Thomas Merton wrote, “Those who are not thankful soon begin to complain of everything.” What a hopeful expectation for human being. I really love that he takes thankfulness for granted as our usual state. Complaint is an aberrant condition into…
Holy moly, the ups and downs have been dizzying. One moment, I’ve got tears streaming down my face because I’m so relieved, and it seems like we’re rounding the corner back toward democracy and basic decency. Hooray! Then I remember…
Gah! My well-honed process for crafting weekly blogs and talks got totally upended this week. Usually, I pick an idea and jot a few rough notes on Monday, let it simmer and bubble on Tuesday and Wednesday (maybe adding some…
On one of our recent Zoom calls, we were talking about how much we all miss being “up close and personal.” Of course we do. It’s been an upheaving damned year in a lot of ways, and restrictions on how…
At the start of our online ballet-afrique dance class a couple of weeks ago, my brilliant and magical friend Romy shared that there had been a raccoon scare around their chicken coop the night before. When she heard the commotion…
A friend and I were talking politics. Because even though just about every conversation with almost everyone in my life these days begins with “Let’s not talk about politics,” inevitably we can’t help ourselves and fall headfirst into it anyway.…
My brother, Joe, reminded me of an exchange around the breakfast table during our childhood. Dad had just made a plan for his entire busy week, had written it down, and was sharing it with us out loud to make…
I’ve been touched this week by the idea of bigger tables. The idea that we are building, both metaphorically and literally, bigger tables at which we can gather to eat and laugh, to write and do craft projects, to connect…
I hit a wall this week. I crashed into an emotional-psychological wall with this thought: “I just can’t do it anymore. I’m totally fried.” Of course, this wasn’t the first wall I’ve encountered; I’ve been hitting them with regularity since…
You may have seen some of the artistic collaborations of artist Tom Curtis and his young sons, Dom and Al. Maybe you don’t know their names, but their stuff is all over social media; they’ve got an Instagram account (@thingsihavedrawn);…