I steeled myself enough to peek over the edge of the covers. Audrey was staring back at me. Continue reading →
Posts Tagged: survive
15
May 12
My Conversation With Audrey Hepburn
1
May 12
A Tale of Manifesting
“Mom, didn’t you say you were going to take us to a play about Camelot?” Continue reading →
26
Apr 12
Selective Attention and Homemade Tea Bags
When I brew a cup of tea, Jenny runs over to stand next to my cup. Her turned-up nose hovers over the steam as she inhales deeply. She loves the smell of tea but isn’t fond of the taste. She often asks if she can dunk my tea bag while she watches the hot water take on the soft yellow of Chamomile. She likes knowing the color comes from flower petals. Continue reading →
15
Apr 12
The Crux of the Matter
Me: “He’s demonstrated that he is more than willing to put in the time. When other kids his age beg to play Xbox, he searches the internet for tips on golf swings. Clearly, this is one of his top three passions – it may be the thing he is most passionate about. We’ve been told by a couple instructors that he is blessed with some natural talent. We don’t spend money on soccer or baseball or football or guitar or karate. I really think it’s time we get him some lessons and support him in this thing he loves.”
Him: “My parents would never have done that for me.”
13
Apr 12
Time Out
The rainy grey skies gave her permission to sink into the couch. Continue reading →
5
Apr 12
Perspective
My breathing is loud. I can hear my heart pounding in my ears. I can’t remember if this is the sixth or seventh lap. Continue reading →
16
Mar 12
That’s Not My Journey
We may walk hand in hand for a time, or we may know each other only briefly.
We’ll share many of the same turns and detours.
We’ll marvel at the beauty found in the connection we share.
I may pull your rolling red Samsonite for a stretch, and you might offer to carry my fraying black backpack.
I will empathize and address your concerns with compassion. I will hand you tissues when you cry and pour the wine while you laugh so hard you can’t hold your glass.
I will listen while you detail the reasons for your choices. We’ll both smile and nod when we realize we’ve made similar mistakes.
We’ll learn lessons from each other that we wouldn’t be able to learn from another.
I’ll be the first to pat you on the back. Though I instinctively brush off your kind words, I’ll try to remember to be gracious.
Neither of us may know where we are going, but I will not follow you.
That’s not my journey.
6
Mar 12
Listening To My Body*
I walked out of the doctor’s office and ran across the street to the drug store where everyone knew me by name. I was out of Pepcid. I had a box in the bathroom, two in the kitchen cupboard, one in the office desk, and one under the car seat, but the box in my purse was empty. Continue reading →
27
Feb 12
Why You Shouldn’t Make Your Bed Every Day
There are the frazzled days when, for no apparent reason, you feel out of sorts.
Maybe you blame it on the full moon.
Perhaps you need to eat more protein and less carbs – or less protein and more carbs – I can never remember. You may be dehydrated, or you slept poorly.
You sit quietly, coffee in hand, sifting through the thoughts mulling around in your head, trying to filter out the cause of the frazzle-ness. You find several potentials - emails that need answers, an over-baked tray of cookies, the need to run out to get milk, or a dwindling supply of firewood. None of them amount to enough to cause the Frazzle.
The exercise of sorting through and examining the thoughts helps you see that what you are craving, though, is control.
This moment – right here, right now – demands a bit of control.
Not the heavy-handed I’ll tell you what we are having for dinner and you will eat it kind of control, but the kind of control that attempts to gently pull in fractured energies and encourage focus.
In an uncharacteristically desperate attempt at gaining control I make the bed – the same one that will go for days without being made.
The making of the bed starts a snowball effect. (If I made the bed every day, I wouldn’t have an obvious place to start the snowball effect. Isn’t rationalization handy?) The snowball builds as I clean the cat box, take out the trash, sweep the front stoop, straighten the cushions on the couch and refold the blanket on the rocking chair.
The completion of each chore, starting with making the bed, allows me to pull in all those scattered energies, get some semblance of control and focus on what’s really important – figuring out what to make for dinner.
24
Feb 12
On White Knuckles and Comfort Levels
A semi hauling gasoline was in front, another semi was behind, and we were crawling along a snow-packed two-lane road under heavy cloud cover and falling snow. Continue reading →
