The Mexican Day of the Dead is actually several days, during which loved ones who have transitioned are honored with altars, offerings and visits to the cemetery. During these days, the spirits of the dead are invited to come for a visit. The holiday falls within my own biggest season of loss: my . . .
Walking down the hall in my temporary hotel quarters in my hometown, a discarded star on the carpet caught the light and my attention. It's been there for at least several weeks, resisting suitcase wheels, footfalls, vacuuming. Every day I'd notice it as I went to my rooms. As I write, it's still . . .
The audio in my car is always on, and on LOUD. I've been dancing (and car-dancing) my way through my time in my hometown, preparing for closing on our new second home (which already should have occurred as you read this). "Of course you are!" you might say. "You've got a loving husband, two . . .
This is for Michael, Gregory, Bonnie, Michele, Scott, bestie Lee, Maui girls Susan and Alice, Cheri, Joanne, MaryLou and for my beloved Marilyn, who is now on the other side but still always present. I live a life of the mind and the heart. It is not for everyone. Sometimes it's a challenge even . . .
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” Every writer I know loves this quote from writer Annie LaMott. We do own our experiences and we absolutely write about them, at least in my genre, which is . . .
What kind of world do we want to leave our children and grandchildren? And how do we communicate our values to them? What are we teaching our children when there are people in our (and their) sphere that do not reflect our values? Values. They're the crux of today's politics. I wonder how so . . .
When someone I care about has lost a loved one I want to honor them with a thoughtful and unique sympathy gift. Something more than flowers or a charitable donation. A condolence gift that is loving and helpful. An appropriate sympathy gift. But what really helps? Grief is a walk we must take . . .
If you had asked me months ago if I thought looking within was challenging I'd have said "absolutely not!" Well, not so damn fast. I'm in my hometown, 2,500+ miles away from my husband and dogs, isolated in a hotel room much of the time, with nothing to do think. And write. On top of that, I am . . .
The cruelty in the world is unbearable to those of us who feel things deeply. Personal and societal, it's all the same. Cruelty is cruelty. More often than not, cruelty is unintentional. That's not always the case, but it is absolutely true that when people are treated cruelly, especially as . . .
What if you'd spent 20 years as an artist and writer whose evocative words and accompanying art touched such a chord they brought you an international following? What if your words spoke to thousands, tens of thousands or even more, touched them so much that they purchased your very affordable . . .
