a daily blog on well-being and how to feel better by Mark Barger Elliott…

I saw Sufjan Steven’s musical last night, Illionise. It features one of his more well-known songs, “Chicago,” which has these lines in the chorus: “All things go, all things go… All things grow, all things grow.” The song reminded me how those two ideas – “things go, things grow” – are intertwined and dependent on…

A few days ago there was an obituary for Yoshihiro Uchida who helped establish judo as one of the most popular martial arts in America. He died at 104. They quoted Mr. Uchida as saying this about both judo and life, “Sometimes, you get kicked around. But if you believe in it, just keep pushing…

On my way to work I walk past a stainless steel sculpture that is about 18 feet wide and 12 feet high. It is re-interpretation of the infinity symbol by renowned Australia artist Todd Stuart. You’ll find a photo of it at on-emotions.com. The plaque describing the sculpture states the artist wanted to “re-imagine the…

I finished The Midnight Library yesterday and near the end author Matt Haig writes how, Nora, the main character, “mused to herself, how life sometimes simply gave you a whole new perspective by waiting around long enough for you to see it.” We never know what might happen in the next 30 minutes, 30 hours,…

Thirst is the book Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mary Oliver wrote after losing her partner of over 40 years. In one poem she circles around “what matters” most in this time of loss and reminds herself she has found meaning and purpose in the past by “standing still and learning to be astonished.” —— If…

Someone asked yesterday if it was possible to do something and I responded without thinking, “Well, that’s a doable do!”  We both laughed. Then it occurred to me it’s important to try to identify the “doable do’s” in our lives. Actions that are neither easy or stressful. Things we can feel good about both in the…