Clues appeared early. Throughout my life I’ve been told I’m too sensitive, too needy, too talkative, too direct. I have always been sensitive to bright light, loud sounds, scratchy fabrics, the sound of people chewing or clicking pens. I’ve often struggled with sleep,...
I noticed her immediately, a pretty dark-haired woman, beautifully put together. We took turns introducing ourselves sitting in a circle of writers at Esalen for a workshop called “Writing Our Lives.” When it was her turn, she spoke of poems she was writing about her...
I’ve been a mother for 50 years. Yet I rarely read or hear anything truly honest about motherhood. Motherhood itself, not the Hallmark version. The real day-to-day slog. The unending, unpaid, under appreciated work that women do to feed, clothe, nurture, bathe, change...
“When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in.” Coined by Kristin Armstrong of the Happiness Project at UC Berkeley, this aphorism captures the power of appreciation. If you’ve ever kept a gratitude journal or...
"What's this, Mimi?" My granddaughter Francesca pointed at a glass vase of shells on my desk. "That's my shell collection," I said. Her blonde curls bounced as she nodded her head, "Oh," she said, "Can I play with them?" "If you're careful. Some are very fragile, they...
I joke that I’m a recovering Catholic, but really, Catholicism is not something you get over. From time to time, I find myself in a Catholic church, bathed in incense, surrounded by candles, flowers, and statues of the Virgin Mary. I spent many hours immersed in...
Younger people are flocking to salons begging stylists to dye their hair silver. I spent 20 years paying stylists to cover my gray with blonde highlights. Now, gray is the new blonde. Who knew? Last February I decided enough was enough. It was time to go au naturel. I...
The Oakland Woman’s March, 60,000 strong, snaked around Lake Merritt and through the streets of the city on a windswept, mostly dry, Saturday. The mood was celebratory – and defiant – following the inauguration of Donald J. Trump the day before. Pink, rose, and...
Nancy Mills loves to connect and empower women. A dynamo with seemingly boundless energy, she recently called me before breakfast to be sure that the links I'd submitted for the 2016 Spirited Woman Directory were working properly. Nancy is both a visionary and a...
In her very fine visual memoir, painter LeeAnn Brook weaves tales about creativity that go deep into her own process. Each image in the book has a story, and a history that links it to other images and to the artist's life and her previous work. The beauty of Brook's...