saving my life: just enough edition.

It has been (yet) another stretch of challenge and change here – though the new job is making a little more sense these days. And despite some heartening headlines from last week’s election (more women, more diversity, higher voter turnout), it’s been (another) hellishly hard week or two to be in the world. That’s how […]

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saving my life: Back Bay edition.

I’m into the eighth week at my new job, and I get asked all the time: How is it? Are you settling in? Do you like it? The answers to all these questions are mostly positive, but alongside them is another truth: adjusting to a new neighborhood has been hard. My first job in the […]

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saving my life: one puzzle piece at a time edition.

Jen posted recently on Instagram that some seasons feel like this: being knocked to the ground and having all your pieces scattered, like a puzzle. When this happens, the pieces often will not come together again in the same way. You can know this, and still not have any idea what the new picture will […]

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Saving my life: almost-too-small-to-mention edition.

March blew in like a lion with two wild, wet nor’easters back to back, and no lack of responsibilities at work and at home. As I navigate these blustery days, here’s a handful of tiny things, like bits of glitter, that are saving my life now: That first sip of Darwin’s chai in the morning, […]

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Saving my life: midwinter edition.

Regular readers know that I periodically turn back to the question of what’s saving my life now. I got it from Barbara Brown Taylor, and I always find answering it a helpful exercise, especially in the winter. My friend Anne agrees. And today, at the halfway point of winter, she’s gathering all of us to […]

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Saving my life: honest grace edition.

December has arrived – suddenly, it seems. My neighbors are putting up twinkle lights, and the church sanctuary is full of pine garland, poinsettias and cyclamen. We began Advent on Sunday with the aching melody of “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” and I’m slowly setting out the Christmas decorations and turning back to the words […]

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Saving my life: cold and jet lag edition.

I’ve been back from Oxford for a week, and have been fighting serious jet lag, a wicked head/chest cold and an overflowing email inbox (more than 200 messages while I was away!). Despite the coughing and the catch-up, though, the weather is pure October glory, and I thought it was about time for another list […]

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Saving my life: cusp of fall edition.

“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp and golden as an apple.” —J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows September is here and so is fall, suddenly: classes have started, events are ramping up, and the mornings feel crisp and cool. The light in Cambridge […]

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Saving my life: it’s finally summer edition.

Summer has (finally) arrived – hot and bright, and fuller than I had expected, at least so far. It’s the slow season at work, since classes are out for the summer, but there’s plenty to catch up on, and meanwhile I am squeezing in time with my people whenever I can. Here’s what’s saving my […]

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Saving my life: fitful spring edition.

This spring weather, y’all. I don’t even know. We’ve had temperature swings worthy of my native West Texas: 80s and humid, 40s and raining, nearly every point in between. Swift-moving clouds, flashes of sunshine, sudden downpours and so much misty rain. In some ways, the weather is reflecting the state of my soul: fitful, unsettled, […]

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