How often I underestimate the power of a story to bring about change.

One inspiring book has me thinking that I can do things different this time of year—that Jesus and worship and spiritual disciplines and the fruit of the Spirit can make a recognizable difference in how I live. This season…

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Habit, addiction, or ritual—and do the distinctions matter?

Between September 11 and October 10, I took on another 30-day challenge, this time to give up four things I enjoy: wine, junk food, dessert, and caffeine. During that time, friends would ask how… Read full post »

Day 30 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share on fear. I made it.

Thank you for joining me as I explored the topic of fear these past 30 days. Committing to doing something everyday for 30 days requires discipline and sacrifice. I’ve had much less sleep, the house is…

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Day 29 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share on fear. Almost to the goal line.

I credit my husband, Ernesto, for today’s post. He recommended Paul Tillich’s book, The Courage To Be. Tillich draws several distinctions between

• anxiety and fear
• anxiety of death, anxiety of me…

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Day 28 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share on fear.

Chances are you have never heard of neurofibromatosis or NF. Perhaps you’ve seen someone with bumps on their face, head, skin, and body, bone abnormalities, loss of vision or hearing, or a droopy eyelid. The manifestations of N…

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Day 27 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share on fear.

Speech act theorist John R. Searle, in exploring mental states (i.e., psychological states), mentions several including belief, fear, hope, anger, and desire (Intentionality, 4). A couple of points regarding mental states are of…

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Day 26 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share my experience of fear.

I had been battling fear for about a year—pretty much since the birth of my son Tito. It culminated the morning we checked Tito in for his brain/skull operation on April 13, 2010. He had just turned…

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Day 25 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share on fear.

Religious persons tend to think of fear as a negative trait. If only the self could be rid of fear, then faith, love, and peace could grow. The great spiritual leader, Henri Nouwen, writes, “Love means intimacy, closeness, mutu…

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Day 24 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share on fear.

My husband bought me a book by Joan Didion. The Year of Magical Thinking took four evenings to read. Didion writes of losing her husband suddenly to heart failure. He was sitting there one moment and slumped… Read full post »

Day 23 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share on fear.

The Danish philosopher/theologian Soren Kierkegaard, in Practice in Christianity, reminds us that there is plenty of fear to go around. As human beings, we fear God, people, and the self. We are fearful creatures, capable of fi…

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Day 22 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share on fear.

When I become afraid and close in on myself, it is comforting to think that I am not alone, that someone cares. In sharing with a friend that I’ve been waiting for results from a recent CT…

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Day 21 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share on fear.

“To keep death before one’s eyes daily†~The Holy Rule of St. Benedict

“Sin caused your little boy’s condition, but Jesus has it taken care of. Even if your son dies…

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Day 20 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share my thoughts on fear.

I stalled getting my two-year old out of his crib this morning to avoid yet another battle at the changing table. Conflict is the latest ritual in place of singing and playing a variation of…

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Day 19 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share my thoughts on fear.

In a journal, I have written letters and drawn pictures for my son over the course of his short life. The entries have grown fewer and far between. Writing to my son evokes difficult emotions…

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Day 18 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share my thoughts on fear.

The day fear took over, I, a new mother, became obsessed with watching the brown spots forming on my 7 week-old baby’s skin. A year of fear followed.

• March 27, 2009: Tito born…

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Day 17 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share my thoughts on fear.

Today’s post revisits a theme covered previously on people’s reactions to my two-year old son, Tito, when out in public.

My husband, Ernesto, took Tito to the park. All the kids were pointing Tito…

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Day 16 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share my insights on fear.

At times, I’m told that worrying changes nothing. It cannot change the facts. It cannot change what will happen. And yet I cannot help but think that the course of my son’s life will be…

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Day 15 of my 30-day challenge to share my thoughts on fear. I’m halfway through, and it’s true what the TED speaker said about not getting much sleep.

Yesterday I posted on what helps in working through my fear in the day-to-day challenges with respect to my son’s tumor condition.…

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Day 14 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to share my insights on fear.

When confronted with chronic, relentless fear I discover what works and what doesn’t work to cope. The temptation is to numb. I’ll say more on this for tomorrow’s post. In short, numbing simply cannot provide…

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Day 12 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to write on fear.

Worrying more about how I love and raise my son rather than what might happen to him, this is the challenge.

If I cannot completely rid myself of fear, then it must be possible to redirect…

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Day 12 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to write on fear.

Raising a child with a chronic medical condition demands of me a different kind of love. As one friend put it, “I don’t want my daughter to grow up experiencing only sympathetic love.†My friend, whose daughter…

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Day 11 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to write on fear.

The ability to see is one of those fascinating and complex systems in the human body, one taken mostly for granted.

My blog entry dated January 2,… Read full post »

Day 10 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to write on fear.

Thinking of my early childhood and now watching my two-year old, I’ve grown curious about the neurobiological components of fear, specifically the extent to which fear is innate or learned.

My first memory of being afraid…

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Day 9 of my 30-day challenge--inspired by a TED talk--to post on fear.

A question worth considering: to what extent is fear innate and/or learned?

I will offer some reflections on this question on Day 10. I'm afraid that on this day I'm sick and in bed.

Day 8 of my 30-day challenge—inspired by a TED talk—to share something on fear.

Any parent will tell you that fear is part of parenting. Parents worry that something bad will happen to their kids, whether it be teased, bullied, get hurt, have an accident, start hanging with the…

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