Blog - Miriam Martineau

Blog

Welcome!

A reading nook, created for you. About things that matter.

Things like Life and Parenting, Relationships, Psychological Health, Homeschooling and Spiritual Practice. I invite you to look around and read what catches your fancy. My hope: that this blog provides you with nods of encouragement, gems of insight and a sure sense that we are all in this together, that we are connected on this crazy, wild and wonderful journey of becoming and being fully human, right here and now, in daily life. And that it matters.

Let’s weave the conversation further, together.

It’s A Good Thing

April 7, 2025

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It's a good thing we mostly don't know how long the parting…

Creativity and Effort

December 5, 2024

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To create: to bring something into existence. To make something…

Garden Lover

November 18, 2024

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Every spring, after especially long winter seasons in the mountains and valleys of the Kootenays in BC Canada, I remember just how very much I love gardening. How could I have forgotten? I exclaim to myself, each year, surprised by my forgetting. Stepping back into the garden once the ground has thawed and a soft spring sun hits my back, I remember and it feels so deeply good, like...

Accordion Heart

September 26, 2024

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Seven years ago I wrote this. It hasn't changed at all. I have gotten more practice in stretching this accordion heart of mine, with daughter now studying on a different continent. Back in the days when we snuggled in bed, or she sauntered into the house just like that in her teens, sharing life in the daily, I could barely fathom stretching and releasing that far, for so long.

Impressions of a Wildfire Summer

August 14, 2024

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One lightening storm one evening. No rain. July 17th. A summer irrevocably changed with a multitude of fires lit across the landscape of the Kootenays. Some extinguished within hours or days Others turning from smoulder to raging fires And this valley here, goes from a peaceful easing into summer after a long Canadian winter and a lush green spring To sudden activation and prolonged uncertainty upon a backdrop of endless days of hot sunshine hidden by smoke, and drying earth.

What if?

November 2, 2023

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I am sitting under the tree that still has many leaves to shed. Those already fallen, spread around my feet, a carpet of gold. I had to come outside. With the walls pressing in, fresh air was needed. The temperature of the world has surely gone down this past week as the world reels in the wake of atrocities with many innocent caught in the middle. Little ones, growing ones, parents and elders.

Stretching Out

September 26, 2020

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Once upon a time, the stretch of carpet from one side of the room to the other was a continent A big one To cross by flapping your arms, then by wiggling your bum, then by crawling and then One day, an unforgettable one, by taking a step, And another That led to so many How many?

Easter Saturday: suspended & heightened. The liminal space we find ourselves in during this pandemic.

April 11, 2020

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Easter Saturday. A day of waiting, of unknown. liminal, empty,…

Dear Teenagers – thinking of you during this COVID-19 pandemic

March 25, 2020

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Dear teenagers, As we find ourselves in the middle of this pandemic…

STEP-BY-STEP I A COVID-19 HEALTH PROTOCOL

March 23, 2020

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CORONAVIRUS : Taking steps for y-our health This protocol…

Our World in Flux: Coronavirus and our Ability to Respond

March 12, 2020

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CORONAVIRUS - REFLECTIONS & SUGGESTIONS on how to take personal…

To Let Come

December 31, 2019

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To Let Come I am not a calendar with Straight lines etched…

Befriending the Dark – A Solstice Reflection

December 17, 2019

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What is it we fear so This dark time of year? We…

Evolving Traditions — Keeping the Spark Alive

December 5, 2019

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Once upon a time, when my daughter was a wee lassie, I spent…

She did it!

November 1, 2019

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In my home country - Switzerland - on All Soul's Day - we…

Living and Being Lived Beyond My Self

January 13, 2019

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I had a long chat with my mum this Sunday and am left with a…

The Future of Parenting

June 26, 2018

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TED-like talk at What Next Conference, Jan. 2013, on the Future…

Eternal Spring Cleaning

March 13, 2018

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My 99-year old grandma continues to inspire me. Ten years…

Impressions from the Swiss Land…

January 12, 2018

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As we near the end of our visit to my Swiss childhood home, I am filled with impressions, indents and enrichments to senses and self. I gather some of them up here, in part to share with you as a thank you for all the times I get to travel vicariously through your reports, dear friends; in part so that they pop up again in the memory function some day in the future to re-member.

Renewing Culture – Keep, Chuck or Recycle?

November 9, 2017

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Last week in our parenting course, one set of questions we reflected…

Love Takes Many Forms ~ As Does Parenting

November 7, 2017

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Often our love for our children expresses itself in hugs, in…

On this Day of the Dead

October 31, 2017

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In my weekly phone chat with my 98-year old grandma this morning,…

Weaving Threads of Care and Love Across the Planet

September 28, 2017

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These past couple of days my mother-heart stretched again…

Father’s Day – Thank you!

June 18, 2017

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Dear Fathers! Today we celebrate you. We pause and reflect on…

Mother’s Day Love ~ The Breadth and Depth of It

May 14, 2017

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Dearest ones - mamas and mothering ones, all of you who pour…

A Key to Thriving in Relationship: Tune yourself! Just Like An Instrument

April 29, 2017

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You know those moments just before a symphony concert, when…

Change ~ from the Outside In

April 14, 2017

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FROM THE OUTSIDE IN ~ So much of my focus - in both my personal…

Hope buried, but there, stirring.

February 11, 2017

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A week ago I walked through a beautiful snow labyrinth made by…

New Year’s blessings & reflections

January 4, 2017

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January 4, 2017 Dearest ones, A new year has begun. Everywhere…

The Art of Parenting: Learning to Live at the Edge of the Unknown

October 4, 2016

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As parents — as people! — we all (I’m pretty sure all…

Bless You as You Step Out Into the World

September 8, 2016

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Dearest ones, This week many children, teens and young…

Tender Hearts Walking Around in Adult-looking Costumes

June 23, 2016

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June 21, 2016 A daily practice that is growing in me…

Easing into and out of

June 23, 2016

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June 7, 2016 On today's homeschooling menu we had: weeding…

Mother’s Day Blessing – A Prayer

May 9, 2016

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Dear fellow mothers - and with mothers I mean all of you who…

To Wait Actively

March 15, 2016

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Today I offer you these questions from Sue Monk Kidd’s “Where…

The Future of Parenting

February 6, 2016

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When asked to present a TED-like talk at Integral Life's "What…

Biased toward Productivity

January 30, 2016

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January 30, 2016 Often I don’t even notice it. Just how…

Gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

January 6, 2016

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In the week following our daughter's birth, one dear friend came…

Exploring Trust

November 30, 2015

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Last week, during our homeschooling English class, A. and I watched…

Always Choose Love

October 27, 2015

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October 27, 2015 This really is the essence of it all, isn't…

Learning through Imitation – What kind of model am I?

June 14, 2015

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June 14, 2015 Isn't this just the loveliest photo? I can look…

Shift in Perspective: A Key Ingredient to Parent Consciously

May 26, 2015

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So much about approaching parenting as a spiritual practice involves…

Regret: Facing, Feeling and Healing the Heartache of Lost Possibilities

May 17, 2015

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A friend and colleague, recently turned 40, shared the following…

Nourishing Yourself in the Middle of Parenting

May 13, 2015

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Dearest fellow parents and caregivers, Today I’d like to…

Dear Mothers ~ I See You

May 10, 2015

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Dearest mothers ~ keepers of the Hearth ~ mothers of children,…

Grace, Not Perfection, Is Our Standard

May 7, 2015

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Holding ourselves to a standard of Grace, not of Perfection. This…

Held in the Great Embrace

May 4, 2015

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As I became a mother and experienced the vulnerability, the cracked-openness…

Thinning Carrots and the Art of Discernment

January 8, 2015

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Sunday afternoon, with an hour to spare, I wander to the garden…

Inspired by Moments of Emotional Brilliance — Tender and Tuned In: Part 3

October 20, 2014

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Here's the third and final vignette in my three-part blog series…

Inspired by Moments of Emotional Brilliance — Tender and Tuned In: Part 2

October 10, 2014

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Here's the second vignette from my three-part blog series about…

Inspired by Moments of Emotional Brilliance — Tender and Tuned In: Part 1

October 8, 2014

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Children rely on our support and guidance in navigating the emotional…

Ode to the Elasticity of the Mother Heart

October 4, 2014

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I was a real family girl as a kid... well attached, loved my…

What to Do When My Child Lies? 13 Ways to Respond, Prevent, and Strengthen Honest Communication

June 2, 2014

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Think of the times in your life you have lied. And why. Were…

The Sustaining Weave of Small Gestures

December 23, 2013

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A few days ago, as I brought my Christmas mail to the post office,…

Receive Generously: Getting to the Core of Our Human Thirst

July 8, 2013

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I was 13 when, due to a number of conducive circumstances --…

You’re It! An Invitation to Show Up Fully

November 12, 2012

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Remember that feeling when you played tag as a kid and got caught?…

For the Interim Time…

February 2, 2012

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This past week, I have been living life with tears just behind…

Can You Be Grateful for What You Don’t Like?

September 25, 2011

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Lying under a starry night last week while camping and looking…