This Mama’s Dharma

Many times I have thought about changing the URL of this blog. I guess I was sort of ashamed of it. Plus, it was reminding me over and over of those tortured, panicked, dark, blue early postpartum months. Sami nursed nonstop, and I mean nonstop. He had three modes, and three [...]

My new parenting guru, Scott Noelle, wrote an amazing article entitled “What is Unconditionality?” in which he defines unconditionality as:
Unconditionality is a state of mind in which you are willing to allow well-being into your experience… NO MATTER WHAT
Yes! I feel like this is really the crux of what I have been writing about [...]

How I love the sound of thunder rippling through the air mixed with chimes mixed with the sound of the wind insistently shaking the trees. To be alive in this moment is truly exquisite. What a gift– just to be able to notice these sounds and this deep well-being and to write about [...]

This morning as I was brushing my teeth it occurred to me: I feel as if I have been freed from a prison of excess flesh. Now I am barer, more vulnerable, stripped down to my essence. My body moves with lightness and ease; I do not know this body yet. I [...]

This weekend I attended the “Redefining Health” seminar at the Tai Sophia Institute, the first accredited acupuncture school in the US. One of the concepts the instructors talked about was the Native American concept of “honoring the ancestors and serving the children” over seven generations. There was also a lot of talk about [...]

Today my new/old friend A reminded me of a very important article that appeared in Mothering Magazine a while back: “Finding Your Tribe.” It’s an article about two mothers who strike up a friendship in which they not only hang out, but help each other with household tasks, watch one another’s kids, and generally [...]

The other day, H brought up the possibility of moving to Cairo for a year for work. And would Sami and I like to go with him? So much to consider, so many variables. I make things very complicated in my head. It all felt like a lot to decide and [...]

…and into the next.
There is something so sacred about this new time I set aside, literally at the very end of the day, on the cusp of midnight, to write. It is a taking stock, a “daily inventory,” a framing of the day’s myriad experiences, thoughts, and emotions. It feels like holy work [...]

Sometimes I think my father died of depression. He could no longer keep the sadness at bay: like a tsunami, it overwhelmed his spirit and body and he was powerless against it. For weeks after he died last July, I focused on the physical circumstances of his death, on the passing of [...]

I am stealing the film title: Life is Beautiful. The two men in my life are asleep upstairs and I cherish these moments to write a quick entry before I join them in dreams. It’s extraordinary to feel so motivated to write. I feel my writing muscles growing stronger and more limber.
H [...]