Author: Dana Young
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Transition
This has been a painful, heart-opening couple of weeks for me and my family. My 88 year old grandmother Millie has congestive heart failure and is making a slow, steady transition from this life. She has mostly been alert, aware, communicative at times and thankfully, not in pain. The decision was made this past Wednesday…
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Wordless Wednesday: lucky laptop Buddha
This awesome toy (which I think I found in Little 5 Points, Atlanta) has kept me company at work and reminding me to be mindful for over a decade. (photo credit: Ellen Whitten)
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Journey into the heart of fear, loss and trust
Recently, my husband and I took a long weekend to the Riviera Maya for some much-needed together time away from jobs, families and daily responsibilities. Despite my desire to just sit on the beach with a drink in my hand and let the sound of the sea reset my brain to “calm”, we actually did…
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Poem: “Sun stop 8:54”
“When appearing and disappearing disappear, then this stillness is bliss.” – Mahaparinirvana-sutra At that. At now. At then. Standing still. This inclination. Time. To. Clouds hover on the horizon. A man slides low past sunflowers. It is too hot to sweat. Heat sinks. We stand. Standing . Still. Standing in…
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Just breathe slower, or, my misadventures with pulmonary disorders
It all started with a persistent hacking cough, tightness in the chest, wheezing and shortness of breath. Welcome to springtime in Atlanta. I’m not usually affected by the massive pollen bombardment, but this year it got me. After a particularly bad bout of symptoms that persisted after fitness bootcamp one night, I went to urgent care. The diagnosis was bronchitis, and…
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Offended by breast pumps in the workplace? Get over it.
The New York Times blog, Motherlode, featured a post yesterday about a nursing mother whose (female) co-worker was offended by her breast pump bag sitting out in their shared office space. With the current backlash on nursing in public, I suppose I should not be surprised by this either. I briefly commented on the blog,…
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Our children, our memory and our cars: a fatal triangle?
I may never stop weeping after reading The Washington Post’s feature, “Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?” It was published in 2009, but the heartbreaking stories of children who died as a result of an accidental moment of forgetfulness are not isolated…
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Happy Bloomsday!
“Who ever anywhere will read these written words? Signs on a white field.” Fans of James Joyce know that the incredible piece of art known as Ulysses is set in the span of one day on June 16, 1904. Joycephiles celebrate “Bloomsday” annually in Dublin (and elsewhere now) to commemorate Joyce’s life and the events…
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