Maybe love is just survival with company, not fireworks or fate or the algorithm’s golden match, but someone who stands next to you when you’re microwaving dinner at 10:45 p.m. because the kids are finally resting and your inbox is full of half-answered questions that feel like they all end with “you good?” I was married for a long tim...

Dear You, You’re carrying more than anyone knows. Because no one else holds the full picture. Not like you do. They see pieces maybe even big pieces but only you know the real weight of it. What it cost. What it’s still costing. And what it might take before it’s through. You didn’t mean for it to be this way. You tried. You tried with...

I was not my best today. The weight of too many things pressed into my chest, and the love I carry— the love that is always there, always steady, felt eclipsed, diminished by moments I let slip through my guard. It wasn’t their fault. It’s never their fault. But the pressures stacked, work left undone, a sleepless night, and a thousand...

Tell me the last time you laughed till you wheezed, till you hiccupped and snuffled and slumped to your knees! Did you snicker so hard you went flippity-flop, with a snorty-snoo sound you just couldn’t stop? Did your giggles go bonkers, all wibble and whack, till you jiggled and juggled and fell on your back? Did you blurt out a honk, ...

They call it a soulmate— a twin flame, your other half, a kindred spirit, someone who completes you, your perfect match, the one the universe handpicked just for you. They say it’s destiny, a divine connection, a love that’s meant to be. People romanticize it, make it sound rare, like there’s just one person out there to fill all your ...

We reflect one another, But it’s not exactly a mirror It’s deeper—more alive. When we see each other, we do give something back, But it’s never a perfect copy. It’s mixed with who we are, A reflection, yes— But tinged with our own colors, our own tune. Because when I see you— It’s not just you I see, It’s the energy you bring, The kind...

I don’t really ever remember it happening before—certainly not like that. Words, like silk, slid right past my guard, left me standing there unarmed, unprepared, not used to kindness cutting me deep. She said things I didn’t know people said about me, the air in the room was different, the empty space was full of weight, each word heav...

Tonight I sat alone on the floor of my son’s room and read an enduring favorite book by Dr. Seuss. “Oh the places you’ll go” is, to my mind, a source of some of the most poignant and important lessons for a content life. Tonight, as I finished the book, a quote from another writer popped into my head. In his book Re-Work Jerry Colonna ...

I wish I were a poet, With words like threaded gold, To capture a night’s quiet magic, In verses bold and old. I’d borrow the serenity of this Christmas Eve, In Longfellow’s chimes so clear, Peace on earth, a whispered belief, In every star, in every sphere. With my family’s love, deep and vast, As in Neruda’s tender sonnet’s embrace, ...

The extraordinary poet and teacher Marie Ponsot would talk about the crow sitting on your shoulder saying things like: “That sucks,” ”How could you write that?” and “Are you kidding me?”. She identifies the crow as the antagonist to any creative effort. Always the voice trying to convince you that you shouldn’t. Marie would say to “Sho...

I was engaged to help facilitate possibly the strangest Oscars show in the Academy’s existence. It turned out to be a challenging, but wonderful experience. While COVID is still a very real factor, how do you put on an elegant event for hundreds of attendees while keeping everyone safe? I can’t speak to every effort that went into it, ...

In 2020 we all watched the world turn upside down. I don't feel the need to re-hash details about that since we all experienced it, suffice to say that my own business enterprises were each completely decimated. In addition, my family faced some devastating events that took a deep and lasting toll on us. I retreated. At first, I think ...