It was a summer of firsts. My first summer away from home. My first job that I found on my own. I worked with artists, lived in New York City, and most of all I learned how to live forever.
How we allow the stories we tell to define us
Three years after the ten year anniversary of 9/11, and what has changed?
I found this piece I wrote on the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Those horrible days changed my life, because it taught me a lesson I don’t know I would have otherwise learned.
If only these giant fleshy beasts could speak
One Sunday, we visited Santa Rosa de Tastil in northwest Argentina. It’s a town of one hundred people that sprouted from the oasis just below the ancient settlement of Tastil. I didn’t plan to write about it, but something about the place got me.
I wanted to somehow capture it. I wanted to show how dry land and fallen cacti can tell such a vibrant story.
In between the moving parts, we write
“How do you do it all,” a friend asked me. “It’s easy,” I told her. “I just lowered my standards.” I don’t expect perfection anymore. Instead, I banish the little guilts we feel and enjoy where I am before moving on to something else.
42 Reasons to be Grateful in my 42nd year
As a celebration of life for another year, a rejoicing in all the good in my life, here I list 42 of the things for which I am most grateful.
This list began when I was pregnant, uncomfortable and overwhelmed. Thus, I wrote in my journal simply listing as many pieces of my life that make me happy and full of love.
It’s amazing what you can learn about your own life in just ten minutes of writing.
Sunrise Over Salta: Life and writing are in the details
I began taking these sunrise photos to remind myself that even in a small space, with very little change of place or time, life offers a spectacular range of vision, beauty and variation.
If you remember this well, you can find endless variation for the vision of your writing which in turn guides the vision of your life.
Want to see what I saw from my balcony every morning for the last two years? Check out this photo essay.
7 Successful Leaders Inspire You With Stories of Failure and Rejection
This post has been a labor of love, sparked by my frustration at seeing so many talented and creative people giving up because they’re stymied by their fear of failure.
So I set out to prove through the work of leaders in varying fields that failure is not only part of the process, it helps you move forward and grow.
Plus a little rule of thumb to help you move past rejection with ease, grace and your ego in tact.
And that’s why mamas make the best writers
Happy mother’s day to all you mamas out there.
This is a call to everyone one of you who has said to yourself “I’d like to write something.” Maybe a memoir, maybe a novel, maybe you’re not sure yet, but you know you want to put pen to paper.
I wrote this just for you!
A portrait on the eve of Lila’s tenth birthday
Impossible to believe it’s been five years since we moved to Salta. Even more impossible to believe how much Lila has grown and changed. Now, we’re on the cusp of a new baby joining our home. If you’ve spent any time on this website, I’m sure you’ve read about it.
Happy birthday, Lila! I can’t wait to see what the next five years bring.
What is my writing process & how can it work for you?
My writing process has developed over time. It is this very process that keeps me from ever experiencing writer’s block. How? Two key elements.
In this post, I’ll also let you know why I write and the two main projects I have happening now. I’d love some of your input to help with one of them.
