I recently donated a Little Free Library to a local mobile home park. I stopped by the library, which is located near the playground, the other evening and chatted with some of the kids who were playing there. Some of them had seen and even used the library, the others hadn’t noticed it at all....
Last week, I wrote about how art saves us. A reader e-mailed to share how listening to music every day kept her company during the isolation of COVID. She’s older and has health issues, so has spent much more time alone these past couple of years than she probably would have otherwise. I asked myself...
So often I’ve said, “All I want is for my kids to be happy.” What mother wouldn’t? We humans ask each other all the time, “Are you happy?” The assumption is if you answer no, you’re doing something wrong. You need to get back on the happiness track. For almost 55 years now, I’ve believed...
This post first ran April 6, 2019 Layli Long Soldier is an Oglala Lakota poet, writer, and artist. In an On Being interview with Long Soldier, she said, “Writing has shown me what happens with patience.” Oh wow, I thought. That’s an understatement! I don’t consider myself a terribly patient person. I’m an activator, someone...
A friend was telling me about a specific regret she has regarding a family member. It surfaces now and then, and when it does, it loops through her head all day. She knows it’s not “healthy” to dwell on that regret, since there’s nothing that can be done about it now, but she can’t help...
There was a time in my life when I longed for the kind of good friends I have now. I mean true kindred spirits. Soulmates. People who care for me and allow me to care for them. People who are at once vulnerable and wise. People who make me feel safe and who welcome my...
The members of my women’s group each pick a “word for the year.” I went round and round on which word to choose this time. Going round and round on some things is, unfortunately, how my mind often works. Finally, I settled on the word, “flow,” partly because I’d love to learn how to just...
Since rewatching the broadcast of Come From Away—the Broadway musical now streaming on Apple TV— I’ve had the song “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace” stuck in my head. We sang it often at mass when I was growing up, and I found it to be not only a beautiful melody, but wonderfully aspirational...
I’ve been taking a course sponsored by Mike Dooley (the guy who writes the daily Notes from the Universe). He shared some guidance he received while practicing channeling: “It’s more important to love life than to have fun.” He explained when you love life, fun is automatic. But if you decide to have fun, that’s...
It was pointed out to me by a trusted source that “uncertainty” has settled into my body in unhealthy ways. I wasn’t surprised to hear it. After all, there’s been a lot of uncertainty these past few years for all of us, especially in 2020. In order to loosen the hold uncertainty has had on...