I cleaned out my pantry and refrigerator today. Boy, did I find some interesting stuff! Leftovers, half-eaten bags of snacks, old candy, and even a couple of impressive science-looking experiments that were taking on a life of their own. It was a mess. As I was tossing out the junk and reorganizing the shelves, I started thinking about how our hearts need to be cleaned out from time to time. I’m sure we all have some stuff in there that has gone sour or rotten that could make us sick. Maybe some leftovers. Or some things that we meant to

When I was a little girl and I would start complaining about something, my mom would say, “It sounds like you need to start counting your blessings.” I hated her response. Couldn’t she understand that I was in the middle of some major stuff? I just wanted to moan and groan for a while. I didn’t want to be responsible for my attitude. Where’s the comfort in that? After all, misery loves company and I wanted someone to join me in the pit of despair. Count my blessings?! Come on, Mom. She was right. Of course, she was right. She

Today was filled with lots of little things that left me feeling loved. My husband made me coffee this morning while I got ready for work. He put it in my favorite Halloween mug. A colleague told me that she enjoys all of the songs that I teach her class and thanked me for making music so fun.  I received an above average number of hugs from students today. A parent told me that her daughter loves doing music with me. My husband rushed home after his faculty meeting to go grocery shopping with me. We went four different places.

I am a chronic overthinker. I overthink about my tendency to overthink. I’m overthinking this post right now. I like to look at things from every possible angle. I inspect and dissect until there is nothing left. I can ruminate on something well past the point of productivity. It drives my family crazy. Sometimes I am so annoying that I get on my own nerves. I tend to get really bogged down in overthinking the relationships in my life. How do I feel about them? How do they feel about me? Do they really love me or are they just

The Chapman University Survey of American Fears Wave 4 (2017) results were recently published. A random sample of adults from across the U.S. responded to questions about their level of fear regarding a variety of topics. Here are the top 20 fears according to their findings: Corrupt Government Officials American Healthcare Act/Trumpcare Pollution of Oceans, Rivers and Lakes Pollution of Drinking Water Not having enough money for the future High Medical Bills The US will be involved in another World War Global Warming and Climate Change North Korea using weapons Air Pollution Economic/Financial collapse Extinction of plant and animal species