We were meeting a man I met online in the basement of a church – oh, and we were to bring knives. Clearly parenting skills at their finest.

What’s all this fuss about the home during the holidays? If you ask me, it is just one more “thing” on my very long to-do list.

A good friend let me in on a secret the other day.

It is only natural to have high expectations and hopes for our children; we all want them to be successful. But it is important that we never lose sight of those feelings we experienced at their birth - a wonder and love of being.

Although I am sad to wave so long to the season of flip flops and sundresses, this year I welcome September with open arms, because I can. Because sometime this past summer, I found an appreciation for the predictable, and a gratitude for the present.

Those perfect pictures of gorgeous people doing amazing things tell only a part of a story. And seeing only the highlights, only the most flattering pictures, can leave us all feeling less-than and unworthy.

It makes sense that the pandemic has negatively affected our level of happiness, but there was a problem long before the virus. There is a happiness crisis in our culture, and cause for the growing concern.

Today, I had one of those awkward moments made more awkward by the protocols of the last year. I was saying hello to a friend, and I hesitated – do I go in for a hug?

Our language is jam-packed with clichés and idioms that we use without giving them much thought at all. But maybe we shouldn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater; maybe clichés are a bit of a double-edged sword? Perhaps sometimes a cliché is just the ticket to get our point across. And while we search for novel ways to replace a cliché, we are really just pointlessly attempting to reinvent the wheel.

In celebration of Mother’s Day, may I present the toast I gave to my mom, Mary Lynch, on the occasion of her 80th birthday.

Statistics give us important information and allow us to make informed decisions, but they lack a certain element of humanity; they neglect the stories and the faces behind the figures.

I was older when I learned that I could actually tip over and then right myself, and that by avoiding the possibility of capsizing and maybe even sinking, I was actually depriving myself of a lot.

These days I try to keep one foot in the here, appreciating this experience, but my other one is dancing quickly towards the future.

A friend told me the other day that February is like a speed bump, without it we would all race as fast as we could right into spring. But in fact, it’s worth slowing down so that we can truly enjoy February.

To find inspiration we must first believe in it. We must see that even in a world fraught with disease and discourse, there are stories - some every day, and some found on the world stage - that collectively give us hope and personally transform us.

We all need a good pilgrimage. It doesn’t need to be far or exotic, religious or too time consuming, just the chance to feel restored, refreshed.