kate | Dec 16, 2023 | Chronic healing, kind promises
When you get a serious, life changing diagnosis, it often leaves you angry. Angry that things are the way they are. Angry at yourself for anything you did (or imagine you did) to cause the problem. It just shouldn’t be this way! It’s not fair! Your expectations for...
by Kate | Nov 10, 2023 | Chronic healing, Love
This month, I am considering the kind promise “I will love without keeping score.” I’ve found this promise especially helpful in times of illness or disability. (For me, that’s every day.) It’s the scorekeeping that’s the problem. When you are ill, you may need...
by Kate | Oct 18, 2023 | Chronic healing, Gratitude
There are no limits on gratitude. It’s easy to appreciate it when things go our way. Even when they don’t, if we look deeply, we can see the good. There is always something for which to be grateful. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 in the Christian Bible says, “Rejoice always,...
by Kate | Sep 20, 2023 | Advocacy, Chronic healing
I was 10 years old when I began my life as an activist. In my small Wisconsin hometown, a group of us kids painted oil drums bright co echo turn off the kitchen lors. Helpful adults arranged for them to be scattered around downtown so that people could use them as...
by Kate | Sep 13, 2023 | Advocacy, Chronic healing
What if we saw privilege as an invitation to make the world a better place? When Chef Asma Khan was a young girl growing up in India, her father took her to the ruins of the ancestral palace. From there, they could see the remains of the surrounding slums. “It was an...
