I often get down on myself for the lack of meaning in the spurts of writing I publish on my blog, the ten-minute free writes that are unedited streams of consciousness, the spewing of thoughts after pulling a prompt from a box. “Who cares?” I ask myself. Who cares about the details of everyday life? … Continue reading In defense of the ordinary
My first attempt at skippering our 13 foot wooden yawl was a disaster. The wind on Pamlico Sound in the Outer Banks of North Carolina was stiff when I took the tiller and the main sheet (the line that trims the mainsail). When the wind is blowing and the boat is tipping, things happen fast. … Continue reading Sailing (and life) lesson: know where you want to go.
Pro-tips for making a habit of writing every day and ensuring you always have topics to write about. Continue reading Publish in 10 Minutes Per Day
There’s a Dar Williams song, “Mark Rothko Song,” that affects me. I have listened to it over and over again over the past ten years, and though I never knew who or what it was about there is something about this song that makes my heart shift every time I hear it, that makes me … Continue reading Everything I need to know about creative spaces I learned from the art on Mad Men
I hiked alone yesterday. I needed to get out of the house. Actually, I needed to get away from our kids. They’ve been home for what seems like weeks now (13.5 days, to be exact), and I couldn’t take the bickering and wrestling and whining and begging and pouting and grumping anymore. After two weeks … Continue reading Running away to the woods
“Hey Mom, are trees living things or living beings?” Our nine year old son looked into the forest then up at me as we hiked side by side along a gurgling brook. His dad and sister walked a few steps ahead of us. Upstream was the Glade Creek Grist Mill in West Virginia, a rustic wooden … Continue reading We talked to our kids about souls
Butterfly Mind 