Dearest reader, I am fortunate in many ways. One way is that I have the best friends on the planet. Hands down. Do not challenge me – you will lose! They have been there in the ups and downs and never waiver. I don’t care what season of my life I met them, they have stood by me. This March, for my birthday, I asked my dear friend Kelly to paint a goddess painting of me for me. I know, I know – I did what?! She’s a brilliant artist and I have many paintings by Kelly in my hous

Dear Reader, Writing has always been my way of saying, I was here. This mattered. When life fractures us, language becomes a bridge between what we feel and what we can survive. Poetry, especially, allows room for truth without explanation—it lets us speak without apology. Lately, I’ve found myself leaning into that more than ever. I am metabolizing grief and transmuting it into art—poems, songs, fragments of feeling that don’t always make sense until they land on the page. M

Spring always feels like a quiet invitation—to begin again, to soften, to step forward in ways we may have been holding back from all winter. As the days stretch a little longer and the light lingers just a bit more, I find myself reflecting on both where I’ve been and where I’m going. My music playlist has been steeped in melancholy these days. I’m going through a tough time and feel like I’m back in the liminal space . Back at book # 1! I can remember a little over a year

Dear Reader, I recently learned that I have an eye condition, and my brother has another—both hereditary, both completely unexpected. As we age, it’s often not a matter of if but when something new will surface that asks us to dig deep, find strength we didn’t know we had, and keep pressing forward. I don’t know a single person who isn’t carrying at least a handful of challenges, personally or professionally. And the world we’re navigating right now seems determined to

Hello Dear Readers, This month, I had the honor of attending a Poetry Jam with the 4th graders at Thoreau Elementary School in Madison, WI. It’s a return visit for me and I always enjoy the event. I shared some of my story and poetry from my new book, Shadow Work, and then listened to students from three classes read their original poems. It’s a big deal to read a poem out loud to your classmates and I never take this for granted. The students and teachers spend so much time

It’s that time of year when I get to attend a Poetry Jam at one of my favorite schools in Madison – Elvehejm Elementary School. I met with 50 4th graders and two teachers. I introduced myself, talked about what inspired me and read some poems from my three books. I did get some questions and comments relating to the poems, which is always interesting to me. It was then their turn to read the poems that they had created. For the first time in four years, they all read their po

We had to say goodbye to our beloved dog Chip this week. He was 10 1/2 but suffered from kidney disease that also wound up causing a heart murmur, anemia and high blood pressure. It was hard to see my kids’ reaction to this as they had convinced me to get the dogs in the first place, complete with a written contract listing out reasons why they needed a dog (or two) and how they were going to take care of them. I had resisted it because I didn’t want this day to come when we

Hello dear reader! We are experiencing a second summer in the Midwest right now. Soon we will be fully immersed in all things pumpkin, sweaters, and hot drinks! I took a trip to Colorado and had a great time at Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater seeing Brandi Carlile opener, Lucius. A few years ago I was there was for a Sarah McLachlan with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra concert and it was one of the best concerts. We went two out of the three nights Brandi was there and it

The anniversary of 9/11 if always a time of reflection. It’s coupled with my late husband’s death date of 9/13. I find it to be an...