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- Meditation on adult fears
In graduate school, at the first meeting of an American poetry seminar that turned out to be wonderfully heavy on Emily Dickinson, the professor asked us to introduce ourselves by going around the...
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How to work a cocktail party like a tutor
Last night Jimmy and I went to what’s called a drinks party and, to our relief, enjoyed ourselves. I realized later, after several good conversations, that what makes me an effective tutor can help me...
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Smashing pumpkin
Never mind Angry Birds. What about Hungry Squirrels? This morning this pumpkin was intact and perched safely on the porch banister. today 12.14.2010 ~2:30p @Jane's house Hungry Squirrels is an...
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Seven lessons from a middle-aged beginner
There is beginner’s mind, and then there is beginner’s body. * Around the time I turned 40, I got this idea that I wanted to become a good skater by the time I turned 50. The impulse hit me when I was...
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A hard and bitter seed
heather, brought down by winter The first few fragments here have been knocking at the door of my attention. So I wrote them down, and then I followed one sentence with the next, the next, the next,...
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Flimsy, flimsy ego
rubber band heart, found by Grace on table, June 9 The ego can only bear so much. On Sunday — skates tied, blood sugar checked (low), juice box drunk, and gloves on — I stood for a few minutes at the...
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The pitfalls of self-selection
soldiers affixed to wall, MIT's Infinite Corridor, 12.14.2011 This morning I went to the free lessons provided to members of the MIT Figure Skating Club, which I joined this year. The teaching is...
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Return of the sunflower folly, with modifications
homemade seed marker In the spring of 2009, I planted a sunflower folly in half of the front yard: link. It was a dramatic success. For me, it had been an experiment as well as a therapeutic act after...
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Well-made path to nowhere
We’ve lived in our house since June 1999. In the backyard, under a huge Japanese maple, is a dry, packed-dirt patch that has defied the planting of grass and flowers. Because it’s a long and narrow...
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Imagine a point in the future when you will look back at this moment
There is this notion of “anticipatory regret” that is supposed to make you avoid doing something bad by anticipating or imagining the negative consequences of the action. You know, you won’t lie if...
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Jane’s junk: keep or torch?
Even the neatest among us have loose ends stashed somewhere. A second closet full of clothes. An attic full of old furniture and toys. Paint cans in the basement. Old parts and garden tools in the...
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Creativity, power, and compliance
The writing of this post, though not the content, was inspired by this link, on writer’s block, anxiety, and writing itself as the therapy: It may be that learning to do creative work of any kind—not...
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First grief, then work
One could also rewrite that with verbs: First grieve, then work. I woke up at 5:45am, my body still not adjusted after the daylight savings time change. I went to sleep late, only intellectually...
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