Mindful Living

I am sitting here watching the sun fade away on the shortest day of the year.  It’s a brilliant red, and the sky was clear most of the day. Little wind, and about 2 feet of snow on the ground made this day feel magical.  The puppy and I took a long walk, and it was so quiet and still out that I had time and space to reflect and be present with the trees and the blue sky. Watching the sun set, I wanted to hit the pause button- how foolish and how modern!  I must be watching too much TV lately. Although we can take pauses in our lives, and I need these frequently, we cannot pause life itself, it keeps flowing and moving.  The wisdom of the sun and the moon teaches us about seasons and cycles; it's comforting to know the light is now getting longer each day. The darkness has it’s own wisdom and dare I say comfort in it also.  When it’s dark, it’s time for rest, to slow down, and reflect on where we are, what’s working in our lives and what needs to...

    Good morning!  I recently went back to personality profiles, primarily the Myers Briggs, and revisited some of the things it reveals about me.  Here at Kettle Moraine Counseling, I do like to know the profiles of our staff because it helps me to know how to relate to them, and also what some of the challenges may be.   I do not think personality tests say everything about us; we are complicated humans!  But they do reveal some truths/patterns that can be helpful to us in understanding and caring for ourselves and others.   Now if you are in the middle of the profiles, thats good!  It means that there is more flexibility to your personality, but it also means that just one of the profiles probably will not fit you very well. So I am solidly an INFP.   What this means is that I am introverted, intuitive, feeling and perceiving.   Introverted:  my energy comes from spending time alone or with one or 2 other people, big gro...

Hello!  Time to give some updates from Kettle Moraine Counseling.  We have been busy and time flies, although I really want to hang on to summer!  The above picture is from Greece a few weeks ago; my family took a trip there, and it was wonderful all around. Beautiful people, land and my son proposed to his girlfriend there!  It was an exciting trip! New therapists:    Desire Ware  LPC IT Desiree is a caring and genuine person who has had the experience of working with children, adolescents and adults for many years. She has been a certified teacher in Wisconsin for 35 years and has taught many developmental skills. Desiree has worked in many areas with people from all walks of life helping them with educational plans, violence in the home, abandonment, anger management, homeless issues, attitude issues, life skills, and many other issues that affect their lives and well-being. Because of the many years of working with people, she re...

I was laying in bed at our cabin “up north”, and I thought I saw a shooting star outside the window.  So I got up to investigate and the woods was filled with fireflies.  I haven’t seen any around our home yet , so this was a treat.  It tells me that summer has arrived, and Wisconsin summers are some of the best.  The long days, cool nights, the green everywhere; it’s short but oh so special. Fireflies remind me of the light within us and in everything around us.  Both metaphorically and literally; for we are all literally made of sunlight (all our food is made of sunlight!) , and we all have the light of goodness inside of us.  Part of my job as a therapist, is to help clients to see their innate goodness and to share that goodness with others. Under the shame, anger, sadness, confusion, and pain is a basic goodness, and being in touch with it is a gift to ourselves and the world. Where have you been kind? Shown compassion, restrain...

When I was a younger woman I had many emotional wounds.  I was the child of an alcoholic father and I carry those scars to this day, although they have lessened. My parents did the best they could with the tools and development they had.  So this is not a blame the parents blog.  I appreciate my mother in particular for working with what she had to work with!  She made traditions and structure for all of her 10 children.   We had Catholic School (grades 1-8), church, regular meal times, and a large extended family that we saw weekly, a regular cleaning schedule, bath times and my mother baked every Saturday.  There were routines I could rely on that helped to sustain me. My father worked a factory job for many years 20 plus ; way beyond what I would have the fortitude for.  His alcoholism prevented him from a bigger future after he got out of the military, and I know it was a huge loss in his life.  But he was a very difficult man to live wi...

I saw the Avengers movie this past weekend with some of my family.  I enjoyed it but not as much as the prequel.   I probably liked the first movie due to the tension and not knowing what will happen; it certainly looked like complete destruction.  But Dr. Strange did give us a hint on what would happen . And Thor!  Who amongst us haven’t gotten complacent and a little lazy?   But if we are to be the superhero’s of our lives we must rise to the call. Complacency will not work for long.  We need to be whom we were meant to be. Themes in the movie and life:  life is full of challenges!  None of us get by without challenges and problems,  a universal experience.  There is always destruction (death) (change) right around the corner, best to befriend it.   The meaning of life is relationships (evidenced by pretty much all the characters); if our relationships are solid, we are solid and can confront the challenges in lif...