The Book of Revelation – and some Curry Soup.
My family growing up had a tradition on Christmas Eve of making my mom’s Curry Soup – which is really just a concoction of two specific canned soups juzzzzed up a bit with curry powder. I still incorporate the soup into my own Christmas Eve ritual. What makes the soup so magical is the […]
Tragedy or Inconvenience? Your answer matters.
I distinctly remember a day many years ago when, as I was turning my car into the parking lot of my apartment complex, I was hit by a16-year-old driver who was coming home from getting her driver’s license. My car was drivable but now in need of repair. The girl was visibly upset and ticketed […]
Fake Guilt and Misplaced Action.
Lately I’ve been paying attention to how many times clients say something about feeling guilty. “I feel guilty that I’m not doing more with my time….” “She makes me feel guilty when I don’t visit her…..” “I shouldn’t have to feel guilty when I go to the gym….” You get the idea. But is guilt […]
My Jack-o-Lantern and Your “thing.”
My sweet mom has an artist’s heart and one thing she loved to do in the mid 70s of my youth was paint ceramics. It was a thing back then to go to a ceramics store and get a piece of molded, but not yet fired and glazed, pottery. You would take the pottery home […]
Being (wisely) loyal to yourself.
I know this might come as a surprise (kidding!) but I’ve never been in a fist fight. I have come close though. I worked with some tough and powerful and big-hearted kids early in my career – and they’re still tough and powerful and big-hearted. One day about a year into my high school […]
A very specific letter – and listening to mall music.
In the 1980s my dad went through a period of several years where he would write (and by “write” I mean he would dictate to his secretary) a sort of ‘group letter’ weekly. He would send it by mail to any of his children and family living away from home. It would contain his busy […]
Diet Coke and emotional caffeine.
I love Diet Coke. There, I said it. I know it’s not a particularly healthy thing to ‘love’ in this “we-know-better-so-we-should-do-better” day and age. I get it. And, in my defense, I drink A LOT of water, as well. I promise. I know a lot of you can relate. Caffeine, in some form or another, […]
Memento mori and getting more out of your moments.
Part of my particular brand of OCD tendencies veer toward counting. I am a counter. I count stairs every time I go up or down them – seriously. I don’t even mean to. I count camera angles in tv shows. I count turns if I’m playing a game. I count empty seats on a plane. […]
Satisficers and my friend, Mary.
Seven years into my career at that middle school I’ve told you about, I decided to apply to work in a district closer to my (newly purchased) condo. As an educator in my state back then, you typically had a small window of time to switch districts in order to still be able to take […]
Sky Blue and Black – and why regret can work in our favor.
One of my very favorite songs in the whole wide world is filled with reflective lyrics about someone who has let the love of his life slip out of his hands. And now he spends his time thinking of all the ‘if only’ scenarios that he thinks could have preserved their love. Regretting. “… I’d […]
