Today is my birthday. Normally, I’m bursting with excitement for a new year filled with challenge and adventure. This year is different. As always, I let everyone know what I expect: love notes from all the boys, a poster framed, the broken zippers replaced on my favorite winter boots. Things I never get around to, and don‘t feel like dealing with.
Today is my first birthday without my dad. READ MORE>
Dear Dad,
It’s coming up on your birthday. And you’re not here to celebrate. First time in my life. Even in the years (most of them) when we were apart, I knew you were out there – somewhere on the globe, feet firmly planted on the ground. I had a dad. READ MORE>
Dear Dad,
I’m looking back at the letter you wrote me on my birthday, just two weeks before you left so suddenly. It feels like something in the universe knew our time together was running out. You left nothing unsaid. READ MORE>
Happy New Year!
I’m fresh back from a retreat in the desert with three colleagues (and dear girlfriends), and re-energized for 2016!
There’s something magical about the desert that revives an energy inside me. I’ve only now discovered this magic in mid life, as I was raised along the Pacific Ocean in the cool mist and the shade of the redwoods. READ MORE>
When my husband first came to the United States 21 years ago, he did not speak English and he was not an American. I would go to work in the morning, and he would stay in our rented room in a shared house and…well, I don’t really know what he did. But I do remember what he didn’t do. READ MORE>
I logged into FB midday on Mother’s Day because I was feeling like crap. I know. A bad idea. My unconscious hope was to escape my disappointing reality of a day that was NOT going my way. Instead, I immediately headed down the FB rabbit hole, where all sense of time and human relationships disappear. There were, for sure, a few links to interesting articles, but mostly I found myself tripping over photo after photo of picture perfect Mother’s Days of picture perfect families. Walks on the beach, picnics in parks, breakfasts in bed. And everyone was smiling!
“Wow,” I thought to myself. “Those people really have this parenting thing figured out!”
Self pity set in.
If you want to know what my Mother’s Day looked like IRL (without the FB-colored glasses), read on…
I had a great morning on Saturday, geogaching with two of my boys in the Open Space near where we live. It’s beautiful out there – like our own private national park. It’s right in the city, but feels like a million miles away.
As we hiked through the rolling hills, passing gigantic old oak trees and tiny white flowers that had been fooled by global warming into thinking that February 1st is springtime in California, we heard a rustle in the nearby brush. The noise quickly quieted, but a conversation about all the different kinds of animals that inhabit the area ensued. We started at the bottom of the food chain with the cute small ones, but inevitably ended up focused on the greatly feared, but rarely spotted, mountain lion. READ MORE>
In many ways, the last few weeks on planet earth have been bleak. There have been terrifying plane crashes, heart-wrenching massacres and shocking hostage takings and terrorist attacks. For the first time since WWII, the largest synagogue in Paris did not hold shabbat services. Despite my only occasional attendance at such services, I expect that they will go on. I garner comfort in knowing that despite the chaos of life, certain traditions remain.
But when I woke up the other day to a front page story about an estimated 3.7 million people in Paris and around the world marching in unity, I felt hopeful. 3.7 million people moved beyond their grief, their fear, their hopelessness, their business, and prioritized unity – togetherness – connection. For a few hours people were thinking about what bonded them to one another rather than what separated them. READ MORE>
The Not-So-Great Parenting Moment
Part of me can’t believe I’m writing this, yet I know how badly you all need to hear it. If I had not had the pleasure of supporting so many amazing parents in my career, I wouldn’t dare out myself. But I know we’ve all said or done things in our parenting that are, to be kind, less than stellar. And it is not my goal to offer you the illusion of my perfection. I, too, make horrible mistakes. READ MORE>
There is something about this time of year – at least in the northern hemisphere – that feels heavy to many of us. The days are shorter. The lively colors of spring, summer and fall have turned to shades of gray. It’s hard to keep ourselves upbeat and on track, much less our kids.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to reclaim this season and make it great! The solution, of course, involves work – because that’s just how life is. You get out what you put in. But hard work pays off, and I encourage you to join me in giving it a go by taking these 5 steps: READ MORE>