Category: Change

The Swimming Lesson

Our town has a big indoor pool, circa 1943, that offers the world’s cheapest swimming lessons, for all ages. This is most excellent for us since we have 152 kids living at our house (Note: for those “interested parties,” who print out my blog for so-called legal reasons, please read the definition of hyperbole, as…

Brought to You by the Letter Z’

#reverb10 is asking: Prompt: New name. Let’s meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why? My answer would be easy: ZED. “Zed” is the nickname my in-laws gave me when they met me. It differentiated me from…

Future Self: Don’t Be Such a Bitch

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

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…

On Not Walking

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”

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…

Whispers in My Ear

Or, Distinguishing Random Life from Serendipity People keep giving me things to read that are telling to SHUT DOWN. Books about Machu Picchu. Books about moving to the country in Vermont. It always seems so hard to distinguish between what is the universe whispering in my ear and what is just an act of random…

I Need You Now… More Than Words Can Say

I’ve mentioned before that I am making some changes to my blog, and that they will be happening over the course of time. Key to the success of my space, though, is making it a bit less MINE and a bit more YOURS. We like to think of ourselves as islands — There’s ME and…