cultivating the beautiful ordinary by sharing our tales and our tables
Everyone wants to be accepted by their peers, but belonging doesn’t come as easily for some as for others. For the elementary school student, the first day of school brings much excitement, but it also comes with new challenges that reach beyond learning contractions and double-digit addition. Social nuances abound and add new dimensions to…
Read More
This January was filled with work, family, friends needing support, colleagues reaching out to share, and a significant, out-of-pattern ice storm in central Texas. On most days I felt overwhelmed, tired, and unmotivated. Some concerns shared with me by friends and colleagues weighed heavy on my heart. I had to relearn how to practice self-preservation.…
Read More
Getting older is not for the faint of heart. I am keenly aware of this today as I feel the pain from a chain of events that started with an old knee injury. I’d been concerned after experiencing pain and decreased range of motion twice in the past six months, but each time I chalked…
Read More
I know a hero who does not seek gain, but servanthood. He improves another’s day in profound ways with simple actions. He knows the meaning of sacrifice and the power of humility. This hero knows people are more important than things. He phrases everything in a positive light. He is someone who knows how to…
Read More
“Crown or no crown, you’re still a queen to me.” I read these bold, black words in a small card with a picture of a silver glitter crown on the cover. My friend, Desire—my coworker and fellow sorority sister—left this card for me at our work. It was a sweet gift: we had just learned…
Read More
I watched from the car. First a trickle, then a stream, and finally, a sea of maroon-and-gray plaid poured from the elementary building as I patiently waited in the carpool line. How many times had I strained to find my daughter amid the end-of-the-school-day chatter? I learned years ago that my best chance of locating…
Read More
When the pandemic hit, my business partner and I sprang into action. We felt called to serve and hold open space so that people could gather to be seen, to learn, and to process what was happening so quickly. The disruption, chaos and loss felt like a wildfire spreading faster than any of us could…
Read More
You know you have an internal critic when your therapist tells you that you have an “Integrated Self” and a “Critical Self.”
Read More
A friend gave me a Skylight photo frame that allows me to upload photos to the Cloud and then watch as the device takes me through the sequence I have uploaded. We have over forty photo albums, and each time I take out the aging pictures, I am thrown into a moment where I see myself…
Read More
Lately, I feel like I did as a child, when I would spin and spin in circles until I fell to the ground with dizziness. As a little girl this was fun. As an adult, not so much. In the past five years I can’t seem to find a single thing that I haven’t examined.…
Read More