Hi Reader, On Saturday I was in a MOOD. Grumpy, frustrated, annoyed, a little depressed. It was an all around ugh state of being. The kind of mood that used to flow into the next day, and the next… the week or month… I never knew how long it would take to shake off. But now I know how to stop it before it takes over. Here are all the things I did to get through my mood without repressing my feelings, and come through the other side content with myself: Step 1: I talked about it. I didn’t even...
17 days ago • 3 min read
Happy Sunday Reader, Well we got home a few days ago, and I've spent most of the time since in bed. The overnight in the Chicago airport along with travel in general took a lot out of me. We also came home with a bit of a cold so that led to an extra, unexpected day of rest. Plus I'm getting my period so throw that in the mix and... my bed is a good place to be. But I do not feel at ease. I feel torn. Incredibly torn. I'm happy to be home. I missed my house, my kitchen, my bed, my cat. I...
19 days ago • 3 min read
Or at least, getting there... Reader, it's 2:30 in the morning and I'm sitting in the Chicago airport. My youngest, who can sleep just about anywhere, is passed out on a cushy bench and I too was cuddled up there the last few hours, but it's too cold and loud for me to fall into slumber. So I figured I'd write. The dark hours always seem to be good writing hours. Maybe even more so as we are on the cusp of eclipse and full moon energy, the Blood Moon. For years I've enjoyed the astrological...
22 days ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, Although most people I meet LOVE Costa Rica - its beaches, jungles and Pura Vida people - it's a complicated place for me.... when I was eleven years old my father decided to move here, leaving me and the rest of his life behind in Canada. I kinda hated him for it, and hated the country too. A few years passed with long hand-written letters and the very occasional phone call until I was fourteen and came for my first visit. We toured the beautiful beaches, watched Arenal Volcano...
26 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is fitting for the world we find ourselves in: Accelerate Action. On the IWD website, they state that at the current rate of change, we won’t experience full gender equality until 2158. And with current politics feeling like we’re taking massive steps backwards, it may be even longer than that. We do indeed need to #AccelerateAction. How do we do that? How do we create positive change in a world that increasingly threatens the rights...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader I don't usually write mid-week but my mind still feels busy. I still want to give a little more in these uneasy times. Like I said on Sunday, there is so much to say, yet it’s hard to know what to say that's actually helpful. When that happens for me, I do two things: I write it out. I just write and write and write. No one will see it so I don't need to censor myself. I just ramble, get all the thoughts down. Get angry on the page. Get hopeful on the page. Vomit the rage of living...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Reader, I’ve written and rewritten this email so many times. I haven't written you since before the inauguration, due to sickness, and now the words feel stuck. There are so many things to say, and at the same time, I have no idea what to say. I want to be helpful. I want to give guidance and support. I want to serve. But I don’t know what you need. I don’t know how you’re feeling about everything that’s happening in the world. I don’t know how it affects you, your family or your work. There...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Let’s get right to it, shall we? Tomorrow is a day of mourning. A day of fear for many. And some may say, a day of embarrassment for the American people. My mom is American, moved to Canada with her first husband after having my brother and sister in the States. She had been in Toronto a few years before meeting my dad, and he brought her to the farmland his family shared in the Ottawa Valley. I guess she felt at home among the hippie values sprouting up in this local rural...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, This morning Facebook Memories told me it’s been 16 years since I fell rock climbing in Costa Rica, resulting in a few stitches in my head and a serious concussion that went undiagnosed for years leading to multiple chronic health issues. When my babies were babies, I hurt everyday. There were many days I couldn’t carry them. I had wanted to be a baby-wearer but sharp pains shot through my shoulders whenever I tried. My first was almost three years old, and my second was just a few...
3 months ago • 5 min read