The Breathing Spaces Blog

Make Lists to Help Find Clarity

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Find Clarity

These lists can be anything from doing laundry to composing a financial plan for yourself and will elevate the mind chatter and help alleviate missing things. I know some people who create a list with hours/times added to it. Personally, that’s a bit restrictive because there are times during my day that I know I need to get a shopping list together and balance my financial record, but my energy level may be drained that day. So, for me, having a general to-do list within a week highlighting deadlines is a more effective solution.

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Laughter through Tears

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happy flowers

Humor has long been my personal “coping mechanism,” and I often tell people that sarcasm is my second language, but I come by this honestly. Everyone in my family, both blood and chosen, responds with witty comebacks or painful puns, or just bad jokes whenever things are getting tense. Even my husband knows that the best way to shake me out of a gloomy mood is to make me laugh, and I do the same for him.

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Playing Games

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Playing Games

Instantly I’m ten years old, sitting on the ancient beige chintz sofa in my grandparents’ den, racing with my grandfather to see which of us could answer first, while my grandmother made comments about which of us should know the answer. I didn’t know, then, that their daily viewing of this television show was part of my grandmother’s attempt to ensure that my grandfather’s brain remained stimulated and active.

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Walking the Harbor

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At the last pier, there was a bench where we would sit and overlook the boat launch. Sometimes, we’d see people carefully backing their cars toward the water, guiding the boat trailer until there was enough draft to release the vessel, and sometimes we saw the process in reverse, as folks pulled their craft out and got them hitched up on the tow trailer again.

As a child, my first fascination was the boats, and that wonderful shippy-tarry scent that you only have in marinas. As I grew up, I appreciated walking the harbor for the opportunity to spend time with my grandparents outside of their house, away from the endless offerings of sweets and coffee. I had glimpses of them as they had been when they were young and falling in love. I heard stories that never got told at the dining room table. I saw the tenderness in my grandfather’s calloused hand as he reached to help my grandmother navigate a step

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