I want to talk about the paralytic wake of failure, those moments right after we've been dealt a blow. Failure is most bitter when we expect greatness. If I were to run a marathon tomorrow, I'd fail, but it wouldn't be a blow because I expect a body that sputters through a 5K to have …
Category: Personal Journey
What You Give to Get “Amazing”
Gabe. 10 years old. He’s amazing. That’s how the pain and hardship begin, when someone besides mom utters the seemingly innocuous words: You’re amazing. My amazing boy practices swimming with kids a minimum of three years his senior. When he was with kids his age, swimming practice started at 10AM. But his amazing asserted itself, and …
The Downside of Being God, A Soldier, A Car Salesman
Raise your hand if you want to be honored today, Memorial Day. I don't want to be honored because I don't want to be dead yet. Neither did the ones we honor. Most didn't intend to die, either when they signed on or in the moment. Most hoped they could serve their country, come home, …
Continue reading The Downside of Being God, A Soldier, A Car Salesman
Incidentally You Have a Brain Tumor and Your Van Won’t Start
I'm not whining, for the record, I'm recording. Those violins are entirely coincidental. Ever have an experience that was so thoroughly insane that you wondered whether God-in-heaven had just bragged about you to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, X?" March, 2014. I had pneumonia. Not walking pneumonia, mind you. Although I walked from the …
Continue reading Incidentally You Have a Brain Tumor and Your Van Won’t Start
Carpe Diem. They’ll Never Notice the Pillow Cases.
San Juan, 20 years ago. I wore a white sundress with yellow daisies and felt like Ponce de Leon. We posed for pictures on the crumbling ramparts of stone castles and swaggered along narrow cobblestone streets watching artists birth exotic paintings using only coffee cans and spray paint. My hair was half braided into cornrows …
Continue reading Carpe Diem. They’ll Never Notice the Pillow Cases.
Via Non Facta: Everest
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood... To understand humility as more than a theoretical concept, to be dethroned, struggle in a wilderness, to cry out for God's strong arm, to not feel like the beautiful one, the popular one, to …
Timothy McVeigh & I Agree on One Thing
My favorite poem was basically written by the one-legged pirate, Long John Silver. What's worse, my favorite poem was also the favorite of Timothy McVeigh, infamous building-bomber-baby-killer, who went so far as to quote it just before leaving this world by lethal injection in June, 2001. I remember thinking that McVeigh was about to meet …
Low Budget Cards: A Valentine Tradition
Every year as long as I can remember, Bob has made Valentine's cards. Using only crayons and a pen, he creates these hilarious, memorable, unique expressions of his love. His cards are one-of-a-kind works of art that make us laugh or cry or both. He calls them "Low Budget Cards," and he even has …
Your Attention, Please.
Villain, Victim, Victor: the three ways I can see myself in my quest for attention. As a victim I get consolation; as a villain, condemnation; and as a victor, congratulations. Which of those strokes I predominantly seek will dig ruts for the wheels of my life. Admittedly, this idea came to me when I was …
The Gift of a Thought
I woke up this morning and felt like staying in bed, where I could cuddle with that bit of holiday angst that took up residence in the pit of my stomach. Confession: under my covers is the safest place even at 42 years old. I worried about getting the sickness that's going around and all the …
KL Griffiths 