Mom got the first inkling of Parkinson’s when she fell into the flower garden for no reason back in the summer of 2003. It turned out there was a reason but the knowing of reason took a long time — well over a decade — […]
Author: Elizabeth
Let them
What would happen if you let the pause be uncomfortable? Let your child be who they are? Let the sickness run its course? Let your advice go untaken? Let your parents be disappointed in your decision? Let yourself compare unfavorably? Let the person in the […]
How to Connect with People Better
The holiday season is upon us, meaning chances are good you may have more family and social get-togethers coming up. But whether you dread holiday parties and figuring out what to chat about with everyone from young to old, left or right, happy or sad, […]
“We were wrong for hours, sometimes even days…”
Can you imagine? Being wrong for hours, sometimes even days was life before the internet and our ability to pull Wikipedia out of our pocket. Before portable computers and our instant ability to resolve factual disputes, writer Ben Tarnoff points out in a New Yorker […]
Traveling at the Speed of Light
I didn’t know if we could jam 10 helium balloons into my little Mazda but we did, along with all the other makings of an 86th birthday celebration for my mother. We drove up to the entrance of the Inn where my mother had a […]
The Good Paradox
As the official gratitude holiday, Thanksgiving comes with some hefty expectations for feeling grateful, mightily so. It’s a good thing to do — good for the head, good for the heart and for the good of all, which science has proven beyond doubt. But there […]
Real Deal
About 20 years ago I worked with a guy who always had a side gig going. After his Primerica phase, he tried to sell me on a gummy made from real fruits and vegetables that would take care of a whole day’s worth of fruits […]
The Solution for the Bottomless To-Do List
Oliver Burkeman poses an uncomfortable question in Meditations for Mortals: what if you never get on top of your to-do list? What’s more, what if you never become the good listener or the dedicated runner or achieve a Zero Inbox like a worthy person would? […]
The nature of water
“Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot … Be water, my friend.” […]
A Single Glorious Thing
“In my own worst seasons, I’ve come back from the colorless world of despair by forcing myself to look hard, for a long time, at a single glorious thing: a flame of red geranium outside my bedroom window.” – Barbara Kingsolver, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, essayist […]
On Your Terms
I know of a very young child for whom normal growth and developmental charts are no longer a meaningful measure. With this new understanding, her family has been told that from here on out, this little person is to be taken on her terms. I […]
Beware the Wellness Trends that Lean Extreme
Some wellness websites are now touting the health benefits of steeping poppy seeds into a strong brew to help with everything from anxiety and insomnia to workout recovery. Appealing to the “more is better” fallacy to drive sales, some poppy seed sellers are promoting their […]
Be cool. 