Happy Valentine’s Day! On a holiday that invites us to attend to love, I appreciate how the intention of a collective field can amplify whatever we are holding or healing. There are so many ways to love and be loved. Self-love. God-love. Child-love. Beloved-love. Dog-love. Nature-love. Stranger-love (but not the creepy kind!). After-love. I am sharing with you today some … Read More
You’re all I need to get by
It happened by accident. I was walking my puppy, Bodhi. The night before, I’d put the man I love on an airplane that would take him to a new, truer life that did not include me. I’d been haunted by this song since hearing it in the movie CODA weeks before. When I noticed myself humming it nonstop, I found … Read More
What they can never steal from us
In late September, my son’s friend Will got a supercool mountain bike for his 12th birthday. A few weeks later, a man stole it from Will as he was biking with friends. Our parent community was dumbfounded and aggrieved that an adult could inflict such suffering on a child. Will’s parents reported the loss to the police, registered with the … Read More
On being thrown out of the nest
“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.” — Pema Chodron These are awake times, as Pema Chodron describes it. Fear, uncertainty, loss and grief are throwing so many of us out of the nest. So much is at stake. I want to share with you a line from Wallace … Read More
Pandemic productivity hack #2: Reconsider what matters
These are challenging times. Many of us are living, working, and creating in unexpected, new ways. With a third of Americans now showing signs or clinical anxiety or depression according to the Census Bureau, it’s more important than ever to work and play and rest in ways that fill us up. Last week, I proposed lowering your standards. Today, I … Read More
Pandemic productivity hack #1: Lower your standards
Life has changed for many of us—rapidly and radically. You may be overwhelmed by grief, facing unexpected swaths of free time, or consumed with far greater demands of family and work. Whatever your life is like today, chances are good there’s something new to solve. Your old systems and strategies may not apply. And whoever you thought you were just … Read More
Are you procrastinating enough?
As we face the blank page of a new year full of good intentions, I am wondering if you might set your procrastinating sights a little higher. Because, let’s face it, we all know you can do better. In fact, why not set a timer for 15 minutes each time you sit down to write—or a half-hour, even—and make sure … Read More
The Art of Asking for It
There’s so much in life that’s out of our hands. One variable we are (mostly) in charge of is ourselves. If you want to turn what stalls you into what accelerates you, adjusting your attitude and approach can take you there. Let’s start with something you are likely to have plenty of: dissatisfaction. Most of us express our dissatisfaction by … Read More
Where did you put the baby?
A few years ago, I attended a family science camp at Camp Westwind over a long weekend with my son, Theo, and then-boyfriend, Mark. The small cluster of families met up in the parking lot and together took a small boat across a small body of water where we disembarked and trudged together up a sandy hill into camp. Theo … Read More
How to tell the stories you want to live by
At my Aunt Linda’s wedding about 25 years ago, my cousin Shari gave a toast that I will never forget. It went something like this. John, Linda’s new husband, was relentlessly positive and approving of Linda. To the point that Shari suspected he was a fake. After all, how could anyone be so universally satisfied by another person? No matter … Read More