Sometimes I feel it before it comes. Sometimes it builds in me, like a cough does – the way you track the tickle of it up your esophagus. You brace yourself, then; you cover your mouth, you look off into the middle distance expectantly. You give the apologetic one-finger to whoever you’re talking to. It… Continue reading On Tears, Depression, and Mixing Metaphors
I mentioned recently that I’m going through a lot of change these days. I moved cities, I'm newly single, I'm navigating a new remote working situation, and perhaps most notably - I, at age 28, just moved back in with my parents. Yes, you read that correctly. And yes, I'm okay. But let's take a… Continue reading On Moving Back in with Your Parents
First, a word on change: I've been going through an awful lot of change recently. In fact, my life is different in almost every conceivable way than it was just last month. One month ago, I lived in a tiny apartment in the heart of downtown Portland with my boyfriend and dog - walking to… Continue reading On Breaking Up
The news of Tom Petty's passing hit me hard. Maybe its intensity was magnified in the wake of the Las Vegas tragedy -- our collective human suffering still a raw wound. Maybe it was because it struck me as so unexpected -- not that any death ever really is, he was 66 for crying out… Continue reading Aeronautics
In Mrs. Reynard's 2nd grade class at Hill Creek School in 1996, there was a girl named Carina Vickery. Carina had long brown hair that fell symmetrically to the middle of her back, and perfect bangs that were always trimmed on time. She was just a little taller than I was, stood just a little… Continue reading Okay Carina
The other day I was on the phone with a client, and was going over next steps for their branding project. I finished with the words, “…and then we’ll move into your website, which is the most exciting part!” The client responded teasingly, “Susie, is anything NOT the most exciting part for you? It seems… Continue reading How To Be Happy (Also “Why” …If You Need That)
I recently got back from a family reunion in Missouri, where I got to see some of my favorite people to whom I'm fortunate enough to be related. This meant reconnecting with the very small population of Planet Earth who - thanks to legally-binding Family Member Terms & Conditions - are familiar with (and occasionally… Continue reading Meet Barb, The Voice in My Head
I picture us then like trapped birds – ricocheting against the walls and each other. Biting and clawing and trying to escape, but unable to do so in the chaos. Our shouts drowned out the sounds of rain against glass, of cars below, of trains passing. All we heard was our own words echoing cruelly… Continue reading Pugna Saeculorum
Full disclosure, I was bursting at the seams with expectations for Rome - since I fell vicariously in love with it in Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Eat Pray Love. Anne Lamott says "expectations are disappointments in waiting" - but what does she know, anyway?Rome did not disappoint. It didn't even come close to disappointing, didn't even… Continue reading Days 7-9: All Roads Lead to Rome
Have you ever been somewhere so absurdly beautiful that it almost made you sad? F. Scott Fitzgerald once said "I remember riding in a taxi one afternoon between very tall buildings under a mauve and rosy sky; I began to bawl because I had everything I wanted and knew I would never be so happy… Continue reading Days 3-6: Paris, Mon Amour
