“It makes my heart sing to see how such simple acts of care can bring so much joy to others,” my friend, Linda, said as she was telling me about her community organization’s work to grant wishes to low income seniors. “What are some of the fun wishes you’ve granted?” I asked. “There was a
Maybe it was my birthday turning the calendar toward another year of life. Perhaps it was my father-in-law’s (and thus our family’s) journey through COVID. Likely it was the backdrop of work I’ve been doing to help the helpers through the pandemic, mass disasters, and other situations that are leaving a whole lot of people
In a recent NY Times Opinion titled, “The Losses We Share”, Meghan Markle candidly shares how she struggled to see how she would heal after experiencing a miscarriage. Weaving this loss with other life experiences, she came to an understanding that our collective path to healing begins by asking each other, “Are you OK?” and
Years ago, I interviewed Marci Shimoff upon the release of her book Happy for No Reason. Her story about interviewing a woman named CJ for her book has stayed with me ever since. CJ had been very depressed for 15 years. She’d had lupus, an autoimmune disorder. She was in a great deal of pain
A few months ago, I received an email from Christa Nelson, owner of Epiphany, a local public relations and marketing firm. In honor of her upcoming 50th birthday, she decided to dedicate 50 weeks to giving back and acts of kindness. She was looking to highlight the work of some of her favorite nonprofit organizations
Given that last year was focused on cancer recovery, I didn’t write my annual highlights blog. Early Thanksgiving morning, I woke up inspired to look through photos from this past year with gratitude. Again and again, my eyes were drawn to moments that embodied one of my favorite quotes: “Work is love made visible.” ~Kahlil
What does an organization or community look like that creates multiple layers of safety nets so that no life falls through… and all can thrive? If you are familiar with my work, you are likely aware of the THRIVE Resilience Model™ I developed to answer this question and help resilience builders put the research into
Of all of the rich discussions at the National Summit on School Safety where I recently presented, it became apparent that there is a strong need for a broader discussion about how despite best intentions, we are undermining resilience with reactive crisis preparedness efforts. Building resilience is a process of increasing protective factors and decreasing
This is an important day for me. My first thought upon waking up: one year as a cancer survivor. One year ago, I underwent surgery as part of treatment to remove three malignant tumors. My second thought: more accurately, one year cancer free. My cancer survivor journey actually started on the same day in February
As part of the Resilience First Aid project, a 6-month pilot I developed for the National Resilience Institute to build community resiliency and better prepare for mass disruptions, we recently held a trauma and resilience training with my UK colleague, Lisa Cherry. At a Q&A session with Lisa, me and another resiliency specialist, one participant