I don’t have to tell you that it’s ugly out there. We’re engaged in a dark battle over what this country is and what it will be. While this conflict is rooted deeply in our history, it was harshly exacerbated during the 2016 presidential election and continues to rage. What started in social media threads and on cable news has now spilled into the streets as violence and bloodshed. Two factions. Two very different views of what it means to be American. Tangled up in…
This is my latest horoscope from Rob Brezsny: Gemini (May 21-June 20) English model and TV personality Katie Price has been on the planet for just 37 years, but has already written four autobiographies. You Only Live Once, for instance, covers the action-packed time between 2008 and 2010, when she got divorced and then remarried in a romantic Las Vegas ceremony. I propose that we choose this talkative, self-revealing Gemini to be your spirit animal and role model. In the coming weeks, you should go…
Last week, I received the heartbreaking news that a friend’s very young son had died. This child was a tiny warrior with an old-soul demeanor. He endured more challenges in his short time here than many of the rest of us will face in a full lifetime. Despite his suffering, however, he seemed to float above it all– Zen-like, calm and full of love. When I heard of his passing, I was stricken with an immediate and crushing sadness, not only for his death but…
Two weeks ago today, our worlds intersected on the 12th Street Bridge. It was just the two of us. I was on my way home. You were seconds away from ending everything. I was unwitting. You were despondent. You climbed on the railing. I wondered what…but before I could even finish the thought, you jumped. Life had its way with you, dear one, and gravity finished the job. I was the sole witness to your final tortured moments. I was somehow able to call 9-1-1, to…
This is what it is. This is where we are. It’s not what we expected. But it’s what we’ve been given to work with. Splendid sunsets and war zones. Soft faces and ranting diatribes. A pissed-off teenager with a Twitter account. Mayhem and innovation. Light and rain. Pleasure and pain. We roll out another morning, hunting under sofa cushions for spare change, playing chicken with the gas gauge one more day, deciphering secrets long after the fact. Tough love. Empty nest. Twists…
Maybe it will all make sense in the end. Maybe things will all tie up neatly and in our last gasp, we will say: "Aah…Now I get it." Maybe our longing will be sated and our curiosity will be satisfied. Maybe there’s a plausible explanation for every second we’ve spent here. But we don’t know that now. We can’t know that. We have to bake a little longer. Still, we want respite from this ambiguity. We jump up and down impatiently like a…
A few days ago, I celebrated my 52nd birthday. It was a low-key day without much fuss and hoopla. As far as passages go, 52 is a benign year. Nobody is excitedly awaiting your arrival but they haven’t called in the gravediggers yet either. It’s a good place from which to float and observe. Considering you’re past the midway point on the giant climb, the view is vast. It spans all directions, inside and out. Oprah is always going on about “what I know for…
Dedicated, with mad love always, to my fabulous E's. Mother’s Day. For such a quirky little holiday, it sure kicks up a lot of emotional dust. I'm not particularly sentimental but I've been reminiscing a bit lately. In honor of the day, here are 15 things I wish my mother had told me: 1. It’s important to take care of yourself, no matter what. You have to attend to your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs on a daily basis. Sleep. Eat clean. Breath deeply.…
Today is my youngest son’s 15th birthday. Enzo was originally due on Halloween. However, potentially serious complications came up and the wise decision was made to deliver him early via C-section. Fifteen years ago today, I was getting ready for my trip to the hospital. Bags were packed. My older son Emmett was set to spend the night with friends. My husband Charlie was off from work. My best friend Lisa was driving up from Portland. At that time, I didn’t know the gender…
RIFF ON A PERFECT WORLD In a perfect world….. The days would begin and end with a chant, a wink and a smile that stretches across miles, winding in and around the Milky Way and back again. There would be outbursts of spontaneous salsa dancing in grocery stores and it would be the norm. Chocolate would be the new broccoli. My living room would have cobalt blue walls, a baby grand piano and a vase of stargazer lilies. In a perfect world…. Live…
