Dear Nicholas, The advice to “Do the best you can” is usually reassuring to hear–means: doesn’t have to be perfect, just give it a good shot. However, when it’s important, doing my best takes on a different urgency. And here’s the problem: how do we ever know if we’ve done the best we can? A […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, The way people are thinking now in order to deal with coronavirus is curiously familiar to me. People have adopted all-day hypervigilance–spraying germ-killers, standing six feet apart, not doing x, being sure to do y, holding continuous awareness of what’s the correct or incorrect next step. Getting Every Move Right It’s the very […] Read More

Dear  Nicholas, I feel morally obligated to say in a calm and reasonable manner how I am going to vote and why. If I can un-muddle and focus on putting ranting aside. I think a lot of us are pretty worn down by political friction. The image that comes to my mind is the paradoxical […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, My memories of the shock of curfew in India are stirred by the current quarantines to stop the spread of coronavirus. I don’t argue with the need for these limits. Still, to be suddenly not allowed out of a small space for an undisclosed period of time is a strange and unforgettable sensation. […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, The once-a-month lunch group of spiritual seekers I’ve met with for the last twenty years had its annual New Year’s Theme discussion today, each of us talking about the theme we’ve chosen for ourselves for the new year. We fondly call ourselves Mystic Pizza, though we eat at the K&W cafeteria. The idea […] Read More

  Dear Nicholas, Bob had his aorta surgery Thursday, got out of the hospital Saturday, and seems perfectly normal on Sunday night. In contrast, I’ve spent most of today on the sofa in a stupor of doze-snack-read-repeat. It’s a tiny example of what I’ve always heard about the wear and tear on a long-term caregiver […] Read More

Nicholas — Okay, I’m a little depressed over Husband Bob’s ongoing health misadventures. Even though I know he’s not in mortal danger, any more than we all are, I still find myself a little low. And today I had a thought that helps. For me it’s at least a partial solution to depression, inspired by […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, What two words do you wish you could have told your younger self? That’s the question of a mini-quiz floating around online. The two words that I quickly chose are: all’s well. I’ve thought about that some more. I’m also tempted by: all’s forgiven. If I thought that all were forgiven (and some […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, Compared to a death or winning the lottery, this wasn’t a huge emotional jolt. But still, it felt like the jarring of the spine that happens when you expect there to be one more step down and there isn’t. Instead, foot hits floor sooner and faster than expected. What Happened Husband Bob was […] Read More

Dear Nicholas, Here at the busiest time of year, I’ve come upon a new mantra, a fresh resolve: “create beauty.” It emerged from an online course of sorts that I signed up for about a year ago, called Clearing Physical and Emotional Clutter  taught by Stephanie Bennett Vogt. This clearing seemed to me a good […] Read More