After the initial surge of selling, recycling or tossing the junk you have amassed, then the harder decisions come. The pace slows. The heart races. If you are to completely embrace the minimalist mantra of decluttering, you will eventually run head-on to the thing, that one thing, that makes you catch your breath. The cult-like […]
The Importance of the Impractical Read More »
There is a cherry plum tree outside our window that is flowering early this year. The unusually warm spring-like January has confused a lot of the trees and flowers. As soon as the pink blossoms appeared, though, the weather cooled down and we’ve had several days of high winds and heavy rain. This happens most
It’s very trendy now to go minimal. There are blogs and self-help books dedicated to the Church of Minimal Living–just the essentials. It’s aspirational…less clutter in your physical environment can lead to less clutter in your emotional and spiritual life. I admire photos of beautifully curated homes–clean lines, clear surfaces. Then there is reality.
The Power of Things Read More »
This is Holy Week, with Good Friday in a few days then Easter Sunday. I’m preparing to make traditional Portuguese Easter bread, just as I did with mom for so many years. Even though it seems everyone has sworn off carbs and the new evil, I will still distribute it. Years ago I videotaped my
February 5 makes one year that mom died. Like those early weeks, when I could simultaneously and acutely feel both her presence and her absence, that day feels both so distant and so recent at the same time. It’s been a year of trying to find my footing. I have often reflected on the advice
Looking back on a year without mom Read More »
2013 will always be The Year Mom Died. It has been a difficult year, of course, even if it was not as grueling as 2012 when I watched my mom disintegrate before my eyes. I planned this year to be one of recovery and self-care. To a certain degree, that happened. I sleep straight through
This year I will not celebrate the holidays as much as I will *cope* with them. As if the transformation over the last several years of the holiday season becoming one of obligation, expectation and duty weren’t bad enough, this year I am dealing with it without the good humor of my mom. I’ve read
The Dreaded Holidays Read More »
I used to give my mom grief for being a bit of a pack rat. Partially it was her upbringing…living in near poverty taught her to scrape together everything. If you need it someday, you won’t have to spend money buying it again. As I go through the things in the house (yes, still) I
I passed a birthday recently, the first without mom. No card. No call. No email from her. Just a deafening silence. I received some thoughtful wishes from friends (and mother-in-law) who acknowledged the poignancy of the day for me. Others offered a quick, breezy and cursory greeting via social media. As with most birthdays, I
Came across this today when a friend posted on Facebook. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBGaloOxNkU
An unexpected moment Read More »