It’s Tuesday morning. I wake up early, probably 20 minutes before little one starts chant-singing, Mommy-Mommy-Mommy. I lay in bed watching the gray dawn through my bedroom curtains. I’m thinking about my journal session the night before. There are many days when I write and it doesn’t amount to much. But sometimes, when I’m really…
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One of the last conversations I had with my Grandma Whipple was while we were standing in her kitchen. I had stopped by their house on my way to or from someplace for a quick hello. Grandma and Grandpa Whipple’s house was always quiet and relaxed. I would stop in at an hour too late…
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When I was first learning to surf, my experienced-surfer friend, Clare, encouraged me to practice my pop-ups. She recommended lying on my stomach on the living room floor and practicing the process of paddling, then pushing up and popping up. The pop up is important in surfing and something most beginner surfers struggle with. It’s…
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After I wrote my last post I have been using, “I’m just going to dance,” as a mantra. It’s been quite useful, but because life is what it is, it’s been a struggle to keep dancing. Just wanted to reality check that. I’m still repeating, still working to do it. I do feel like I’ve…
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The night before I traveled to Bethesda, I went to see my acupuncturist. She is an incredible, Scottish woman with multiple sclerosis. Incidentally she is also a talented painter and has a wonderful mind. I asked her for a last-minute appointment because when I woke up that day, the left side of my neck was…
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Tonight I’m feeling strong. It feels like a noticeable shift from just yesterday and dramatically so from the weekend. This is what I keep finding—if I just feel my feelings and let them be what they need to be, then I bounce back. I keep thinking of this quote from Wild by Cheryl Strayed: “Fear,…
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As a woman, I’ve spent most of my life trying to take up as little space as possible. This was easier in some ways because I have always been on the smaller side of normal. And the message from the world is that women should be small and quiet and agreeable. Fortunately, at this time…
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I just finished a short relationship with someone. It was never meant to be serious but it was more substantial than anything I’ve had since I separated from my someday-ex 20 months ago. This micro relationship was like an accelerated course. Each week, I felt I was uncovering some truth about myself, not because this…
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