It’s a heck of a time. Our institutions have largely failed us and we all are quivering like the dog in the meme in the burning house. “This is fine,” we also say, although our twitchy eyes say otherwise. Fortunately, we have also had some fabulous popular art to help us through. Here are some…
The Top Trees of Fandom
Trees are simply the best, for reasons I’ve described… and there are so many great examples in fiction. Here are some of my favorites from fandom and a little bit of what we think we can learn from them…
The Top Plants of Fandom
Plants are such a happy little weird phenomenon – especially plants in pots. They are like little green alien visitors that we hardly understand from another, better, more beautiful world – except that it’s our own world too. (Except for Audrey II, which is super cool but but is none of those things except alien….
Om-ing myself into all that densely diverse life
When stressed, and aren’t we all, Mr. Rogers said “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Also, I think: Listen for the life. The helpers are part of it. The buzzing work of insects, the subtle rustle of trees, the constant chatter of people. The throb of the world. The…
Digesting the world’s pain
Food digestion is a complicated, multi-step process that depends on time and help and has outputs that vary quite a lot. It’s also frequently unpleasant. Mental digestion is the same, I would say. In one case, we are taking in solid input from the world, processing it down into components that are useful (or not)….
Becoming the Mother of Trees
Why become the mother of Trees? Well, for one thing, I’ve lost my uterus. I don’t miss her – quite the contrary, in fact – but I do love bringing life to little things. Happily, green ones are quite lovely and not nearly as loud as their human counterparts. Trees are beyond our understanding. They…
Hand-ling your energy with Mudras
Surgery leaves you unable to do yoga for 6 weeks – but fortunately I’ve still got my mind and my hands to roam free. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about mudras – positions of the hand that are often used in meditation or in yoga. They “seal in energy” from the body and create a visual language…
It’s 4:00 in my life – time for a tattoo and a hysterectomy
*Spoilers for season 3 of The Good Place and season 4 of Crazy Ex Girlfriend ahead, as well as for year 40 of my life. Last year I turned 40. Last week I got my first (and only?) tattoo. In two days I’ll get my first and definitely only hysterectomy. It’s a time of change,…
An Ode that’s Enough.
Enough! Enough fun. Enough sleep. Enough work. Never enough. Enough enough’s. Took you long enough. Enough is as good as a feast. Strong enough. Brave enough. Happy enough. Good enough. Not good enough. Sorry is not enough. Knowledge is not enough. I can’t get enough. I am enough. You are enough. …
Yoga for Your Lady Time – and an Ode to My Last
Welp, this is it. My very last visit from Aunt Flo, my last trip to the Red Sea. Most women don’t know when it will be. I always figured that I would peter out in menopause in a blaze of awful, irregular glory, like my mother and grandmother and on and on back to Eve….