Filed under Self Nurturing

At the End of the Day, A Poem About Happiness

For sleep, one needs endless depths of blackness to sink into; daylight is too shallow, it will not cover one. ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh Lights turned low. Soothing music. A warm bath. Steaming cups of chamomile tea. Candles burning, then extinguished. All good ways to usher in the end of the day. On those nights when … Continue reading

Meaning Mondays: The Experiment Edition

Experimenting. That’s what I’ve been doing this month, down in my imaginary Meaning Mondays lab. Concocting potions and elixirs. Adding a dash of this. Removing a bit of that. Adjusting the flame. Timing it all so that the spell I want to cast turns out just right. Lest you think I’m some mad scientist, replete … Continue reading

Does the Truth Hurt?

A few years ago I walked into a classroom. An ordinary classroom on an ordinary first day of class. As I took a seat, however, my attention was pulled towards the chalkboard, where the professor had left these words: Show up and choose to be present Pay attention to what has heart and meaning Tell … Continue reading

Meaning Mondays: The Clouds Edition

Deep play allows one to feel quintessentially alive, heartbeat by heartbeat, in the eternal present. The here-and-now becomes a pop-up storybook, full of surprises, in which everything looms. It returns us to the openness of childhood. ~Diane Ackerman I pulled my chair towards the window and plopped down. Yes, 30 minutes, I thought. I’ll sit … Continue reading

Meaning Mondays: The Purposelessness Edition

I’ve come up against it. And there’s no denying: I simply want more play in my life. So far, my Meaning Monday activities have been fun, but they haven’t always felt like play. Because there’s a difference between fun and play, I’m discovering. Of course, meaning making doesn’t hinge on either fun or play. It … Continue reading

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 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

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

A Cat’s Wisdom

“The smallest feline is a masterpiece.” -Leonardo DaVinci This is Kung Pao. And no, I didn’t give him that name. In fact, I have a habit of naming cats after characters from old movies. So knowing what I do about him now, I’d probably call him Sheridan Whiteside. From The Man Who Came to Dinner. … Continue reading