I hesitate to share this story because it’s so deeply personal, but when something has this big of an impact on me, I want to share it, just in case there’s someone out there who can relate. A few weeks ago, as I sunk into
Oh Hello Darling! Where have you been all my life? In all your exquisite luminescent pink? Your delicate curving arch, like a quivering rainbow of invitations… I wasn’t looking for you, oh no. I was looking for a gorgeous storm-proof boot that could withstand slush,
Conjure up a parliament in old England: a stately room of soaring ceilings, carved wooden chairs and podiums, colorful flags and the smell of lemon furniture polish and Old Spice wafting through the air, except in this room the scents change to freshly fallen leaves,
I spent this morning going through my closet, looking for two dresses: one to wear to a wedding and one to wear to a funeral. Sigh. This grand pageant of life can feel less than grand sometimes. I have a whole team of people I
My daughter is getting her college degree in acting in New York City, and it fills me with endless delight to hear about her curriculum.“How was school today?”“It was great! We went to the Central Park Zoo.”“The zoo? Why?”“To pick out an animal.”“To pick out
I guess the point is that, even now, a million years later, books are my Orient Express, my journey into the Sultan’s Palace, my feet slipped into the upturned toes of a genie’s slippers, and my three wishes involve more books, the kind that feel like catching magic by the tail and making it into a kite, the kind that change minds and nourish souls, and of course, living, passionately, wildly, softly, and always always always, living “by heart.”
“You must move through the world in a way that enchants you!”
“The only people that interest me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue center light pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’”…
Which might explain my eclectic group of eccentric friends and why I was drawn into the theater and circus life, the type of life who attracts people who choose a life of freedom over a life of fancy cars and big houses…
As we checked out, we did a little Game of Thrones photo shoot in the empty rooms we walked through. Mind you, my kids are too young to watch it, so it was just me living my Mother of Dragons fantasy because I so resonate with the character: I feel like I’ve spent a long night in a fire, burning with grief and love and heartbreak, and now as the fire simmers down, I emerge, not burnt and weak, but stronger, braver, with my arms full of fierce baby dragons.
Today, without knowing why, I found myself driving to the cello store, then hiking around my backyard forest with it in my arms. I sat down on an ancient rock and moved the bow across the strings until it finally started to fill the air with its sumptuous sensual tones. I wanted to play it by the fire and by the waterfall. I wanted to play for my pink flowers, dripping ferns, and fairy rocks. This time the cello didn’t make me weep, it made me laugh in delight and skip back down the hill.
