The Resolute Woman

Author: resolutewoman

  • Food and cheer

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    resolutewoman
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    “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier place,” J.R.R. Tolkien once said.

  • Waking dreamers

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    Edward Wilson, the biologist, explained why we sometimes feel stressed. “Humanity today,” Wilson said, “is like a waking dreamer, caught between the fantasies of sleep and the chaos of the real world. The mind seeks but cannot find the precise place and hour. We have created a Star Wars civilization, with Stone Age emotions, medieval…

  • Go easy, and be filled with light

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    resolutewoman
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    The poet Mary Oliver speaks to me when I feel stressed. Here are lines from her poem “When I Am Among the Trees.” Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, “Stay awhile.” The light flows from their branches. And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say, “and you, too, have come…

  • Make friends a priority

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    Lydia Denworth, author of Friendship: The Evolution, Biology and Exraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond, says that writing her book made her “prioritize” her friends more. “The message is not that I want people to think of friendship as another chore,” she explains. “I am hoping that people feel this is giving them permission to…

  • Friends and family

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    resolutewoman
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    I have friends that I consider family. That’s wonderful, says Lydia Denworth, author of Friendship: The Evolution, Biology and Exraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond. “In this new science and in fact the way we live our lives, those lines are blurred. I think of friendship now as a template for all your relationships….It makes…

  • Survival of the friendliest

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    Friends are good for your health, says Lydia Denworth, author of Friendship: The Evolution, Biology and Exraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond. Having friends can improve the health of your cardiovascular system, your immune system and your brain. “People think all the time about competition and survival of the fittest, but really it’s survival of…

  • The shelter of a friend

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    I talked to three friends on the phone last night–Lynn, my best friend in high school. Barbara, another friend since high school. And, Marjorie, who worked with me more than 30 years ago, before my daughter was born. After our conversations, I felt better! I was reminded of a quote from Emily Dickinson, “I felt…

  • Illusions

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    resolutewoman
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    “If we can somehow rid ourselves of illusions. The illusion that we are greater or lesser than we are. The illusion that we’re going to save the world. There are a lot of illusions that people walk around with,” Mr. Rogers once said. It seems as if I keep running into Mr. Rogers wherever I…

  • Every moment

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    resolutewoman
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    It seems as if I keep running into Mr. Rogers wherever I go. Recently I found him and more lovely quotes in an article by Jeanne Marie Lakas in The New York Times Magazine. “I would love to be present in every moment I have,” Mr. Rogers once said. –Joy

  • Reminders of friends and family

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    resolutewoman
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    On my desk I have a coaster that my friend Ranna gave me. On the bookshelves behind my desk I have an owl that my friend Eva made for me and some of the artwork that my children made years ago. Jeanne Marie Lakas in an article in The New York Times Magazine shares a…