the beauty of an ordinary life
Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.Frederick Buechner The bad news? The year ahead will be full of sadness, grief, disappointment, and struggle. Exactly like the year we're wrapping up today. And the year before that. And all the years before that. To be fair, the current state of … Continue reading Cloudy with a chance of …
Near the top of my gratitude heap is deep appreciation for all of the people who have invested in me, in one way or another, by offering a mystic mix of honest feedback (delivered kindly), prudent encouragement, and pearls of wisdom. The list of names is quite long, hence the deep gratitude. Among the pearls … Continue reading What’s one thing you need help with, right now?
True story: Fourteen years ago I made a New Year's resolution to eliminate toxic people from my life. I had two particular people in mind when I made this promise to myself, and in the short run the resolution (to which I stayed faithful) had the desired effect. I was free. Free! Until the days … Continue reading Good housekeeping.
Today’s work is inspired, in part, by a Radiolab story about famed physicist Richard Feynman and the cataclysm sentence exercise. In that exercise, the task was/is to write, in one spare sentence, the most important information to pass on to surviving humans in the event of a cataclysmic, near-extinction event. Our work today will be … Continue reading Just one.
To hope is an act of extraordinary courage. If you take away nothing else from today's post, or today's journal work, then just remember that one central truth. To hope is an act of extraordinary courage. Let no one convince you otherwise. To have hope is to accept the magnificent truth of our human irrationality, … Continue reading Courage, dear heart.
Today is the second day of Christmas. No, I am not going to lead with this calendar/timeline/reference for the remainder of the month. In fact, today is that last reference you'll have to the Christmas holiday. Today, 26 December, is often a day that -- both in my personal experience and from what I very … Continue reading Two turtle doves.
Today is the first day of Christmas. There are 12 days in this season. This season extends beyond the end of December. You are not late; you are right on time. And you are loved. The real people in your life you make you feel happy, smart, attractive, powerful, accepted, or brave -- the people … Continue reading On the first day, let yourself be loved.
Today, 24 December, is Christmas Eve, for all who celebrate Christmas in one way or another, religious or secular. For all who keep the Christian liturgical calendar, today is the last day of Advent, the purple season of preparation that precedes the Christmas season. (Reminder: There are 12 days of Christmas, and that 12-day season … Continue reading And on the 24th day we prepare for change.
jenny's lark 