In Praise of the Words of Others

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Today I give thanks for my amazing WordPress friends.  Every day my Reader fills up with inspiration, education, curiosity, and connection.

So today, I will share some of these treasures!

I already reblogged Donna Cameron’s post on when it is nobler to sacrifice honesty for kindness, but here it is again.

Maria Holm has written a heartfelt letter to an impetuous young woman on the real search for true love.

Rachel Griffin, an artistic force of nature, writes powerfully once again to give voice to people with mental illness, and remove once and for all the stigma and shame around them.  You go, Rachel!

Emily Heath wrote a powerful post, the first I had read about Starbucks’ red cups.  It’s still the best one I’ve read yet, and was picked up by Huff Post.

Benjamin Studebaker, a gifted political scientist, gives us the perfect reframe of feminism, so we can all move forward using the word as a synonym for gender equality.

Finally, Melissa recently wrote a moving piece on the tenacity of nature, despite the destruction of humans.

I hope you enjoy these articles and authors as much as I do.  It’s a privilege and a joy to count myself among such inspired and inspiring people.  Thank you, all!

Reconciliation Is For Kids

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November Gratitude Shorts, Day 11

“Mama, I like how your mood gets better when you listen to music .”

“You’re always telling us to eat less sugar, and you’re eating ice cream and cake.”

Thank God for my kids who call me out and keep me honest. They don’t do it to embarrass me or make me feel bad about myself. Their goal is not to shame me. They simply make observations of my behavior and its inconsistencies with my rhetoric. They are curious, and seek reconciliation. 

Earlier today I reblogged Donna Cameron’s excellent post on the judgement required to determine when naked honesty is not always the best policy. I think talking about this stuff out loud, especially with our kids, is important. We need to be clear about our guiding life principles, and hold them up. We also need to practice flexibility and discretion.  It’s not always easy, and we must keep trying. 

I counsel people all day about the virtues of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. And they would find me eating ice cream and cookies more often than I’d like to admit. I work on it every day just like everybody else. I need my own advice as much as the next person. 

I think it’d be nice if we adults approached one another’s inconsistencies like children do, from a place of curiosity, non-judgement, and love. 

I’m just sayin’ … honesty isn’t always kind

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Friends, please read this post by Donna Cameron, who writes A Year of Living Kindly. She reconciles honesty with kindness in those moments of apparent conflict, and shows us how to navigate it with simple tools that apply in any relationship, anywhere, anytime. Thank you, Donna!

Donna Cameron's avatarA Year of Living Kindly

“Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.” (Robert Brault)

Attribution: Donna Cameron“I’m just saying this for your own good.”

“Don’t be so thin-skinned. I’m just telling it like it is.”

“Hey, I call it like I see it.”

“Jeesh, you’re so touchy!”

These phrases are often used to justify saying hurtful things. Sometimes the speaker may really believe that the listener needs to hear his unvarnished opinion about the poor sap’s looks, abilities, opinions, or prospects.

Speaking on behalf of poor saps everywhere, we don’t. We don’t need someone to tell us all the things that are wrong with us or all the things we don’t do as well as we should. That’s what that persistent little voice in our own head does—and it doesn’t need any help.

There are…

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