“I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry. . . Through all that time I thought I was making up time.  It turns out I was throwing it away.”  (Buchanan, 2007, p. 45, emphasis added) Yesterday I was in a hurry, buzzed.  Reclining on the plum-colored couch at…

30 – DAY GRATITUDE PARTY A dare to shift our perspective from striving and evaluating to living thanks.  It will be 30 days of: Little Challenges Encouraging Snippets and Gratitude Rock Stars Evi Acting like a Pirate. . . um yeah that’s happening. Read along at eviwusk.com each day or subscribe via e-mail at the…

May the song of my life be a harmony neededSung through these hands and feet whittling spacean Echo. . .Beauty, sneaky yet yelling.Truth, shining not explicit.Creativity.  Vive!  Zest.Confetti thrown courageous,And then a deep breath.Hugs for tears, just slow enough–to pull up bootstraps, reboot, and throw out holy socksas we set out to sing again.Crescendos prompted…

If you asked me who is the person who has irritated me the most in my life, I would have to answer. . . my sister.  But, if you also asked me who is the person I’ve learned the most from (in spite of having my doctorate), I would also have to say . .…

What would you do if I sang out of tune, Would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song And I’ll try not to sing out of key. Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends. It’s hard not to sing the…

I sense that I am dying, from I know not what. I read stories of young women dead at 23 in hiking accidents, in life accidents, blasted away quietly in crazy-making ironies. I see yellow baloon Facebook posts for a two-year-old taken from her mother a year ago in her sleep, silently and violently. I…

I’m not sure it was the boldness of the elderly man’s words in the grocery store entrance, or the hysterical tantrum my toddler daughter was throwing that left me paralyzed, unsure of what to say. “Oh, come on mean mama,” he said, while cupping my elbow, “make that little girl laugh.” Make her laugh?  Hah!…

Bluegrass.  I recently learned about the 80% rule.  It’s a challenge to people who struggle with trying to achieve too much (ahem, me), to welcome some screw-ups 20% of the time.  A hard concept to accept, but a useful one. I’ve been learning the value of that 20%.  It’s not just to lower your standard…

Popping a huge zit. Peeling wallpaper and getting a really huge piece. Clearing my e-mail in-box so that the amount of e-mails actually fits on my screen. Yes, these are all things that give me a great amount of satisfaction.  Something about clicking “delete” on that last e-mail leaves me feeling powerful and a little…

Grateful. . . for golden sunshine casting lamp shadows on the wall above tiny baby boy squeaking and hiccuping.  He’s kicked his left leg out of his pajamas where the snap broke yesterday, a day that moved smiles through little muddy garden helpers and impromptu kitchen dance parties.  This bubble-blowing, pulled-both-ways, tired-and-crazy maternity leave with…