At the end of a meandering trail through forest and scrub, I can’t help but smile when Passion comes into view, especially when this apple tree is blossoming. My breath deepens and slows. I didn’t even realize I was barely breathing until now. Instantly, I feel transported to another time with a p…

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Choose to be authentically you. You do not need to ask permission of the world, or anyone in it, to be the most genuine version of you, or to express all of the greatness within you. Indeed, deferring to others’ opinions of your kindness, creativity, intelligence, attractiveness, or some other att…

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The apple tree I named The Embrace, depicted in the photo above, was one of the most challenging trees to extract from the seemingly endless prickly ash and buckthorns surrounding it. Like guards surrounding a treasure, these invasive barbed gatekeepers seemed impossible to navigate and often le…

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In large families, it may be easy to overlook the true significance of each person’s contribution. Such is the case with my Uncle Bill. He often took a backseat, which was typically a piano bench, to those bolder family members. My grandparents were larger than life, the kind of people who were …

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It’s fascinating how music can transform us to a different place or another time. Just hearing the intense music and the haunting lyrics of a song today transported me into the darkness of another time—nighttime, sitting and sobbing in my car, contemplating the ongoing fear and trauma I had suffered…

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