Published inILLUMINATION-Curated·May 27How Exploring American History Can Increase Children’s Compassion and UnderstandingIt’s Memorial Day Weekend — Share the Stories America the beautiful along with all the freedoms it offers us. These freedoms were the results of others before us, those who lost their lives while defending our country. …Memorial Day3 min readMemorial Day3 min read
Published inILLUMINATION-Curated·Apr 26How Does Social Media Hurt the Self-Image of Both the Young and the Old?Young and old, healthy people generally like to look good. There are many ways to look and feel good, some make sense, and some maybe not. We are constantly getting blasted with ways to look better. Our society has a way of trying to defeat the inevitable. There are blemish…Parenting3 min readParenting3 min read
Published inILLUMINATION-Curated·Jun 5, 2022Why Not Assume It’s a Toxic Weed in Your Compassionate Garden of LifeWeed Your Garden Day is June 13 — Weed? What is a weed? Just for clarification, we are not talking only about the plant that has many names such as cannabis, marijuana pot, grass, Mary Jane, bud, ganga, herb, grass, dope, hash, trees, hemp, and “weed.” …Inclusion3 min readInclusion3 min read
Published inILLUMINATION-Curated·May 22, 2022Why Intergenerational Connections Strengthens CompassionJune 1 is Intergenerational Day Have you noticed interactions between young children and older people? Some interactions are cute and sweet. Other interactions show fear and confusion. The way to get positive exchanges between the generations is to bring them together, let them intermingle and enjoy time with each other…Relationships7 min readRelationships7 min read
Published inILLUMINATION-Curated·Jun 22, 2021Why Acknowledge and Cherish the Seasons of LifePreserving the Memories — It’s time to save those memories. The practice of preserving and canning allows us to enjoy the harvest of our garden later. Likewise, there are memories and artifacts that we may want to save, preserve, and pass down to others regarding our compassionate child that we have cultivated. Late summer…Compassion6 min readCompassion6 min read
Published inILLUMINATION-Curated·Jun 14, 2021Why Appreciate the Flower and Fruit: Your Compassionate Child is in Full BloomLove and Kindness Took Root — Take the time to sit back and enjoy what you have harvested. Your hard work has brought great rewards. The cultivated plants are now producing beautiful blooms, fruit, and vegetables. Similarly, at this step, we have gone through the work, time, and pleasures in producing a compassionate, kind, loving and…Parenting4 min readParenting4 min read
Published inILLUMINATION-Curated·Jun 7, 2021How Waiting for your Garden to Grow is Like Waiting for Your Child to Bloom with CompassionBe Patient But Not Complacent Once your soil is ready, seeds planted, garden protected, and you’re in the routine of watering and weeding, it’s time to wait; wait for the garden to grow. …Parenting4 min readParenting4 min read
Published inILLUMINATION-Curated·Jun 2, 2021How Weeding Out the Bad in Your Child’s Life is Like Weeding a GardenRemove the bad to make room for the good Weeding is a critical part of gardening, just like it is in cultivating a compassionate child. Weeds in a garden choke out the plants, robbing them of needed nutrients to grow healthy and produce delicious and nutritious fruits, vegetables, or gorgeous…Parenting8 min readParenting8 min read
Published inILLUMINATION-Curated·May 24, 2021Why Protecting Your Plants from Harm is Like Protecting Your Child from DangerKeep Your Child from Harm But Don’t Shelter Them To Death — Plants and children need protecting to grow to full maturity. I drove through the town of Palisade located on the western slope of Colorado in April. Excitement filled me as I saw the beautiful, delicate, pink, peach blossoms in bloom in the canyon. A couple nights while I was there…Parenting4 min readParenting4 min read
Published inILLUMINATION-Curated·May 17, 2021Why Spacing Plants Out and Giving Your Child Space Creates Room for Healthy GrowthAllow your child to grow and embrace the person they are meant to be — If you have started plants from seeds, you know that you must thin the seedlings out to make room for them to grow and thrive. Similarly, a child needs room to grow into a healthy independent, self-sufficient person. Plants that are too tightly packed together, tend to choke each other…Compassion5 min readCompassion5 min read