This is the Way

My daughter is in love with the “Mandalorian” series on Disney +, and therefore, we watch it a lot. There is a character, which most people call, Baby Yoda, whose actual name is Grogu and he is captivatingly cute. The plotline in the two-season series centers around a Mandalorian warrior trying to get this adorable Read More

Why Keep Waiting for an Ending?

A friend of mine on Instagram, @soberincalifornia, writes beautiful posts about recovery. This morning, she wrote about how her personal growth has felt stagnant during this pandemic. “The truth is that I’ve used the pandemic as an excuse to ease up on the work that still needs to be done. I’ve gotten lazy in the Read More

Sobriety is a Mindset

Sobriety isn’t a punishment; it’s a gift. It isn’t a counting of days; it’s a celebration of time. It isn’t handcuffs; it’s freedom. It isn’t what we have to miss out on; it’s what we get to experience. It isn’t an empty social calendar; it is an invitation to live your potential. It isn’t a Read More

Expectations on Life Expectancy

I haven’t seen or talked to my parents much lately. They live in the same town as me, and we usually see one another multiple times a week. They help out with watching the kids and the dog, and we enjoy sharing life and space. Toward the end of last year, my mom grew more Read More

No Excuse for Excuses

Excuse: (noun) a reason or explanation put forward to defend or justify a fault or offense. Recently, I wrote a guest post for my friend Barb’s lovely blog, about how life happens not in the occasional big moments, but in all the ordinary moments in between. And it’s not until we start to engage with Read More

What Does Living Look Like, Then and Now?

On Friday, March 13, 2020, the day of my one-year “soberversary,” the world shut down. I’m not a superstitious person, but sometime I will share with you about a Friday the Thirteenth I had years ago that caused a missed flight, missed wedding and a relapse, among other things. Anyway, back to this year. It Read More

Progress Report: 500 Days

Today marks 500 days into my wellness journey of sobriety and personal growth. I decided to check in with myself and reflect on my progress. We get progress reports in school on our academic journey, and since I’m a teacher my mind thinks like that. Although organic in form, I find it helpful to look Read More

We Are Stories Still Going

We are wired for stories because we live them. We love hearing others’ stories because they help us make sense of our own. As human beings on this planet, we get to experience all the things: heavy and light, beautiful and difficult, hopeful and uncertain. Our stories are usually a balance of difficult versus easy, Read More

Don’t Control…Create!

This is the time of year where, as I like to put it, “something’s got to give.” With the busy-ness of the holidays, calorie-dense food and drink everywhere I look, the cold and dark creating an unfriendly environment for exercising, a variety of illnesses infecting my household, and this year my husband being away, I Read More