Wake-Up Call
Recently I listened to Rob Bell on this podcast, talking about a concussion he got while surfing. I had wondered why he’d been so quiet lately. Turns out, his accident [...]
Celebrating Truthsgiving
Hello, friends. I’ve got a longer reflection this week, and I hope you’ll hang in there for it. For the past several years, I have grown increasingly uncomfortable celebrating Thanksgiving. [...]
Stressless Holidays are a Fantasy
My dad and brother-in-law work with unhoused people, and they tell me those precious souls don’t like the holidays. This season highlights all the ways their lives are not the [...]
Unsubscribes and Other Gifts of Rejection
I want people to love me. More than that, I want them to like me. I want them to think I’m funny, smart, helpful, wise, kind, intuitive, quick-witted. I want [...]
Eight kinds of time
Sometimes my husband says to me, “You need to go on a walk. Now.” He is familiar with my “Eight Kinds of Time,” and can sense when one of them [...]
Too Soon to Tell
My smart son is taking an evolutionary ecology class, and he told me something extraordinary on the phone last night. A small animal—let’s say a marmot—will risk making a noise [...]
The Heart of the Matter
I was around a leader recently who didn’t seem to have come home to themself. They were smart and polite, but I thought to myself, “I wouldn’t want to follow [...]
A Late Summer Benediction
None of it Lasts When my children were young and the days were so intense or intensely boring, I used to remind myself, “Everything changes. If it’s an easy phase, [...]
A Blessing for Times of Change
Hello friends! I’m back from my August break, and have logged glorious hours biking, swimming, sleeping in, painting, hanging out with friends, and blessedly not listening to any self-help podcasts [...]
Become a Professional Appreciator
Recently, I went to my favorite place, Café Blue, to do a little journaling and painting. Standing in my closet that morning, I took care to pick an outfit because [...]