life lessons Archives - Curiosity & Collectanea

Pottery as spiritual practice

If you follow this blog, you probably noticed that I made very few posts last year. What was I doing instead, you ask? Well, the truth is that I have become obsessed with pottery. Let me tell you about it… Preoccupied with pottery Last January when I told Craig that…

Traveling in a pandemic

November 8, 2021 a-roving life lessons

It was teatime in London, where I was attending an advanced blogging workshop. A pot of darjeeling and a slice of raspberry-almond cake were awaiting my attention, when my phone pinged with an unexpected and unwelcome message. It was from Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), alerting me that I’d been…

Silver linings

November 27, 2020 home life life lessons musings this and that

Hey there! Wherever you are, I hope this finds you safe and well (and wearing your masks!) during these challenging times. Do you also find that some version of the basic metta (lovingkindness) blessing — May you be happy. May you be well — opens most of your correspondence these…

New Mexico in winter

January 20, 2020 a-roving family matters life lessons musical notes

We landed in Albuquerque mid-afternoon on a Saturday — in fact, just before the start of the 49ers-Vikings playoff game, which was a must-see. So our first order of business after collecting our rental car was to track down a sports bar where we could watch the game. Craig and…

Life 2.0

October 10, 2019 a-roving holiday cheer life lessons this and that

Hi there! Yes, it’s been a while. It turns out that major life changes require a lot of time and focus and energy. (Surprise!) But now that things are finally settling down, it’s time for a reboot. Let me catch you up…

End-of-year reboot

December 4, 2018 life lessons smiles the eye of the beholder this and that

As you might have noticed (I hope you noticed!), I haven’t posted anything here for several weeks. There were reasons. But the longer I didn’t post, the harder it became to start up again. How could I possibly catch up? I finally decided to follow the advice I always give…

Marginalia as interpretation and liberation

August 3, 2018 a good book life lessons musings the eye of the beholder

I learned about florilegia from the Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast. This practice — “the gathering of literary flowers,” as I described it earlier — involves assembling several texts and then examining them, singly and in relationship, to see what meanings emerge. The so-called “sparklets” that you collect…

What’s making me smile this week? (#2)

July 20, 2018 a good book life lessons musical notes smiles

In light of recent world events, I feel like I’ve been grimacing rather than smiling this week. But part of the purpose of this exercise is to remind myself that there are still lots of good things in the world, even when they don’t make the front page. And in…

What’s making me smile this week?

July 13, 2018 life lessons smiles this and that

One of my favorite podcasts is Pop Culture Happy Hour. The panelists have a great rapport — I especially love witty and whip-smart Glen Weldon — and they have clever, thoughtful, insightful things to say about movies, television, books, music… in short, about pop culture. I heart this podcast very…

Georgette Heyer puts me to sleep

June 5, 2018 a good book life lessons the best tools

I’m not sure she would see this as a compliment, but in truth it is no reflection on her writing. Heyer’s novels are one of my guilty pleasures: I have listened to these audiobooks dozens of times. In fact, it’s because I know them so well that they are for me the…