real, raw motherhood
Friend, I am far from you. Too far to lift the load off of your shoulders. Too far to hold you tight in my arms and wash your pain away with my own tears. I am far but I see you. I see you proudly carrying on, with your chin up and your shoulders squared.…
To my friend who’s turning 40 and might struggle a bit with the idea… Lean in, I’ve got a secret to tell you: “I’ve been on the other side for a year now and it’s great! Promised! You’ve got this sister. I know it.” 40 comes with a special super power: the ability to see…
I’m in Saint Leu, a small beach town on the west coast of Reunion island. My friends are treating us to a weekend in an oceanfront villa. The sun is shining. Palms trees sway in the gentle breeze, bright green against the cloudless sky. A sliver of white moon winks at me. A golden dragonfly…
I received a mean text message a few days ago. It took me quite by surprise as it came from someone I liked; someone I thought liked me; so much so that my first reaction was to think it was a joke. My reply asked just that: is it a joke? Unfortunately it wasn’t. The…
We just started on a journey. We’ll be away from home for nine weeks, traveling the world to teach seminars. It is quite a privilege and we don’t take it for granted. Preparing for such an adventure involves a fair amount of stress yet I managed better than ever and even completed all the packing…
It’s Christmas once again in Kailua. Our small scraggly tree was brought down from the attic and decorated. The ribbons and wrapping paper came out of storage. The Mrs Claus dress was laundered. The seasonal DVDs magically appeared next to the TV. We smiled while watching The Grinch and cried at the end of Miracle…
As the weekend approaches and I look back on the past week, it’s easy to see where I fell short. This week, there wasn’t any exercise. There wasn’t any grappling. There was chocolate, wine, one lemon bar and shortbread cookies. There wasn’t any meditative quiet time. There were no morning pages written. There was a…
Charlotte’s web by E.B White is the first chapter book I read to my daughter last year. A first for both of us. Since I didn’t grow up in America, I have not read the American classics and oh my, it has been delightful to discover them. Charlotte’s web is, in my book (pun intended),…