cultivating the beautiful ordinary by sharing our tales and our tables
There are facets of my being that love to stretch out and take up space. It feels real and raw. It feels free—I can be me. For most of my life, the bliss of this hasn’t lasted very long. Oftentimes, opportunities to stretch out to my full stature provoke internal conflict in the depth of…
Read More
I, like many others, get by with a little help from my therapist. Each week, I find a quiet space to meet with her online, and I close the door. Sometimes it’s my car door as it sits in the driveway, sometimes it’s the door to my daughter’s bedroom while she’s at daycare. A quiet…
Read More
When I hear the word “innocent,” it makes me cringe. Not in a “She’s innocent until proven guilty” kind of way, but in the “She is young, lovely, and innocent” kind of way. I’ve tried to release that feeling when it comes to others, but I must be honest that when I think of those…
Read More
A little over a month ago, at a modest cabin near a gurgling creek, I spent a weekend with a mishmash of friends. It’s the second year we’ve gathered in this humble wonderland where we cook and play games, talk late around the fire, and make ourselves tired on sunshine and laughter.
Read More
I follow tears. Glistening eyes, quivering lips, red rising on cheeks. Clues on a path to story. A big, black circle on the map to the heart.
Read More
“Don’t go,” I plead as I nuzzle my head into my husband’s dress shirt. I feel like I’m 3 years old and my daddy is leaving on a long trip. My chest feels achy as he grabs his brown leather shoes from the shelf in his closet.
Read More
I transitioned from standing at the front of an auditorium scrolling through powerpoint slides to filling my plate in the buffet line at the restaurant in the heart of Delhi. My company sent my boss and me to facilitate a design thinking workshop for our team in India. As I was filling my plate with…
Read More
Who waits behind that mask that stares into dark space? Whose eyes plead with yours to rip off the plastic face? Whose hands yank against the cloth that holds them in their place? Whose soul cries out in fear as nightmares come in chase What was that creature’s name before it was a ghost? What…
Read More
As I write this morning, I am sitting in my favorite coffee shop. Gathered around me are different groups—a large circle of women discussing a book; friends chatting in hushed voices over steaming pumpkin-spiced drinks; and businesspeople analyzing marketing plans. I recall a time that sitting here, observing all of this connection, would have made…
Read More
I had never heard an explosion like that on an airplane!
Read More