What You Really Deserve This Holiday Season
Several years ago, a friend was staying at my house. She decided to give her little boy a bath but I hadn’t set out enough towels, so she reached into the linen closet and grabbed one. Later, I noticed she had chosen an old ratty towel with holes in it that I keep off to...
Do Less and Give More
On his podcast, Your Own Best Company, my friend Franklin Taggart invited us to reframe this busy season as a time of abundance. To remember that all this chaos is really proof of a bountiful harvest. That our focus on friendships, jobs, and families has paid off, and we are surrounded by people and things we...
Should We Stay Forever Young?
As a lifelong watcher of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, I caught Paula Abdul’s song and dance performance on the Jennie-O float. She performed her song “Straight Up,” which was released in 1988. There’s lots of praise for Abdul. Other people are noting the flaws in her lip-synching, the doctored sound on her tap routine,...
With Gratitude
Two years ago, when COVID was raging, we drove forty-five minutes and met my son in a Starbuck’s parking lot with a bag full of Thanksgiving dishes I had packed up for him. This year, we’re hosting our first family dinner and out-of-town guests since pre-pandemic. Feeling thankful for that. But also feeling gratitude that...
In Defense of the Omnipresent Cell Phone (and Those Who Use It)
Bear with me as I walk you through some familiar scenarios: 1985: Your boss calls and interrupts your dinner to ask if you can pick up extra shifts. 2022: Your boss texts while you’re having lunch with your grandparents and asks if you can pick up extra shifts. 1998: You and your spouse sit at...
The Best Gift We Can Give Ourselves and Others
Buckle up, friends. The holiday season is upon us. This is a super busy time of year for artists, entrepreneurs, and creatives of all kinds. We’re working hard to meet holiday orders, we’re selling at more shows, we’re even creating gifts (often on request) for our families and friends. Put on top of that all...
The Art of Making Money (Or Not)
I’m preparing to lead a discussion on the book, It’s Not Your Money, by Tosha Silver, for a local writing organization to which I belong. Money is a constant source of worry, debate, motivation, and frustration for artists of all kinds. How much do we give away for free? How high can we raise our...
Stories from the Junk Room
A friend and I were reminiscing yesterday about what people in Idaho called the “junk room”; that room in an unseen part of the house where the door was always closed and the smell of mothballs was ever-present. I had two favorite junk rooms. One was in my grandmother’s house, an upstairs bedroom piled pell-mell...