Simply Shine!
Celebrating the simple everyday wonders of life.
LOVE: a United State
As we move into the final weeks before an election that has no possibility of uniting a divided nation, where in the world do we turn?
How did we even get here, this place where fear and anger are clogging the media, where good people are beginning to give up on living in a nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all?
More from the Shine Blog
The Inner Joy of Tidying Up
I’m sitting in the middle of a clutter-clearing project with everything I own piled in a room waiting for me to decide what to keep and what to let go. Have you ever been in the middle of one of those clutter messes? Marie Kondo might invite me to go through the pile,...
Set a New Year Evolution.
Every New Year brings a dialogue about why resolutions don't really work, and many (including me) prefer to simply choose a single word or short phrase, a mantra, to inspire us forward. I call these 'NY Evolutions' because I allow them to change as I grow. I also use...
New Year. New Moment.
#Happy2020 I woke up in the wee hours feeling a bit discouraged that I wasn't feeling a bit more...well, different. Like the Promise of 2020 was being shouted out in so many ways, and here I am feeling it's just another day. Then I read my daily inspiration from...
The Generosity Key
What if your happiest life depends entirely on how many seeds of kindness you plant for others? One thing I’ve noticed is that many people think generosity is about sharing what we already have, and that until we have “enough,” it really isn’t possible for us to be...
Find Your Holiday Sparkle
Some might scowl when I say how much I love winter...but, I do! I love the chill of frost, the sparkle of freshly fallen snow, the crunch of boots on snow-packed paths, twinkling lights against a dark night sky, sitting with a cup of cocoa near a crackling fire. I...
Simply Grateful
It’s the little things that melt my heart the most— an unexpected gift, baby laughter, a well-timed glance outside to see the sun casting glittering diamonds upon my favorite tree, the sound of your smile as it whispers my name across a crowded room. I know you’ll...
Harvest Your Blessings
Grapes have been called the fruit of the Gods, and as I turn clusters of this divine fruit into dozens of quarts of happy pink nectar, I might agree. But as I’ve cared for our 80 yards and 10 varieties of grapes over the past few years, I’ve discovered this God-fruit...
Choose Amazement.
Spaciousness can often appear as emptiness, and it's easy to mistake that for a lack of importance. Until we sit in the empty space for long enough to hear what is really going on beneath the surface of life...like in the ocean, where layers and whole ecosystems live...
Savor the Beautiful
"Once there was a woman who wanted to change the world & at first, she thought it'd be easy, because if everyone could see how beautiful it'd be, it'd take about a minute...but all the people she talked to were too busy to stop & listen. So, she went off &...
Can clearing clutter change the world?
(excerpt from my upcoming book, Simple Enough: Create Space for What Matters.) Can clearing clutter change the world? Maybe. You’ve probably noticed simplicity is a hot topic that appears to be reaching a tipping point. Here are a couple reasons why. We are drowning...
I hold you in my heart.
I hold you in my heart. I carry you in my heart. The Mother in me wants to wrap you in arms, as I see you sitting there so very still, with sadness all around. But I stay over here, giving you room to breathe, loving you across the space, because it's all I can do for...
The Miracle of Mothering
Today is a good day to say: Thank You, Mom. You gave me life, and more. You protected me when I was small, giving roots & nourishment for growing wings. I didn't fully appreciate the miracle until I became a mother too. Now I see the sacrifices you made, the...
