L.I.V.E. Life Inspired Views for Everyday

Send us Fan Mail I've been driving past a house that has slowly been disintegrating from abandonment. It holds stories that we can only imagine. But now it is gradually returning to the earth, which we will do one day as well. This gives me pause to place value. To think about the vibrant place it once was, loved, and full of life. A reminder for us to intentionally connect with, love, and va...

Send us Fan Mail Victor Borge was a Danish comedian and musician. One of the sketches that made him so popular was called "Phonetic Punctuation." In the sketch, he would read a passage from a book and make sound effects for the punctuation marks, such as periods, commas, and exclamation marks. My dad would imitate him to us as kids when we were young, and we would beg him to do it over a...

Send us Fan Mail What were your grandparents like when you were young? Did they seem old? If you are a grandparent now, do you feel like you acted or looked as "old" as your grandparents? It could be perception, but it's fun to think about. I've been studying a bit about trees and how they age. Sometimes they are mistaken for being worthless to the forest, but in any shape or f...

Send us Fan Mail When I think of the mistakes I have made in my life, some of them make me cringe. Thinking of things that I have said without knowing how they might affect another person are painful memories. Using those painful memories and instances to become more sensitive and thoughtful gives that pain purpose. I sometimes wonder why we learn the greatest lessons in life through painful mista...

Send us Fan Mail The two people in my world who mentored me on entertaining were my mother and my dear, dear friend, Pøtt Van Auken. As a pastor's wife from the 1950's-1990's, my mom often hosted open houses for the congregations to come to the parsonage. She also entertained many small groups and visiting speakers or international visitors. She taught me so much about preparing, be...

Send us Fan Mail The book,  What Do You Do with a Problem? by Kobi Yamada is an excellent narrative on tackling a problem as well as looking at problems with a new perspective. The story describes a little boy who discovers he has a problem. He doesn't know what to do with it. He finds that the more he worries about it the bigger it gets until, even though very afraid, he realizes that he has...

Send us Fan Mail There's an old Yiddish folk tale about a man named Jacob who lived in a small farmhouse with his wife, children, and mother-in-law. It often became terribly loud and chaotic. Jacob couldn't stand it anymore and went to the rabbi in the village for advice. The rabbi listened and asked Jacob, "Do you have any chickens and ducks?" Jacob replied, "Yes." T...

Send us Fan Mail When I was in high school, I worked at a pizza place called Ted's Pizza Palace in Menomonie, Wisconsin. The owner, Ted Hasapes, was from Greece. He always had advice on how to live life for us teenagers who worked for him. It was my first job other than baling hay for a farmer during the summer. Though Ted and his wife Tasula trained me in how to be a waiter in their restaura...

Send us Fan Mail Over the years, I have had a plethora of business or "calling cards." Several had just my business information. Some had my picture on it. The first one I had we made after I became a storyteller. It had a picture of a part of an arm with a hand coming from the sleeve because I always started my storytelling programs by pulling the stories from my sleeve. It was the way...

Send us Fan Mail In 1965, a singing group called,  The Byrds,  made an international hit singing the song,  To Everything There is a Season , also known as,  Turn, Turn, Turn, written by Pete Seeger. The song talks about there being a season for everything. I loved singing that song as a teenager while strumming my guitar. Each time I hear it now, I realize how many seasons I have lived through si...

Send us Fan Mail How often have you heard someone say, "If I hadn't gone through that, I would never have found..." It's in retrospect of having experienced a difficult or challenging time that we learn meaningful lessons in life, discoveries about ourselves, and receive doses of wisdom. These moments are hard and not welcomed at the time but can be sources of gratitude as we l...

Send us Fan Mail There is a story I have told for years entitled,  James to the Rescue , by Janet Noonan and Jacquelyn Calvert . It's about a queen who discovers a lovely ladybug in her garden. She instructs her servant, James, to go and find a friend for the ladybug, someone who is just like that lovely ladybug. First, he brings back an ant. The queen screams in dismay and insists he go out...

Send us Fan Mail Do you ever look at all the things in your life that would never have happened if you had not said yes? Maybe it's something big like marriage, starting a family, starting a certain career, or taking a job. Or maybe it's small like choosing a hairstyle, reading a certain book, or picking up a new hobby. Whatever the choice, the impact of that "yes" started a ri...

Send us Fan Mail Studies have found that “knowing who you are” helps develop an internal sense of self-esteem; strong commitment to doing well in school, work, or play; a strong sense of purpose in life; confidence in one’s ability to make a difference. These are hallmarks of the components that help us construct our identity. It's different for each person depending upon the experiences one...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Mary Pipher, wrote in her book, The Shelter of Each Other, "Real communities give people a sense that they are all in this place together. People who live together have something that is fragile and easily destroyed by a lack of civility. Everything you do matters. Relationships are not disposable....Over the internet, people can be deleted the second they become annoying...

Send us Fan Mail In one of my journals, I have a little conversation with someone on a ledge of some kind and a voice below that ledge. The one below calls up, "Jump." The reply, "I'm afraid." The voice below says, "Just jump." The reply, "What if I fall?" The voice below, "What if you fly!" I love that story of encouragement to "go to th...

Send us Fan Mail Years ago, I was buying a new phone. It was one of those portable landline phones. The young person checking me out told me that it had a warranty, but it didn't include the battery. Then he added, "But you could just bring it in and tell us it doesn't work, and no one would know." Instead of thanking him and moving on, I said, "Well, I teach young childre...

Send us Fan Mail Today's podcast suggests we try using creativity in combating times of anxiousness or worry. If you don't see yourself as a creative person, that's ok, because as a tool, creativity is simply doing something you enjoy. I found some quotes in  The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity , by Julia Cameron, to encourage you. "Trust that still, sm...

Send us Fan Mail When I ask a question, ask for permission, suggest an idea, etc., I love it when people respond with, "Possibly," or "That's a possibility." Those kinds of responses allow me to dance on the edge of hope. How do we embrace the concept of possibility in our own responses, in our attitudes. Is it a mindset that can be developed? I think so. And with good out...

Send us Fan Mail I love questions. I love asking questions, because you so often find something new that you did not know. Just think of the rabbit holes of thought you have heard when people start asking and responding to interesting questions. I have a book on my shelf entitled,  Power Questions,  by Sobel and Panas. It is filled with questions that can be used in so many kinds of situations. Re...

Send us Fan Mail Several years ago, my husband, Donnie, was gifted a family heirloom, a beautiful wall clock made in Germany and most likely dating back to the early 1900s. It was brought to America by his great-grandfather, Erhardt Kaiser. The clock chimes on the hour and the half hour. When it was mounted on our wall, and the first chimes rang, Donnie was in awe. He said the minute he heard the...

Send us Fan Mail Reflect for a moment and try to remember a time when someone gave you the benefit of the doubt. Trusted you. Can you remember how that act of grace lifted your spirits and reminded you that there truly is goodness in the world? Because our newsfeed is filled with quite the opposite today, it is important to be reminded that there are good, kind, and trusting people around us. The...

Send us Fan Mail I have often said that when I die and you read my many journals, you will find that they are filled mostly with quotes that I love. However, reading those many quotes, you will learn to know who I am because the quotes I have chosen reflect my values, ways I hope to live my life. Those quotes really have shaped me by giving me impetus to work at becoming them. They have influenced...

Send us Fan Mail Alfred Mosher Butts invented the game of Scrabble in 1938. He was an unemployed architect and decided to invent a game that could distract people from the bleak lives they were living during the Great Depression. Butts wanted to create a game that used both skill and chance, combining different elements of anagrams and crossword puzzles. Today's podcast also addresses skill a...

Send us Fan Mail Many years ago, I was with some colleagues in a van driving to summer school. The weather was ominous. The clouds were turning darker and greener. The wind suddenly came up and out my window, it was as if the flying dirt met the darkness of the sky. My friend, Dan, who was driving, shouted to the rest of us, "What should I do?" I said, "Turn into this farm!" We...