2021 was a hard year. It shook me in ways that 2020 didn’t. A lot of things got lost in all the shaking, and along with my writing practice, one of the biggest of these was my reading. I only read twenty-five books in 2021. … Continue reading The 2021 Read List
We recently began reading The Order of the Phoenix in my Harry Potter group, and the theme for our discussion of the first ten chapters was “Names.” The facilitators asked us all to come with an anecdote about our own names to share. The stories that … Continue reading What’s In a Name? Thoughts on the Personal Weight of Words
When I was five, if you had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have told you that I wanted to be an artist or a writer. Now I see that a writer is an artist, but back then I … Continue reading Seanchaí
Throughout the months since last March, I’ve worked on moving forward as best I can. I’ve walked a lot of miles, played a lot of games, taken up a new hobby, started working towards a new profession, and generally continued to remind myself how fortunate … Continue reading Stage Five of Quarantine- Grieving
2020 was an excellent year for escapism. It was also a year that demanded a lot of hard looks and reexamination and which called for a good measure of comfort thrown in. In other words, 2020 was a good year for reading, and I did … Continue reading The 2020 Read List – Nonfiction
Of all the things this year has brought, the most abundant offering has been time. I half expected (or perhaps half hoped) at the beginning that I had learned to deal with empty days in my years of seasonal work— growing accustomed to tranquil Januaries … Continue reading Stage Four of Quarantine- Self-Reflection and Reframing
I doubt it will come as a surprise when I tell you that in 2020 I beat my previous records for both number of books and number of pages read in a year. I had hoped it would be the year I made it to … Continue reading The 2020 Read List – Fiction
I’m probably beating a dead horse when I say, “I’m an introvert.” But it’s true. I’m really introverted. The older I get, the more at peace I become with my introversion. My social circle is not large. I have a very few close friends and am content. … Continue reading Stage Three of Quarantine- Community
Back in January of 2019 (a whole lifetime ago), as Dylan and I were planning our trip to New Zealand, it suddenly hit me how many potentially physically challenging things we were adding to our itinerary and how potentially out-of-shape I had become. I had … Continue reading Stage Two of Quarantine: Pilgrimage
The end of March usually brings with it the earnest beginning of the new tour season here in Boston. In past years, I’ve actively looked forward to this shift back into things. When I was working at the chocolate shop in the winter, I was … Continue reading Stage One of Quarantine- Anxiety and Unemployment
I Digress 