I’m a (New) Jersey girl by upbringing, but have lived in many different places since then. (At last count, I’ve moved 22 times!) One of the places I lived for six years is Northern California. The weather there is phenomenal, but after a year or so I began to feel out of kilter. Kind of … More Hints of hopefulness
A friend recently passed along an article on suffering that said that “suffering is a gift,” and that suffering “pushes you toward Christ.” I must confess that I couldn’t get through the rest of the article. It seemed to me to be very bad theology. I really gag on the whole idea that there is … More Making Sense of Suffering
I’m of an age (65) where looking back over my life can take a while. So many years. So many different residences (8 states) and family configurations. And so many vocations: secretary, editor, college professor, experimental psychologist, writer, pastor, spiritual director, church bureaucrat…. Did I really do all those different things? And WHY? Was I just … More “Beauty will save the world.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky
One of the reasons I make jewelry (or write songs, for that matter) is because I trust in the healing power of art. And this has never been more important than during times of stress and hardship. Blaise Pascal, a 17th-century mathematician/philosopher, wisely wrote: “In difficult times carry something beautiful in your heart.” It may … More carry something beautiful
Emily Dickinson and I share a thing about feathers, apparently. ‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers – (314) ‘Hope is the thing with feathers— That perches in the soul— And sings the tune without the words— And never stops—at all— And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard— And sore must be the storm— That … More The thing about feathers
In the first ten days following the 2016 Presidential election, the rights group Southern Poverty Law Center recorded 867 hate incidents. A vicious and bigoted Presidential campaign had unleashed an epidemic of hate crimes and hate speech. Several incidents have occurred in my own community in suburban Pittsburgh, including a young man of Indian descent who was subjected … More Safe Person Pins — emblems of compassion and courage
This is the best trick I’ve learned in years. Maybe decades. Maybe forever. You know how you use a tube of superglue once, and next time you try to use it the cap is glued shut and you end up throwing the whole thing out? Well, no more! And all you need is a … More A super tip for using superglue
Our recent vacation was wonderfully restorative, giving us the space to soak in the truth of words spoken by the late rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel: Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy. On one of our early morning beach walks John and I felt positively overwhelmed by the goodness of our … More Can we please find another word for “blessed”?
But, oh what beauty we can become when life works us over! How beautiful and fiercely strong is the person who has survived much, and still loves the world. … More Well, well, whelk: further thoughts on “shell hash”
Anyone who has worked with beads has probably experienced a dreaded “Ooops!” moment of dropping a whole lot of beads on the floor. It works best when (a) it’s not just a few beads but a whole tube, (b) the beads are teensy tiny (think: no bigger than a flea’s eyelash), and (c) you spill them onto … More When a good idea isn’t
Especially when I’m doing wire work, I’ve found it helpful to have a ruler close at hand. But they always seem to slip around when I’m trying to measure something, which is annoying. So I found this place online where you can download a printable ruler: printable rulers I printed one out on cardstock, and laminated … More Making measuring easier
You thought this would be simple, didn’t you? Rummage a couple of pliers from the tool box, maybe buy a couple of new ones, and that’s it — you’re in the jewelry making business. Then you found out those toolbox pliers weren’t precise enough for this work. And you needed more pliers with round noses and chain … More What to do with all those tools
You know how jewelry wire comes off the spool and instantly gets twisted and kinked? And they say, “Just run it through your fingers a few times to straighten it.” Well, I must have extraordinarily thin skin or something, but it will draw blood before it straightens out. I tried straightening it with nylon-coated pliers, … More A nifty gizmo for straightening wire
