Earthways Psychological Services LLC

09/07/2025

The spirit of a time is an incredibly subtle, yet hugely powerful force. And it is comprised of the mentality and spirit of all individuals together. Therefore, the way you look at things is not simply a private matter. Your outlook actually and concretely affects what goes on. When you give in to helplessness, you collude with despair and add to it. When you take back your power and choose to see the possibilities for healing and transformation, your creativity awakens and flows to become an active force of renewal and encouragement in the world. In this way, even in your own hidden life, you can become a powerful agent of transformation in a broken, darkened world. There is a huge force field that opens when intention focuses and directs itself toward transformation.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from his books, Benedictus (Europe) / To Bless the Space Between Us (US)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

Sunrise, County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

06/06/2025

I remember the first time my daughter created a moment of humor. She didn't just tell a joke that she had heard from someone else. Instead it was a genuine moment of finding humor in what might otherwise have been a tense situation. It wasn't just her being funny. It was a moment of joy that has been a bond between us ever since then.

In Navajo culture, laughter is seen as a powerful symbol of connection. The moment a baby laughs for the first time, it is believed they are choosing to join the human community. Until then, the baby is viewed as still being in transition between the spiritual and physical worlds.

This tradition, known as the A’wee Chi’deedloh ceremony, is typically observed around three months of age. Family members pay close attention during this period, eager to be the one who makes the child laugh. Whoever succeeds earns the honor of hosting the celebration, often preparing a meal of salted food and gifts to mark the occasion.

The ceremony not only celebrates the baby’s first expression of joy, but also emphasizes generosity and community. Salt is symbolically offered to guests to encourage the child to grow up to be generous and kind. It’s one of the earliest social teachings given to a Navajo child—using joy as a path toward belonging and humanity. 🎉👶

03/13/2025

You may not always see it, but your presence in this world has left ripples far beyond what you know.
Someone still smiles at a memory you created together, still feels comforted by the kindness you once showed, and still finds courage in the words you spoke.

Someone hums a song that reminds them of you, sees beauty in the world because you pointed it out, and carries your wisdom in their heart.
Someone stands a little taller because you believed in them, walks a little lighter because you were there, and dreams bigger because you told them they could.
You matter more than you realize ..

( ✍️ Writer’s Blossoms )

Art : Irene Marino

02/26/2025

I HEREBY DECLARE THAT I DO NOT GIVE MY PERMISSION FOR FACEBOOK OR META TO USE ANY OF MY PERSONAL DAT

02/24/2025

When the mind is festering with trouble or the heart torn, we can find healing among the silence of mountains or fields, or listen to the simple, steadying rhythm of waves. The slowness and stillness gradually takes us over. Our breathing deepens and our hearts calm and our hungers relent. When serenity is restored, new perspectives open to us and difficulty can begin to seem like an invitation to new growth.

This invitation to friendship with nature does of course entail a willingness to be alone out there. Yet this aloneness is anything but lonely. Solitude gradually clarifies the heart until a true tranquility is reached. The irony is that at the heart of that aloneness you feel intimately connected with the world. Indeed, the beauty of nature is often the wisest balm for it gently relieves and releases the caged mind.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from his books, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (US) / Divine Beauty (Europe)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

County Kerry, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

02/20/2025

In everyone's life, there is great need for an anam cara, a soul friend. In this love, you are understood as you are without mask or pretension. The superficial and functional lies and half-truths of social acquaintance fall away, you can be as you really are. Love allows understanding to dawn, and understanding is precious. Where you are understood, you are at home. When you really feel understood, you feel free to release yourself into the trust and shelter of the other person's soul.

Consequently, love is anything but sentimental. In fact, it is the most real and creative form of human presence. Love is the threshold where divine and human presence ebb and flow into each other.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from his book, Anam Cara,
25th Anniversary Edition.
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/anam-cara

Burren Rose, County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

10/19/2024

Empathy - Empathy is not just about understanding how another feels. It is not even just a way of entering into another's experience of the world. Instead, empathy is a way of connecting with others so we can begin to understand how they see us. Through empathy we begin to overcome our individual isolation and can cooperate with others to build a better world. It is for that reason that the historian, Timothy Snyder, sees empathy as a necessary precondition for freedom. And it is not a freedom from external restraint or obstacles that he writes about. Rather, it is a freedom to pursue with others what is genuinely good. (From, "On Freedom" by Timothy Snyder).

09/25/2024

The heart of the is the national network of crisis centers who respond to all calls, texts & chats Whether it's suicidal thoughts, anxiety, substance use, or something else, trained crisis counselors are ready to help.

You're not alone 988lifeline.org

06/17/2024

06/17/2024

You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come, to take you back.

Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.

Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.

Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.

Be excessively gentle with yourself.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from the blessing, 'For One Who is Exhausted,' from John's books:
Benedictus (Europe) / To Bless the Space Between Us (US)

Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

Sky Road, Connemara, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill