I used to love listening to my grandmother talk. Raised in Ohio but a Southerner for the bulk of her adult life, she had a quirky accent. When she came to visit us in New York, my younger brother and I would jump onto her bed every morning and demand that she read to us. This gave us more time…
Growing up, I dreaded the cold, short, dreary days of December. I hated the layers of bulky sweaters, coats, gloves, and hats. I was convinced I had Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression, winter blues, or seasonal depression. I spent more time thinking about how miserable I was than actually trying to do something about it—and I…
When I start to get overwhelmed and anxious, I have found that stepping out of my overscheduled life for a “haiku walk” can rewire my day. Traditionally, Japanese haiku walks are called gingkos, named after the tree, and are held in a place of historical or cultural significance or in an area of natural beauty. I live in Moscow, Russia,…
Always a bittersweet time, the beginning of September in the Northeast is upon us. There is a little regret I’m not starting classes of some kind, a relic of the excitement and dread of a new school year. There is also the refreshing specter of cooler, cleaner, dry air and the burst of energy that seems to come along with…
I have an outdoorsy husband and two children between the ages of 9 and 12. I want to be as cool as possible, of course, so I try to engage in lots of outdoor sports with them. But I come from the concrete jungle of Manhattan and, although I love spending time in nature, I wouldn’t consider myself the daring…
A world without water is impossible to imagine because…well, because we wouldn’t be here to imagine it. Water is essential to the existence of every living thing. It hydrates. Cleans. Purifies. Calms. Invigorates. You can swim in it, soak in it, float on it…even skate away on it when the temperature allows. It’s no wonder that water has so many…
I happen to love the number four. It encompasses the beautiful array of seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall. And the elements: Water (what we’re mostly made up of), Air (the breath that keeps us alive), Fire (our spirit, our passion), and Earth (the ground beneath us, what grounds us to our true selves). And of course, there are the four…
