Not About Music
The Man with the Beautiful Voice by Lillian B. Rubin. Beacon Press, 2003.
I read another of Dr. Rubin’s books, The Transcendent Child, during the MFA, so when I spotted this one at the library, I knew I had to pick it up.
Dr. Rubin, an influential sociologist and psychotherapist, has collected stories of her experiences as a therapist and recorded them here. Both an instruction manual and a fascinating set of case studies, this book provides endless insight into the therapeutic process and human nature. Her storytelling is superb, her love for her work and her patients obvious, her insights applicable to the reader no matter why she’s coming to the book. To learn what a therapist does? To grow as a person? To study good writing? It’s all there.
“No one is ever fully baked,” Rubin writes, recounting words spoken to a patient, “because life is a process that continually confronts us with new challenges that require new adaptations.” Amen. Aren't we all works in progress?
I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Cutting the digital cord is hard. It hurts. It’s scary for us and for our kids. But it is so, so worth it.
If you’re like I was, your kids use more digital media than you’d like. Maybe they’re into video games, binging episodes of Bluey, mindless scrolling through YouTube. If you’ve ever had the thought, “I sure wish he’d do something that doesn’t involve a screen,” then you a. Have a problem b. Are in the perfect position to solve it!
Joy of Advent is a virtual daily devotional reading for children and adults. Each email also has curated music videos and classical (usually) works of art that are truly breathtaking. The Joy of Advent daily readings are structured around the Jesse Tree, in part because the Jesse Tree is a beautiful, ancient tradition, and because it gives us the opportunity to pull a scarlet thread from the tapestry of Scripture.
Last summer I went a little nutty. See, I was SO excited that our curriculum recommended a timeline. SO SO excited that timeline figures came with it. Until ... I opened the packaging. The timeline figures were ... ugly. So I made ancient history timeline figures using classic art! And now I'm sharing them with you, free!
I couldn’t pay my kids to go outside. They’d drag out of bed, take bowls of cereal to the family room where they’d watch TV followed by hours of begging for “screen time” while I battled our way through the morning’s schoolwork. Months of this, years of it. We fought this battle day after day until we made a dramatic decision and drastic change.
Those of you who are familiar with Lent and what it’s all about will understand why the title: Walk Through Lent with Joy, is surprising. Lent is a time of penance and repentance, of fasting, of giving up joy … isn’t it?
I created free printable goal planning pages that can easily be sized and printed to fit any planner including Happy Planner. Everything from monthly planning to year-end-review, and even project planning for those multi-faceted projects.
If you think your kids are safe online, think again. Read one mother’s horror story about online dangers and learn the number one best way to protect your kids short of setting back the clock twenty years. Learn about Gryphon and digital safety.
I thought my 5 year old was watching a harmless YouTube video for kids. What he was really watching absolutely horrified me. The internet is fast becoming one of the scariest places on earth, especially for kids and their parents. Here is the first in a series on protecting children from online dangers.
Here you’ll find my TOP FIVE easy ways to set your creativity ABLAZE. These ideas can be used by anyone—even if you (mistakenly) think you’re not creative. We’re all creative. It’s part of what it means to be human, but we each express our creativity in our own uniquely wonderful ways. Download the full list to find out more!
As Thanksgiving approaches, I can't help but look for little things to do or add to make the holiday more meaningful and memorable. Especially since Thanksgiving is traditionally a day of gorging oneself before (finally!) turning on the Christmas music (actually, I start Christmas music in early November - can't help myself). Thanksgiving gets lost, slipped in between the fun of costumes and candy and the magic and mystery of Advent and Christ's birth.