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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Saving my life: Morning Prayers edition.

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking at Morning Prayers, the brief service held every weekday at Harvard’s Memorial Church, across the Square from where I work. I’ve been a sporadic attendee at Morning Prayers for a while, a more regular one this year, slipping into a pew to soak up the choral music […]

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Saving my life: bleak midwinter edition.

If you’re a regular reader, you know that I periodically turn back to the question of what is saving my life now. (I got it from Barbara Brown Taylor’s luminous memoir Leaving Church.) Even pausing to think about the question – or jot down list in my journal at the end of a long day […]

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Saving my life: spasmodic tricks of radiance edition.

Somehow, we’ve landed in mid-December, which is proving both twinkly and hectic, as per usual. Here’s what’s saving my life, as we move through the last stretch of quasi-normal days before the Christmas break: The Sylvia Plath poem from which this post takes its title. “O Come O Come Emmanuel” (the Civil Wars version), on […]

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Saving my life: hectic fall edition.

This fall, as I mentioned recently, has been more than a little hectic. Lots of demands at work and at home, plus two wonderful trips – one to NYC and one to Texas for a college reunion – have left me feeling frazzled. I’ve done some highly cathartic venting to a few friends, but one […]

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Saving my life: late summer edition.

Did I mention that we moved, earlier this month? And that I started a new job, not long ago? And that, perhaps, all these transitions at once (along with the usual responsibilities of daily life) might have been a wee bit stressful? Well. In case I didn’t, I’m mentioning it now. August has been a […]

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Saving my life this spring.

Every once in a while, I find it helpful to make a list of what is saving my life – from the small daily things to the big, soul-affirming stuff. As we make our way through April, here’s what’s saving my life these days: Daily chitchat with the folks at Darwin’s, who provide spicy chai, […]

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Saving my life: winter 2016 edition.

I feel like winter is all I’m talking about here lately. (Well, winter and books. Because I’m always talking about books.) I forget, every year, how winter takes over my life. It affects my commute, my diet (everything warm and spicy, please), my wardrobe (what goes with fleece-lined tights)?, my mental state. And although we […]

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Saving my life: December edition.

I say this every year: I love December. It’s the one month when I don’t mind a chill in the air, because it feels so very Christmassy. (Though this week has been astonishingly mild.) I love the sensation of hurrying along a busy city street, under twinkling lights, wrapped in my favorite green coat and […]

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