Packing

We’ve decided, after five years of being homebodies, to try travelling again. He’s making reservations, while I make to-do lists and try to decide what to pack. Excited by the possibility, he draws up ambitious itineraries, and I’m feeling reality close in. What won’t fit into any suitcase, I gently remind him, is the promise […]

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Limbo

Waiting on the results of a biopsy, news comes of a relative’s death. A loved one struggles to make sense of the world crashing in around him. War continues and though I extend my hands to help, I am growing weary. Life is like this, I think. Just as we think we’ve found firm footing, […]

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Reason for Being

A note to my younger self, who spent far too much time worrying about her looks. A message to my granddaughters, whose individual gifts give me hope for the future.

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In my family of origin, the emphasis was on drama – who is doing what, and how they should change it. It was akin to a herd of cats all chasing each others tails. I understand now that this the dance of co-dependency. It’s a hard pattern to break free from. Bottomline is that I […]

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How do we measure worth?

My therapist recommends that I keep a scrapbook to preserve any accolades and I just laugh. My hubby bought me a leather bound book once for that very reason. I have no idea where it is and am pretty sure it is mostly empty. Not that I haven’t received any positive feedback – just that […]

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Life Story

Can’t focus on what I’ll be remembered for tomorrow: too busy living my best self today. “The problem with you,” a friend once told me, “is that you lack commitment.” She was talking about a meditation group that I had organized and facilitated for eighteen months, until my third child was born. With three children […]

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Behind

I do, sometimes, think of what is behind a photo I’m about to take. Like these wildflowers, blowing in the breeze, the blue of the river adding to the scene. Or the mystery object beyond the grasses. Flowers for Mom. The blurred backdrop lending context. For Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Behind

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Mountain (tanka) Thoughts

Ever the mountainPresence looming, commandingClimb! Climb! It beckons – My soul, magnetized, respondsPursuing new heights – compelled. When my mother lost her eyesight, I confessed that I would give up at that point, but here I am, into my second year of failing vision and still climbing. Oh, my loss is not as great as […]

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Indifference

Worse than hatred, I’ve heard. Indifference. A complete lack of empathy. A turning away. Who hasn’t experienced the helplessness that comes from such a stance? Felt invisible, or worthless? And, in face of overwhelming tragedy in the world, who amongst us has not feigned indifference in order to cope?

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Selfless

“The heart has unlimited capacity when the mind is willing to focus beyond self.” I wrote these words four days after our first Ukrainian guests arrived. Prior to their arrival, I worried about so much: What will we eat? How will my body cope with noise and commotion? How will we all get along? It […]

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