Filed under Self Discovery

The Kindness of Strangers

Last week when I was writing about the hallway of transition an unexpected visitor arrived at my imagination’s door, unbidden. Without calling ahead, Blanche Dubois aimlessly wandered across my visual landscape in her rhinestone tiara and yellowing ball gown, looking forlorn and rather lost. And then, back in the real world, I serendipitously discovered that … Continue reading

Meaning Mondays: The Mask Edition

A person is least of all himself when he talks as himself. Give him a mask and he will tell the truth. -Oscar Wilde I stumbled upon mask making quite by accident. Early in my career, I was fascinated by the intersection of creativity and personal growth. (Still am, actually.) And since I had a … Continue reading

In the Hallway of Transition

When one door closes another opens but all too often there is a long hallway in between. -Rick Jarow It was a welcome surprise. The unexpected email arrived in my inbox earlier this week, from two former students. I haven’t seen them in well over a year, and in that time they’ve graduated and moved … Continue reading

Meaning Mondays: The Teapot Edition

This is the story of a small, gently used teapot. It came into my life three years ago, a gift from my husband. Claimed from among a ragged family of fiestaware at an antique store. And like the friskiest puppy in the litter, it called out: pick me, pick me! “A real find,” Dave proclaimed, … Continue reading

Old Newsletters and Silt

To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. -Agnes De Mille This week I’m in clean slate/fresh start mode, purging old files and documents. And in the process of digging through my hard drive I’ve unearthed some old newsletters that I wrote in years past. Yes, back in the day … Continue reading

Introducing Meaning Mondays

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. -Annie Dillard Happy New Year! My holiday was refreshing, but it’s also nice to be back in my cozy blogging cockpit. My engines are revved up and I feel ready to fly into 2010. So. We made it. Another year. Another decade. … Continue reading

Before the New Year

These days, I am far more interested in self-acceptance than in further improvements. Seems to me that a good deal of pop psychology is thinly veiled self-rejection. Of course, I want to continue to discover more about life and myself. I just don’t want to miss the quiet knowing that has always been present. –Jonathan Young … Continue reading

Coming Home: The Ritual of Return

Coming Home: The Ritual of Return

“There’s no place like home.” Dorothy,The Wizard of Oz. If you’ve been here before, you’ve no doubt noticed I’ve been swimming in the waters of “home” lately. For me, it’s like a lake that’s both warm and bracing, placid and choppy. And for the most part, I enjoy that duality. In fact, over the years … Continue reading

Big Questions

…Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is … Continue reading

Going Home: Retracing My Steps

Going Home: Retracing My Steps

Thomas Wolfe famously said: “You can’t go home again.” And yet, I have a recurring daydream where not only do I go home again, but I stay for a few months. Three months, to be exact. I don’t know why, but three months seems like the perfect amount of time. I plucked it from the air, … Continue reading