personal essays

morning
Honestly, I haven’t always loved the morning. My body and mind seem to move in half-time, fumbling for order with garbled words and hair and breath. And I don’t like fumbling. But these years of
a new year. a new blog.
Happy New Year and welcome to Cloistered Away‘s new space–the best way to begin 2014! First, thank you to Corina and Theodore for their impeccable design and site work and for their promptness and great
farewell 2013
In 2013, I slept in a tepee; climbed trees; listened to a million jokes rehearsed from joke books; dangled my feet from the Grand Canyon; learned how to persevere with joy; began a photo collaboration
merry christmas.
I can’t believe Christmas is only a few sleeps away already. I’ll be taking a break from this space to enjoy the holiday season with our family and some long overdue rest. As we do
words with you
My life doesn’t naturally provide space for stillness, physically, mentally, or spiritually. It’s strange to think of stillness as a discipline, but as a young mother, it is. In stillness (without my phone or computer),
working hands: a reminder to rejoice
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. {ecclesiastes 3} My sister reminded me of these words the other day as we shelled a bucket of pecans around
the last of fall
To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, An eternity in an hour. {william blake} ——————————————————— I’m thankful for
happy thanksgiving
Sometimes it is easy to look at other people’s pictures or lives and feel that I am somehow missing out. That I don’t have enough. Sometimes things don’t go as I plan, even when I
relief
I’m in the kitchen and can hear the tears. I follow their sounds and find Olive crumpled at the feet of the stairs, folded into her arms sobbing. I sit down beside her knowing these