On My Mind: Clarity and Complexity

March 21, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

After about 6 weeks of no sugar, my mind is becoming clearer. I have less anxiety and have been surprisingly free of the ups and downs of my normal depressive state. It shouldn’t be surprising since I know my depression is a boomerang to my anxiety. Get too anxious for too long, and my hormonal […]

A Winding Path of Improvement: Nutrition

March 13, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

I have good days and bad days. A great month is followed by a nutritional disaster. I rave about my success getting off sugar and then plummet into despair over yet another lapse in my good eating habits. I have learned that eating healthy is not a straight-line journey. It’s a twisting, turning path that […]

I Am Always Breathing

March 12, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

I find myself in a place of contentment at the moment. I haven’t won the lottery or fallen in love, but my life seems to be manageable and complete. Work is clicking along. I’m volunteering for roles in some organizations of interest. My eating and exercise is on track, so my sleep is good. My […]

The Light of Intuition

March 10, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

A friend of mine has been trying to get pregnant. She’s been trying to get pregnant for a long time. I saw her a week or so ago at an event, and as I walked up to her, a small voice whispered “she’s pregnant”. I was pretty sure it wasn’t my brain concocting that. Just […]

My Shrinking World at Midlife

March 6, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Luke Perry. Mona from “Who’s the Boss?” (Katherine Helmond). Albert Finney. George Bush. My younger cousin Fredrika. A co-worker at Whirlpool. My friend Jen posted on Twitter: When I started Midlife Moments, this blog was about my past. It was a bold act to attempt to chronicle what I had learned in my life from […]

Sunday Night Check-In: Loving and Being Loved

March 3, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

Today is Day 16 of no sugar. My mind is clear. I have lots of energy. I’m even starting to think about cleaning up my eating even more. More to come on that should I decide to embark on a new nutritional adventure. I’m not sure why I took to the sugar-free effort so easily […]

Feeling Lost on the Trail

February 26, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

There was a moment when I was snowshoeing at Tahquanemon Falls when I thought I was lost. (The fact that I now know how to spell that amazes me.) The trail to the lower falls through a lovely pine forest was well-marked. Someone else had hiked before us. Footprints provided additional reassurance that I was […]

The Sickness in our Secrets

February 22, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

I discovered this film today. I’m not going to give a lot of commentary because it’s pretty powerful in itself. I found myself wondering what else I don’t know about our country. What secrets have our lily-white history books omitted? What else has our selective collective national memory chosen to hide? We are as sick […]

My Mind is Clear

February 20, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

Ever since the holidays, I’ve been in denial. I surface every now and then and know what I need to do, but my drug of choice has eventually dragged me down into a pit of desperation. Sometimes it’s the drip, drip, drip of subtle numbness obscuring my natural energy. At other times, I am hurtling […]

Looking for Local Food

February 17, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

When I lived in Knoxville, I often visited the local food co-op to get my groceries. I was on a budget and loved to cook. The food co-op was a small “no frills” establishment where I had to bring my own bottles and jars to take advantage of the bulk foods scattered among the aisles. […]