Essay
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On never forgetting
When I was 14 years old, the world changed forever. Not only my personal world, as our family structure began to shift to two households, but the entire, wide world beyond my narrow and self-involved vantage point. It was 2001. In September 2001, I was still very much an uncertain young gal, uncomfortable in my own skin, and completely unconvinced that I fit in a setting beyond the Colorado neighborhood I grew up in with my three siblings. I had been homeschooled for my entire life up until that point, and had only just begun to wade into the chaotic, loud and terrifying environment that is a public high school.…
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July 4th: What’s the State of our Nation?
I spent some time last night wandering the wild lands of the internet, searching for inspiration, answers, clues, guides, insight into this nation of the United States of America. It is July 4th, our Independence Day. This year, it feels perhaps more poignant than ever to stop and consider what indeed makes up the character and fabric of our country. What do we stand for? What do we live for? What do we hope for? In my fall down the Google rabbit hole, I found these quotes; some from the USA’s Founding Fathers, others from the wise and enduring women who accompanied them, or arrived later in our nation’s history.…
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By the Numbers: On turning 30
At the beginning of April, I left behind my third decade of life, said farewell to the formative 20s, and ventured into the brave new world of my 30s. For indeed, I am now 30 years old. On such a particular new age, I felt I had to write something to commemorate its arrival. I kicked around several ideas and themes, self-reflection and possible nuggets of wisdom. Then I realized that though I am no longer a “20-something gal,” I am mostly still figuring everything out, and I am just as goofy as that young whipper-snapper in the above photo. (Though I haven’t gotten that close to possibly setting my own…
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to be or not to be
I’m sitting at our kitchen table, our Christmas tree still glowing behind me. We keep the Christmas tidings rolling past December 25 in this household. It’s the New Year: 2017. We made it. I get the sense that we collectively stopped holding our breaths when the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve. And then maybe collected a whole new deep breath into our lungs. There are many mysteries ahead for this year, but it feels momentous to have finally turned the calendar forward from 2016. As my grandfather said, “It’s time to stop staring down our noses at it and face it head on.” I’ve never much been one for New Year’s…
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chamomile
On Sunday, I bought a bouquet of chamomile flowers at Whole Foods for five dollars. After trimming them down, I bundled them into a stainless steel tumbler and put them on a stack of books beside our kitchen doorway. Almost every time I walk to and from the kitchen, I bury my face in the buds and inhale deep. The scent is one of earth. It’s subtle and grounding. The fragrance carries little of the sweetness that you might find in the petals of a rose, but the chamomile scent makes me feel calm and clear in a way that very little has this week. The whole world knows of…
