When I was young and listening in as the adults talked, I heard a common refrain, “Nothing surprises me anymore.” Usually, it referred to any type of behavior or trends with which they disagreed. As a kid, though, I found the expression kind of sad. I mean, surprises were the best thing ever. In my...
A year ago, my husband and I were visiting our daughter, and the three of us made a quick trip to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. My daughter may have read one or two of the Little House books as a child, but didn’t have much association with the author, so...
Did your favorite toy as a child predict your future? Is it possible we understand our journey in life long before we can even articulate it? I was pondering those questions when I decided to give a stuffed Snoopy to my friend’s daughter for her first birthday. Snoopy was my first love, long before I...
I’ve been trying a new technique that my holistic lifestyle coach and I have been calling “bookending” my day. As someone who is naturally a bit “wound up,” it’s good for me to ground myself now and then. So, we started by working on a morning routine. Ways to settle into a good mental and...
Since I write every week about how much I love and honor art in all its forms, you might be surprised that I don’t consume as much of certain types as you might think. Many of my friends admit to keeping the radio or TV on most of the day when they are at home...
I was chatting with an acquaintance yesterday, and she asked how my business was doing during the pandemic. I said it’s been hit pretty hard, but I’m hanging in there. She admitted her business has been affected to, and then said, “But I swear if I hear the word “pivot” one more time . ....
I’m working on embracing impermanence. I’ve been reading When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron, and she reminds us that impermanence is our natural state. Babies don’t stay babies, people live and die, jobs come and go. But it’s not just reflected in the big things, it’s also the little things that happen every day....
The other day, I went for a walk. I was looking forward to listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell. The sun was shining, the weather was mild, and I was excited to get away from my work and out into the fresh air. Very soon, though, I realized...
They killed off one my favorite characters on one of my TV shows last night, and I’m doing a bit of public mourning here. It’s not that I didn’t know it was coming. I’m way behind on episodes and I’d read that it happened. Though I was dreading it, I’d steeled myself well for the...
The other day, my daughter came to spend some time with us after a particularly grueling semester of college. “Mom,” she said to me. “I’m just letting you know, for the first few days I’m home, all I’m going to do is sleep, read, and watch Netflix.” And that is exactly what she did. She...