by Kristen | May 4, 2022 | Living Fully No Matter What Happens, Resilience When Life is Hard
There is an area extending about five degrees north and south of the equator that scientists call the “itch” (for Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ) and sailors call the doldrums. In this belt, the prevailing trade winds of the northern and southern hemispheres...
by Kristen | Dec 6, 2021 | Resilience When Life is Hard
On Friday, I lost one of my most cherished possessions: a necklace my husband, Charles, had designed for me with the help of a jeweler friend from South Africa. I wore it to a doctor’s appointment, then put it in my purse while I had a scan. When I went to retrieve it...
by Kristen | Nov 29, 2021 | Resilience When Life is Hard
One of my best friends from high school is alone at home recuperating from Covid. His wife, who has severe MS, is in a recovery center trying to get better with thinly-stretched medical care. (They were both vaccinated.) Another friend’s son is waiting to see...
by Kristen | Nov 13, 2021 | Resilience When Life is Hard
Oh my gosh, I’ve been having the most blissful time cocooning. Actually, it’s been like being wrapped in a cozy blanket inside a bubble inside a cocoon. And like a little larva, I’ve been evolving inside it. I’ve been thinking deep thoughts. I’ve written thousands of...
by Kristen | Sep 12, 2021 | Resilience When Life is Hard
September 12, 2001 Inexplicably, the sun came up again this morning, as if nothing had happened. As if the world—or America, at least—hadn’t been changed forever yesterday. As if thousands of innocent people hadn’t been killed for reasons I cannot comprehend, by…who?...
by Kristen | Sep 5, 2021 | Resilience When Life is Hard
Two years ago this month, my breast cancer was advancing again. It was back in my liver and spreading through my bones. I was on my third or fourth line of estrogen-focused chemo, but it seemed clear that they were no longer working. My (former) oncologist still...