I loved this Karen & something that has been on my mind this past week as my grandboys started pre-K. It’s been really tough on the youngest one & that makes it tough on mama & I keep telling her it will get better. We all just have to adapt to this new season of life & he’s learning to be resilient at the tender age of 3 (4 next week).
I work on my own resilience by placing one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward at my own pace, stopping frequently to observe the natural, magical world.
Aww, yes. Being a mom of littles can be so heartbreaking sometimes - but then it's so rewarding when you see them start to find their way. Finding the balance of letting them learn they are resilient and emotionally supporting them is such a challenge, or so it looks like to me as someone who never had kids of her own.
Beautiful, Karen. Let's hope the merganser does well. "This resiliency is in my DNA, I just need to remind myself of it." This feels true to me. We sometimes unlearn the strengths we had at an earlier stage in life. But we can relearn them.
It’s taken me a while to think about the question you raise. “What makes us resilient?” I covered it in my blog today and linked back to this lovely journal. The short answer is gratitude. And Karen, your photos and writing echo gratitude with every word and picture. Thank you!
This is the first article I've read from you, Karen. Thank you for the gentle dialogue, reflections, and lovely photos. I think the soft feather testing the water's surface tension as it floats is a perfect metaphor for mindful inquiries over resilience.
In my old workdays I used the word 'resilience' a lot, 18 relocations across 10 countries, a corporate ladder etc. There were learnings, evolutions, competency building, growing
These days, as a carer, mentor, and small business owner, my key word is agility. Perhaps agility is a form of resilience—the skill behind resilience? So that we can bounce back or bend, without breaking. After all rigid, hard lines break, they can't bend. (paraphrased from Susan David's work 'Emotional Agility)
Mmmm, I love this, thank you Victoria. I love that interpretation of the feather floating on water (which is one of my FAVORITE things to photograph as you might note from my little logo). I had that old work life too, very similar. My current one is different. I like the word "agile". Now i want to ponder that!
Thank you Sue! And oh, Zox are addicting because they are fun and they are so easy to give away! I've already given away 20+ of them and I just found them a month ago! They are wonderful to wear, just be warned before you check out the site, lol.
I already ordered one to be sure I'll wear it. But I had 8 in my basket and made myself take them out and test drive one. And yes, I already want to give them away as gifts. They are so cute!
Bwha ha ha - that's it! They are comfortable to wear, they are excellent marketers, and they come out with new ones every 2 weeks! There are definitely worse addictions!
Great questions from an illuminating perspective. Remembering that we are resilient and this living world is also resilient may be the biggest work we have to do in these times. Along with doing our best to live with our hearts outstretched.... Thank you, Karen.
That line is part of the nightly intention that I speak out loud just before going to sleep. I borrowed and modified it from "Good Morning America" by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Carpenter's original lyric is "dreaming with my heart outstretched as if it were my hand," and I changed it to "living with my heart outstretched...." It's been my intention for my life for almost two decades now. :)
It took several attempts to fully take in all you have said about resiliency. Being true to oneself, stepping back and looking at options, being patient with your outcome, breathing fully all along the way, forging ahead when it is called for . . .
Karen, very lovely words and pictures! Love the reflection on the picture of the merganser in the water - so pretty!! Great reflection on your theme, also. Thank you. XO
I hear you Karen. Life can knock us around at times. I recently saw a goose with a badly deformed leg, but as soon as it took to wing, it was as graceful as a goose in flight!
Thanks again for making my morning a little more beautiful.
I'm pretty big on having an alternate plan waiting in the wings. There really is no single path for any of us. We may have something in mind, but that is all that it is, there are always a gazillion other possibilities. We live in a country that provides almost too many alternatives at any moment. Learning to find one's happy balance has been a long lesson for me. Not too much, not too little, ahh just right. The ability to appreciate the true beauty of subtleties has improved things considerably. Which is part of why I always look forward to your posts Karen. 🌝
Thank you Sandy! I swear I typed a reply to this earlier but it's not here, so maybe I never hit post. Trusting that there are many alternate paths is definitely a part of resiliency. I am always trying to plan out all the alternatives - which is exhausting. And Goldilocks had it right all along!
I loved this Karen & something that has been on my mind this past week as my grandboys started pre-K. It’s been really tough on the youngest one & that makes it tough on mama & I keep telling her it will get better. We all just have to adapt to this new season of life & he’s learning to be resilient at the tender age of 3 (4 next week).
I work on my own resilience by placing one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward at my own pace, stopping frequently to observe the natural, magical world.
Thank you for this offering.
Aww, yes. Being a mom of littles can be so heartbreaking sometimes - but then it's so rewarding when you see them start to find their way. Finding the balance of letting them learn they are resilient and emotionally supporting them is such a challenge, or so it looks like to me as someone who never had kids of her own.
Beautiful, Karen. Let's hope the merganser does well. "This resiliency is in my DNA, I just need to remind myself of it." This feels true to me. We sometimes unlearn the strengths we had at an earlier stage in life. But we can relearn them.
Yes! And sometimes we re-learn them differently because we have different strengths now.
It’s taken me a while to think about the question you raise. “What makes us resilient?” I covered it in my blog today and linked back to this lovely journal. The short answer is gratitude. And Karen, your photos and writing echo gratitude with every word and picture. Thank you!
I love that you pondered it so deeply and I can't wait to go read your post! Thank you David.
This is the first article I've read from you, Karen. Thank you for the gentle dialogue, reflections, and lovely photos. I think the soft feather testing the water's surface tension as it floats is a perfect metaphor for mindful inquiries over resilience.
In my old workdays I used the word 'resilience' a lot, 18 relocations across 10 countries, a corporate ladder etc. There were learnings, evolutions, competency building, growing
These days, as a carer, mentor, and small business owner, my key word is agility. Perhaps agility is a form of resilience—the skill behind resilience? So that we can bounce back or bend, without breaking. After all rigid, hard lines break, they can't bend. (paraphrased from Susan David's work 'Emotional Agility)
Mmmm, I love this, thank you Victoria. I love that interpretation of the feather floating on water (which is one of my FAVORITE things to photograph as you might note from my little logo). I had that old work life too, very similar. My current one is different. I like the word "agile". Now i want to ponder that!
Thank you Victoria! You might enjoy this post about feathers: https://karendavis.substack.com/p/soft-as-a-feather?utm_source=publication-search
Love this, and love those bracelets!
Thank you Sue! And oh, Zox are addicting because they are fun and they are so easy to give away! I've already given away 20+ of them and I just found them a month ago! They are wonderful to wear, just be warned before you check out the site, lol.
I already ordered one to be sure I'll wear it. But I had 8 in my basket and made myself take them out and test drive one. And yes, I already want to give them away as gifts. They are so cute!
Bwha ha ha - that's it! They are comfortable to wear, they are excellent marketers, and they come out with new ones every 2 weeks! There are definitely worse addictions!
Love this, and love those bracelets.
Great questions from an illuminating perspective. Remembering that we are resilient and this living world is also resilient may be the biggest work we have to do in these times. Along with doing our best to live with our hearts outstretched.... Thank you, Karen.
I love that line so much Susan, "live with your heart outstretched". I need a bracelet that says that! Thank you Susan!
That line is part of the nightly intention that I speak out loud just before going to sleep. I borrowed and modified it from "Good Morning America" by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Carpenter's original lyric is "dreaming with my heart outstretched as if it were my hand," and I changed it to "living with my heart outstretched...." It's been my intention for my life for almost two decades now. :)
"don't you dare count me out!" i needed that bit of spunk. thank you for your resonant offering today.
Thank you!
A very well needed post. Thank you for your words and lovely pictures.
Thank you Os!
It took several attempts to fully take in all you have said about resiliency. Being true to oneself, stepping back and looking at options, being patient with your outcome, breathing fully all along the way, forging ahead when it is called for . . .
There's so much to resiliency. I think I could write about it for a year and not cover it all.
Karen, very lovely words and pictures! Love the reflection on the picture of the merganser in the water - so pretty!! Great reflection on your theme, also. Thank you. XO
Thank you Danielle
I hear you Karen. Life can knock us around at times. I recently saw a goose with a badly deformed leg, but as soon as it took to wing, it was as graceful as a goose in flight!
Thanks again for making my morning a little more beautiful.
Thank you Switter
I'm pretty big on having an alternate plan waiting in the wings. There really is no single path for any of us. We may have something in mind, but that is all that it is, there are always a gazillion other possibilities. We live in a country that provides almost too many alternatives at any moment. Learning to find one's happy balance has been a long lesson for me. Not too much, not too little, ahh just right. The ability to appreciate the true beauty of subtleties has improved things considerably. Which is part of why I always look forward to your posts Karen. 🌝
Thank you Sandy! I swear I typed a reply to this earlier but it's not here, so maybe I never hit post. Trusting that there are many alternate paths is definitely a part of resiliency. I am always trying to plan out all the alternatives - which is exhausting. And Goldilocks had it right all along!
❤️❤️❤️😍😍😍👍👍👍
Thank you Aunt Sharon!
Thank you for sharing your journey, and the beauty around you. Nature is teaching me to be resilient, as well. I appreciate the reminders.
Thank you Cathy
No need for resiliency if you're madly in love with the world
Lol, yeah but life will still knock you around sometimes I think. Maybe not? I don't know yet! Thank you Michael.