Category: Holidays & Happenings - trish hermanson

Who Ya Gonna Fool on April 1?

3/31/2020

April Fool’s Day is upon us, and even in this serious Age of Coronavirus, I’m on the alert for what might happen. In the past, I’ve found my underwear drawer empty or pine cones in my bed.    That’s nothing compared to a BBC broadcast showing Swiss farmers harvesting fresh-grown spaghetti from trees. People called in asking where they could buy these plants.
     Who can believe anything anymore? Cats playing piano - I believe that. A politician apologizing - I don’t believe that.
      One thing you can believe is that humor is healthy. Gelotology, the study of laughter, has determined that a guffaw is good medicine. So here’s my April Fool’s Day blessing:
     May your pranks be painless, your laughter sublime. Your pleasure sweet, like a soft ringing chime. But thoughts escape me, I’ve run out of rhyme. So I’ll end this here 'cause it ain't worth a dime.

Help George - We're Desperate!

2/17/2020

Do you experience “outrage exhaustion” from politics these days? Sometimes I do. How different our bickering and backbiting are from George Washington’s approach. He was known to honor everyone, according to biographer Mason Locke Weems.
     How did the general and president develop such humility? Some trace it to his schooling as a teen when he hand copied 110 “Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour.” These axioms, first developed by French Jesuits, are enjoying a surge of popularity today during our fractious times because we desperately need them.
     Some are outdated - “Spit not in the Fire, nor…Set your Feet upon the Fire especially if there be meat before it.” But most are applicable. Ponder these:
     “Be not apt to relate news if you know not the truth thereof.” What a great maxim when considering whether to share a Facebook or Twitter post.
     “Speak not injurious Words neither in Jest nor Earnest.” What a challenge to speak only words that build up and don’t tear down.
     “Always Submit your Judgment to others with Modesty.” Am I willing to express my convictions with humility during this election season?
     Here’s my favorite: “Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.”
     Imagine that this “celestial fire” burned within us again. By George, we’d be as civil as Washington.
     All 110 of Washington’s rules are here. and a song that helps me shut my mouth when I should is here.

The Dark Side of St. Valentine's Day

2/9/2020

Valentine’s Day is one of the saddest times of the year. Why? Because the day is often a reminder of loss - of what once was or what never has been. It’s a crushing day for those who have suffered a romantic relationship loss - and who hasn’t?
     So it’s refreshing to see folks broaden the celebration into Pal-entine’s Day, a time to honor close friends through notes, gifts, and gatherings. We know how much our soul mates have made our lives better. This is a time to let them know.
     Here's my favorite buddy song to sing along with as you think about those special people in your life.
***
Photo from “Guidepost” with text added.

The Tragedy of Running from My Shadow

1/30/2020

I laughed my way through Bill Murray’s movie “Groundhog Day” as I watched it again in preparation for this year’s event on February 2. Murray plays Phil, a self-centered TV meteorologist, who dreads covering the same Groundhog Day ceremony every year where a woodchuck supposedly forecasts the weather. If the rodent sees his shadow, he scoots back into his hole, and we have six more weeks of winter.
     But just as the groundhog won’t face his shadow, Phil won’t face the shadows of his personality. He’s incapable of caring about anyone’s needs or feelings beyond himself, and he is destined to relive Groundhog Day, with all its monotony, every day for years. Only when he learns to care about others does the clock advance into a new day, and he’s free.
     I wonder how much of Phil is in me. Am I sometimes unwilling to face the shadow side of my personality? Do I destine myself to failure because of a pattern of self-centeredness? Or negativity? Or unforgiveness?
     Such habits defeat me until I face them, get out of myself, and embrace life’s sunshine, instead of running from it.
  Maybe we all have a bit of Phil in us. We see the shadow sides of our lives and run for cover. Wouldn’t it be better to acknowledge the darkness and turn toward the Light?

Revelations from Our Family Meetings

12/29/2019

The death of our pet mouse Critter ranked as one of the worst events of the year, I learned at an annual family meeting. And getting flannel sheets was one of the best events.
     I’d never have known these without our annual family gathering, a practice we’ve followed for more than a quarter century to kick off the New Year. My husband Duane brought home this idea, and these meetings became a safe place to reveal our deepest feelings because everyone had a voice. We even moved after our discussion one year because four of us said that’s what we wanted.
     Our girls have flown from the nest and are raising their own families now, but Duane and I still brew tea and sit down together for this conversation. We look back - sometimes in grief and sometimes in gratitude - and we look forward with prayerful expectation. This is what we each consider prior to sharing:
1. Surprises in 2019 were:
2. The best things that happened to me and our family this past year were:
3. Some of the hard things in 2019 were:
4. This past year I learned or grew in:
5. This year I hope to grow in the following areas: Physically, Spiritually, Relationships, Education
6. For vacation I’d like our family to:
7. I’d like our family to spend money on:
     It’s amazing as I look through notes from past years. Some of our toughest situations simply evaporated. Some had to be worked through. And some dreams did come true.
  I wish you the best as you ponder your past and plan for your future. The best to you this New Year.