self care – Pretty Good Ugly

More Than Humans

I haven’t written in awhile. Or rather, I haven’t written anything to share. Things are just so… inconceivable. (And I’m sure we all just imagined Princess Bride). Lately it feels like nothing I add adds value. Writing, lecturing, discussing, it all just feels like… fiddling while the world burns. There’s nothing I will say thatContinue reading “More Than Humans”

“Are you OK?” (No. Yes. Mostly?)

The past couple weeks have been a LOT. There’s been loss and grief and shock and perspective shifts. There’ve been so many adjustments, life almost feels fluid (which is pretty beautiful), and now it’s the end of May. The phrase “Are you okay?” always throws me off. I feel defensive and defective and completely unableContinue reading ““Are you OK?” (No. Yes. Mostly?)”

Existential Crisis and Love (and Poetry)

Living in the End Times is rough. Societal collapse, with rising prices and stagnant wages and an unthinkable wealth gap, is exhausting. Mass shooting after mass shooting. Scandal on top of scandal. The floor keeps sinking in the race to the bottom and the climate crisis is here and the tipping point four years out.Continue reading “Existential Crisis and Love (and Poetry)”

Pep Talk: Almost Spring

This time of year gets really tricky. It’s the longest we’ve been in Winter mode, anxiously awaiting Spring, doubtful it will ever arrive. Historically, for me, it’s a tricky time of year as it marks a lot of loss. I’ve come to understand that the longer I live, the more loss I will sustain andContinue reading “Pep Talk: Almost Spring”

We Can’t Bully Ourselves into Better

We can’t hate our way through healing. It doesn’t work that way.

Baked Potato and Progress

I read a note I wrote on Facebook in 2009, and I was so proud of myself because I had baked a potato all by myself. I share this vulnerable moment with you, so that you know there is nothing too small to celebrate. I didn’t have much in my adulting/self-care/survival skills toolbox. That potatoContinue reading “Baked Potato and Progress”

Tax Suitcase of Keep Forever Things:

I keep my Keep Forever things in the tax suitcase because there are two things in life you can count on, death, and that I’m-going-to-keep-that-forever.

Ego

The WORST I was listening to a woman I admire and she said something that landed so hard I have to share it. She said that she can’t say she had “low self-esteem,” because she had “no self-esteem.” And that part I’d heard before and nodded along with, but then she went on to remindContinue reading “Ego”