Love Means Showing Up
I knew that I was completely over-reacting; my disappointment was disproportional to the actual events that were unfolding. I was absolutely convinced that our summer was ruined. In June, most of my family got COVID, which meant that we couldn’t go visit our son in Michigan. For months, I’d been looking forward to seeing him
It’s official—I’m getting weirder. I’ve started mailing family members prisms that they can hang in their windows so they too can have magical dancing rainbows on their walls. This is completely unsolicited; I’ve just decided they all need one. I recently added a large potted lemon tree to my bedroom because I’ve always wanted one
Things have felt fragile to me lately. This includes, but is not limited to, our democracy, the mental health of our nation’s youth and young adults, climate change, friends’ marriages, family members’ health, manufacturing supply chains and, because of where I live, UGA’s chances for remaining undefeated this football season. Most things feel tenuous to
I’ve been feeling tender lately. It’s almost as if my soul is a little bit bruised and I need to be protective of myself. One of the gifts of being in your forties is that you aren’t a mystery to yourself anymore. While this particular bout of tenderness stems from sending my oldest child off
I heard him before I saw him. As I rounded the corner into the dairy section of the grocery store, I saw a preschool-age boy really giving his mom a piece of his mind. He had gotten so worked up that he’d thrown his shirt. He was really hulking out. It’s cold in the dairy
I felt bad for the car salesman. He was so new to the dealership that he didn’t even have business cards yet and I was sitting across from him having a full-blown identity crisis. He definitely wasn’t trained for what I was experiencing. The day had started very differently. We have a new driver in
Making lists helps me figure things out. So, about a decade ago, when I was trying to make a decision about my job, I made a list. On one side, I listed the people who were ready for me to move on or stay at home or whatever I decided to do. This list filled
I’ve been working on being braver. Flat out “brave” is too high of a goal. Braver, though, seems possible. I have so much room for improvement that no major heroic acts are necessary. To become braver, I basically just need to stop wishing I could disappear. This new quest for bravery was brought on by
I hesitated to write about this because I would do just about anything to take away my own depression and don’t like that it is part of my life. I have learned, though, that not making eye contact with this illness doesn’t make it go away. I know that February can be a hard month
I’ve been spinning my wheels a lot lately, obsessing over things that seem broken. I needed someone to help ground me, so I signed up for a goal-setting workshop. The workshop included a helpful presentation about core values and goals that helped me find some clarity. I was in this goal-oriented, “searching for meaning” state