Welcome to Conversation With Katherine and my Podcast Meaning of Words
I know, I know, you may think that I am writing about the Meaning of Life.  Nope, I am actually writing about the Meaning of Words.  I am struck by how often we use words and how the meaning of those words is so individual that it almost guarantees communication problems.

Let me give you an example..in my line of work there is a phrase "best interest of the child" now this phrase is used and misused frequently.  There is no clear definition of what is "best interest of the child".  If you were to line up five people each person would have a different meaning for those words.  So, everyone waves their banner and states they have the "best interest of the child" in mind.  Now my position is I can not take a look into the future and know for certain that the decision I make is the perfect decision or even the right decision.

When you have loss someone that you love, time appears to stand still.  The world moves at a slower pace and the pain is great.  What happens when it is not your grief that you have to manage?  Time moves at its normal pace but for the person in your life there is a disconnect.  Managing your own personal grief is jut that, it's personal.  Managing how you handle someone's else grief is more difficult.

Grief changes a person. The person that you know has changed and how do you cope with this new person.  They can be moody, difficult, curt, weepy, and on some days just plain old rude.  It is difficult dealing with this individual because you can't look inside of them and fix their pain.  Nor can you know how long their grief will last.  When you are in normal time someone else's grief can seem like a long time.  For the person who is grieving time is not what is important. there is no magic time for grief, it can take months and sometimes years for a person to manage their grief.

Welcome to Conversation With Katherine and my Podcast Life is Fluid
As I go about my life change always seems to be ever present.  Relationships change evolve or devolve as the circumstances unfold.  Change and the fluid nature of life appears to be the one constant that is forever in my life.

When I was in my spring season time and change did not seem to happen very quickly.  Everything seem to move at a slower pace.  My impatient nature was constantly being challenged to slow down when I wanted everything to hurry up.  I did not understand that life was fluid and anything that I thought would be a forever moment really was one of life's illusions.

This post was written in May, 2011 when I was having a difficult time Finding The Joy in my Life.  Recently I have been trying to find the Joy in my life.  It feels like it is hiding from me or that I need a secret code to discover the joy.  Joy is elusive on a good day.  String a few bad days together and Joy is impossible to find.  So, I am on a mission. This is Mother's Day and it should be a joyous day.  For some it will be the celebration that they had hoped for in their heart.  For others it will be just another day of disappointment and failed expectations.

So what keeps me from finding my joy. The answer to that question is simple....Me.  I keep me from finding the Joy that is waiting for me.  I want to make a distinction from Joy and Pleasure.  I think that Joy is something deeper than Pleasure.   They do have some things in common.  They can both be transitory.  So what would my life look like if I could find the Joy in life.

If asked, most people could describe greatness.  It may be an event, skill, heroic moment or person, a self-sacrificing moment.  Many people think of public figures as having greatness.  There is greatness all around our lives both public and private.

The parent that gets up to go to a job that they hate to provide and care for their family has greatness.  That parent is willing to sacrifice for those that they love.  The adolescent that works in a fast food restaurant rather than become a street drug dealer looking for the easy dollar has greatness.  The child that studies in school and gets good grades in spite of being teased by their peers is great.  The person that has a terminal illness that makes the choice to live life until they die rather than waiting for death.  The person that has an emotional hit to their gut that knocks them to their knees that finds the heart to get up.  

This is my children's book, Adventures of Tiger and Her Friends, Embracing Differences to help parents and children have a positive dialog about differences.  Children are aware of differences in each other and this book facilitates the positive discussion of racial , social, physical, and family differences.  

Tiger discovers how her mixed heritage allows her to feel strong and her difference can be fun because she is loved.  Having a positive exploration about difference can help your child understand the benefits of being different.  Understanding that sometimes being different can hurt or be  scary gives a chance to have a positive dialog about kindness.  

The book is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble.

I have been having solitary adventures since, November, 2018.  the majority of those adventures have involved me traveling to new places.  I went to Savannah, Georgia November, 2018, this was my very first solidarity adventure.  I followed that adventure with a trip to New Orleans, December 2018, Iceland, February, 2019, Austin, Texas, March, 2019, Bali, April, 2019 and Cuba, May 2019.  As you can see, I was trying to make sure that I accumulated plenty of air miles.

These adventures have taught me a lot about myself.  I have a travel companion that I take on my adventures her name is Magic. Now, Magic is my externalize name that I have given for an aspect of myself.  Before you start thinking of multiple personality, it is my belief that we as humans have different aspects of ourselves.  We can be kind, not kind, good, not good as humans we don't operate as singular entities.   These different aspects allow us to engage in different ways under different circumstances.  

Welcome to Conversation With Katherine and my podcast Season of Living/Fall

In our fall season we are all grown up.  The decision that we have made are done and we are either at a point of going forward or possibly making a course correction.  In my fall season, my daughter was a teenager and my perfect corporate job was falling apart.

In the corporate culture, at that time, the corporation was considered to be a family.  It was not uncommon for multi-generations to work at the company.  Things started to shift and the corporate family dissolved.  The company stopped being family and became everyone for themselves.  New executives were hired, I called them the beast masters who were designed to shake up the company, get rid of dead weight and prepare the company for sale.

Welcome to Conversation with Katherine and my podcast Season of Living/Winter

Winter is our time to make peace.  Peace with ourselves and the decisions that we have made in life.  Peace with others.  Peace with the success or failures that we have had in life.  Winter is a confirmation season.  We know where our paths have taken us and what we have achieved.  

In our winter years there are fewer years ahead, than we have behind us.  The years go quickly.  It can be a time of reflection and a time when your personal mortality and those that you love can become ever present issues.  Mortality can be an issue in any life season but in your winter season you will face the mortality of those that have accompanied you on your journey.

My being a social worker is my second major business life.  My first major business life was the pursuit of money.  I have a secret that I would like to share.  Making money is fun.  Anyone that tells you that it is not fun never made any money.  But let me regress and tell you how I started on that path.

I was newly divorced with a young child to raise.  My first plan which was to marry, live well, have a couple of children didn't work.  Like many women I was looking for my Prince Charming who would take care of me and we would live happily ever after.

After all isn't that what all of the Disney movies say will happen?  Well it didn't.  I found myself working in not the most fun job for a major corporation.