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A Beautiful Closure
There was a moment. Dawn. The birth of a new day. It was the eighth day of our return to Switzerland, and the first rays of sunlight illuminated the mountain peaks of Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, or “the Big Three,” as we like to call them. I arose early and walked outside at 6:15 AM to catch a glimpse of the sights and sounds I missed in my dreams and conscious thoughts since we moved back to the States. As I began to walk the narrow paths and streets of Mürren, Switzerland, I rediscovered that deep sense of awe that had struck me so many times before. The air, the…
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Perfectly Average
Without a doubt, being a parent is one of the most rewarding and challenging vocations. Every parent knows this. This certainly isn’t anything new. It truly is self-giving. This is probably why it is so rewarding: because it isn’t about you at the end of the day. As parents, we certainly get our daily reminders of that. (The once-a-month slight nods of appreciation from our kids before returning to being unable to put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher, WHAT IS THAT!!) I recently talked with some parents about our kids being average. I remember the look on their faces as if I called my son a bad word or…
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Baseball, Friendship, and Bathroom Prophecy
Since returning to the States, it has been great to reconnect with some friends. Due to the time difference while living in Switzerland, it was hard to connect even if the desire existed. That said, it’s incredible how easily you can pick up right where you left off with your close friends. This made me think, what makes a connection like this possible? One good friend of mine is someone that I met while playing professional baseball. We were both 18 years old and fresh out of high school. We immediately connected with the same love of music, but honestly, besides that, there wasn’t much of a commonality. He was…
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Mystery and Mirrors
The winds were overwhelming but calming. The periods of rain were drenching but refreshing. The brisk air cut through your skin but awakened the very breath of life. Standing in its midst was somehow a confrontation with truth. The Highlands of Scotland, with its history and mysticism, struggle for freedom, and bloodshed was one of the most peaceful places I have been. Isolated by its barren lands yet consumed by its beauty, it was a paradox that touched me deeply. How could such bareness and lack of color produce such overwhelming beauty? How can a place engrossed with emptiness be overflowing with an undeniable presence? Standing in…
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Happy New Year…Cheers to Cranberry Juice and Coffee
Happy New Year to you and your loved ones. There is something natural about the desire to start anew. To start fresh. To begin something with a clean slate. A new calendar year gives us an invitation to do so. We may have been resisting change, we may want to try something new, or the new year may finally give us the courage to take action on something we have ignored. There is a lot of grace in any of those things, and I hope you dare to make this new year what you want it to be. For me, this new year is all about peace. The…
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The Castle on the Hill
A few weeks ago, the lyrics echoed through the household just as I heard them for the first time. Years ago, when driving my two sons down a narrow country road in Worb, Switzerland. “I’m on my way Driving at ninety down those country lanes Singing to “Tiny Dancer” And I miss the way you make me feel, and it’s real We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill” -Ed Sheeran “Castle on the Hill” Listening then, as we passed the 12th Century Worb Castle like we did every day, I couldn’t help but wonder what impact this song, this place and this castle would have on all…
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“Uniquely Me”
It has been two months since I moved back to the U.S.A. from Switzerland. During this time, I have experienced two months of raw emotions filled with both extreme highs and extreme lows. Two months of anxiety and clarity. Two months of a new kind of loneliness and reunions with friends and family. As the dust continues to settle, words are still hard to come by to explain precisely what is happening within my thoughts, my heart, and my soul. That said, every once in a while, a song might come on that can highlight a feeling. There is a T.V. show or movie that can give words to the…
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The Human Balance
I recently found myself in multiple conversations about how to strike a balance between recognizing times when we need to be alone and the moments when we need nothing more than to be with others. Needless to say, I didn’t get very far, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized there wasn’t a recipe to strike the balance. That could be because the balance is innate, engrained within the fabric of our beings from the beginning. The very nature of being human is to be ourselves within the constructs of community. Therefore, the truth lies in the paradox. Life has a way of dictating our needs.…
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Beyond Croatia’s Beauty
Living in Switzerland has allowed us to travel to many places in the world that we may not have otherwise been able to see. However, seeing is one thing; experiencing these places is something else. Some places can give you an aura or feel about them beyond that in which the eye can see. Sometimes, their natural beauty may point to and radiate something more to life than what we can visualize. Other times, it might be the architecture that can tell the stories of their past in ways only our subconscious can fully articulate. And then there are the places still wrestling with their own identities as a country,…
