My 6-year-old daughter mentioned that her uncle (my brother) told her about someone who could hold his breath underwater for 22 minutes. Thinking her young sense of time must be off, I checked in with my brother. Turns out she was right – 22 minutes. Breathing is an autonomic system function. We don’t have to … More Breathe, Just Breathe
My kids have been watching a lot of Superman at my house. I’m talking about the 1978 movie with Christopher Reeve, Magot Kidder and Gene Hackman. I love it because it brings me back to when I was 9-years-old and saw it the first time. Back when they did all the credits at the beginning … More The Superhero In Us All
“Enjoy this time, it goes so fast” is the single most repeated piece of parenting advice that I’ve heard since having kids. Since I chose to become a single mom at an older age than my friends, having my kids at age 46 and 50, I hear it from my peers not just the older … More A Piece of Advice
I was talking with some friends the other day about the movie Free Solo. One of my friends breezily remarked that Alex Honnold was crazy for climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, a nearly 3,000 foot ascent without ropes, anchors or any other protective gear. Before I watched the movie, I would have agreed. … More Scaling the Walls of Our Dreams
I recently bought my 6-year-old daughter day of the week socks. When I wrote a post on my personal blog about the system she spent an hour making to store them in a labeled shoe box, I loved the education I got in the comments. We spend a lot of time dreaming up systems to … More A Systematic Approach
We have a family story that has always fascinated me. When I was in my 20’s, my dad’s mom, Nana, told me the story of my dad’s first two years and how she prayed for his life. Following his birth, my dad contracted dysentery at the hospital and was sickly for two years, eventually resulting … More Talking with a Higher Power
This last weekend, I was out listening to live music for the first time in two years and suddenly the people, the place and the context overran me with a sublime feeling of community. I was with my brother and his wife and because the lead singer of the blue grass group we were listening … More Community
Shortly after I returned from Everest Base Camp in 2001, I went with my dad to hear Beck Weathers speak. Anyone that has read Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air or any of the other books about the 1996 disaster on Everest, is probably familiar with his story. Here’s my abridged version: Beck was a … More The Power of Stories
A few months ago, my daughter and her best friend were doing an art project at my dining room table. My 6-year-old daughter announced that she didn’t like the color brown. And her best friend took offense at that because she is brown. I identify as heterosexual, white female. I am so unambiguous about that … More The Gift of Empathy
At a meditation retreat I attended a few years ago, the leader off-handedly told a story about a moment when she was doing a large group meditation practice with the renowned meditation teacher Jack Kornfield. The six of us sitting around laughed politely at her description of 500 people doing a slow walking meditation practice … More The Best Kept Secrets are Boring
My kids and I are in quarantine. Hearing about this, a friend left a bag with flowers, soup, mac ‘n cheese, herbal tea, chocolate bars and most importantly, a project for each child on the porch. She didn’t ask what we needed because I would have said “nothing. We are fine. But receiving her offering … More Acts of Kindness
I was listening to a vigorous debate the other day about New Year Resolutions – should you do them? Is it useful and effective? And while I come down on the side of not doing resolutions, mostly because it seems like a hard starting line to do it in the middle of winter when the … More The Practice
The other day my 6-year-old daughter asked me “What is a hero?” As I stumbled through the words to describe someone who is admirable and inspires us to be better, I wondered if the idea of having heroes resonates as much in our world. Sometimes it feels like we know too much about our public … More Holding Out for a Hero
Recently I found myself in the position of carrying my 2-year-old on my shoulders while I dragged my 6-year-old along in a sled. We were hurrying back through the falling snow and the howling wind to the car after our foray into the first snow of the season turned the corner into too cold. My … More The Rest Step
Hello PO family! How are you all doing? Long time, no see! I had to take an unexpected and long break from writing but I plan to be more regular from now on. Hopefully, we will continue meeting on most Sundays. There was a lot going on in my life, hence the break. But I … More Can you slow down?
Billy Osogo I ponder endlessly on writing. As an art, there’s so much to it that even those we look up to as its masters seem to be just scratching the surface. I recently came across an excerpt by Kenyan writer Bivanyanga Wainana. In his book, One Day I Will Write About this Place he … More WRITING SPRINGS
Take this moment. Just for you. Your body. Your mind. Your purpose. Breathe it in. Then let it out. You are beautiful. . . . SnapDragon is a writer, artist, and donut enthusiast. Follow Snippets of SnapDragon for all kinds of goodness, yo.
More or less every week for the past year I’ve put 3 random thoughts together, along with a couple of quotes and other bits and pieces, in a post called 3-2-1 Mindset Mondays. Anyway, below is a highlight reel of those thoughts. I started with 150 and kept cutting it down till I got bored. … More 88 Pointless Thoughts About Life
Proposed by SnapDragon X. What is your favorite childhood memory? One of my favorite memories is going on Family Vacation each summer, to the glorious Wildwood, New Jersey. We stayed in a motel just a block from the beach, right at the beginning (end?) of the boardwalk. Flip-flop sounds on pavement. Salt Water Taffy. SPF … More Question of the Day: No. 526
Hi everyone! Let’s talk about emotions today. I want to talk about them in a pure observational way. No trying to understand, no whys. The main questions I am curious about is whether there is a dominant feeling in your life and whether there are specific emotions associated with specific times of the day. Starting … More Emotions