Maria Shriver

By Christine Borders Bronstein

Friendships Don’t Just Happen

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As a mother of three, CEO of a social network and publishing start-up for women, and someone with a well-documented BFF relationship, the last thing I thought I needed to read was a friendship book.

Well, I was wrong.

After reading Shasta Nelson’s Friendships Don't Just Happen!: The Guide to Creating a Meaningful Circle of GirlFriends, I realized that I have honed my skills at bringing people close, but not too close.

Like an eager puppy, I love new people and attention, but like an old dog, with old habits, I retreat to my husband and BFF of two decades as my most intimate confidantes.

It turns out I have some friend circles I need to develop to live a happier, healthier life, as well as some priorities I need to evaluate.

February 14, 2013

Treasure the Intensity of Life and Love

By Dr. Stephen Hume

It feels appropriate that I am writing today, on Valentine's Day, an introduction to a film I was in two years ago entitled, “The Intensity of Life” which for me will always be a valentine to my partner Candy.

I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 5 years ago at the age of 60. It was when my life and Candy’s changed forever.

A successful healthcare executive and practicing psychologist, I was transformed into a person with dementia, someone without hope and without a future. I knew then that I had to leave the work I loved and had no idea what to do.

I saw the diagnosis as a death sentence, an end to all I valued; my intellect and especially the intimate bonds I had with others. Filled with anger, fear and despair, I went home, sat in my chair and waited for the end

February 14, 2013

Keeping Love Alive Throughout the Years

By April Beyer

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"In a relationship, when does the art of compromise become compromising?"
- Carrie Bradshaw, in Sex and The City

Just before I sat down to write this article something wonderful happened that changed my original idea. I received a call from a 92 year old widower asking for my help. I'll call him Walter.

On the other end of the phone, I heard the firmly resonant voice of a well-known, educated man who has led a successful life, both professionally and personally.

He described to me how deeply he had loved his wife of sixty-three years before losing her to cancer two years ago.

Walter is daunted by the thought of having to go back out into the world of dating, and I dare say he's also feeling irritable about the prospect of it all.

February 14, 2013

A Woman's Experience

Focusing on the Love, Not the Loss

By Kristy Campbell

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This is the first Valentine’s Day I've been excited about for a long time, which is a little of odd since I’m divorced, single, not dating, and don’t even have the prospect of a date.

With all of the television commercials and reminders of how Cupid’s arrows are about to be launched, you’d think I'd feel sad or lonely or remiss about not having a partner.

But I don’t. This year is different for me. For the first time, I have learned to value the love that is in my life rather than to focus on the love I don’t have or the love I’ve lost.

This has been a lesson that has taken me some time to learn.

February 14, 2013

I've Been Thinking

A Week of Love Every Week

By Maria Shriver

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The other morning, I woke up to a lovely note from my friend.

It read: "You have the courage and the strength within to live a balanced life of love, purpose and meaning..."

What a goal -- a balanced life of love, purpose and meaning!

I've loved our Week of Love special series, but why only a week out of the year? What if our entire lives were focused from the inside out on love, purpose, meaning and balance?

We would, I know, be kinder, better people. Our kids would be less anxious and stressed. We would see the value in our own lives and we would put it out into the world.

There is meaning in all of our lives. Each of us has a purpose in this world and each of us deserves to love and to be loved.

Yet so many people live on the brink, struggling to make it with no one to love them or tell them they matter.

Let's make every week a week of love. And while you are at it, drop a friend or a family member a note today like the one I received. Tell them what they mean to you. Tell them what you love about them. Tell them that you believe in them.

It might give them the encouragement they needed to pursue the life they had only ever imagined.

With love,

February 13, 2013

Family Caregiving: A Labor of Love

By Sherri Snelling

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Two years ago when I left my 6-figure corporate job to pursue my twin passions –- writing and adding my voice to a chorus of those raising awareness for the nation’s 65 million family caregivers –- most of my family and friends were skeptical and scared for me.

I had always been told I was fearless but I worried was I being foolish? Somewhere deep inside my heart I knew I was doing the right thing.

After nine months of hard labor –- four hours of sleep a night, infrequent showers, lack of make-up and money –- one of the most gratifying things I have ever accomplished has made its debut: my first book.

There was no question that my book would be about caregiving, but I wondered how I would write something inspiring, informative and empowering for caregivers...something helpful and hopeful.

February 13, 2013

A Woman's Experience

Tune Out the Loud, Tune Into the Love

By Sarah Seidelmann

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If you’ve been married (or in any long-term, successful relationship) for twenty-plus years, it’s not because you made the perfect choice back in 1990 when you pony-stepped over to your future partner on the dance floor as Madonna throbbed in the background.

Or that your souls were divinely destined to live in harmony (though they could be).

Or that somehow you were two of the fortunate ones (though you are).

It’s because of a series of teeny tiny choices you’ve both made, over time, day in and day out, choices that look a lot like these.

February 12, 2013

By Ellen Woodward Potts and Daniel C. Potts

The Alzheimer's Caregiver: Preserving Relationships

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If you’re an Alzheimer’s caregiver, your marriage may not look much like the ones in the jewelry store commercials for Valentine's Day.

One of the greatest tragedies of Alzheimer’s is losing the relationship you have with your loved one.

But must that relationship be completely lost?

Undoubtedly, your relationship changes. However, your ability as the caregiver to embrace those changes, rather than fight them, may ultimately determine how well you navigate this difficult journey.

The noted theologian, Dr. James Houston, recently described his changing relationship with his wife, Rita, who has Alzheimer’s disease.

February 12, 2013

Learning to Love Yourself

By Adrian Crouch

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"Do you love yourself?" If you were to approach me in early 2009 and ask me that question, it would've been blatantly obvious that I didn't.

There I was, 20 years old, living a sedentary lifestyle at a whopping 230 lbs.

I didn't communicate with myself and, as a matter of fact, I didn't communicate with anyone. I allowed myself to be bullied into silence by my peer's comments, which left me feeling completely ashamed and worthless to all walks of life.

Some days, I didn't even want to get out of bed, nor did I feel like I had a reason for doing so. I self-medicated with food and my unhealthy eating habits spiraled out of control.

February 11, 2013

Finding Perfect Love in Imperfect Relationships

By Kristine Gasbarre

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This is the time of year when most single people commit to their search for a soulmate.

But almost any single woman knows the angst of learning that the combination of hope and intention doesn't always produce fast results.

For the romantic resolution-maker who's still looking for love months -- or years -- from now, author Arielle Ford has a word of encouragement we just don't hear enough of.

Ford is an internationally-renowned relationship expert whose latest book came out in paperback this month.

Wabi Sabi Love: The Ancient Art of Finding Perfect Love in Imperfect Relationships, along with her internationally bestselling previous book, The Soulmate Secret, reveal Ford's unique journey to finding and marrying her husband in a spirit millions of modern women can relate to.

February 11, 2013

How Do You Keep the Music Playing?

By Nancy Calhoun

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In the late summer of 1985, Tom and I were planning our wedding. We’d both been married before and we wanted a party to celebrate our marriage with close friends and family.

A few weeks before the event, I was driving alone and heard a song on the radio that caused me to pull over to listen carefully to the words.

It was a song by Michel LeGrand, lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman (who together have written some of the most amazing love songs ever penned), and sung by James Ingram and Patti Austin.

As I knew all too well, the song posed the essential question every couple must be able to answer if their love is to grow and endure as they are so sure it will when they exchange vows.

February 11, 2013

A Woman's Experience

Losing Love to Find It

By Michelle Kennedy

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I’m eating a burrito in my living room watching the latest dejected bachelorette contestant sob over Bachelor, Sean.

After only two weeks on the show, and one five-minute date with him, the reject-ee cries hysterically into the camera saying something like, “He was the man of my dreams. I mean, I’m thirty, and I’m getting really nervous about finding love.”

I take another bite of the burrito that is now dripping down my hand, “Try being thirty-six.” I laugh and rush to the sink before the sour cream hits the floor.

As my thirty-seventh birthday approaches, I can’t decide whether I’m still in my mid-thirties or full-blown late-thirties.

February 7, 2013

I've Been Thinking

The Heart of the Matter

By Maria Shriver

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Every day, each of us is given the opportunity to look at our lives anew.

Every day, each of us has the opportunity to put down and let go of old stories, old judgments, old habits, old scores and old forms of anger and get to the heart of the matter.

And the heart of the matter is love -- love for our own imperfect selves and the imperfect selves around us. Every day, each of us can get up and commit to a life based on that kind of love.

Not the crazy, passionate and dramatic love that consumes, but the steady and mindful love that sustains us, heals us and inspires us to live.

So, don't freak out if you still haven't found a romantic date for next Thursday night. Think of it as a rare chance to just sit in the love.

Trust me: in the long run it will do more than a box of chocolates. Okay, okay...it will do a lot but maybe not more than chocolate. I got carried away there.

With love,