with Lorelle and Brent VanFossen

Tag Archives: essay

You Don’t Know What It’s Like

You don’t know what it’s like. You can’t imagine what it’s like. You would never believe it. You don’t know how hard it is. You don’t have a clue. Well, guess what? I do. I know what it’s like. I have an imagination. Having traveled a lot of the planet, I can believe just about […]

I Love You, I Love You, You Know I Love You

We lost another victim of Hurricane Katrina last night. No, he won’t be in the statistics of the hundreds of lives lost across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. But he should be. Mr. Walden lived along the Gulf Coast near Pascagoula, Mississippi. He’d been up and active and managing his life until recently, when it just […]

The Sparrow, An Exercise in Rewriting (fiction by Lorelle VanFossen)

During the summer of 1999, while we were still living and working temporarily in Greensboro, North Carolina, clueless of the whirlwinds that were about to strike us down and lift us up and deposit us in Israel, we took a writing course. Of course, not your average writing course. This one was for writing and […]

Center of the World?

Driving in Tel Aviv is an experience. Need I say more. Okay, I do. Heading down Alozorov, I witnessed a truly shocking event. One car ahead of me was a Mercedes Benz. In the lane next to it was a good-sized motor scooter driven by an even bigger sized man. This is an everyday event […]

The Symptoms of Touch – Hiddai Levi

Program by Hiddai Levi Essay/Notes by Lorelle VanFossen To right the unrightable wrong, to love pure and chaste from afar, to try when your arms are too weary, to reach the unreachable star. Song, The Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha Exploring the psychology and "symptoms" of touch with Hiddai Levi was a revelation […]

Touching Clues

Tell a man that there are 400 billion stars and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint and he has to touch it. I come from anti-touching stock. Sure, as babies we were hugged and cuddled, coddled and cooed, but then something happened. Maybe it was the changes that occur naturally in […]

Active and Reflective Listening

This meeting was very exciting and here is a summary of the program for those who missed out. Active Listening – Are You Being Heard? Active listening is traditionally considered a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding. Many have come to think of it as structured conversation, where one […]

Pursuing Your Passion – Getting Out of Your Own Way

Due to the overwhelming response by those who attended the last meeting, here is a summary of the topic presented: "Finding Your Passion, Part II". In many of the lessons found in Cheryl Richardson’s book, Life Makeovers, she reiterates the point that once you have set a goal, made a decision, and taken a step […]

Life Makeovers – Pursuing Your Passion

At the last meeting, we discussed ways of finding your passion. Remember, passion comes in many forms. It provides us with keys to our heart. The power of passion will provide you with the fuel to enjoy a new hobby, create a new career, and do something that serves others in a very powerful way. […]

Learning and Living Against the Odds

FEAR OF SUCCESS: Trying is the first step towards failure. Homer Simpson Homer Simpson of the television show, The Simpsons, has it a little backwards, but for many of us, this rings true. Our fear of success, whatever that looks like, often keeps us from moving forward because we just KNOW we will fail, so […]

Almost Worst Day of My Life – Day from Hell – Greensboro, North Carolina

If I thought the stress level for traveling was high, well, to quote our Carolina friends, "Whoo doggies!" Setting up a temporary home can be just as stressful. We finally have a phone! Yahoo! We probably won’t put an answering machine on here, since I’m here almost every day, so if there’s no answer, call […]

What’s Draining You?

In Week 6 of the book, Life Makeovers, Cheryl Richardson discusses the concept of energy drains and invites you to take action to stop up the drains in your life. When I look around my desk and computer right now, I can see piles of energy drains everywhere: stuff I’ve put off, papers I need […]

Finding Your Life Purpose

Passion comes in many forms. It provides us with keys to our heart. The power of passion will provide you with the fuel to enjoy a new hobby, create a new career, and do something that serves others in a very powerful way. Your purpose in life is what you do to feed that passion. […]

The Religion of Right or The Right Religon

Lorelle: Am I right? Brent: Darling, you’re always right. It’s easier that way. Frequent dialog between Brent and Lorelle VanFossen My father used to whine about how horrible all the guys at work would tease for having a daughter. “Argh! Put another woman driver on the road!” He often swears at the lousy drivers on […]

Meeting a Moose: Head On – Jasper, Alberta, Canada

Alongside the Ice Fields Parkway between Banff and Jasper National Parks lies unique natural depository of pink boulders. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? Out in the middle of nowhere: Pink boulders. Seems a passing glacier carrying these huge boulders from one place to another, and decided to drop its load. They sit out in the middle […]