New Year, New Blog Design

Looking back on my attempts to post here more regularly, I realized that one of the reasons I was avoiding the blog was because I had grown unhappy with the design of it and was unsure how to fix it. Thanks to Stephen’s help, the website has a much-needed facelift, and I’m going to try to once more cultivate a realistic once-a-week routine. Maybe as I find my rhythm, I can do more. Certainly the goal for 2019 is a lot more writing—creative and otherwise.

Reflecting upon the year that passed, much of it was focused on putting the pieces in place for the kids and household after several transitions. My hope is that this year we can all build upon that foundation the things that we need and want.

With a still-secret book deal that is due to the publisher at the end of February, we’re hitting the ground of 2019 running. Stephen and I are coauthoring another nonfiction book! (We will share more as we are able.)

In the meantime, thank you. Thank you for reading the things I have had published and shared, for offering support and checking in on me when I seemed too quiet, for being patient while I retracted from the world to deal with all the things.

There is a lot of work to be done—on large and small scales. My 2019 wish is that we can all move forward to try and make this world a better place with courage and compassion, with humility and reflection, hand-in-hand with collaborators and loved ones. I hope that you can find the right partners to share your dreams, to hold you up when you get tired, to hug you when you are ready to be hugged, and to dance and laugh with you when there is joy to be celebrated.

Thank you for being part of my circle. Happy New Year!

 

On New Years, Faraway Friends, and Fairy Tales

Photo by Eight Eyes Photography.

They take their mugs, then their seats, and fill the room; the empty chair holding everything they do not say. Until she speaks to raise a mug and, in remembering, cracks the silence, spills everything, and takes them back with, “I remember when” and “He always” and “I will miss” and “If only.” (Seven,” KROnline )

I’m delighted that my new short story, “Seven” has been published by The Kenyon Review Online. The story is essentially a love letter to friends near and especially far, whom I don’t get to see often enough. It was also born out of something I was thinking a lot about at the time: What may have happened to the fairy tale heroes and heroines, victims and villains, as they eventually faced aging and death? It’s not the sexy part of the story, but I feel like there is beauty and grace to be explored there.

So much of 2015 was spent working on Geek Parenting, that I wasn’t able to write and submit a lot of short fiction and poetry. “Seven” was an exception, and I’m grateful to begin this year by having it published it in such a well-respected and widely-read journal.

Thus the wheel turns and we leave 2015 behind, having lost loved ones, having turned parts of our lives upside-down, having welcomed new relationships and projects, hopefully having created a few new treasured memories. We look ahead to 2016, beginning to write onto those blank calendar squares, planning the ways we hope the year will play itself out (although it will surely surprise us).

I have not traditionally been a fan of New Year’s Eve. Many of my best eves have been spent “writing in the new year” in a quiet house or apartment, a cup of hot coffee beside me (maybe with a splash of Kahlua). However this time it felt appropriate to celebrate the threshold between the years with something more creative and dramatic–with a Celestial Ball in three stories of a festively decorated historic New York City Romanesque Revival building filled with live music and occupied by all manner of beautifully costumed people meandering about, drinking, dancing, and laughing. It felt very much like the shimmery veils between so many fantastic worlds were lifted to allow for such a congregation of sparkly, mythic creatures.

I was swept up in all that that magic and forgot to take photos, but thankfully photographer Steven Rosen was there, and he took this beautiful portrait. (Oh, the light!)
10307432_962157080504452_5284636554971885630_n

(If you’d like to see his other breathtaking portraits from that night and others, you can find them on his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/stevenrosenphotography)

There’s so much out of balance and broken and hurting in our world right now. I want to believe that the systems in place that continue to perpetuate hatred and injustice will finally be dismantled, that new models will spring up to reshape a future where all people are treated with dignity and respect. I have hope, and I want to do my part.

In so many cultures, the end of an old year was a time for magic, for fortunetelling and storytelling, for casting spells and making wishes. My wish for 2016 is not long: May we find our way to love in 2016–in the people, animals, activities, and ideas that nourish our authentic selves and connect us with humanity as a whole.

Happy New Year.

 

Desire

"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
E.B. White

Last year (2009) we moved four times: two different countries, three different cities. We lived in 2 apartments and 2 houses.

It was another year of transitions. I think we had enough of those in the last decade. Change is my friend, growth is a good thing indeed, but I’m ready for roots.

In the end, we found our home. The real deal. Casa del Lobos is IT. Home with a capital H. (I’m sure that I’ll get the bug to travel again sooner than later, but I after the adventure, I want to come home here.)

It is taking a while to get things in place (I cannot wait to have a functional kitchen next month, and I really miss having a sink…laundry sink in the basement is not my favorite for washing dishes), but from the first night spent here, we felt like it was the right place to be.  Casa del Lobos is a tremendous gift, and I am so grateful.

This has also been a year of community building and rearranging, reaching out to connect with old friends and new. I’ve met people this year that I am certain will be a part of my life for a long time to come. They too are a gift.

My kids are evolving into these interesting, creative little people who challenge and delight me. They are an enormous blessing, as is my husband.  He is a true partner, and I am happy to be sharing this adventure with him.

There is much to be grateful for and much to look forward to. I thank you for what you have added to my life, whether I see you regularly or only online. I look forward to what the next decade will bring.

I hope that 2010 is full of magic and opportunity. I hope that you are able to create things that make you joyful. I hope that you are surrounded by people who care for you and challenge you to grow, change, and explore. I hope that you are healthy, safe, and warm. I hope that you find something and/or someone that makes you feel happy to be alive.

Happy New Year!