Tag Archives: Shame

False Friends

Posted on November 8, 2015 by russtowne

A friend on Facebook and in life sent a note along the lines that she was impressed by the promotional activities I’d just begun. I feel immensely grateful for her comment, and for all the wonderfully supportive and inspirational comments and … Continue reading →

Posted in Fear, Feelings/Emotions, Friendship, Kindness, Laziness, Listening to the Whispers of the Heart | Tagged false, fear, friends, laziness, Shame | 15 Comments

Making Dreams Come True & All the Fears & Shadows That are Coming Up For Me

Posted on June 30, 2013 by russtowne

A big part of my dream of bringing my first two children’s books to life and into the hands of young children and their loved ones was to give my friends and loved ones from various communities the opportunity to … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenges, Choices, Dreams, Fear, Feelings/Emotions, Following Your Passion, Friendship, Gratitude, Project Updates for Children's Stories/Poems I Wrote, Regret, Teamwork | Tagged abandonment, children's books, community, fear, Friendship, global community, Shame, support | 16 Comments

The Corrosive Power Of Ego

Posted on May 23, 2013 by russtowne

I believe that ego corrodes relationships, self-confidence, and feelings of self-worth. My ego used to run nearly constant unnecessary and harmful replays in my mind of instances that happened long ago that brought on feelings of shame, guilt, pain, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Awareness, Breakthroughs, Choices, Gratitude, LIfe Lessons, Mistakes, My Beliefs, Observations, Random Thoughts, Relationship Lessons Learned | Tagged choice, choices, ego, embarrass, embarrassment, focus, gifts, guilt, lessons, nourish, nourishes, nourishment, observations, pain, poison, Relationships, replay, self-worth, Shame, toxic, toxin | 16 Comments

The Curb

Posted on April 26, 2013 by russtowne

Dear friends: The poem below is dedicated to all who have lost loved ones, to those who have healed, and those who still struggle with their pain, grief, and/or regret at not having said or done what they now wish … Continue reading →

Posted in Loneliness, Pain & Grief, Poetry I Wrote, Regret, Suffering, Uncategorized | Tagged death, Family, hopelessness, loss, Love, misery, pain, poem, poetry, rain, regret, Shame, tears, torture, tragedy | 9 Comments

“If Only…”

Posted on March 27, 2013 by russtowne

“If Only…” “If only…” he said ‘til the day he died Let regrets drown His dreams inside Paralyzed in the present By mistakes of the past Gave up on living Until dying at last Few words are so cruel Or … Continue reading →

Posted in Dreams, Failure, Observations, Poetry I Wrote, Regret | Tagged broken lives, death, dying, observations, poem, poetry, regret, Shame, shattered dreams | 12 Comments

Finding Our Way Back To Each Other

Posted on March 18, 2012 by russtowne

I just heard a powerful and inspiring TED talk by Dr. Brene’ Brown about Vulnerability and Shame. I highly recommend that you invest the time to listen to it. Some of my favorite parts: Vulnerability is NOT weakness. Vulnerability is … Continue reading →

Posted in Courage, Friendship, Healing, LIfe Lessons, Quotes I Love, Random Thoughts, Relationship Lessons Learned, Vids & Stories That Touched Me | Tagged antidote, bad, birthplace of innovation, Brene Brown, change, courage, creativeity, dare gretly, Dr. Brene' Brown, empathy, empathy is the antidote to shame, find our way back to each other, guilt, I am bad, I did something bad, inspiring, judgement, judgment, me too, path, powerful, secrecy, Shame, silence, strength, struggle, vulnerability, weakness | Leave a comment

Envy

Posted on March 4, 2012 by russtowne

I recently had a conversation with someone who was feeling bad about his financial situation. I’ll call him Trevor but that isn’t his real name. Like most of us he’d made financial mistakes and felt bad about them, especially when … Continue reading →

Posted in Envy, LIfe Lessons, Quotes I Love, Random Thoughts, Relationship Lessons Learned | Tagged "Seven Deadly Sins" "7 Deadly Sins", age, comparing, comparison, comparisons, condition, Envy, Friend, gloat, Life, party, pity, Pity Party", poor, poverty, regret, sadness, Shame, situation, understanding, Wealth, wisdom, wise, wisest | 2 Comments

Tears

Posted on March 3, 2012 by russtowne

This post is dedicated to all who are in pain, feeling alone, broken-hearted, and/or grieving–or have been. In other words this is dedicated to everyone. Part of being alive is experiencing pain. For many people, pain can lead to tears, … Continue reading →

Posted in Courage, Forgiveness, Healing, LIfe Lessons, Random Thoughts | Tagged beleive, belief, connected, connectedness, courage, desire, despair, embrace, embraced, embracing, empathy, enlighten, Feel, feeling, Feelings, forgive, Forgiveness, forgiving, Friend, friends, gift, gifts, Grief, grow, growth, heal, healing, Hope, hug, hugs, illuminate, joy, joyful, joyfulness, joyous, learned, lesson, Life, lighten, living, load, loneliness, lonely, loss, Love, loving, numb, numbness, pain, Shame, share, sharing, sign, source, step, steps, strangers, strength, stronger, tear, tears, wiser, world | Leave a comment

Being a Friend

Posted on January 29, 2012 by russtowne

I rarely say aloud the words “as your friend”, but I think them often. And, I almost never say or think the phrase ”as my friend” about anyone or in any context. Being a friend to others is a promise … Continue reading →