A Year of Firsts

Rediscovering magic in the everyday.

mental health

  • Seasonal discomfort

    This fall has felt so thick and syrupy to me for some reason, and I just haven’t felt much like doing anything. There are the regular things that need to get done, like feeding my people and cleaning the house, and doing the work I get paid to do, but otherwise, meh, just not interested Read more

  • Grief over Missing Out

    Ever since I got COVID for the first time, I have noticed that all of my colds kind of play out the same way. I start getting lethargic, with a sore throat that I can kind of ignore. Then a fever, chills, and three days of searingly painful congestion set in. Every part of my Read more

  • Wrapped

    Over the past week, my Instagram was flooded with my friends’ Spotify Wrapped images and videos. Do you get those?  Up until recently, I haven’t been a Spotify user, so I don’t get a “wrapped.” There certainly is something about December that makes you want to count up all of your goods and bads, successes Read more

  • With Autumn Comes the Fall

    Hey there! It’s been a minute. I hope you are doing ok.  The fall and start of school completely kicked me in the behind. We spent several weeks with someone in the household sick at all times. My daughter is dealing with some acid reflux that is (according to the doctor) probably the aftermath of Read more

  • Apathy is (not) hot

    I have not been able to help myself from looking at the endless internet discourse on Taylor Swift since the release of her new album. My Lord. People have some VERY serious opinions about these 12 pop songs. Some people think it is her worst album ever. Others are scanning her yearbook to figure out Read more

  • Thanks for Trying

    A few times in my life people have told me I was “really brave” for doing something that I didn’t find particularly brave at all. It was just….what I did.  My brave actions have included:  I’m sure there are more – these are just specific conversations I remember where the brave word came up, where Read more

  • Evolution of Grief

    This week has been a hard one. I saw this picture of the evolution of grief. It’s just meme psychology, of course, oversimplifying something really complicated. But the idea I liked was this: grief never really goes away, but we build our lives around it and learn to live with it. In this book on Read more

  • Sinking Into The Sea

    Experiencing so many losses so close together has primed my brain for any messages about the afterlife. The other night, watching The White Lotus (I know…so profound) with my husband I heard the speech by a Buddhist monk, which is decidedly not in keeping with Buddhist writings, but is still pretty nice:  “When you’re born, Read more

  • Garden Walk

    Whenever my mother-in-law would come to visit us, she would hug the people, go to the bathroom, get a glass of water (which would still be half full when she left), and then, “How about a garden walk?” It was always in that order of priority. And always, without fail, at every visit, the plants Read more

  • March and Survivance

    The month of March is kind of like a trick. It’s usually the moment when (in the Northern hemisphere anyways) everyone’s mind turns to spring, warmer weather, longer days, planting flowers, shedding coats, and generally more fun. But over the past 12 years, working with farmers, March felt very different.  March is when the time Read more