As I turned back to my book, I heard a tap on the window. I stiffened, imagining an ominous creature lurking outside, knocking on the pane. Just as I relaxed, assuring myself the wind was blowing rain against the glass, there was another tap. With caution, I approached the window and peered out into the storm. Lightning flashed, illuminating the face of my friend. Smiling, I opened it to let him in. Instead, he encouraged me to follow him out, into the storm.
Posts filed under personal essay
Grace
While delicate and beautiful, ice is powerful and merciless. Trees bent under the increasing weight, resembling our own huddled bodies as we snuggled under quilts. We gasped at the sound of wood groaning and splitting, and we watched a large branch fall to the frozen ground below. Tiny twigs snapped and tumbled toward the arms of their mother branch, scattering ice across the yard. Raising our gaze to the top of a giant cherry, we studied the space where the large branch let go, looking for other branches that might follow.
Love: Grandmother's Wisdom and Little Women Lessons
Inspired by Louisa May Alcott's 'I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship' from Little Women, reflections on my Polish grandmother's enduring wisdom, sewing as mending metaphor, family moments in snowy February, and finding hope amid change and loss.
How Does He Love Me? Let me Count the Ways: Understanding the Give and Take Across Love Languages
After 32 years of marriage, I discovered how The 5 Love Languages—acts of service, words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, and gifts—deepen connection. From sunroof surprises to quiet dances, real stories of love that lasts.
Darkness Doesn’t Eat
Once terrified of the dark—haunted by sleepwalking and shadowy fears—I learned to see darkness as a gentle, restful lady. Through winter nights and motherhood, find peace in the quiet beauty of night. Reflections on overcoming fear.
Heart Forward
I warmly invite you to choose a word that describes something you’d like to focus on or move toward in the coming year. How would you like to show up in the world, and what word could help you to move in that direction?
In These Times...
We practice for these times, for times like this in the world. We go to our mat, under our shawl, sit on our cushion, to find peace amid the rubble of grief, rage, and fear. We attend to our practice precisely so that when the tides of emotion are strong, so is our practice. We return again and again to our breath, to our body and mind in the moment, returning to ourselves. Our ancestors developed these practices because they knew—they knew that we could be swept off our feet by our emotions, our ability to choose wisely blinded by the redness of rage or the waters of our grief
Patience
2020 was the year that taught me how to be patient. As part of an increasingly fast paced society, we get disappointed when our own progress/desires happen slower than the click of a button. This year, I really struggled with pushing for my own goals to manifest faster than they were, consistently seeing my efforts produce crumbs. It was like watching myself get punched in slow motion.
Midwest
I grew up in the Midwest. The Midwest isn’t anywhere, it’s a place people come from. If they can. Land-locked, we pretend lakes are great seas and rivers will take us somewhere if only we would go.
