83. Just Plain Oatmeal Two things recently intersected on vacation in Ocean City, New Jersey, The first thing was that I finished the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryon Mealer. In it I had read of the near starvation of many people...
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September 9, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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82. Coma and Other Conditions—Keep Talking In my years as a music therapist, I worked a number of times with persons in coma; or persons with brain conditions where they had little response; or with persons who appeared to be dying. Those experiences have convinced me that it’s...
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September 8, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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81. Control I wrote a song in 1976 that was supposed to be a reminder to me about control and it has been just that kind of reminder. It tells me that oftentimes control is an illusion anyway. It tells me that I can be more relaxed, more...
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September 7, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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80. Exploration of Normal Normal is a setting on a dryer. I heard that somewhere. And I need to write it again: Normal is a setting on a dryer. Sometimes I get to questioning myself and wondering about what I do. I get to thinking: Is this normal?...
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September 6, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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79. How My Brain Works I have written now for many years and I’ve discovered something that I think is true about how brains work, or at least how my brain works. When I have a deadline, especially one with a given theme, I look it up several...
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September 5, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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78. A Poem On Pronouns I have a college friend from Butler University in the 1950’s and her name is Myra Britton. Through the years we have stayed in touch, she and I and her husband, Don. The three of us saw each other in July of 2009...
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September 4, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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77. Story of “My Words” A number of years ago, I worked with a pastor where mid-way through the week I would ask him what he was preaching about. He would give me a scripture and a general direction on where he was going. And I would create...
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September 3, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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76. Lighten Up There is an Irish proverb which says “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” I believe that—plus the admonition to lighten up, but I have a hard time implementing both. I remember once driving back from Boston...
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September 2, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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75. Read the Psalms and Write I did a workshop once with Kathleen Norris, and have subsequently read a number of her books—Dakota: A Spiritual Geography; The Cloister Walk—and others, and in these books and in person she talked about taking retreats in a Benedictine abbey and finding...
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September 1, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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74. I Love Your Necklace I can’t remember who taught me this simple concept—when you get a compliment, accept it graciously. You know the times when someone says, “Oh, I love your necklace,” and you’re a little embarrassed at the compliment so you say, “Oh it’s nothing.” In...
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August 31, 2012 Ann
Things I've Learned
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