Essays

By nature, I am an observer. Over the years, I've even wondered if I should have been a sociologist, psychologist or anthropologist. My personal writing tends toward challenging our assumptions related to words and language, including the non-verbal languages of circumstance, conditioning and cultural expectation. I often explore ideas around belonging and what helps us feel “inside” or “outside” a community.

The Last Time.

The “last time” we do anything is rarely known, at the moment we experience it. I don’t remember the “last time” I read my girls a story in bed, or the last time I got a letter from my dad, nor the last time we’d have our Thanksgiving party on School Street. Some things are the gradual – the undetectable… Read More

Jan 23, 20253 min read

Mileage.

Literally and metaphorically, we define it as “the distance traveled.” But not all mileage on life’s many road trips is equal, nor are all distances even perceptible. While some of our journeys beg for acknowledgement, others we prefer to travel under (emotional) cover. Crossing a finish line, recovering from illness, giving birth, publishing a book — all observable, and anyone… Read More

May 10, 20224 min read

Everything.

I like to look back before I leap forward – although no one could be blamed for sprinting away from the talons of 2020. But, as this year comes to a close, I’ve tried to find a way to organize a tangle of asynchronous reflections.I knew the process wouldn’t be neat, nor would my conclusion have a bow. Still, I… Read More

Dec 28, 20205 min read

Eddy.

I often look to the natural world to help remind me that everything… is a reflection of everything. Like so many, I am often drawn to the river as a metaphor – a wordless guide for how to think about what comes (or goes) in life. To be water rushing and winding over stones, whose edges have been rounded by… Read More

Jul 7, 20204 min read

Company.

In my house, we’ve been talking about how it is to be with… each other. In my mind, I’ve been thinking about how it is to be with, period. With two tween girls, and the fourth member of our family in another state, our togetherness – and even our apartness – has a quality to it. I’ve reminded everyone… Read More

Apr 6, 20204 min read

Connected.

Today, I got down on my knees and did something I’m slightly ashamed to say… I haven’t done in a very long time. I cleaned all the floors in my house. I scrubbed the corners of the bathrooms, the places that no one sees until they look too closely. I scoured the kitchen, edge to edge. It is… Read More

Mar 24, 20203 min read

This.

I can’t remember the last time…I had time. When I wasn’t in a hurry. When I wasn’t doing two, three, even four things — at once. This is unprecedented. Perhaps even sacred. Strangely, I’m now beginning to realize how upset I’ve been at never having enough… Hours…..Space…..Width…..Depth. We, as a culture, know so little about staying in one place. About… Read More

Mar 19, 20202 min read

Uncertainty.

At the root of most anxiety is the unknown. I’m feeling a lot of this lately. What if… ? Then what? And why? Our ability to cope with what is not yet known ends up defining so much of who we are, how we behave, the decisions we make, and how we impact those around us. Chronic worriers tend to… Read More

Mar 17, 20202 min read

Devotion.

This word and emotion has fascinated me for years. When I see it in play, whether between parent and child, entrepreneur and idea, between Frida and Diego or in the more solitary waters of personal callings — I can’t help but survey my own life for signs of its indelible footprint. Devotion implies love and purpose — a deep and… Read More

Feb 25, 20202 min read

TBH.

TBH. Admittedly, language and the construction of messages fascinate me. I really really, love noticing how people use words. When I meet someone who strings just the right words together to communicate precisely what they intended, it gives me goosebumps. Or, when I hear something complicated expressed with only a few (usually exceptional) words, I want to give a tip… Read More

Jan 28, 20205 min read

Cadence.

It’s the rhythm of a thing. In our speech, it’s the way our voice modulates, with starts and stops (intentionally or not), that allows us to deliver a thought in a way that emphasizes some aspects — but not others. In music, it’s the sequence of notes or chords that draw it out, break it up – or build crescendo… Read More