Blogging: Day 1

So here I am, blogging.  I never expected to be a blogger, but then again I wouldn’t have expected a lot of things that have been happening in my life in recent years. 

As my “about me” states, I started this blog to share new perspectives on life.  It’s been such a wild and wooly ride in the past five years, one that included tales of chronic illness, death, and addiction among loved ones.  But these years also included birth, tenure, new projects, healing, and joy in parenting.  All of these have changed me, yet made me more fully myself.  I am working on mindfulness, but can’t seem to silence the cynic in me.  It makes for an interesting set of paradoxical life views at times.  I find myself wanting to share some of the insights, humor, challenges, and sadness that are part of my mid-life process.  I crave creative outlets in general. 

I don’t anticipate a large following, but I hope that the friends and family who do read this blog (along with anyone else who stumbles upon it) get something meaningful or funny out of it, at least now and again.

I begin with pieces written from November 6-18, while I was on a research trip in Austin, TX.  The trip was a lovely period of full-time work, without distractions.  It also gave me the opportunity to miss—really, really miss—my husband, kids, and home.  I’m not sure yet if I missed the cat. 

Welcome. 

P.S. The picture is just one of my favorites.  It’s a kind of “family portrait” that was taken during a time of healing and joy after a long and challenging year.