There are moments when being heard is not quite enough. Someone listened to our words. They may even be able to repeat them back to us. But somehow, what we meant did not arrive with them. Most of us know the frustration. “That’s not what I meant.” “You aren’t understanding me.” “That’s not why this… Continue reading

Love is one of the first words we learn for connection. We say it easily in some relationships. With difficulty in others. Sometimes we say it every day. Sometimes we assume it is understood. Sometimes we struggle to say it at all. And yet beneath so many of the things humans seek, connection, reassurance, closeness,… Continue reading

There is something deeply human about knowing where we belong in the world. Not only in the large sense. Sometimes in very small ways. A chair that is always ours. A place at the table. A side of the bed. A familiar path. A room where we know where everything is. A person we can… Continue reading

There are experiences in a human life that seem to ask for something more than being seen. We want someone to know that it happened. That we experienced it. That it mattered. That it changed us. Sometimes we need another person to stand beside the reality of our experience and not immediately explain it, minimize… Continue reading

There is a difference between being included and belonging. We can be invited into a room and still feel like a guest. We can be part of a family and wonder where we fit within it. We can live in a neighborhood for years without feeling connected to the people around us. We can sit… Continue reading

There is something deeply human about wanting to know that our existence makes a difference. Not that we are important in some grand or public way. Not that our name will be remembered by thousands of people. Not that we accomplished enough, earned enough, produced enough, or left behind something impressive enough to prove our… Continue reading

Memory is a curious thing. We remember moments we never intentionally tried to save. A smell can return us to a kitchen we have not stood in for decades. A song can bring back a person. A familiar phrase can arrive in someone else’s voice. We remember celebrations, mistakes, ordinary afternoons, people we loved, places… Continue reading