Listen to this one On the way to yoga one morning, I passed a man walking down the street proudly displaying his political affiliation. It was not mine. For a split second, I judged him. And then I judged myself for judging him. A few blocks later, I stopped judging us both and did what I always do. I thought about perception. Yes, my favorite topic. Because whether we notice it or not, perception rules. The question I couldn’t answer Somewhere between the corner and the studio door, a...
8 days ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader ~ A little over a year ago I sat down to write one short story. A daughter, a rainy crosswalk, a father who wasn't supposed to be there. I thought that was all it was. One story, done in a week, on to the next thing. It wasn't done. Maya wouldn't leave. And then Helen showed up, and Alice, and the sisters in Not In Time, and finally Calla with her impossible maps. Five women who see what the rest of us can't, each of them sure at first that what they see is a burden. Each of them...
15 days ago • 2 min read
Join the conversation on Substack... While walking one morning, I had a magical experience. As I turned the corner onto the next street, the world went silent. Not nature—the world. I made no sound. My feet were silent. My breath was silent. It was as if the person I call me wasn’t there. I had become a camera moving through the green trees, recording birdsong, feeling the blue of the sky as if it reached all the way down to the road. I was gliding through a piece of the universe, and yet the...
22 days ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader ~ In the Seneca tradition, September is the month of Big Bear. I learned that recently, and suddenly a lot of things made sense. The urge to stock up on supplies. To trim the bushes back. To clean out drawers and closets. That isn't restlessness. That's bear. Bears know what September is for: gathering what will carry you through, letting go of what won't, and settling in for the deeper work ahead. Not a bad way to live, when you think about it. For me, the deeper work is writing....
29 days ago • 3 min read
Read Or Listen Online The Quote on the Wall For years, while sitting in a tiny church in Venice, California, I stared at a quote on the wall: “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.”—Mary Baker Eddy. I did not truly understand what it meant. But more than anything, I wanted to. It was a promise, and I wanted to believe it was true. Money was in short supply then, and all I could think about was how much better my family’s life would be if that saying meant money...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader ~ Here we are in September. Back to school! Oh wait. That was years ago, wasn't it? Still, no matter how many Septembers go by, some part of me always thinks it's time to sharpen the pencils and start something new. Do you feel that too? My garden has moved into harvest mode. Only a few tomatoes are left clinging to the vine, but it was a bumper crop this year, and they were delicious. If you're ever hunting for really good salsa tomatoes, try Pink Delicious. They weren't actually...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Don't forget to get this month's fr*e book! Read Second Sight. The Story You Tell About Them Read Online I remember telling my mother, when I was about ten, that she was making things worse by believing a story about herself that wasn’t true. She did not turn to me and say how wise I was and thank me. No—she did what most of us do when our stories are challenged. She got mad. I’ll admit I’m still learning how to say the right thing at the right time. But what I said to her that day remains...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Read Online Recently, in an aerobics class, dancing with forty other people—mostly women—I flashed back to the 1980s and dancing with my friend in nightclubs. I lived in San Diego then, and we’d meet early, dance for a few hours, and leave right as the drinkers arrived. Now I’m twice as old as I was then. And standing there in that class, I thought: my forty-year-old self would be proud of me. Still dancing. Maybe not for as long. Maybe not in nightclubs. But still moving. The thought made me...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader ~ Almost thirty years ago, I learned about something called Remote Viewing — the practiced skill of seeing what your eyes can't. I didn't just read about it. I experienced it myself, once or twice, in ways I have never forgotten. Along the way I met Joseph McMoneagle, one of the most documented remote viewers in history. He agreed with a room full of people that I was from Mars. I never asked him what he meant by that. All these years later, I wish I had. I'm telling you this...
2 months ago • 1 min read