One of my son's favorite places to visit is the cemetery. We walk there from our house (it's our nearest "park") and, once past the enclosure fence, my son crawls down from his stroller and pushes the stroller around like a life-size toy car. There's a fountain under a huge old fir that we call my son's fountain. Flat headstones make level ground which is…
It's purely maddening and bewildering to discover this: The longer I work on something, the more I try to improve, the more I can't tell whether I'm actually getting better. I exercise and my muscles get sore and irritated and suddenly sitting up straight is a challenge. (Oh great! Now I'm going backwards!) I add a few more spices and a dash of salt to the sauce…
This year has truly, madly, deeply* been one of the craziest that I, my family, and my heart has ever seen. I've experienced more heartbreak this year than most of those that came before it and I've been knocked to my knees, in tears, by generosity and love in measures that have risen to meet the height of my pain. *Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage…
I come from the place of ice blue mountains that enclose me like crowned walls. I dream of green forests that smell of possibility. I am the child who found warmth under a gold lamp as I huddled with musty books beneath a gray cloud blanket. I come from a house filled with singing, shouting. Laughter in one breath, tears in the next. …
“I was really intimidated by you.” A friend once told me this. Actually, a lot of people have said it. I guess I make a killer first impression that says: “I’ve figured out how to do life. I’ve got my act together. I’m beautiful and powerful and intelligent.” Heh. On my good days, maybe. Let’s not forget that I also studied acting in college (full confession…
I learned today that the author under whom I studied last summer did not offer the same high-intensity workshop this year. A squeeze tightened in my chest as the thought ran through me: Did I attend the last session he will offer? I don't know the answer to this question, but it started me down a path of gratitude. I've sometimes wondered in the time since attending…
When I cry, I remember why forever. When I laugh, I forget about it tomorrow. –Anonymous I’m trying my hand at a few definitions of sad things that we might experience: Tragedy—def: the destruction of human lives or hearts on a massive scale. A loss of profound consequences. Tear-jerker—def: you know after witnessing this kind of movie or…
Anyone who’s ever gotten married and spent a major family holiday with the in-laws knows that it can be awkward at first. No amount of love and welcome can make the different traditions and communication styles feel effortless to the “stranger." And by this, I mean the one who is only included because of their spouse, not because of a lifetime of memories and shared blood.…
If I were to tell you what I’m most afraid of, it’s this: doing something wrong. Perfectionism runs deep inside me, cutting deep canyons, and though I once thought I could call myself a “recovering perfectionist” but the truth is the trait doesn’t ever shake itself off completely. It sickens me to think I might…
We all read out loud. It's part of daily life. But what many of us don't realize is that reading out loud is a skill, and, with a little practice, it can be honed in a way that transforms anything we say. A mediocre story can become something fantastic with one simple tweak—the voice-acting of the narrator who breathes it to life. A well-written piece of…