It’s a fun project I started last year, and this year I’m looking forward to doing it again. This time focusing on writing. I write almost every day already in the quiet morning time before my husband and son wake up. I’m pulled to write. It’s not a struggle. It’s how I think and who…
WISE
Meanwhile The World Goes On
Mary Oliver, the celebrated poet, died recently on January 17, 2019. Since that day, her words have been running through my mind. She’s famous for so many essential lines, but those aren’t what has captured my imagination, wormed it’s way into my head. Instead, I’m stuck on the routine line that I’d imagine most people pass over… Meanwhile the world goes on.
Welcoming Baby George
We welcomed our son, George Romeo Alaniz, to the world and our family on October 6, 2017. He was born at 10:45 pm after almost 24 hours of labor as Bob Dylan’s voice signing, “How does it feel? To be on your own” echoed through the operating room. He weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and…
Where I’ve Been for The Past 10 Months
Remember me? It’s been a while since I’ve written here. Way too long. I’ve missed it and meant to get back online many times in the intervening months. Now it’s hard to even know where to start. So much in my life has changed, and so much is about to change. Over the last 10 months, I’ve gotten…
Daily Rituals by Mason Currey
WHEN: December 2016 & October 2015 VERDICT: The first time I read this book in October of 2015 I devoured it. I’ve come back to it again now more than a year later, and I’ve loved it just as much the second time. In between, I’d find myself thinking about some quirky habit I’d read…
Buzzing Around the House on Espresso
“Why do we bother with the rest of the day, the swale of the afternoon, the sudden dip into evening, then night with his notorious perfumes, his many-pointed stars? This is the best— throwing off the light covers, feet on the cold floor, and buzzing around the house on espresso—” A few stanzas from Morning,…
We’re Getting Married (And Soon)!
We got engaged a few months ago on a cloudless Sunday afternoon. Cesar was in cahoots with some of our good friends — the ones whose wedding we met at — and they suggested and planned a picnic to Kirby Cove. I’d never been, but it’s well known as one of the most incredible spots from which to see the Golden Gate Bridge and an expansive view of San Francisco.
Fixing Our Polarized Political Discourse
In the past, I’ve been drawn to elections and politics, democracy in action. But I’ve already had more than enough of this election cycle, and it’s just getting started. I think it’s safe to say that our political discourse is in a state of disaster, too many people shouting and not nearly enough listening or quality conversation. I have some hopeful thoughts inspired by a quote from Mr. Rogers about what each of us can do to make it better.
Eat More Ugly Fruit (+Veggies)
After watching a recent show on food waste by John Oliver, I couldn’t stop thinking about one of the most surprising problems he mentioned on the show — in his words, how “our own habits and misconceptions” contribute to food waste before it even reaches the grocery store or farmers market stand. About 26% of…
Embracing My Creative Legacy
Last summer, my Mom gave me this copy of The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. She had probably mentioned this book at least a handful of times before, but I was finally open to reading it. I can be a little stubborn, especially about what I read. As I read and worked through the twelve weeks of material, I thought a lot about the legacy of sharing this book with my mom. Her life, creatively lived, along with her love of fine art, gave me the permission to love art too, to admire artists and writers, and to begin to pursue writing myself. If she hadn’t been so committed to creativity as a way of life and largely incapable of living any other way, I may never have begun writing in any earnest or my writing might have stayed locked away in my journals. Now after decades of filling page after page, I understand that inability to live any other way, and I’m finally learning to embrace it.
