John Muir disparages both the language for and the activity of hiking. He said that we should speak of sauntering through the mountains instead of hiking them. The word he preferred, of French origin, means “to the holy land” and those who went on pilgrimages to the Holy Land in the middle ages became known … Continue reading What’s with the name?
Blog feedback requested
Good morning!! I have spent some time this morning working on my coddiwompling blog site. I have reformatted some things on the site itself. In addition, I'm trying out some new (to me) features like creating this post through an email. If that works, I will be absolutely thrilled!! It will make life so much … Continue reading Blog feedback requested
Easter Vigil
Grief Cyclic grief Grief that is not but must be You vex me You hold me here You hold me down What is your name?? You wane my hope You make it weak You cause me to doubt what I know what I know could be This is the day for you to show But … Continue reading Easter Vigil
What we do with fear
Are you afraid? Take off your shoes… Today is one of those days, isn't it? A day that, if you were old enough to remember, you have a story to tell. For many of us, it's not a personal story of loss. It's a collective story of grief, just told from our individual perspective. I … Continue reading What we do with fear
The Creation of a 3 (Or – Coming Out, pt. 2)
“You should have known that.” Those are the words that have resounded in my head since age 11. There were other words coming to me at that time, of course. Words that told me I was good and kind, smart and capable, needed and wanted. But those words are the ones I could not … Continue reading The Creation of a 3 (Or – Coming Out, pt. 2)
Turning off the light…
Every time I go on Facebook, I "see" my mom. Her little silhouette profile pic with her name and that little green light on the right side of my screen, blinding me while I type. She never added a profile pic to her account. Didn't know how. And I was never home long enough to … Continue reading Turning off the light…
Math
In the first grade, I consistently scored 100's on those 1-minute math drills for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I racked up a lot of gold stars. In the 5th grade, I did a research paper on Darwin. Darwin! I don't remember if I picked that topic or if I drew the short straw on … Continue reading Math
Privilege
“You do know you're better off than most, right? RIGHT???” The second, repeated question came because I didn’t answer the first one. I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant by this. It was my follow-up with my Mayo doctor (an MS specialist) and we had barely started our telemedicine visit when he made this query. … Continue reading Privilege
Coming out…a little bit
I belong to a group called the MS Gym. At the time of this writing, there are 22,467 members in this group – all diagnosed with MS or one of several other illnesses that cause neurological damage and effect mobility. All of them use the exercises designed by the founder of the MS Gym, Trevor … Continue reading Coming out…a little bit
Uncovered
It's not about the papers...
Do you talk to your “self”?
The title of this post is largely rhetorical. Everyone talks to themselves, although on occasion we can convince ourselves that really we’re talking with other people...they just aren’t in the room. We’re replaying the argument we had with our friend last week and trying to figure out where it got derailed. Or we're planning how … Continue reading Do you talk to your “self”?
Let’s Get Physical!!
Staying upright, 2010 In the early 1950s, Murray Bowen shook up the world of psychiatry by theorizing that you couldn’t treat an individual in therapy without exploring that individual’s relationships with the other members of their family. After all, that group of individuals were emotionally connected and what one member did naturally effected the rest. … Continue reading Let’s Get Physical!!
Grounded
I was 18 years old the first time I heard the word "grounded" used in an instructive instead of a punitive way. A professor said, "Don't ever touch the computer unless your grounded…" It wasn’t my first electronics class but it was the first time I had ever worked on the insides of a desktop … Continue reading Grounded
Altered perspective
“The trees are different here.” I said this the other day as we rode along a main highway. I had noticed an abundance of red as the trees went by us. Or rather as we went by them. Green denotes spring. Red comes with the fall. As we learn in kindergarten, Green means go. Red … Continue reading Altered perspective
Coddiwompling Toward Home 