Hello again! I'm not sure when it happened, but I realized this week that we are nearly to the end of May! It's definitely a reminder of how a summer that sounds endless in June, seems like it was barely the length of a long exhale come August. Every year, we enter the season with a long list of hopes for the months ahead. And then somehow, the days blur together. The weather gets overwhelming. Schedules pile up. Energy runs low. That experience -- one I've faced more than once -- is really...
13 days ago • 1 min read
Read My Substack Blog Visit My Fourthwall Shop Are you awake early today? Me too. It's Sunday, but my dog doesn't know about days of the week. Fortunately, neither do the birds. So at least when I let him out this spring morning just before 7 a.m., I was treated to the dawn chorus. The robins start singing first, but by this time, the cardinals, white-throated sparrows and chickadees had joined in too. If you'd like to learn more about the chorus and to wake gently today, I hope you'll take...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Read My Substack Blog Visit My Fourthwall Shop Hello, I am writing a little earlier this week because I just can't wait: Welcome, Spring!To all who live in the Northern Hemisphere, we made it! (At least officially. I know how sometimes the calendar likes to play tricks on us. )To celebrate the beginning of the season, I am proud to share the next edition of "Returning." This issue is about tending to what matters and includes a few ideas for reflecting at the start of a new season, enjoying a...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Read My Substack Blog Visit My Fourthwall Shop Hello, friends! Back in January, I thought this time might never come. But thankfully, our mornings are increasingly filled with birdsong, and especially with today's "spring forward" (at least here in my home state of Ohio), we will be able to enjoy a bit more of the sun's warmth each day. This time of year, I start to feel better after the low energy of winter, when I struggle with so little sunlight and too much time indoors. In the past few...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Read My Substack Blog Visit My Fourthwall Shop Hello, The other day, a strong memory from my past took me by surprise. Reflecting on the cold of winter, I was reminded of the little robin Richard, a character from one of my favorite childhood bedtime stories, "The First Robin" by Robert Kraus.In the story, Richard wants to be "the first robin" of spring, and in his enthusiasm, he races out too early and catches a bad cold. Lately, I've been feeling a lot like that little robin. A couple of...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Read My Substack Blog Visit My Fourthwall Shop As 2025 came to a close, I found myself returning to a phrase that had guided me through the year: Less Noise, More Green.It had been a good guide for me, but I knew I was not yet finished. My world was still entirely too noisy. I refined my phrasing a bit, and this year, my phrase is "Less Noise, More Life." In other words, I am releasing noise to return to life. One part of my effort has been to start my day differently. Namely, I am no longer...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Read My Substack Blog Visit My Fourthwall Shop Hello, If you joined me for the Mindful Moments Advent calendar, I hope those small moments helped create a little reprieve during a hectic season. As the busyness of the holiday begins to wind down, I have been feeling the weight of another approaching date: January 1. But rather than getting caught up in loud messages about "goal getting" and "crushing resolutions" this year, I have decided to choose a much lighter approach.And I want to share...
5 months ago • 1 min read