I know better than to compare my one little life to the clearly much easier lives my friends (and various friendly looking strangers) are living. I mean, I know better than to believe they’re all sipping lemonade by a pool and feeling fulfilled … [Read more...] about When You Know Better (But…)
Elsewhere
How to Make Everything Work Again
I might be the only one who feels like this, but… sometimes I feel like everything—all the regular stuff, the getting up and the going through the day and the being a person—I feel like it’s all too much and I don’t want to deal with any of it. … [Read more...] about How to Make Everything Work Again
What Do You Expect?
Expectations are weird, aren’t they? A lot of the time we see them getting in our way, but sometimes we talk about expectations like they’re a good thing. We say we have high expectations for ourselves, or for our kids. (That can be good, … [Read more...] about What Do You Expect?
What If You’re Just Getting Started?
I ran into my friend Mark last Sunday and asked him how his week was going. “Fantastic!” he said. “It just started!” YOU GUYS. The week just started. I had not thought of this. I was thinking about the week that just ended, and the days we’d … [Read more...] about What If You’re Just Getting Started?
How to Make (Almost) Anything Simpler
Where do things feel complicated today? Because I bet there's something, somewhere. For me, it's schedule-related stuff. How do I fit in all the things I want to fit in, when there continue to be only twenty-four hours in a day? Every day? … [Read more...] about How to Make (Almost) Anything Simpler
The First Step to Bringing Holiday Magic Into Your Life
You know how, when you’re just beginning something—the beginning of a phone call, the start of a meeting, the first time you meet someone—you might start talking too fast, right at first? You’re a teensy bit nervous, maybe, or you want to make … [Read more...] about The First Step to Bringing Holiday Magic Into Your Life
How to Enjoy the Holidays, Not Just Endure Them
What comes to mind when you hear "holiday season?" Is it visions of sugar plums? (What ARE sugar plums?) Is it magic and wonder and hot chocolate with marshmallows, or is it angst and busyness and a feeling of drowning in pine needles and sticky … [Read more...] about How to Enjoy the Holidays, Not Just Endure Them
How (& Why) We Change With the Seasons
Our lives are built on rhythms. Work, and rest. Stop, and go. Create, and consume. Let go, and begin again. You have to fill up before you can pour out. The changing seasons remind me: nothing is meant to go-go-go all the time. All things … [Read more...] about How (& Why) We Change With the Seasons
The Obvious-Not-Obvious Truth About Being Yourself
Being who you are makes life simpler. It’s an obvious-not-obvious truth, isn’t it? Of course being yourself makes things simpler. You don’t have to work at it, you don’t have to fake it, you don’t have to pretend. Except you actually do have to work … [Read more...] about The Obvious-Not-Obvious Truth About Being Yourself
It’s Not Just Anything, for The New Mystique
I did not realize, when my first daughter was born, that babies sometimes make terrible conversation starters. I don’t mean that babies are terrible at conversation (though they don’t have a lot to say about books or current events, to be honest). … [Read more...] about It’s Not Just Anything, for The New Mystique
When It’s Time to Simplify
Here is something I know about you: you need stillness. You need a quiet mind. You need time and space to decide how you want to show up in your life in this season. (I know it's true about you because it's true about me. It's true about every one of … [Read more...] about When It’s Time to Simplify
Write Your Own Permission Slip
What do you need permission for today? No, really. Where do you need a little extra bravery? What would you do differently, if only? (If only you knew it would be okay, if only no one would be disappointed, if only they didn't expect you … [Read more...] about Write Your Own Permission Slip
