I began to miss her before she was ever gone. In my early twenties, I stood on a hand-built, wooden bridge one hot and humid summer night in rural Georgia, cheeks seared by salt-filled tears, drunkenly swapping sad dog stories and contemplating my owns aging—contemplating the elephant in the room toward which each of her … More My Old Friend
“I’ll tell you a secret,” she said, “No one is prepared.” In about a week, I’d be biking 150 miles as part of the Johns Hopkins Ride to Conquer Cancer to honor the life of my grandmother who had passed away from esophageal cancer three years prior. I’d had grand plans of fully training for … More Why I Rode: In Suffering, There is Joy
Cancer is a word I’ve known for a long time. I’ve heard the word used in the context of medical research. I’ve heard it uttered when it has come to affect family or friends or colleagues, or those of my family, friends, and colleagues. I’ve heard it spoken at many fundraising events, looking to find … More Why I Ride: Doing My Grandma’s Life Justice
While I was kayaking through Everglades National Park this past March, I had some time to reflect on the beautiful love and deep importance of both our own mothers and our shared Mother Earth. I had the chance to write some of these reflections for Misadventures Magazine just in time to wish my mom and … More In Gratitude to Our Mothers and Our Mother Earth
As I’ve tumbled madly into love with the wilderness, I’ve found it concurrently driving my want to do more writing. Back in November, I cofounded a women’s outdoor group called Wild Wilderness Women, and this winter we took a weekend trip out to rural Maryland to do some cross-country skiing. The experience tied together many … More What Makes Us Wild: Cofounding a Women’s Wilderness Group
“I’m really an artist,” he stated, “I’m just getting my PhD in developmental economics on the side.” Over a year ago, I was on a date with a man I could best describe as “that guy who has one too many of his shirt buttons undone,” as he made this declaration to me. At the … More We’re Not Impostors
When I was little, I remember being in my first big earthquake. We were living in a small rental house on the northern California coast. I crawled along the floor still lost in my own imagination as everything shook, working the movement into my own internal script of the current adventure I was off on. … More Aftershock
(For the first chapter of this journey, read “History and the Call to Adventure.” For the second chapter, see “Crossing the Threshold and Riding with Jesus.” For the third chapter, see “The Land of Adventure and an Introduction to Totems.” For the fourth chapter, see “Death, Rebirth, and Honoring the Ancestors.”) Days earlier, my dad … More The Chevy and Me, A Hero’s Journey: The Final Chapter
(For the first chapter of this journey, read “History and the Call to Adventure.” For the second chapter, see “Crossing the Threshold and Riding with Jesus.” For the third chapter, see “The Land of Adventure and an Introduction to Totems.”) The original plan had been to do the final 12-hour haul from my brother’s house … More The Chevy and Me, A Hero’s Journey: Death, Rebirth, and Honoring the Ancestors
(For the first chapter of this journey, read “History and the Call to Adventure.” For the second chapter, see “Crossing the Threshold and Riding with Jesus.”) I awoke in Albuquerque to a grand realization. It was arguably one of the most meaningful moments of the trip (though there were plenty of these superlatives along the … More The Chevy and Me, A Hero’s Journey: The Land of Adventure and an Introduction to Totems
ROUGH OUTLINES 