It’s New Year’s Day - a time to celebrate a turn toward the new year ahead.  This morning, in the deep freeze of the New England winter, I thankfully warm myself by my wood stove, with my cup of hot coffee in hand, I turn toward the beauty of the ice glistening in the trees outside my window and pause in the warmth I sense within.  The sun dazzling my eyes with the promise of longer warmer days to come beckons me to move toward the changes enfolding in my world.  This simple step (or maybe not so simple if you’re not in the habit) of pausing to notice those trees, their beauty, and the feeling of warmth I felt in that moment gave me the peace of mind to turn toward the changes to come.

Have you ever experienced the sanity and peace that comes from time spent in nature?  Have you noticed?  Give it a try.

For me, summertime is the time of year when I can’t help but notice the stress-relief found in the world outdoors.  From the bright blue sky, the aroma of the rose bush in bloom, the coolness of the shady green leaves in the trees, to the hummingbird’s dance of joy at my full feeder.  These things make me pause and smile at nature’s gifts that calm my mind.

We live in a world with so many stressors.  Work, kids, finances, traffic, the obligations list is long.  Seems like we’ve been given summertime, with all it’s vibrance, to grab our attention and take pause.  

Try it.  

Take a few minutes in a beautiful outdoor space and just notice. . .

What harm is a little “white lie”?  After all, if the truth be told she’d only get hurt.  And, if he knew he’d be angry. . . and I don’t want that.

In my therapy office, I meet two types of people; those with the desire to hold on and those with the desire to let go. Those who fear change and those who crave it. Often, it’s life’s big transitions that land clients in my office. I think that’s because transitions test our abilities to balance both holding on and letting go. Really, we can’t be either one of these two types of people because life requires we be both. As the late psychologist Henry Havelock Ellis said “All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.”

Giuliana Rancic, E! News host and cancer survivor, stirred up controversy last week with her statement to US Weekly that she and husband Bill Rancic, reality TV star and first Trump “Apprentice” hired, “put our marriage first and our child second.”

"What's Love Got To Do With It?" a song made popular by Tina Turner about the confusion and pain in this “second hand emotion;” love.  In her sultry voice she sang “it’s physical” and “logical” and that we “must try to ignore that it means more than that”. (ready to break into the chorus?)  Wait. . . because Tina was only partially right.