At the end of the school year last year, I was invited to join the Adolescent 1 (A1) Odyssey trip that headed West starting the 3rd day of school. I agreed to jump on the Odyssey train, not really knowing what I was signing up to do. I love working at Great River School, the Montessori/International Baccalaureate 1st grade through 12th grade school at which I substitute teach and help out in other odd ways. I used to take groups of teenagers on all sorts of overnight adventures, so tent camping for 7 nights with 50 7th and 8th graders didn’t seem like that big of a jump in my experience wheel.
Health
How to Reduce Stress and Live Authentically while Renewing Life
On August 17th, it was officially Break The Silence Day in Minneapolis, MN, as declared by the City Council. As many of you know if you’ve been paying close attention to my various posts and blogs, what I posted on Facebook wasn’t a big surprise. On my Facebook page I said: Today, 8/17, is #BreakTheSilence … Read more
Body Pain #Diabetes and What Do You Do?
In May 2014, I went to see a shoulder orthopedic surgeon because of suffering more than 6 months with some terrible shoulder pain. It had come on suddenly and kept getting worse as the months went by. The physician took some x-rays and basically, because of having type 1 diabetes she diagnosed me with frozen shoulder. She sent me to physical therapy.
The Shadow Is Calling You
Do you have a shadow? Are you wondering, “What is a shadow?” I’m not talking about your body shape that appears on the concrete when the sun hits you in a certain way. The shadow I’m talking about is what Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung called the “unknown dark side of the personality.”
I want to talk about shadows because the violence and the terrorism and the difficulties of life in the United States, where I live, are reaching a critical point. As a result of my sadness and grief and anger, I found myself thinking and wondering, what can I do? How can I help? Talking about shadows made sense as something I could offer.
Inviting Fear to Talk with Me
It is easy to get caught in the negative cycle of describing and feeling a difficult problem you have. With my diabetes, I spent years telling stories of how hopeless it was for me to avoid low blood sugars when exercising. I described, and over-described how awful it was to witness my father, who had … Read more
Tour de Cure Twin Cities 2016: Cycling, Walking & Smiling to #STOPDIABETES
Saturday, June 4th was intended to be the day that I rode my bike 100 miles alongside a few of my friends at the Tour de Cure Twin Cities. I’d trained for 16 weeks and then, when I was out walking my dog as I explained in my last blog; I fell and broke my ankle. No bike ride for me on June 4th, not with my leg in the air boot.
Broken Bones, Diabetes and Cycling
On Monday, May 16th I was walking my dear dog Echo. We were on a perfectly flat sidewalk. The weather was perfect. Echo was not pulling. I was wearing new boots that I had never walked very far in before. These boots have rubber soles. I think what happened is the rubber caught on the cement of the sidewalk, and caused me to trip and wobble. So badly, I fell hard to my left. As I fell, I relaxed as I learned years ago from my cycling coach. Nonetheless, as I hit the ground I heard a very loud snap.
Tapping My Way Out of Fear Into Success
I’ve discovered that I have deep-seated fears and anxiety about money. Maybe you can relate. In fact, blogging about this fear causes anxiety and shame to rear up. I learned early that talking (or writing publicly) about money just wasn’t a good idea. In fact, no wise person would ever do that.
Injury, Sports Interruption and Recovery. Diabetes & all.
No doubt about it, if you get an injury and your movement and mobility are hampered, it sucks. Big time. Has it ever happened to you? Much to my chagrin, I’ve suffered a few injuries in recent years that have impacted my endurance sport abilities. Injury Number 1: my right shoulder. Initially it was suspected … Read more
Get Lucky 7K Run with Friends
I’m more than half Irish, as my father and mother are both more than half Irish. Yup, I’ve had lots of relatives long past take a big boat across the ocean and make their way to the new land of America. I’ve never yet traveled back to the island where they all came from, but … Read more