Daughter not like mother — Last week my seventeen-year-old daughter and I sat down to do one of our best-loved activities. After dinner one night we hunkered down at the dining room table with our favorite cheesy catalog — Venus. No matter how many times we cancel the catalog, Venus comes in the mail every…

The evolution of memory — This past week I went to Chicago to spend time with my mother and stepfather. My mother is 80 and my stepfather is 93. About fifteen years ago they moved to a 100-unit apartment a block from the house where I grew up. …

Contemplating the middle ground — For the last year, I have been working as a contact tracer. This is not my life’s passion, it was just a stop-gap job to transition from selling my business. I wanted a job and the pandemic was on in full force so it worked out. About ten months into…

Stuck in the corners of my mind. — Yesterday at work I was trying to tell a co-worker about something that happened at an event we were both at. “Which event?,” they asked. I couldn’t remember the name of the building, though it is the tallest building in Seattle, one I have referenced for my entire adult life…

A simple reminder of the love in my life. — Last night I went out with three old friends. We worked together twenty-five years ago and have gratefully stayed connected all these years later. Whenever we get together, we laugh and laugh and laugh. …

Turns out I did teach it after all — For the last several years, brain scientists have been studying gratitude. We now know that practicing gratitude increases the production of serotonin and helps release dopamine. I’ve been practicing gratitude for years. Since my daughter was verbal, I’ve posted a gratitude tree every November in our entryway. My family is…

Walking up to myself one step at a time — In the morning, walking on the lake, these days in the dark, is when I feel completely myself. All my thoughts are mine — the memories, the perceptions, the ideas. I don’t share them with anyone. And in that way, I get no response. The thoughts stay pure and unfiltered. …

Slowing down emotions with walking — When I was in college, I had a friend who decided that she was only going to take the train. Flying, she said, was unnatural. It wasn’t normal to move such a long distance in such a short time. …

Learning from the good times and the bad. — I can’t believe it’s only been seven weeks since my daughter went to college. Since she left, we’ve spoken often, something I didn’t expect would happen because my daughter never much liked talking to me on the phone. …