We all have a series of “uniforms” that we wear. As a child, I had three — one for school, one for scouts, and one for ballet. As I got older, my uniforms became less obvious. A uniform is an attempt to reconcile form and content, to match what you think you look like...

There I stood in my ill-fitting, noisy plastic cat costume that was already sticking to my skin like bare thighs to a hot car seat. The stiff molded paper mask was too big for my tiny head, preventing the giant eye holes from aligning with my eyes, causing everything...

Warning: What you are about to read is extremely personal and challenging to write and share, but I felt strongly compelled to do so. Reading this may forever change you. (But that’s a good thing.) Most scary stories are a metaphor for the problems facing society....

After a long day at work, with little sleep, the night before, my husband and I had a big decision to make before sundown. Did we want the proposed kidney bean-shaped landscape design in our front yard or not? The computer rendering provided wasn’t detailed enough to...

Most women have a signature scent, a perfume that suits their personality and body chemistry perfectly. Mine is Bvlgari pour Femme. My mom’s was L’air du Temps, and whenever I get a whiff of it, I immediately think of her. In fact, I keep a bottle of it in my bathroom...

I grew up in New Orleans, a city known for its rich and diverse culture, laid-back attitude, music-filled streets, and magnificent food. Ah…the food! Nourishment for body and soul. On a cool, rainy day, there is nothing I desire more than a big warm bowl of gumbo. For...

To the casual observer, my happy-go-lucky ninety-pound mutt is anything but subtle. He bangs on the shade, covering the back door, when he wants to go outside. He carries his metal food bowl and drops it in front of you on the hardwood floor when he’s hungry, rattling...

Stuff. Stuff. And more stuff.  My entire home has become overrun with stuff.  The kitchen and dining room tables are filled with photos and memorabilia from my father-in-law, who recently passed. Boxes upon boxes of items line the walls waiting to be organized....

Reverence or relevance? Which do you have? Which do you want? For many generations, it was common for people to work for the same company for their entire career. They would start the Monday after graduation and stay until they decided to retire at age 65 or later. At...

I’m a big movie buff. HUGE. And what I’ve learned in my 48 years of watching movies is that a great soundtrack (along with great actors and film editors) can make or break a well-scripted movie. The soundtrack sets the mood for the scene, gives you additional unspoken...

Did you know that chaos is a natural part of the creative process? What we call chaos is actually creativity in the process of birthing new ordered forms. We can see many examples of the creative process by observing nature. The cycles of birth/death,...

There is a strange concept that people mistakenly hold dear when they don’t know what to do. “I’ll figure it out eventually. I just need to power through.” Why? Did you embrace that attitude when you first learned to walk, read, ride a bike? No, of course not. It’s in...