“When Death Comes” | A Tribute to Mary Oliver
I found out this morning that one of my all-time favorite poets died. Mary Oliver, the badass pen toting poet died. I’m still processing and my heart is in shock. Her work [...]
grief
Anxiety Blob | Anxiety Blog: Jumping Back In
One of the biggest challenges of living with anxiety is figuring out how to re-enter the world after you’ve been in retreat mode. You know that feeling, say, when you’ve [...]
She Had Always Known Me: Remembering Poet Ntozake Shange
My children have grown accustomed to my grief. Over the years—from the death of my parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, a beloved cousin, to those of schoolmates [...]
Notes from Nanea | Holiday Complexity and the Beauty of Now
My dear Sweatpants & Coffee tribe, The house smells of baking and coffee. It’s deliciously quiet, now that I’ve shoved a bag of still-warm cookies into my [...]
That’s What She Said | All I Want for Christmas is to be Made Whole
Christmas is hard. Also, that’s what she said. While there are many – quite vocal – people who love the holiday season, with the lights and baking and [...]
Sweatpants & Soul | Fighting for the Present in the Middle of the Past and Future
“…I believed that I was living in the center, but I rarely let my feet rest on solid ground, rooting me in the present… my mind hummed with possible futures. Always. If [...]
Personal Essays | Caregiver First, Elizabeth Second
2009, early high school. If you had asked 15-year-old Elizabeth to describe herself with three terms, “caregiver” would have been first. Before student, before sister, [...]
That’s What She Said | How To Deal With Light When Emerging From Grief
It’s hard to have nice things. Really hard. Also, that’s what she said. After I had children and discovered the sheer destruction that they wrought on – [...]
Notes from Nanea | Finding Plenty
I take two deep breaths to try and steady myself, but that isn’t enough. My chest is tight. I’m clenching my fists like I’m ready to fight, and my teeth ache. I’ve [...]
The Comfort of Making Things
A few weeks before 9/11, a movie producer taught me to knit at a press junket. I was a marketing executive at Sony and spent my days with people who made things—movies, [...]
