Everything about the giraffe’s body is built for one thing: reaching towering heights. As the world’s tallest land animal, they have an unrivaled reach. With legs that are taller than many humans — about 6 feet — to a neck that weighs over 600 pounds, the whole structure enables the giraffe to eat tasty treats unavailable to others constrained closer to earth.

Yet you don’t see other animals lamenting the fact that they can’t reach what’s easy for the giraffe to reach. The zebra or lion don’t appear to be jealous. You don’t see them being melancholy over the fact that they are height-challenged in comparison.

It seems a purely human trait to compare ourselves to others, only to find ourselves lacking in one way or another.

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Inspiration struck at the grocery store. I was heading for the checkout counter when my eye was caught by a photo on a greeting card: a darling baby with her bright, sparkling eyes peeping over the top of a bucket, above the words, “Give us dreams a size too big so that we can grow into them.”

I bought that cute card.

Dreams are never meant to be toned down to what is reasonable, comfortable, and in a size that fits you now. Dreams need to be bulky, unwieldy, a bit too big to hold, with plenty of room for a growth spurt or two.

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We celebrated my daughter’s Sweet Sixteen birthday with a weekend in New York City for just the two of us. One plan of many, squeezed into a short 48 hours, was to grab a cup of coffee and have breakfast near (instead of at) Tiffany’s. We got rained out, though. The rain poured down in buckets, pounding at our umbrellas as we waded down the street to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Around us, those that didn’t have umbrellas ran for cover. Looking at someone splashing by us, my daughter said, “Mom, do you know you get wetter running through the rain than just walking?”

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I’m looking at the moon more often these days (or should I say nights?). And it’s all because of Laura Cornell.

It was my privilege to host Laura and eight other speakers in a preview event for the upcoming Virtual Yoga Conference. During her session, Laura introduced some of the postures and the theory behind the Moon Salutations. (more…)

This morning I woke up fuzzy and with a headache. I slept well last night, but I felt hung-over. No, it wasn’t because I had overindulged at a wild party. It’s been a long time since I’ve attended anything that could be classified as “wild”. I’m fast asleep before anything remotely resembling wildness starts. The reason for this hangover was a little less spectacular. I’m cutting down on sugar.

Again. (more…)

This morning I went to add a new saying to my “favorite quotes” folder and found that the file was gone. I’ve been adding to that document for over a decade, collecting all the sayings that touched my heart, gave me inspiration, or provided a new perspective. Now the inspirational document is gone—probably accidentally erased when I was cleaning up the hard drive. It’s like a metaphor for life. Sometimes we lose inspiration. (more…)

Deadlines are a funny thing. I buckle down and get things done for a tight timeline. But when the deadline is far in the distance, I feel like I have all the time in the world to get something done. And therefore nothing gets done.

A tight deadline is like the whirling dervish syndrome right before vacation—quickly tying up loose ends, getting tasks completed that have been sitting in the inbox for some time, and responding in short, succinct sentences to looming emails. (more…)

I bought another journal today that I didn’t need. My daughter says I have a fetish for journals – and she’s probably right. I have thin and fat, large and small, colorful and plain journals stuck in all sorts of places – including by my bed, in my car, the office, kitchen and here now as I sit in our town common at the local farmer’s market. (more…)

I had no idea if teaching yoga to seniors would suit me. I thought I would be overwhelmed managing the physical limitations, or perhaps bored with a gentler practice. As it worked out, though, I absolutely love the two senior yoga classes I teach each week at the senior center. They are the highlight of my day. (more…)

I’m sitting here this morning in my favorite writing chair—a mission-style recliner with wide wooden arms that have plenty of space for my coffee. Later I’ll add the cordless phone to the other armrest for my business calls. It’s rather dangerous. I could sit here for too long. My strategy is to consume lots of fluids, forcing me to get up and take care of business when my bladder insists upon it.

I love the writing life. (more…)