The Supple Unconscious Mind On Morning Edition this morning, Tina Brown recommended a New Yorker article: “The Social Animal” by David Brooks, on revelations in the science of our human nature. It’s such a “social” time for us. I mean, we are all tweetering about, texting and sexting, making friends, then unfriending, checking in and…
Category: The Details
In which the smallest particles bring meaning to the universe.
On Rivers of Stone
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Tomorrow I start teaching again which would normally make me feel as though I am lost to free time for a few months. But, I love teaching. And I love my tutoring job, and I love the time I spend with my students and colleagues on campus, where, for the few peanuts tossed to me,…
AROS #2
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The one I least expected — number one son, The boy with “Fidget” tattooed On his soul — Stayed still like a breathing boulder In our silent meditation.
Blogging Tip: Serving the Meaning
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As a writing specialist, I occasionally tear my hair out reading bad blog posts. More often I just read and tweet about good ones though, because I’ve stopped reading the poorly written ones by the second sentence. But then I eventually write a “make your blog posts better” tip. Here’s one: Don’t ramble. A lot…
#reverb10 Day 28: Achieve is a Dirty Word.
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Fuck I hate that word. So there in my email is a simply GORGEOUS woman smiling at me and underneath her is the prompt for the day and it just so happens to be one of single words in the English language that I hate more than any other. ACHEIVE. Ergh. How does it make…
What it Reveals
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#reverb10 prompt for 12/25: Photo – a present to yourself. Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where,…
Future Self: Don’t Be Such a Bitch
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Dear Future Self, I hope you realize that not EVERYONE is as lucky as you are to be a highly successful author of four best-selling books. I hope you remember that even though you have EVERYTHING YOU DESIRE, that many other people still have barely what they need. I hope you know that achieving ONE…
Healing Through Ordinariness
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When I hit 40 this year, I started to feel strange. Like I didn’t understand who I was in relation to that number. It was a creeping “old and used up” feeling. But I didn’t let that hang around. At some point in our lives, we reach an age that no longer makes sense. The…
To Be of Use: Beyond Making Do
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Here’s a tandem response today: integrating #Reverb10’s Day 13 prompt on “Action,” asking “What’s your next step?” with my dovetailed thoughts to Tara’s question posed to us: “Why do you make?” (I am going to put aside for now the fact that when I nannied in 1989, the family used the word “make” as euphemism…
On Not Walking
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Walking is joy. I love walking like I love Ira Glass and peanut butter cups. I am surprised that since I moved back to America from London, that I have given it up. Just basically decided that even though it is one of my favorite things to do in the world, I am not even…
“Your Life’s Work of Art has Already Begun”
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Day 10, #Reverb10 Prompt: Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? (Thanks, Susannah Conway!) “To create a work of art you’re proud of, step back on occasion, ask for feedback, paint over, change directions, and switch your medium. Just don’t wait to begin to paint, don’t…
Parties: Math Made Fun!
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Day 9, #reverb 10: Party.What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? (Thanks, Shauna Reid) Here’s the best party advice I ever learned: Never –ever– hang your invite up on a wall. Parties are simple mathematical equations. They are algebra. On one side of the = sign is everything you need for the party:…
It Takes a (Christmas) Village?
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#Reverb Day 6 Prompt: Make: What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? (Thanks, Gretchen Rubin) I made cookies (seen pictured), 500 or so of them for a church fundraiser. Well, actually I just rolled…
Finding Wonder in the Small
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#Reverb10, Day 4 Prompt: Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year? (by author Jeff Davis @JeffreyDavis108) Wonder isn’t an experience: it is a spiritual geographical location, a destination I can choose to visit, or live in. It is exactly a “sense” — just like smell or sight. I…
Details Are Forever
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On Writing Beautifully: Another Part Writing lives through images which cut and scar us. We don’t remember wise pontifications. We remember bleach spilled on boiling pine boards. Good writing bruises us with its visions, then leaves its scent upon us when she departs. See (and feel) here… “Workers began to occupy the this particular flat-building…
