We went camping in northern Arizona last week, and aside from the fun stuff, I came home with two messages I want to share with you. The forests are giant tinderboxes We stayed in a pine forest, and the ground was coated in a spongy blanket of dry pine needles. Because gathering was permitted in … Read more
“People from the northeast are so rude/straightforward/abrupt.” Or so I’ve heard. My experience is more that if you ask a stranger for directions in those places, they’re going to give you directions and move on. No small talk about the day or why you’re going there or the weather or where you’re from. But I’m … Read more
(Just a heads up: this post contains affiliate links, as well as the background behind how I came to use them. Because I’ve historically not been an affiliate kind of gal.) When I was in seventh grade, my basketball coach told the team that drinking soda during the season was bad for our game. I … Read more
It doesn’t feel right to prattle on about the usual things today. The problem of gun violence is overwhelming. The problem of black people murdered by police is overwhelming. The problem of racism is overwhelming. There are solutions or partial solutions to these, and we rationalize our way around them. How do we connect when … Read more
It finally happened. I reached the limit for how heavy I am willing to be. I didn’t know ahead of time what that was. It’s not something I’ve kept in mind all along. I just reached the point where I had to say, “No more!” When I went back to school in 2016, I gained … Read more
We have a serious game of one-up-manship going on. It’s everywhere and completely lacks empathy. An easy example, one that likely isn’t triggering to most people, is weather. Right now, Texas is just starting to thaw a bit. People went for days without electricity and/or running water. It’s killing people. Homes are flooding. Drinking water … Read more
One of my life mantras comes from Maya Angelou: Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. We apply this easily to many skill sets: math, reading, various arts, physical skills, and so on. We don’t apply it as well to our beliefs and how we interact … Read more
My great-aunt apparently drove later in her life than she should have. I never rode in a car with her but I remember overhearing grownups laughing that she was like Mr. Magoo, where she always turned out fine but there was a trail of chaos behind her. We’re not always aware of the effect we … Read more
It’s easy to see the bad parts of 2020. They’re on the news, they’re in articles, they’re in memes, they’re showing up in expected and unexpected places in our lives. For the overwhelming majority of us, there were good parts to 2020 as well, even if some of them are double-edged. For example, both of … Read more
Tomorrow (and every day, but for now—tomorrow), I invite you to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is a word that has lost meaning because it’s used so much nowadays, but we are not, on the whole, even mediocre at it. Yet. If you’re enjoying a meal full of your favorite foods tomorrow (or any day), instead of … Read more