I recently decided that I need to create a new ready-to-go list —one for what to pack when I go traveling with my girl friends. Because let’s face it: a trip with my friends is worlds away from a trip with my husband .

You may have heard that time is a relative thing. Clearly, it travels at different speeds for different people, which is probably what Einstein was trying to say with mathematical symbols. To take his theory a little farther, time holds a different meaning for different people and can even change meaning for the same person in different contexts. For those of you who completely understand Einstein’s equations, you probably don’t need to read further unless you’d like to apply his theory to real life. For the rest of us, I have developed some definitions of particular measurements of time that you should be able to relate to. 

A long time ago some smart guy said, “Moderation in all things is the best policy.” Too bad we don’t remember that wise advice. Everything, if left to run unchecked, can go too far in one direction.

Including a positive mindset. 

The world needs stories. Children’s stories. But more specifically than that, we need folktales. We need folktales because of the deeply rooted truths that we find in them. Not fairy tales where the fairy godmother or prince charming appears and makes everything right. The stories I’m talking about today are those stories that illustrate some of the not-so-brilliant things people do. We could learn a lot from them…

What’s the least favorite month of the year? February. No doubt. Everything is Frozen, Flu season has settled in, January resolutions seem Futile and spring is still Far off. But it seems wasteful to be fractious for a whole month, so this February, I am going to focus on ways to have Fun in February.

Once upon a time in a creative non-fiction writing class, we learned to consider our memories as a big glass jug filled with snippets of the people, places, and events we’ve experienced like a great glass cannister brim-full of quilt scraps.     

We need to step through the gate we pondered last week, and know which direction to go.

But then…we have to figure out how to walk that path, and sometimes that is just as hard.

Imagine a world where you had to step up to a gate and get permission to enter the new year. You’ve been at the gate before, of course—every year since you were about twelve years old. All you had to do then was make a simple New Year’s resolution. But each year as an adult, you are faced with questions that grow ever more profound, and you have to be able to answer them satisfactorily in order to progress.

It’s January, and most inspirational blogs are encouraging people to reach for the new. It’s a new year! A new start! Reach for those new goals! Dedicate yourself to those New Year’s Resolutions!

But the most important thing for me right now is not what’s starting. It’s what’s ending.

I’m officially rescheduling my National Novel Writing Month. I’m doing it in January this year. In fact, I’m going to tweak more than the dates. I’m going to change it so that it works for me, which might mean making writing my focus for more than a month.

I imagine the whole practice of wrapping presents came about because people wanted to surprise someone when they offered a gift. The way I look at it, though, surprise is the least of what the wrapping adds. It offers a chance to unwrap. And unwrapping? Well, that adds a little mystique, a little wonder, a little excitement. Anticipation. And anticipation, that cousin of hope, is the thing that draws us forward, inspires us to keep going— 

Have you ever had the joyful aspect of the holidays get clouded over? The trick is to remember something beautiful is still there—underneath it all. And then find a way to bring it out. A little art. A little math. And there you go.

Need a bright spot for this busy part of the year when the days rush past and daylight hours grow ever shorter?

I’ve got two words for you.

Guess what? You don’t have to toss out one holiday for the next. You can keep the spirit of abundance that Thanksgiving inspires. Now just share it.

Step away from the shopping, the baking, and the decorating for a moment. Walk with me through a week’s worth of some of our greatest gifts. The kind that can’t be wrapped in fancy packages, or ordered from Amazon. The kind that are truly worth celebrating. And re-gifting. And sharing. All week long. 

Even though I’m familiar with the months of the year, and which one follows which, for some reason I’m surprised every year when November arrives. I’m hit with the sudden realization that despite my best intentions, I am no better prepared for the holidays this year than I was last year. 

Here I am, with November in full bloom—or is that full zoom—and the holidays are upon us. Ready or not, I absolutely love them.

It’s all about the whipped cream.

The people that affect me, that inspire me, that I try to model specific parts of myself after are not celebrities or medal winners. They are not famous.

Do you or your kids dread the requisite minutes of shared reading time the school wants you to do each night? Here are some ideas to make it a time you all look forward to.

Have you ever tried to express a profound emotion or experience and totally failed? Haven’t we all?

Seeking to fully encapsulate an experience, mood, thought, or emotion in some type of artistic expression in order to invoke a similar response in others is what creativity is all about. Sometimes we manage to find just the right mix of color or words or musical notes to convey what we’re trying to convey, and sometimes we don’t.

So then what?

Silhouetted against the light behind them, she stands with one arm entwined with her father’s. The other holds her bridal bouquet. There are no words significant enough, with resonance deep enough to capture the magnitude of what I feel as her mother. They all seem too brief, too bright, too blasé, as though they belong on a greeting card.