“20 questions for a New Year’s Eve reflection” is posted originally at “The Art of Simple” blog. I’ve decided to post the questions here and drop in my answers. 1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year? When the judge said: “You are now officially a family.” 2. What was the…
Category: Ponderings
On thoughts, and the thinking behind them
In Love with ‘Love, Actually’
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Because I forgot to take the bacon out of the freezer Christmas Eve, I got the chance to see “Love, Actually” again this year. It just so happens that this is the 10th anniversary of the film, and for some reason that means that people are thinking/talking about it and revisiting their dusty opinions of…
The Way Forward Isn’t Necessarily Straight – #reverb13 – Day 20
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My old boyfriend Lee used to say, as we were driving in his car: “NEVER GO STRAIGHT! ALWAYS GO GAILY FORWARD!” Such effervescent and insistent proclamations in the case of my helping him look for an address should have clued me in early on that Lee was planning to revert back to his former lifestyle,…
Why Not? She Asks Again – #reverb13 – Day 17
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Resolve – Firmness of purpose; to solve a problem or a dispute. My word for 2013 was “resolve.” I dissected that word last December, and like any misguided wordsmith, instead of thinking “how does this apply to me” I just pulled it all apart and wrote in second person. I have a tendency to do…
Addicted to Loathing – #reverb13 – Day 16
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When that habit is feeling bad, it’s hard work to feel any differently.On my “bad days,” the one thing I hear over and over again from people who love me is: “You are too hard on yourself!” This bad habit of self-loathing has been my ever-lurking shadow. It goes hand-in-hand with the long walk I…
Being Out There Again – #reverb13 – Day 5
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The brutal impact of self-censorship Right now, you are experiencing with me my biggest risk of 2013. Back in 2009, after the kids came to live with us, the kids’ attorney advised me to consider cutting back on my online presence. I was shocked. I felt sick. It hadn’t occurred to me that the family…
My Heart Sends Me Flowers – #reverb13 – Day 3
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I need to get l**d. I need another cup of coffee. I need to walk the dog. Are my hands in the right place? it really bothers me when I am watching an NFL game and the guys are listening to the National Anthem and have their hands over their clavicle. Hmmm. I don’t think…
On Being Lost – #Reverb13 – Day 2
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The getting in the way is part of the way. Already I can feel my fingers resisting saying: “Don’t say the awfulness. Don’t tell them you Feel lost in the lives of everyone else You take care of, and it’s your own fault anyway because You’ve read The Four Agreements and you Know better” and…
Suddenly, and Again – #Reverb13 Day One
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On my tripwire connections of mind, body and soulHow do you feel, on this first day, in your mind? In your body? In your heart? In your soul? First, I feel like saying “Oh my goodness hello and I’m sorry!” If there is anyone out there who has been counting on me to blog…
On Having to Cut Down a Tree
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Is it worth being sentimental over one tree? The last time I mentioned to friends that we might have to cut down our two huge Norway maples, one FB friend replied “good riddance. They are invasive species to New England anyway.” I sometimes think that our attachments to trees or cars or other “stuff” isn’t…
Without Remembering
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Another sunrise, another lifeCreating is not remembering… It is to look and to hear and to write — without remembering. It is the immediate feelings arranged in words as they occur to me.” — Gertrude Stein We are all in our ruts, our patterns, our habits. It’s a relief, I suppose, to discover they are…
11 Minutes is alot of Time
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Today is wrote a small stone called “The Time.” I wrote it for two reasons. First, because I notice I had about 11 minutes before the kids had to leave to go to school. The kids were happily engaged in something and I suddenly thought: “Hey! I should write my small stone right now, while…
What did you like best about 2012?
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Hey, before we kick 2012 to the curb and rush headlong into our resolutions, I’m just wondering: What did you like BEST about 2012? You can reply in the comments, or on Facebook. But I’d really like you to write out a response. Why? Because when we write things down, it makes them more true,…
Goll DANG it!
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So, I am trying to figure out what is going on with my writing at the moment and I do have alot to say but no focus whatsoever. And it’s frustrating as hell. I’ve been writing poetry, over on my home page site. Please do feel free to enjoy them. But it’s just THIS. THIS.…
My Friend, with Existential Chickens
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I have a super great old friend from college, Jen. She’s a writer (here’s her book) and a journalist. And a mom. She lives in Des Moines and recently she acquired chickens. She and her husband and her kids have chickens in their backyard. Do you ever look at your friends, when they do something…
