The mixed blessing of solitude. I spend a lot of time alone — taking walks by myself, meditating and doing yoga, writing and reading, listening to music. My husband spends most of his day in his home office. Our paths cross in the kitchen, a snack for me/a drink for him. A drink for me/a … [Read more...] about Conversations with Myself
Call Me Ma’am. Tell Me I’m in My Golden Years—
Just don't say I'm elderly I know it’s silly. It’s just a word. But it hit me like a shock of cold water when a doctor described me as elderly in a message summarizing a recent visit with him. Patient is a healthy-appearing elderly woman, he wrote as a prelude to the specifics of why I was … [Read more...] about Call Me Ma’am. Tell Me I’m in My Golden Years—
Need a Good Cry? How about some tear-water tea?
The other day I had a yearning, very specific in its musical nature. I wanted/needed to hear “Dance Me to the End of Love,” à la Leonard Cohen when he first recorded it. Maybe not an anthem song in the way “Hallelujah” is, but there was every good reason that the set list of his final concert … [Read more...] about Need a Good Cry? How about some tear-water tea?
Autumn Light
It’s late August, the time when leaves have begun to lose their vibrancy. Some are turning, hints of red and yellow. The shift in daylight, ever so subtle since the summer solstice, renders sunset noticeably earlier. Back-to-school memories kick in. The smell of a new briefcase, crisp lined … [Read more...] about Autumn Light
Anxiety and Uncertainty: Loosening the Knot
Back in January, when the new year felt fresh, a New York Times essay—“How to Thrive in an Uncertain World”— caught my eye. Immediately a Pema Chodron title I go back to again and again came to mind. Comfortable with Uncertainty. Nuance is everything, Accepting that there is only so … [Read more...] about Anxiety and Uncertainty: Loosening the Knot
The Minor Fall/the Major Lift
“Is ‘Hallelujah’ a Christmas song?” asks a friend. He has a doubtful look on his face. He heard the song as part of a Christmas compilation. Leonard Cohen aficionado that he knows I am, he figures I would have an answer. As a piece of music, ‘Hallelujah’ is a story all its own. The … [Read more...] about The Minor Fall/the Major Lift
