Welcome to this series of Daily Reflections on Heart Strings.

You’ve likely heard this phrase used in tender moments:

“That movie pulled on my heartstrings.”

“Whenever you say you love me, it tugs on my heartstrings.”

“I saw that little puppy in the pet store, and she stirred my heartstrings.”

“When you told me of the family’s plight, it touched my heartstrings.”

July 26, 2025

Retrieving our soul child’s memories of love is one of the most healing and empowering things we can do. Remembering the people and experiences that first brought us into being and filled our souls with love makes us more confident, grounded, empowered, and directed. 

July 25, 2025

Recently, a TV journalist interviewed a noted chef in her restaurant. The chef gave the journalist sample dishes of her farm-to-table menus. The journalist tasted several but couldn't contain her emotions when she sank her teeth into one of them….

July 24, 2025

I am my father’s namesake. Though we are entirely different people, so many of my earliest memories are of him.

July 23, 2025

To savor life’s beauty is to feed the soul. Experiences such as awe, affection, love, levity, excitement, friendship, closeness, serendipity, intimacy, compassion, and joy, anchor in our soul, all the wonderful and beautiful aspects of life. We have access to these; it’s a matter of being sensitive to them. The overwhelming majority of us absorb enough of these wonderful things to make our lives worthwhile and to enjoy life. But sadly, for some of us, because of trauma, the beautiful cannot outweigh the ugly.

July 22, 2025

At twenty years old, I was a summer youth director for a church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. On my first day on the job, the pastor introduced me to the congregation at a Sunday service. After the service, an older man, whom I did not know, approached me, looked me in the eyes, and said, “Joe, if you put God first, he will lift you up.” 

July 21, 2025

As boys, my brother and I, along with our mom, were returning from surf fishing on the Gulf of Mexico. We took a bridge over one of the deep bayous in the nearby wetlands and heard a disturbing wail from a female’s voice coming from the bayou. When we followed the voice, we glimpsed into a scene I shall never forget….

July 20, 2025

Memories can tell many unforgettable stories. Maybe they were AH Ha’s, or maybe they brought us into a new era of self-awareness. Perhaps the memory has grown in significance as life progressed, and it still teaches us. In any case, the event has remained with us for a reason. It is one of the profound stories of our lives. 

March 10, 2025

It’s very understandable when we become attached to our possessions. Many of them have profound meanings. Sometimes, we collect more and more of what we love; we may even hoard them. Some of our most meaningful possessions are not worth much monetarily, but to us, they are priceless.