Advice to Myself at the Start of 2023
Written in response to a writing prompt from the always amazing Jena Schwartz. Look out the window. Get to know the river’s waves and the flow, the barges and debris that float by. Notice how it curves, snaking to the east. Observe the birds gliding by. Hawks and vultures, crows, [...]
Obituary Writing Brings Healing
Growing up, I never thought of obituary writing as healing. They were terse blocks of text that my parents perused each morning over coffee. Their purpose was to announce the death and share funeral arrangements. In my journalism training, I learned that junior reporters were often assigned advance obit writing [...]
EVENT: The Healing Power of Stories
Virtual Book Discussion Series for Adults Bereaved in Childhood Adults who experienced loss during childhood have few places to tell our stories, remember our loved ones, and connect with others. I want to change that! In memory of my mom - Mary Lee Wimberg Morse, 1933-1970 Though [...]
Healthy Grieving Over Time on Television
Remarkably, grief and loss claimed the television spotlight as NCIS episode 17 of season 19 ("Starting Over") models healthy grieving over time. The show has portrayed loss realistically before in the immediate wake of traumatic events. Also, the lead character of Jethro Gibbs was driven by grief to a great [...]
When Book Content Triggers Old Emotions
Some aspiring readers of my memoir on early mother loss and long-term grieving have expressed to me that, although they very much want to read the book, they fear the emotions it might stir up from their own past losses or trauma. I’ve had this experience myself, so I reached [...]
Increase Calm in Your Life (and Enjoy It!)
I’ve always loved history, so over time my husband and I have evolved the habit of periodic “field trips” to places of interest. Our recent foray to ancient earthworks here in Ohio taught me as much about how to increase calm in my life as it did about people of [...]
Healing Presence at the Food Pantry
Photo by Christian Fregnan on Unsplash Desks shoved aside in the second-floor classroom created open space for three pairs of wooden chairs facing each other. They comprised separate Healing Touch stations, with a seat each for the healer and the client. Peace prevailed despite the bustle of the [...]
How Do Virtual Healing Sessions Work?
Healing Touch practitioners have always offered virtual healing sessions while in a separate physical space from the client, but Covid-19 brought a new focus on this approach. For example, some clients prefer virtual sessions because of underlying health risks for the virus. Virtual healing sessions unfold much the same as [...]
What Does Science Say About Energy and Healing?
The science of energy healing has several facets. To start, quantum physics tells us that all matter is a bundle of energy that emits a surrounding field, even human beings. It might surprise you that familiar medical devices already use energy. For example, magnetic resonance imagery (MRI), computerized tomography (CT) [...]
Grappling with Body Image
Akagera Nat'l Park Recently I spent 10 wonderful days in Rwanda with my 22-year-old daughter. She studied there for a semester during college, and this trip was a chance to re-trace her steps and introduce me to the people and places she fell in love with two years [...]
Nurturing Seeds of Self-Care
Its always fun when several interests converge in a single project. I enjoyed that experience writing an article for Energy magazine about Vitality Cincinnati, an innovative enterprise launched by a group of folks led by our friend Brian Shircliff. Vitality makes Healing Touch and yoga and other self-care approaches available [...]