Susan Gabriel's Blog, page 5
May 18, 2020
Resilience Dispatch – May 18th – Day 51
Resilience means that we rest when we need to. Women especially are prone to taking care of everybody else before we take care of ourselves. Whenever we try to talk ourselves out of this crucial element of self-care, we are misguided. Take the time. Rest.
I am feeling under the weather, my friends, and I am going to...
May 15, 2020
Resilience Dispatch – May 15th – Day 50
One of the things I have learned in the last eight weeks is that it is wicked hard not to overeat during a pandemic. Especially if you tend to be an emotional eater and turn to certain foods for comfort when stressed.
In the early days, when we first started sheltering in place, I was laughingly calling this the pancake...
May 13, 2020
Resilience Dispatch – May 13th – Day 49
This poem feels about as healing as one of Old Sally’s potions in Temple Secrets. Or one of Aunt Sadie’s elixirs in The Secret Sense of Wildflower. See what you think.
The Cure for It All
by Julia Fehrenbacher
Go gently today, don’t hurry
or think about the next thing. Walk
with the quiet trees, can you...
May 11, 2020
Resilience Dispatch – May 11th – Day 48
Our world has been shaken up like a massive snow globe. Our emotions scatter around us like confetti. These emotions aren’t bad, wrong, or stupid. They are normal reactions to when the world flips us upside down. We may try to stop these feelings by staying busy, overeating, and watching nonstop screens. But they are still...
May 8, 2020
Resilience Dispatch – May 8th – Day 47
Happy Mother’s Day! I imagine this weekend may be a hard one for some people. Even though a lot of states are opening up, not everyone will get to celebrate with the moms they love. Do you have children you won’t get to see because of this pandemic? Or maybe you have a mom you will miss.
Feel free to tell us about...
May 6, 2020
Resilience Dispatch – May 6th – Day 46
Right about now, many of us are realizing that the stay-at-home orders may go away, but that doesn’t mean that the Covid-19 virus has run its course and the world is safe again. I recently heard an expert on the news say that we are only starting the second inning of a 9 inning Covid ballgame. (Insert scream!)
...
May 4, 2020
Resilience Dispatch – May 4th – Day 45
BYOT!? A few weeks ago I shared with you how much I miss my afternoon tea dates with friends during this pandemic. I usually write from around 9:30 in the morning until 1, so for years having a cup of tea or coffee with a friend at 2 o’clock on select days through the week has been a lovely ritual for me.
It’s not...
May 1, 2020
Resilience Dispatch – May 1st- Day 44
Rest builds resilience. Without proper rest we slowly lose our vitality. Rest not only involves sleeping well, which is vitally important, but it also means having enough time to sit with our lives and process our thoughts and feelings.
Resting requires finding our balance between activity—doing—and being quiet...
April 30, 2020
Resilience Dispatch – April 30th – Day 43
Now is the time for self-compassion. We’re not imagining things. It really is an unprecedented and stressful time. It’s okay to feel crappy some days. It’s okay to be distracted and unable to focus. It’s okay to feel angry and frustrated. It’s also okay to laugh and enjoy slowing down.
We’re all in new...
April 29, 2020
Resilience Dispatch – April 29th – Day 42
The Temple Secrets Series—Temple Secrets and the sequel, Gullah Secrets—is a favorite among readers. Anticipating requests for a third book, I announced in the back of Gullah Secrets that it would be the final book of this series. This did not, however, stop readers from asking and imploring for another book. This is a...
