What if we truly heard the message people spoke instead of listening for what we think they are saying? What if we stopped trying to project onto other people the ideas we have formed about them and instead listened intently to the messages they send us and let those messages simply be our guide? I …
Everyone has at least one detail about them- one missing piece of the puzzle. One clue, one secret, one aspect of their life. That if you knew that one thing, it would make ALL the difference. And how often do we take the time to stop and consider that people are more than meets the …
I am eight. Maybe nine. We are playing, my little friends and I, on a snowdrift at school. For lack of sleds and toboggans, we are using our snow pants as sliding apparatuses. One goes down the slope, and then the other. It’s a cool, crisp winter day. And soon, it’s my turn again. I …
Some of my most real writing- the most vulnerable, transparent material I write, comes from an experience in which I mess up royally and then learn a few lessons in the process. Yesterday was one of those days. But first: I don’t want my life or any of the lives in which I am in …
Gratitude: it’s a matter of the heart. I could speak of the day. Gorgeous, crisp autumn chill. Leaves pattern the dying grass. Down a heritage road, I can see for a mile a canopy of tree branches laden down with hues of gold, crimson, burnt orange: deep and rich. Air pungent with earthy undertones. The …
Tonight, we sit out on the veranda, you and I, while candles flicker quietly at our feet. Three citronella in pots reduce to liquid. I say I like the smell, and you mistakenly think that I have given you a compliment. “It’s the smell of the river,” you say. And it’s true. You do smell …
I was dreading it. One more obligation. One more thing to do. And although I believe the mantra ‘we can do hard things’, there are times when I just want an easy thing. One.easy.thing. Amidst all the hard things in life. All those things that pull me eight ways to Sunday. And as I sat …
We were born for this. This journey, this life adventure. This journey on which we travel in and out of days and weeks and months and years. In and out of seasons. We were born for this quest. Were born for the highs and lows, the twists and turns. The bends. The forks in the …
Today. I was reminded yet again. For what stands to be the thousandth time. (It is a lesson in progress.) That I do not know everyone’s story. Nor do I know all the reasons why or for what reason people do the things they do. And neither can I know all the minute and significant …
Love. It is the one thing life must be characterized by. But at times, the hardest thing to give. The most difficult offering to bring forward when we’ve been wronged. When we are wounded and hurting and desperate for justice. We say we love. But do we truly love…everyone? I know I have a long …
Post-Mother’s Day 2013 (survived!). And so here I am reflecting now, on a few of my favorite things. Mothers and holidays and good old-fashioned truth-telling. Blog style. And I got to thinking about motherhood. About the mothers I know and love, and about how each special mother, from those who are steady and patient to …
It’s been a long day. Preceded by an even longer night. In which I woke, startled by my dream. A telling dream- of projected fears and failures and worries about things to come. And now, here I am again. Ready to head into another night. And then, another day. And on and on. Sadly, there …