The Art of Being Human

          I read aloud to my fourth graders every afternoon to wrap up the day. This month we are reading Into the Land of the Unicorn by Bruce Coville. Cara is a young heroine who takes a literal leap of faith and lands in Luster, home of the Unicorns. Early in the story she gets into a fight for her life with a snarky creature who wants the amulet she has been entrusted with.   When she wakes up she is being healed by a unicorn who tells her that she has one wound that is harder to heal, a spiritual wound. The reason I read Into the Land of the Unicorn is for the lessons in moral courage and choice.  I’ve read that book dozens of times, but I have never noticed that particular line before today.   “You have a spiritual wound that is much harder to heal.”   Without thinking I asked, “What is a spiritual wound?” I didn't expect very much from the question. They were only fourth graders after all, average, squirmy ready for the day t...

 Several chapters ago in a long life of stories I took forever and a heart ache to end a bad relationship, mainly because the sex was so good. When I did call it quits my friends were generous with their support and their advice. Number one on their list of things to do, other than stop dating drummers, was to love myself.  I thought it was an empty feel good platitude that didn’t really mean anything; mainly because I didn’t know what it meant. I’m older now. It’s taken me that time and a few more stories to understand what it means to love your self.  It’s not what I thought. It doesn't involve 3 D cell batteries for one thing, although that may help keep you away from the odd drummer who comes calling. It also doesn't involve shoes, even though any woman worth her weight in mascara knows that you can’t go wrong with the right pair of shoes. No, loving yourself is different than self gratification, however that looks to you. Self love is one of the healthiest t...

He didn't notice me at all. He was too young for that, a tow headed baby boy tucked securely inside a bright green sling carried by his mother, his blue eyes filled with joy at the world passing by.  Delight and exhaustion, that happy mixture known only to young mothers and foolish lovers was etched across his mother’s face.  Walking along side them was a woman my age that was stunningly beautiful in a way that Madison Ave. and Hollywood have yet to recognize.  Dressed simply in jeans and a tee-shirt, her eyes full of love and a tender smile her only make up. One hand was on the small of the mother’s back and the other caressed the tow headed infant’s head in the universal symbol of cherish and protect. We smiled in recognition although we had never met and crossed the street going in opposite directions. I grinned all the way home, delighted with the blessing I had witnessed. I let the goodness of that moment fill me up until I was like a cup running over.  ...

    He was recently single with a wouldn't die dream of the man he wanted to be when he was seventeen.  With money to burn and time on his hands he went out and bought all the trappings of the life he thought he wanted and never got to have.  It went down hill after that.  I guess he didn't know that a hat does not make you a cowboy.  His carefully cultivated life that shouted “Here’s who I am”  ended up being a mile wide and half an inch deep, nothing he could sustain or wanted to when it was all said and done.  The sad part is that he is so busy telling the world who he wants to be that we never get to see who he really is. And neither does he. Then there’s Rachel. Rachel is a seven year old wildish way child who knows who she is because her mother lets her Be.  Not too long ago she dressed herself in purple shorts, an eighties headband, added a school award  and two paper leis for good measure then struck a pose tha...

I have a long history of failure with maps. An orienteering course while I was in college comes to mind. I successfully convinced four experienced members of my team that I knew where I was when I didn't.  They had to send a truck for us.  I don't know why they listened to me anyway because I almost never knew where I was going and got lost more often than I didn't.  Another time I was leading a paddling trip on The Chattooga River,  I came out of the woods with my canoe on my shoulder a very long way from where I should have been.  These stories, and there are more, don’t surprise anyone who knows me.  It’s not unusual for the person I’m meeting somewhere to call and without a hello, or howdy do ask, “How lost are you?”  Recently, I found myself in uncharted territory, a new and completely unexpected beginning, and I wanted a map. I wanted someone to say, “Over here, not there, go right, not left.”  I wanted a label for my unknown destinat...

Mention the word adventure and you might think of whitewater rafting, travel to exotic lands, or para sailing over the Mediterranean.   I've done all those things and more. I've taken a moonlight walk in Bali, and had a picnic in  Paris . I talked to an old woman in  Morocco  about the meaning of life and played with kindergartners in  China . My life has had no shortage of adventures. I’ll let you in on a little secret though, life is an adventure all by it's self when you have the right attitude, no passport required. Some of my favorite adventures have happened right here in my hometown, living my every day life. The key to adventure, or just plain fun for that matter, is your attitude. Having a sense of wonder and delight in the world around you, a willingness to be curious and do something new is what makes something fun. It doesn't matter where you are.When I lived overseas I was always surprised and saddened at the number of people who never...

I say a little prayer whenever I see a certain kind of little girl. I'm talking about the little girl who is being completely herself rather it’s wearing a pair of red cowboy boots and a pink tutu or strutting around her room singing at the top of her lungs; Nashville here she comes. You probably know a little girl like her, or maybe you used to be like her yourself. The world can be hard place  for a free spirit, wild child who has the audacity to sing her own song or chart her own course in the world.  While she is young we smile and applaud her cheeky sass. Then slowly, but surely she gets the message that it’s best to be a little less. A little less brash, a little less bold, a little less of herself because she makes people uncomfortable. It takes a strong spirit for a girl to withstand the onslaught of well meaning advice that would tame her wildish ways and make her less than her best. It’s not any easier being a free spirit, wild child as a woman either. ...