Have you noticed that people who have ruled out all possibility of magic are a bit… depressed? And even, dare I say it – depressing? Please note that I didn’t say, “People who don’t believe in magic.” No. What I mean instead is people who have declared either with actual words or with their whole [...]
The night was cold and windy and the hedges on either side of the narrow road that runs outside Ballyferriter, a town near Dingle in Ireland, were emitting a preternatural sound. My hair stood on end. I was twenty, my head full of tales and romance, and it’s not too much to say: I was [...]
In Irish, one way to indicate an improvement in one’s health is teacht ar ais chugat féin – literally, “to come back to yourself.” I love that. It implies that feeling better is a homecoming of sorts – a return to the self we regard as truest, the one that engages with life in the [...]
This morning I came across this entry in a journal from 2021: "Watching a squirrel in the hemlock, grooming her long tail." I felt a rush of gladness. A moment later, I asked myself: Why? From this brief note in an old journal, a bouquet of reflections. ♥A tiny moment like this plants a [...]
One thing I love in this life is to make a good thing even better. I’ve written before about my belief that a thermos of tea can turn an ordinary trip into an adventure. Add a snack, add a book, add music, add time outdoors, add a friend: instant improvement to anything. I love to [...]
Hello, my friend. It’s good of you to “come over” to see me here. Your company is cherished and deeply welcome. Please imagine me now, opening the green, wooden door and beckoning you inside. In our increasingly digitalized and decentralized world, I feel more and more that this site is my online home. Here, I [...]
You’ve had this experience, I’m sure. You want to do something, create something, or try something, but before you begin, some drawback or hesitation jumps in and gives you pause. Perhaps you want to write a book, start a business, go to a party, bake a soufflé, or adopt a puppy. Anything! Visions of [...]
Let me tell you a bit of an old Welsh story. When mythic hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes was betrayed and attacked by his unhappy wife and her lover, he instantly transformed into a wounded eagle and flew far away to a tree where he perched in great pain and sorrow for a long, lonely [...]
Please take a minute and think of something that has been bothering you, perhaps even for a long time. Like me, you likely have a swirl of thoughts about this thing. You want it to change but you are stymied in some way. It’s too hard, too expensive, there are multiple players, it could [...]
Who are you “really”? Our minds are constantly doing their best to sort things into categories that will save us time as we build our case about reality. This is a “good thing,” we say, or “a bad thing.” This person is safe or not safe, to be trusted or not, smart or foolish, [...]
