It was the first Christmas that my dad would not be with us.  He wouldn’t be there to make us laugh with goofy stories and facial expressions. He wouldn’t be there to blink in irritation as travel plans went awry. He wouldn’t be there to help me design my annual gingerbread house. And he wouldn’t be there to give us firm hugs full of love.  We wanted to find a way to honor and remember him — but how? We did various things that first year, like donating toys we thought my dad would like to kids who needed presents, but one activity stuck: Letter writing. My mom asked my brother and…

This weekend I fell in love with a single magenta rose.  It was as if it called to me from a few yards away – beckoning me to come closer and smell its sweet, healing nectar. As I breathed deeply I could feel my whole body relax, allowing it to hold me in a warm, loving embrace. Everything would be okay. All was well. And for the first time in a long time, I had a feeling that it would stay that way. No matter the storms that come, I will always find my way through to a brighter day. And that the storms can never take away from that…

There it was in my email inbox.  An email from MASTERPIECE.  This could only mean one thing: news of Downton Abbey! With great excitement, I clicked the link in the email right away to watch the preview of the final season that begins in January. I scrolled down after I’d finished watching the video and there, among other related videos, was another one labeled, “Downton Abbey 6: UK Trailer.”  So, naturally, I watched. And as the teary-eye-inducing trailer came to an end, I was stunned.  Captivated, really, by how a trailer with such a remarkably different feel could be created from the exact same season of the show. The preview…

I’m so glad to have you as part of this circle where I share a little something each week or so!  If you’re new here, welcome! How treating life lessons like Tootsie Roll Pops can help make your life a little sweeter: Life lessons are not items to be completed or crossed off a list.  This is decidedly fortunate or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it. Life lessons are like Tootsie Roll Pops. Or should I say, learning a life lesson is like trying to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop without using your teeth.  It can be painful.  It can be frustrating.  And you can just so badly…

I woke up this morning with an old blog post on my mind…a draft from a few years ago about ribbon dancing in the chaos of life that never got published. February always feels like kind of a funky month. It has always felt like a strange limbo land to me…not quite spring, and often times, there seem to be new gusts of unexpected winter. So I thought it would be a fitting time to share this with you… May we dance in the ribbons, the chaos of life and find new strength and joy peeking through! In a conversation a few months ago, I was describing how I felt…

I woke up one morning feeling so special.  Not in an arrogant, better-than-everyone-else sort of way in which this statement might normally be taken, but in a genuine awareness of how special we all are.  You.  Me.  Everyone. And it is this deepening awareness that so strongly makes me feel the need to tell you so. You are so special.  Prized.  Cherished.  Treasured.  Adored.  And your soul, your love, and your life matter so much more than you can possibly imagine. Those of us that are lucky, have parents, family members, friends, and teachers tell us this as we grow up.  But to we really believe them?  Do we know it to be true as surely…

A friend sent me a card in the mail several years ago–one of those craft paper style ones from Trader Joe’s. On the front there was a delicate illustration of a bird on a branch and along the side, a quotation from Victor Hugo was typed in a lovely italic: There have been many times I’ve identified with this little bird. Feeling stuck in a whirling storm with nothing but a frail branch to cling to. And sometimes I still feel this way. But I also believe that life gives us these storms and frail branches so that instead of looking to the branch to hold us, we discover the strong, steady,…

Sitting on the floor today with Dino, one leg bent, the other outstretched–Dino snuggled up in the little crook of my knee, sweet eyes looking up at me. Offering myself the sweet quiet space my body so desires. Nurturing and love, relaxation & freedom. Freedom to create space. Freedom to enjoy space. And in this moment of savoring, my head quickly turned to the right. Right there, not any more than three feet from my door–my wood floor merged with the wood planks of the deck as I saw a sweet Little Oregon Junco through the glass. The glass seemed to melt as I felt fully captivated and connected to…

Last week I attended a performance: gentle afternoon rain. It was warm enough outside that my bedroom window was open. As I finished cooking some veggies in the kitchen, I thought I heard a slight mist. It seemed so out of place with how bright the sun had been shining most of the afternoon. “Is it raining, Dino?” I asked aloud, as if my dog could confirm my suspicions. I walked into the bedroom to see, and there it was–rain falling softly, drawing me in closer for the show. Next thing I knew, I found myself sitting at the foot of the bed, directly facing the window, staring out and…

I don’t remember exactly what the instructor said on the phone.  I believe it was something related to teaching because I found myself filled with such resentment for the way teaching, as a profession, is viewed that I hung up the phone and began to cry.  I’m too young to be this cynical, I thought.  I deeply missed the person I used to be, the one with the sparkle in her eye, who believed anything was possible. I would imagine that for all of us there comes a day when the rose colored glasses of innocence through which we look at the world–the ones that gradually get scratched and chipped–are ultimately…