I had a deep, interesting, and moving conversation about learning to slow down and being still with a friend, Melissa.

This is something I've been tutored in for over a decade, but it still isn't a habit for me. I'm a mover, shaker, and finisher. Stopping and stillness are not part of my natural energy.

Join me as I share what my tutoring has looked like, how it has gone, and the challenges and blessings of working on stillness. It has been enlightening.

When I moved from Montana to Utah in my late 50s, something stopped me in my tracks. The realization that I was responsible for my responses, no matter the circumstances or the people involved. This hit me hard. I couldn't blame others for how I felt! I was mad and honestly didn't want it to be true. But I am a learner, and the thought wouldn't leave.

As I learned and accepted the truth of this statement, my life began to change. I wanted that same growth for my children. Join me as I share my 29-year-old son Andrew's experience. It is enlightening and fun. Especially the part about the drunken snails. : )

When you're engaged in a project, what matters to you? For many adults, it's the outcome.

When children are engaged in a project, what matters to them? For the most part, it's the process.

There is real value in stepping back and allowing our children to create without worrying about the outcome.

Any time we foster the skills of creation, thinking, and problem-solving, we are helping our children on the path to becoming capable, confident adults.

Join me as I share some stellar examples of what stepping back from the outcome looks like and how it can bless the children in your life.

My sister Cindy has a job caring for a man with dementia. As I know well, this can be an overwhelming and consuming responsibility. Here was her text to me:

"Mary, I need advice. Taking care of D. is draining me. I didn't go to the temple all week. I'd leave his house, and I had nothing left. He wants to be with me constantly. When I'm cooking his food, he stands right next to me, and I have to move away. He asks me what he should do about everything. It's exhausting."

After some pondering, because I do know firsthand what this is like, here was my response: "No matter what our current mission, we can survive and even thrive, but we must revive."

Today I will be sharing some real-life examples of how to survive caring for and interacting with others: the elderly, kids, teens, and those we work with. It can be challenging unless we have ways to revive after hectic days. Join me and begin to thrive!

A friend of mine, a mom with several young children, told me recently that her kids' favorite thing to do is play dress-up. They want to do it all day long, even the boys. Of course, it makes a glorious mess. As we visited, she asked me about the value of this interest she was seeing in her kids, and it opened up a wonderful conversation.

Today I will share some effective ideas on how to harness the joy of dressing up and learning in a family activity. They work for little kids and teens. They can be so family-connecting!

When my daughter Marie's children were young, I wanted to stay connected between visits. We only saw each other a couple of times a year, and I wanted more than that. While working on a presentation about the Spark Station, the idea came to me: why not write Spark Station Letters?

The idea was simple. I would write letters to my grandchildren sharing something that interested me — a word, a historical figure, a current event, a family story. Something that might spark a conversation in their home and keep us woven into each other's lives.

It worked beautifully. Marie told me the kids were all ears when she read the letters aloud. They'd re-read them on car trips. She saved each one in a separate book for each child. She also mentioned that I was frequently sharing values and teaching life lessons — which I hadn't even realized I was doing.

Today, I will share some sample letters I wrote to children I loved and show you how you can do the same.

In January, my daughter Jodie gathered a group of friends to work on having a better outcome in 2026. We listened to an interesting YouTube video by Daniel Pink. The premise was that structure beats willpower. We each determined what we regretted from 2025 and how we could do better in 2026 to avoid repeating our mistakes.

My regret was not getting my writing in until the last minute. I regretted that because it fed this old story — there is no time in my life for me — and it led to feelings of resentment toward those I care for. I placed my lack of consistency on them and their needs.

Here's something I shared early on in one of our conversation threads: "I have a hard time doing my own things even when I try. I do my personal morning routine, but it's interrupted, and I usually don't get any writing done. For the last four days, I rarely sat down, and tonight I didn't even get to eat my dinner until 8 pm. No TV, no internet, no reading, no loafing, just serving and doing what's necessary. I oversee what I choose to do, but I'm obviously doing something less effectively than needed."

Today I will share what was causing my dilemma, what I needed to change, and how life-changing it has been.

I received this email in the early days of teaching parents how to use The Spark Station.

"You may have seen this. It's a picture book called The Pink Refrigerator by Tim Egan. This illustrates the secret of the Spark Station in an inspiring way. A junk dealer who likes to do–not much–finds a pink refrigerator that holds something new for him every day, and he gets excited about life and learning, closes shop, and sets off to explore the world. I thought you might enjoy this if you hadn't seen it. Happy reading, Cathy D."

I was intrigued, so I went to the library and found the book. Cathy's description was spot on. The Pink Refrigerator is the Spark Station. It's a beautiful story about how we can inspire children to explore things that might not have occurred to them before.

Today, I am sharing a personal experience of how experiencing new things can help children find the greatness inside themselves.