Graduations and Commencements

Graduation...

Commencement...

a time of taking measure and of new beginnings.

As you may have guessed, endings and beginnings are on my mind this month as my youngest child graduates from high school and prepares to start college in the fall. As parents, we measure each of the milestones we witnessed, marking each as "graduations" or intervals in our children's lives and our own. Now is the time for "commencement", a new beginning; stepping, running or leaping into the unknown and trusting the trajectory! May we all have the courage to let go and fly....

"Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,

and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable."

--Kahlil Gibran

May this be a season for your own commencement,
Pam

Happy Holidays

As I write this post, I am still glowing from the sight of 1200 luminaria lining the snowbanks and illuminating the night sky of our neighborhood on December 24. It is a tradition we have had in our little section of Concord, Massachusetts since 2001...and reminds us of community, hope and peace.

What struck me this year is how such simple and seemingly insignificant ingredients alone...a white paper lunch bag, a utility candle and some sand...can create such an amazing sight together. Perhaps from the simple luminary is a message for 2008....while each of us has a burning flame within us, imagine what an amazing light we can create together. May 2008 be filled with light, peace, and community for us all.

Many thanks to Rich Stevenson for these photos.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving...wishing you all a season of gratitude. A wonderful little book, Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons of Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn, happened to land on my desk this week. As I opened to the first page, a poem by Derek Walcott jumped out at me....reminding me once again of the gratitude I feel daily for the gift of life, love and mindfulness. May you arrive at your own door this Thanksgiving. With gratitude, I share with you Derek Walcott's poem:

The time will come

when with elation,

you will greet yourself
arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror,

and each will smile at the other's
welcome.

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your
self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back
your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved
you

all your life, whom you
ignored

for another, who knows you by
heart.

Take down the love letters from the
bookshelf.

the photographs, the desperate
notes,

peel your own image from the
mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott, "Love after Love"

Integrative Therapies in Treatment of Chronic Pain

As many of you know, I have a clinical interest in integrative therapies in healthcare treatment. An interesting segment on chronic pain and its treatment aired on the 11/09/07 Today Show. Click here to view the video. Chronic pain is a huge issue in terms of quality of life, worker productivity, and overall health and wellbeing in the U.S. today. It is estimated that over 50 million people in the U.S. suffer from chronic pain conditions. Like many other maladies, chronic pain usually is not curable, but is treatable. We need to open our minds to integrating age old wisdom together with high tech medicine to acheive the best possbile outcomes.

We are "LIVE"

"LIVE"...What a curious way to describe getting a blog and website up and running! But, it is a wonderful way to kick off my new blog which I hope will inspire you to explore, learn and share insights and challenges on sustaining and building resiliency in our lives...work, home and health. I look forward to sharing some of my thoughts, news, and links with you. Let me know you are out there by commenting!