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Michelle Andres ***Writes*** ~ Stories about "life stuff" with a hopefully Christian perspective

Michelle Andres ***Writes***

Archive for the ‘Thoughts on everything’ Category

  • Push Me

    27 Apr 2020

    When the pandemic began, I opted for push notifications from media outlets. Boy, did they push me. I may have to push back!

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  • Humankind Is On A Big, Fat, Time-Out

    18 Mar 2020

    I had a thought over coffee. Humankind is on a big, fat time-out. I think we deserved it. Did you notice how we were treating one another? It’s been happening for years. The bickering, rudeness, downright meanness we showed our fellow women and men. I quit writing because, as a behavior-based writer, I couldn’t bear  to […]

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  • Learning to Listen

    02 Aug 2019

    I am learning to listen. Listening to the silent cues that help me navigate perspective. Listening for what’s missing. I got caught up in the noise. At first, it seemed important, critical that I should pay rapt attention. It kept getting louder and louder, creating fear and trepidation. Why was it scary? Because, I couldn’t […]

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  • Reigning in Your Focus

    23 Jun 2019

    For a year, or two, I haven’t written much. I felt like I was beating the same, noisy drum…no one was listening to my rhythm. Was I out of sync? Did I need to reign in my focus? It’s so simple, I’ve said it a million times (slight exaggeration)… What you focus on becomes your […]

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  • Mary Oliver Died…And I Wept

    18 Jan 2019

    Mary Oliver died…and I wept. I did not know her, but acutely knew her words and lyrical poetry. Her story was well known – growing up in a dysfunctional family and finding solace in the outdoors, writing and exploring. I knew about some parts of her life…but I only knew her through the poems. My […]

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  • Living On The Margins

    14 Dec 2018

    Some of us aren’t content with a simple, lovely life. We riot to live on the margins.  Some of us can’t help but let life beat right through us, dancing in joy, writhing in disappointment , sticking its stiletto heels into our very souls. A friend wrote, “ I realize how lucky I am, to […]

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  • Traveling Companions – The Unknown, Fear, Faith and Now

    30 Oct 2018

    In uncertain times of transition, we find ourselves traveling with an array of partners. Some we can't choose; others we can. Here are some tips for getting to know them and choose them well.

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  • I’m A Work In Progress

    03 Oct 2018

    I’m a work in progress. It’s taking longer than I thought. Both the unfolding of me and our life transition. I grasp at lovely things, as if they were branches that will keep me from going under. Until this household move, I had little idea that I thrive on aesthetics, taking in beauty as if […]

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  • Hello Fall!!!

    22 Sep 2018

    Hello Fall!!! A season of transition, of quieting, of reflection…moving inward. Hello new home. A place of peace and beauty, lost toothbrushes, rock piles and weeds…lots of weeds. In this contract we make with life, we’re obligated take it all. We tease apart the wheat from the chafe. Ferreting out the moments, the glimpses, the […]

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  • Pissy, Unapologetic and Fed-Up

    17 Aug 2017

    I cannot deal with your anger. And, I don’t necessarily disagree with you. Either you manufactured your outrage, or you have mastered the art of unskilled communication – but the daily outbursts are not convincing me to empathize with you; even though I may agree with you. The world is noisy enough, people. We have […]

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  • Don’t Let The Old Man In!

    28 Apr 2017

    I often recall the words of Clint Eastwood. When asked how he stays so young, he simply replied, “I don’t let the old man in.” Yesterday, the old woman knocked on my door. She arrives silently with her crotchety, destructive attitude. Of course, my resiliency is waning since I’m in the process of slaying a […]

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  • The Art of Letting Go

    03 Feb 2017

    Letting go may be the single, most important factor in creating a joyful life. (click to Tweet) It’s not what we don’t have, it’s not what we do have, it’s the stuff we drag behind us…the weight of the expectations, the fears, the disappointments and perhaps, even, the weight of the betrayal that pull the […]

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  • Moving Along – Dealing with Uncertainty and Change

    18 Nov 2016

    It feels like a boxing match, a cage-fight – though I’ve never been to either. Maybe it’s worse than that. After a year and a half of sustained attack, brutal defamation, taking up camps – the U.S. Election is over. It always amazes me that people are so uncomfortable with ambiguity. We all know, we […]

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  • I’m All Ears – The Art of Listening

    11 Nov 2016

    It’s an interesting time in America right now. Is anyone listening? When I work with groups in my corporate gigs, I teach soft skills in leadership and communication. I teach conflict resolution and how to give productive, well accepted feedback that doesn’t escalate to conflict. But… Emotions are running high lately in our society. We […]

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  • Mired in the Quicksand

    28 Oct 2016

    This is a repost from a previous post – which is pretty much what a repost is. Finding this one was helpful to me today – maybe it’ll be helpful to you, too. Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” […]

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  • Sacred Spaces

    14 Oct 2016

    Creative spaces are sacred. Each time I enter a fellow artist’s creative space, I feel honored for the privilege of being there. Studios seem to hold concentrated energy – the very vibrations the artist, the ones he or she uses to create their work. As I wrote poetry at the river this week, I realized […]

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    • Humankind Is On A Big, Fat, Time-Out
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    • Reigning in Your Focus
    • Making Your Moves – Embracing the Value of Moves and Changes
    • Mary Oliver Died…And I Wept
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