Holy moly. Best thing EVER. I’m in love with Kid President.
May 13th, 2013
On getting more help thank you think you deserve*
I was honored to participate in the Mother’s Day Rally for Mental Health on Katherine Stone’s blog (Postpartum Progress) this year. Katherine posted letters to new moms from 24 writers who have gone through postpartum depression or anxiety. Each letter is so moving + powerful… and a must-read for your mama friends out there. So many of us don’t realize what we’re going through until we’re on the other side. We don’t get the support we need because we think we don’t deserve it, or that it’s not that bad, or we’re too ashamed…
These letters bust through all of that and share the real deal. So proud to be a part of it. Share it with the moms in your life. My piece is getting more help thank you think you deserve.
May 10th, 2013
A Love List: What your mama really wants for Mother’s Day
Laurie listening to Ellen
I went to a birthday party for a dear friend recently. Since Laurie had been going through some major transitions this year, we wanted to gift her something really special and from the heart. Sherry suggested we all make her a “Love list.”
A Love list is pretty simple.
1. Write down 10 things you love about this person.
2. Tell them what you admire about them, what you appreciate, why they inspire you.
3. Read it to them in person, over the phone, or put a stamp on it and send it off with love.
As I wrote my love list for Laurie, I was filled with gratitude. There was so much to love about her! and I felt so lucky to be counted as one of her dear ones.
She didn’t know we wrote these lists. We surprised her by reading them out loud, one by one after dinner, and watched the tears fall from her cheeks. She received each gift so beautifully… and we were all a puddle by the end. It was a gift to all of us.
Lara and Sherry and Laurie
Laurie and Lara
Me reading to Laurie
Me and Laurie
Have you ever given a love list? Have you ever received one? What was it like?
May 9th, 2013
The marvelous world of Anado McLauchlin
Rainbow buddhas, in Anado’s gorgeous studio, San Miguel Allende, Mexico
Have you ever wondered who is responsible for the gorgeous rainbow colored buddhas on my home page? They were created by the phenomenally talented Anado McLauchlin in San Miguel de Allende.
You might remember I was there last January for a painting retreat with Flora Bowley. The colors in San Miguel are the most spectacular I’ve ever seen – mustard walls with peeling paint, green taxis and pink churches, orange houses against bright blue skys. My color obsession was finally satisfied. But we had the chance to take it to another level when the leader of our trip suggested we visit a talented expat artist whose home was made entirely of mosaics. Now we’re talking! I thought.
Anado and Rebecca, San Miguel de Allende
Anado’s shoes, San Miguel de Allende
Of course he had me at hello. A creative wizard of a man with a long beard and pink tennis shoes greeted us. His house was nothing short of miraculous. Here are some peeks into his colorful world. May they inspire you! And if you ever find yourself in San Miguel, I hope you get to see his work firsthand.
Thank you Anado! For sharing your colorful vision and your home!
May 8th, 2013
The Ruffler
Self portrait, eyes closed
We have a “Ruffler.”
This is what Ben called him the first time it happened, the first time our car was broken into last year. We went to open the door of our car one morning and discovered that it was ajar. Trash was strewn all over the passenger seat along with owners’ manuals, registration papers, a swiss army knife, a few tampons and a number 2 pencil. All that seemed to be missing was the spare change. I explained to Ben that someone had rifled through our car in the middle of the night.
But who ruffled our car? Ben asked in disbelief.
I like calling him the Ruffler because it sounds more friendly, less like a violation and more like a person who simply makes mischief and mess wherever they go. We also have a name for this guy because he has done this to our car a good 7 times now. Every time we have forgotten to lock the doors– those occasions when I have extracted a screaming toddler from the car seat and hurriedly ushered him into the house (thus forgetting to lock up) the Ruffler strikes again.
It’s possible he is the most dependable force in my life. A law of the Universe. Pure cause and effect.
I’ve been more diligent about locking doors since the Ruffler came into our lives. Not just the car doors, but the house as well. He demands that I cross my T’s more than usual; he demands a kind of precision and excellence that perhaps I let fall by the wayside. I imagine he is a kind of angel, here for a purpose, to protect me from a much greater harm with his annoying shenanigans.
I have been tempted to leave the car door open and rig a camera in there, to film the Ruffler in action. He has left cigarette butts in the car before, garbage, and once a nice pair of sunglasses that I’m guessing he acquired from another vehicle. But I don’t really want to know who he is.
I prefer to think of him as a force or an energy, not a real person.
I prefer to think of him as someone who asks me to stay present and awake, who remembers to check the doors before falling asleep, who reminds me of the simple laws of the Universe.
