Subscribe to my newsletter, for lifestyle tips and motivation.


    Your Cozy Corner of
    Encouragement

    When my pastor, Reverend Adam Shourds, asked me to briefly share with our church what community meant to me, I had to give it some serious thought. Although I attend church regularly, I don’t have the opportunity to get to know many people beyond the friendly handshakes week in and week out. And like so […]

    Bookmark

    Whether you have a lighter workload in the summer, or the pace is frantic, opportunities exist to shake things up this season. Research (and common sense) tells us that time outdoors is beneficial for physical and mental health. Simply taking up the same activity in a different place can boost mood and improve brain function. […]

    Bookmark

    Major life adjustments keep coming at new mother, Rebecca (Bec) Gray. Her husband died in a car accident, and she lost her mother to heart disease. As if this talented cello player isn’t lonely and grief stricken enough, she must also navigate the world without her vision. What Bec can count on is her dependable […]

    Bookmark

    If you’ve ever driven a long distance for a long-awaited vacation, you easily recognize the stages of your journey. You start out fresh, exhilarated. Once you break free of your hometown, the road unfurls ahead, full of promise for memories and adventures on the other end. Before long, you break the trip into segments. At […]

    Bookmark

    April is the month devoted to several important causes that are near and dear to my heart. As a school psychologist and former case worker for special needs children, I have found autism to be a challenge for many children and families. Chances are, you have known individuals who have challenges on the autism spectrum. […]

    Bookmark

    The St. Patrick’s Day we all know and love, once looked nothing like what we experience today. Hundreds of years ago it was only a humble celebration to commemorate the life and service of St. Patrick, a man who brought Christianity to Ireland. A special feast took place to remember his service to Ireland that […]

    Bookmark

    For years I’ve made elaborate goals at every turn of the calendar year. Holing myself up with a hot drink, envisioning all the ways I could improve gave me enough spark to send me sprinting toward the dreary January days ahead.   This year was different. I stared at that blank page, rehashing the same […]

    Bookmark

    With a new season on the way, allow yourself to feel all those mood boosting endorphins that come with Autumn by soaking in the beauty and promise of what's to come.

    Bookmark

    When my pastor, Reverend Adam Shourds, asked me to briefly share with our church what community meant to me, I had to give it some serious thought. Although I attend church regularly, I don’t have the opportunity to get to know many people beyond the friendly handshakes week in and week out. And like so […]

    Whether you have a lighter workload in the summer, or the pace is frantic, opportunities exist to shake things up this season. Research (and common sense) tells us that time outdoors is beneficial for physical and mental health. Simply taking up the same activity in a different place can boost mood and improve brain function. […]

    Major life adjustments keep coming at new mother, Rebecca (Bec) Gray. Her husband died in a car accident, and she lost her mother to heart disease. As if this talented cello player isn’t lonely and grief stricken enough, she must also navigate the world without her vision. What Bec can count on is her dependable […]

    If you’ve ever driven a long distance for a long-awaited vacation, you easily recognize the stages of your journey. You start out fresh, exhilarated. Once you break free of your hometown, the road unfurls ahead, full of promise for memories and adventures on the other end. Before long, you break the trip into segments. At […]

    April is the month devoted to several important causes that are near and dear to my heart. As a school psychologist and former case worker for special needs children, I have found autism to be a challenge for many children and families. Chances are, you have known individuals who have challenges on the autism spectrum. […]

    The St. Patrick’s Day we all know and love, once looked nothing like what we experience today. Hundreds of years ago it was only a humble celebration to commemorate the life and service of St. Patrick, a man who brought Christianity to Ireland. A special feast took place to remember his service to Ireland that […]

    Three out of five employees experience work related stress in recent years and many careers, especially health care and education, suffer from staffing shortages and high turnover. Lately, I've learned a little more about the reality of those stressors.

    For years I’ve made elaborate goals at every turn of the calendar year. Holing myself up with a hot drink, envisioning all the ways I could improve gave me enough spark to send me sprinting toward the dreary January days ahead.   This year was different. I stared at that blank page, rehashing the same […]

    With a new season on the way, allow yourself to feel all those mood boosting endorphins that come with Autumn by soaking in the beauty and promise of what's to come.

    A recent trend caught my attention in the headlines as it scrolled past last week.  I rode along the transit options of New York City and learned that optimism is a state of mind connected to longevity, better physical and mental health, and greater happiness.   Sounds fabulous, doesn’t it?   Maybe this topic deserves […]

      Is there a difference between pure evil and horrendous, yet justifiable crime? Officer Philomena McCarthy would say no. That honest to a fault lens of policework developed from her own dependence on a heroic policewoman rendering aid during a catastrophe when she was a child. Now as a young woman, Philomena is determined to […]

      Several years have passed since I’ve been able to go home. Not the one I sleep in every night with my family. I’m talking about the one I came home from the hospital to, and got on the school bus in front of, and ate my mother’s home cookin’ inside. And yes, it is […]

    How can something as simple as inhaling and exhaling alter our state of mind and health? Breathing is one of those things we completely take for granted.   We rely on our body’s autonomic nervous system to keep us breathing while we sleep, eat, exercise, and sit around binge watching our favorite shows. Why should […]

      If you’ve read at least one of Picoult’s imaginative novels, you know how easily you can fall into the lives of her characters and their misadventures. As expected, Wish You Were Here delivers big. Even though the reminder of our long and life-altering pandemic may not sound appealing if you want to escape into […]

    I have been in love with Fall for as long as I can remember, even though I’m not so excited about the fact that winter is chasing its heels. Fortunately, I’m not alone. Autumn happens to be a favorite season for most people. All those pumpkins spiced lattes and wagon rides are not the only […]

    There are moments or long stretches of time we’d all prefer to leave in the past. One of the toughest things to do is distance ourselves from painful memories. Our recollections are not selective. In fact, some of the very things we want to forget most are the things that stick around the longest. Some […]

    The question we all face at junctures in life is – how do we keep the fires of motivation burning? Everything we ever do requires motivation. To break it down even further we can have multiple sources of motivation for every action throughout our day and lifetime. How can we tap into the well of […]

      Riley Sager has proven that he can up the ante with each thriller. Survive the night is an expertly maneuvered set of spurts, spins, curves, and brakes that convinced me that I might not make it through the night without reading the last page. Sager has a knack for revealing the inner workings of […]

    Follow me

      Sharon Blevins

      Follow me on Instagram!