The fabric of my life is woven through with departures. There are big ones, whose nubs are visible on the surface of my life, and smaller ones, the thread of which just glint when you turn the fabric this way and that. Like the samskaras that Dani Shapiro so eloquently talks about in Devotion, these [...]
All through our gliding journey, on this day as on so many others, a little song runs in through my mind. I say a song because it passes musically, but it is really just words, a thought that is neither strange nor complex. In fact, how strange it would be not to think it – [...]
Last week Grace and I were sitting in the car with her friend who we had driven home from camp. We were waiting to drop her off and of course I was early so we had a few minutes to kill. Grace wanted to show Jessie a particular picture (I can’t remember which one) so [...]
It is my distinct honor to be guest posting today at Karen Maezen Miller’s beautiful site, Cheerio Road. Karen’s book, Hand Wash Cold, is among those that have most moved and touched me in the last few years, and I’ve come to think of her as one of my teachers, one of my shepherds. What [...]
“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.” – Sigmund Freud Many thanks to Anthony Lawlor, from whom I found this quote on Twitter. I do believe this to be true, absolutely, though it’s so incredibly difficult to remember in the moments where the struggle seems overwhelming. The [...]
I’ve been riding the swells of my moods lately, dipping into sadness, rising into joy, then back again. When I looked back at what I was writing a year ago, I see I was talking about the very same theme. I wonder if this is a bad thing, this apparent wallowing in the same topics, [...]
The words haven’t come back. Sadly, there’s no sign of them. What I have instead is this ordinary life, full of early-waking children (and late-sleeping children, one of each), fresh herbs, blooming flowers, wild afternoon thunderstorms, red shoes, and both laughter and tears in every single day. And lots of pictures. We really mixed things [...]
I believe we are all full of stories. I believe we are all looking for the way home. To whatever our essential, fundamental home is, where we are truly ourselves, where we are seen and recognized and known and witnessed as such. I believe that telling our stories – to others, maybe, but most of [...]
I have a strong and perpetual instinct to just sit still. I’m sure this is inextricably bound with my endless preoccupation with how fast time is passing. I relentlessly under-program my children during the school year, and I say no to far more things than I say yes to. My favorite story about my antisocial [...]
Yesterday Grace, Whit and I went back to Storyland. Our first visit was nothing short of magical and I wanted to experience that again. I am determined to jam this summer that I’m not working full of memories for the children. I’m anxious about what reality will look like once I go back to work, [...]
