Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt

One of the things that helps me most to move forward is to look back, to see where I’ve been. Many times haven’t been easy, and many situations have not had clear answers or resolutions. But I “in the now” do not look so much at the details as the heart behind them. That is,…

When those skimpy hospital gowns make you shudder, and the only “social” appointments you have entail going to a doctor’s office or pharmacy, there’s nothing like a little “dress for success” action to help motivate you and inspire others! It doesn’t have to be fancy. No sequins or feathers or outrageous hemlines.  But simple selections…

Driving home one afternoon, I stopped at a stop sign to wait for traffic to clear before proceeding. Across the street and to my left, a woman with a sight dog (seeing eye dog) waited, too. The dog stood by the woman’s side until she began to move. Apparently (at least to my mind), she…

February’s focus on Valentine’s Day can be difficult for many people who are isolated because of illness and pain. For some, even if they are surrounded by family and friends, they can feel lonely because of their physical limitations, depression, or other constraints. And for those who are more physically isolated, or who haven’t had…

Usually at the beginning of the year, I try to de-accession some of my possessions. This year, I made a very serious effort at figuring out what I had that I no longer needed that someone else could benefit from. Unlike previous years, which involved looking through closets, this time my project involved much more.…

A couple of blog posts ago, I wrote about how those people who are ill, infirm, or otherwise in need of care are not burdens on society but rather, they teach others to care. They also allow others to act in a loving way. Truly, caring for and about someone with illness or other chronic…

Today is the perfect day to do something just for fun. Actually, every day is perfect, but why not start today? Just because you have a chronic illness or just because my knees buckle doesn’t mean we are unworthy of fun. What kind of fun? It doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, it doesn’t…

Every time I hear or read about the “burden” that the ill, frail, and disabled place upon society, I want to scream. The reference is usually made in terms of the financial cost, but it can also be couched as a “problem” for families with loved ones who require their attention, or the elderly who…

There’s a curious thing that happens to many writers when they reach the middle of a particular project: They want to turn back, start a new project, or otherwise abandon their current work-in-progress because it seems to be completely fogged over, unscrutable, or unmanageable.  In short, they feel they’ve had enough of work as it…

Just as surely as we allow our bad days to make for bad moods and thus make for more isolation than relationships, so, too, on our good days, our lifted spirits can be the spark that makes for the ultimate in happy contagion – a contagion of goodwill and humor to all. Far from being…

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