I grew up in a rise-and-shine household. The coffee (on a timer) started percolating just before 6:00 a.m., when alarm clocks buzzed in everyone’s bedrooms. My parents, my younger brother, and I rolled out of bed every morning to the delicious aroma of fresh coffee brewing. Years before I ever drank it, I associated its … Read More
Here in New England, we cherish every sign of spring’s arrival. (Even those of us with hideous allergies enjoy it between sneezes.) So it doesn’t surprise me that Russian authors, with their even longer and darker winters, honor it extravagantly. And while their characters experience the sunshine and new leaves, spring also drifts into a … Read More
In his new book Chatter, Ethan Kross gives all due respect to the inner voice we hear as move about our daily lives. That voice, he reminds us, allows us to remember past experiences, reflect on our lives, and move toward our goals. We’re not quite human without it. But we all know how easily … Read More
If you could live your life over again, would you change anything? Would you make any decisions differently? And if you’d chosen those other paths, would your life have been happier? Or more successful? Or more fulfilled? I’ve been thinking about these questions because I just finished reading Matt Haig’s Midnight Library. In the novel, … Read More
The opening lines of Dante’s Comedy are so direct, so chilling. In the middle of the journey of our life, I woke to find myself in a dark wood, Where the straight road was lost. We’re right beside Dante as he becomes aware of the deep ravine and ominous forest, as hope flares with a … Read More
This week, I have a guest blogger–my good friend Brian Fay. He’s a retired professor of philosophy at Wesleyan University, a thoughtful guy, and a good buddy. He talks about paying attention to our souls (our basic attitudes or orientations toward life, reality, and the universe) and “gerotranscendence” (which, to Brian, definitely doesn’t mean leaping … Read More
I’ve had a cold this week. It’s just a cold—but even as I write that sentence, I resent it. It is just a cold: the doctor ruled out Covid pretty quickly, with a test. But it’s easy to forget, when we’re healthy for months on end, how enervating, debilitating, and downright miserable a mere cold … Read More
Here’s a great epigram I saw recently on a tee-shirt: … Read More
If you’re like me these days, you are feeling a little caged, but doing everything in your power to remain informed & safe, kind & gentle with yourself & others, open to the present moment (but not overwhelmed by it), reasonably healthy, reasonably creative, and reasonably sane. And also like me, you’re probably succeeding at … Read More
I meant to edge up to retirement the way I’ve edged up to most of my life’s big changes: I would 1) read about it, 2) talk to friends, and 3) journal. It didn’t work out like that. Because my husband is a few years older than I am, so are his old friends from … Read More