The Smothering Comfort of Clinging to Safety
A part of myself that needs love hasn’t been loved. I do not love the achiever perfectionist part of myself, clinging to safety and stifling authenticity....
This Untouched Moment
The clouds waited not for anyone to see or touch them. And still, gliding off the chairlift, their cottony down presence pulled me toward the ridge. Thick white...
How I’m Learning to Trust the Writing Process
These days, I’m working on essays for my memoir collection. Every essay has its hard moments, but the one I’m writing now has me particularly stuck....
An Atalantean Effort
Have you ever thought about why we use the phrase “Herculean effort”? Yes, Hercules was supposedly the strongest in the land, but have you heard of ...
A way through the darkness
I offer my stories so we can find a way forward. I don’t know the next steps, But we can walk the dark path together. Hold my hand and we’ll walk. T...
A witness
He appeared one day as she worked in the backyard. Yanking the crowbar from between two pieces of wood, she glanced down toward the growing pile of scraps and t...
Last days in Lisbon
July 24, 2022 Sintra, Portugal A few steps into the cave: darkness. I couldn’t tell the difference between eyes open or closed. Silence pressed upon my ears. I ...
First days in Lisbon
July 13, 2022 Portugal is burning. Record heat marked our first days in Lisbon. We’d come to this city hoping to get lost in the narrow streets and alleys of th...
Nazaré, Portugal
The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson How do you like to go up in a swing, Up in the air so blue? Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing Ever a child can do!...
Making it up as I go
Just as the sun rises Ever so slowly over the horizon, So I will proceed. Beautifully. Unhurried. Steady. And loyal to my desires. As the sun Makes its way acro...