73. It Took Me a Lifetime It took me a lifetime to get where I am. This concept has helped me to be kind to myself, to not waste too much time having regrets about what I didn’t do earlier, and to acknowledge that what I do and...
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August 30, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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72. Noticing the Crocus My grandson Zachariah is now 23 years old, but when he was almost two I did a great deal of day care for him in my home in Nyack, NY. During the day we usually went for a walk, and over and over again,...
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August 29, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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71. Task Force on Human Sexuality I was asked in the 70’s to be co-chair of a Task Force on Human Sexuality (actually focusing on homosexuality) for the Northern New Jersey Conference of the United Methodist Church. It was to be a balanced task force with an equal...
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August 28, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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70. Regret When a Friend Dies I’m in the middle right now of having had a friend die, and in the past few years it has happened again and again. It’s not guilt I feel. It’s regret—regret that once more I didn’t stay in touch better, that I...
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August 27, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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69. Immortal Bird I read a lot—often three books a week. This year the most memorable one so far has been Immortal Bird—A Family Memoir by Doron Weber. I fell in love with Damon, the boy in this book with a damaged heart. At the same time I...
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August 26, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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68. Give Yourself a High Five! I was reading one of my evaluation forms from the two years that I attended the Blanton Peale Pastoral Counseling training, and I found one place where I wrote: “Ann—Give yourself one power fist and two exclamation points and a YES in...
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August 25, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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67. Music Changes Pain When I was at New York University doing a masters in music therapy, I did part of my internship at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and it was there that I learned in a very real way that music changes pain. Part of the time, the...
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August 24, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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66. Put a Rainbow in Your Life I have learned it brightens my day to have some intentional rainbows. I cannot wait all the time for a storm on a sunny day followed by a crescent of colors in the sky. I need rainbows more often. And so...
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August 23, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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65. Person With Dementia I worked in a nursing home for eleven years as a music therapist, and then moved to a different nursing home for another two years. In both facilities, I worked with persons with dementia. And I learned. The most important thing I learned was...
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August 22, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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64. Why Is She So Angry? There was a time when I took a two-year course in storytelling, taught by Midge Miles. We usually met at a Catholic retreat center on the Hudson River. My first time there I didn’t know what door to use in this huge...
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August 21, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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