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This post first ran March 1, 2020 My daughter is a master manifester. As so often happens with offspring, you teach them a skill and they surpass you at it. My daughter has learned a few things in her manifestation journey, though. For one, she’s learned the universe has a sense of humor. She once...
When I first started writing for a living, I worked for several local newspapers and small magazines. I wrote mostly feature articles, often history related. It was not uncommon for me to spend 8 hours on an article for which I was paid $25-50. $75 if I was lucky. At the time, I knew the...
When I was in college, I worked at a popular Mexican restaurant. Every Friday night, I’d watch my friend who was a cocktail server maneuver around the packed lobby delivering drinks to customers who were waiting to be seated. One day I asked her, “How do you carry those trays of drinks through all those...
How many times have you been told to “focus on the positive” or “look on the bright side” or “count your blessings?” All of those things are important, and I try to do them as often as possible, but what happens when a negative thought or reaction creeps in? If we believe too firmly the...
A friend mentioned this year she’ll be setting “values-based goals.” This was something I could get behind. I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions or long lists of specific objectives. I typically have one or two big goals but, as an artist, I prefer to stay fluid, able to pick up or let go...
My husband does most of the baking in our house and has for the 29 years of our marriage. It’s one of his favorite pastimes. Yet after all these years, it’s still not unusual to show up at our friends’ dinner party with one of his delicious strawberry rhubarb pies or orange chocolate cakes and...
I was thinking today about a fundraiser my husband, daughter, and I attended a little over a year ago for our local museum. We dressed according to the theme and enjoyed free food and drink. I had every intention of being on my best professional behavior — after all, I had been hired as a...
A friend e-mailed the other day to say, “It must be hard for you this week. You always throw a big party on your birthday and, this year, it’s going to be so quiet.” Indeed. It’s the little things that make you realize how much our lives have changed. Take coffee, for example. In the...
I confess that I, too, have been using the word “unprecedented” to describe our current condition during this COVID-19 pandemic. And in so many ways, the word seems to fit. But then I came across these lines in Bill Bryson’s book, Shakespeare: The World as Stage, “London’s theaters were officially ordered shut, and would remain...
When my son was five years old, he got very sick. I called the doctor after hours and explained the symptoms over the phone. He paused and then said, “Tell me, Mom, what do you think?” “I think there’s something wrong. He’s not himself,” I said. “I trust a mother’s intuition,” he replied. “Take him...