Reboot, Rejuvenate, Resurrect

Are You Burning—or Just Glowing? My predawn ritual begins with lighting a fragrant candle that sits atop a four-shelf bookcase. A few months ago, that ritual changed. For a milestone birthday two years earlier, a friend gifted me an electric candle warmer lamp. “Hmm,” I thought, “nice gift, but I am never going to use it.” I liked striking a match, touching it to the wick, and watching the flame catch. So, I continued buying candles. Then, while cleaning one day, the discar

THE BRIDGE OF OUR STORIES I came across this question at the beginning of a reflection by my current favorite author, Mark Nepo: “When was the last time you told your story? Question put to the sick by a Native American Medicine Man.” My first thought was to keep reading. My second? “I am not sick.” My third? “We are all sick!” So here is my attempt to answer. You, I, and every other human who has walked the earth are more than ninety-nine percent the same. It is that remai

A HEART FOR THE ART I find doors fascinating because of their potential for something mystical and magical. The doors of transformation are even more so. In fact, it is so magical and mysterious that we mostly don’t recognize it when stepping over the threshold. I know this to be true especially around the pain door and its transformative effects on me. But this isn’t about me and pain. I am married to an incredibly intellectual and creative personality—more intellectua

PERMISSION TO PERCH “THE HIGHEST REWARD FOR A PERSON’S TOIL IS NOT WHAT THEY GET FOR IT, BUT WHAT THEY BECOME.” —John Ruskin Every summer, unintentionally, I have at least one day that I deem a “No Goal” day. I never surrender to it without a struggle, even though my body desperately needs it. I have noticed that giving in is easier when it rains and storms. This summer, it rained often—until it didn’t, and the relentless heat arrived. After a long string of days when the h