(I hope) For the past three summers, I’ve grown a few dahlias in some pretty crummy soil above a boulder retaining wall, where I had ripped out some big old shrubs. The first year, the dahlias did really well, growing bushy and full of colorful flowers. This past year, not so much. Three out of nine, brand new, didn’t even come up. The six that grew — three new, three second-year — didn’t flower very much. I realized I had not given them any fertilizer since late spring. At least I kept them watered. By the end of this summer…
“The more we can be ourselves, the more positively we influence others.” – Carl Rogers, On Becoming a Person Rogers and other psychologists have said that everyone wants to be influential. But Rogers doesn’t talk about it in the power-hungry sense, or the “compensate for our sense of inferiority” sense. Like most of his writing, it takes a positive view of the human mind, and I appreciate that. Reading about the need to be influential reminded me of when I opened my fitness training business, and how inspired I was to share my own life-improving experiences with other people. Recently a…
One way to build your writing community is to share and boost the work of other writers and artists. Panelists at AWP23 agreed this is one of the most rewarding activities.
He’s public, he’s private, he’s a resource, a treasure, a person.
Nobody else was in this huge, fresh, natural “swimming pool.” I found that if I gripped the bottom with both hands, with my feet and body pointing downstream, the current would keep my legs afloat and I’d stay anchored in place. I decided to use that easy position to practice breathing.
Coach: Distance swimming is about going along the shoreline so you can stop any time you want. (I had never thought of it that way.) I said I find it so daunting to look back and know I’ve got to swim all the way back there where I started. I don’t think I’m totally tired out – it’s more mental.
We floated and relaxed, enjoying the cold sinking in to our bodies, while watching for spots where it would be easy to get out of (or into, next time) the water. Cold water is so calming after the initial shock.
The lake looked dark blue and choppy. Close-up, the water was clear, and the gravel bottom looked varied and pretty as usual. Pollen and tiny bits of plant matter floated on the surface as usual. The coolish breeze and the partly cloudy sky, though beautiful and milder than a glaring full sun, were different weather than I’d swam in before. No matter how insignificant a difference it should have been, it felt like a less familiar environment.
I investigated a river for a potential swim. It originates from mountain snow in the municipal watershed at a high elevation. The river is beautiful, cold, and surrounded by forest and by leafy suburbs.
I probably hadn’t gone 47 straight days of eating exclusively at home since I was in high school 40 years ago.
Bam! Dining out is prohibited.
When my husband brought home takeout barbecue last week — thank goodness restaurants can open for takeout — it was such a treat that I felt I should dress up for date night. I was already wearing my “better” sweatpants, so I didn’t bother. The next day, we were still crowing about our special meal: “Wasn’t that so much fun?” If you’d told me three months ago that I’d stop going to restaurants, I would have reacted with astonishment and, probably, petulance.