One of my most distinct early memories is of being perhaps four years old and feeling heartbroken. Perhaps I was upset at one of my siblings, or my mother had answered “no” to something I wanted; I don’t remember the cause of my pain. What I do remember clearly is the strong emotion of childhood: […]
When I’m outside, my mind both calms and awakens. At least that’s the way I perceive it, and it seems I’m not alone. According to Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, “Over one hundred studies . . . confirm that one of the main benefits of spending time in nature is stress […]
A pair of handmade pottery lamps, although slightly lopsided, constituted one of my first home furnishings purchases many years ago. Intuitively, I have always responded to the handmade and the imperfect in design. But through the years I’ve wasted a lot of energy carrying the weight of perfectionism as it applies to myself: fashioning non-competitive […]
I’m a believer in the importance of counting our many blessings, and I try to count mine, in solitude. I also try to notice things each day which are ordinary little miracles: perhaps the creaminess of a perfect avocado or the impish sight of a tiny Mexican folk art turtle wagging its springy head in my […]
Sometimes the realities of our days include the illness of dear ones, news of sobering setbacks, problems that seem to us unfixable—all of us know these. But we can use wonder as a prism to break the hard light of each day into what the poet E.E. Cummings called “secret glories.” Cummings said that an […]
Studies in Color and Composition
Radical Retirement
Sean Dietrich's column on life in the American South.
A Glimpse into My Life & Passions
Joann Pensabene
Where observation and imagination meet nature in poetry.
pursuing a life of purpose
Writing our way to awareness
Living life outside the lines
A Story Circle Network blog for and by women
A Diary of Love, Literature, and Growing Up in Wartime America
Practicing Wonder 