Perfect Moment Monday: Precious Post

My Perfect Moment for this week …

…was receiving a spontaneous card in the mail from a friend who is also a client.

I enjoy getting the mail, as it always seems like Christmas morning. You know there will be a little of this and a little of that, but you just never know when there will be that surprise gift—wrapped in just ordinary paper, no special bow or ribbon to set it apart. But when you open it, the gift is larger than the box in which it was put. The power of love contained in the gift turned a simple gratitude card from a friend into the best moment of the week and is certainly in the running for the best moment of the month!

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Breast Cancer: One Degree of Separation

I sat down to write a blog about breast cancer, not really sure why since I know so many people who are first-hand experts and I am fortunate enough to be at arm’s length and hold an inexperienced and innocent view. I truly believe there is not one thing that happens on this earth that there is not a higher reason to support the experience, but when it comes to the C word I often wonder what in God’s name is a good enough or high enough reason for anyone to experience cancer. And then I always pose the question, “Isn’t there another way to learn the same lesson or experience the same emotional learning opportunity?”

My very first experience with breast cancer came just two months after moving to California from Vancouver, British Columbia. One of my closest friends, Roberta (Bobbi) Stackhouse, called me with the news she had found a lump while in the shower. I was 28, she was 34, and it was September 1997. When we hung up the phone I cried: not because I felt bad, but because I had not one clue about breast cancer or what she might have to go through in the coming months. From my perspective, my fears of being of “uneducated” and “ignorant” had come true.

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Perfect Moment Monday: Hidden Blessings

Looking back over this past week, I began to realize there are many perfect moments; now the hard part is choosing which one to share! The one that stands out was from Tuesday evening when I went to a seminar that was going to introduce me to three different topics. The topic on labyrinths is what caught my attention. The presentation definitely wasn’t long enough, but it did its job—and that left me wanting more.

My perfect moment was having the surprise of a friend whom I hadn’t seen since last fall show up. During the last hour, which was supposed to be for interacting with the presenters and learning a little bit more...

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Fear of Intimacy

During our lives we journey through many different experiences: some good and some not so much. All these experiences impact how we interpret or receive attention from other individuals. This can be heightened when we begin to have a closer relationship with another person. A friendship flourishes into a romantic partnership and takes the leap of unbridled love for a life commitment. But what happens if the “not so good” interactions have impacted greater than we once thought? When we begin to notice pulling away from another when romantic affection is offered or reduce our availability to receiving this type of love, then we need to ask ourselves why these deeply rooted hurts or traumas actually created the situation we’ve heard of and know of as a “Fear of Intimacy.”

In addition to the experiences, if a recognizable personality trait within us is a lack of self-confidence and low self-worth, then these can be considered important contributing factors, thus increasing this fear.

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