I felt acutely aware of being one of the only clearly Anglo faces in the room. The Pueblo High School cafeteria was crowded and hot; lack of air conditioning on a summer evening in Tucson is….challenging. But this was not the moment for first world complaints. My husband Jon and I were there to serve as volunteers for this …
5 Lessons for Surfing the Waves of Change
When my breasts were just buds, my Dad taught me how to be a surfer girl. I grew up in Southern California, and we spent our family vacations at San Clemente, camping every day by the Trestle, still a well-known surfing spot. We’d set up an umbrella, get out the Coppertone oil (yep, I had the darkest tan in …
A Magical Tale to Calm my Judgmental Mind
I huff and puff up the hill, feeling the altitude of Boulder, CO, where I am visiting my daughter. I’m still trying to regain strength after a cardiac ablation, and hills are challenging. To make my shortness of breath worse, I have to wear a mask. And here comes another hiker on her way down, chatting cheerily with a group …
Out of a Broken Heart…
I walked into the bedroom feeling pretty good until I saw my heart lying broken on the floor, its little shards of various sizes and shapes scattered on the tile. Tears came immediately. This heart was precious to me. Inherited, old, carefully crafted. It has weathered moves, marriages and divorces, childbirths, exaltations and deep disappointments. It was something I wanted …
Wisdom from the Wilderness II
Perhaps you read my first attempt at wisdom from the wilderness but now, as the whole world is experiencing the COVID-19 virus, the wilderness metaphor seems to be getting more apt. And, different for each of us. Your “wilderness experience” of being sheltered at home may be a solo experience. Or, you may be in a small house with a …
Wisdom from the Wilderness I
I met with my spiritual mentor last week, and of course we talked about the Corona Virus and the fear, confusion and uncertainty it brings up. In combination with the fear, confusion and uncertainty surrounding the politics in our country, we are faced with waking up in the morning not really knowing what lies hidden in the terrain around us. …
Finding Safe Ground
Your usual source of power might have been your job, or your primary relationship, or your financial security or you family. Or, it might be faith in your government, or confidence in the health of the planet. All these are, as we discover on this journey through life, impermanent and vulnerable. So they don’t make great safe landing places—at least not any more.
A Grammar Queen’s Death
I was the grammar queen of 8th grade. I could diagram a sentence better than anyone except Mrs. Morse. So just ask me if you want to know when to use its and when to use it’s. I have so many pet peeves right now. Her and I went to the movies? Please. Would you say Her went to the …
Keeping Our Balance: an Equinox Offering
I suffer from vertigo. Periodically without warning, I have an attack. When that happens, my consciousness shrinks to the universe of my body as I wait to regain some sense of balance. Sometimes I take motion sickness pills or do prescribed exercises, and sometimes I just have to sleep it off. The cause of my vertigo is an imbalance between …
Thoughts on Memorial Day
My life has been deeply marked by war. Scarred and also touched in tender ways. It began before I was born, when my Grandpere, a Colonel in the Army, commanded an infantry unit in World War I. I have read a diary he kept, knowing the writing merely scratches the surface. Grandpere gave witness to the fact that warriors can …
