by Holly Mohr I woke up grateful and eager for Lent last week. Ash Wednesday couldn’t get here fast enough. (No, this is not normal for me). I spent the early part of the week making a short but meaningful list of Lenten practices I wanted to take on (or at least attempt), in orderContinue reading “The Brood: Brooders Were Made for This Season”
Category Archives: The Brood
The Brood: Bad Brains and Great Days
It’s not the pain that bothers me so much as the helplessness. My brain is hijacked. I am disabled. The only thing to do is surrender, but surrendering means letting go. It means leaving my life and my family and my own mind for a time. I hate it.
The Brood: Footballing, or Baseballing, or Something?!
by Holly Mohr Our little brood watched the Super Bowl this year, and I’ll tell you, I was into it. Okay, not like, watching-the-actual-football, or knowing-what-was-happening-at-any-point- in-the-game “into it,” but I didn’t hate that it was on. It was lovely having something special to focus on that brought our family together. Given the radical ageContinue reading “The Brood: Footballing, or Baseballing, or Something?!”
The Brood: Just BE NORMAL
There’s a fine line, apparently, between feeling like a creative powerhouse on the cusp of her big break and a raving lunatic on the brink of going full Mrs. Rochester, and that line has something to do with my blood sugar.
The Brood: Kairos, Chronos, and Whoa, I Need Sleep
by Holly Mohr Today is an exhaustion day. It’s a day when I do what needs to be done with as much equanimity as I can muster, in part because that’s who I want to be, and in part because conflict takes hella energy, and man, today I just don’t have that to spare. It’sContinue reading “The Brood: Kairos, Chronos, and Whoa, I Need Sleep”
The Brood: The “Childishness” of the Eighty-somethings (#lifegoals)
by Holly Mohr Eighty-somethings are some of my new favorite people. Almost every time I meet someone new who is really excited about life, has a deeply wise perspective and a mischievous glint in their eyes, I learn they’re in their eighties. These eighty-year-olds I know, they write subversive theology, participate in social justice groups,Continue reading “The Brood: The “Childishness” of the Eighty-somethings (#lifegoals)”
The Brood: Magic
The moment I lit the tree, her whole demeanor changed. “Why, that makes a world of difference!” she exclaimed, her voice clear and strong, delighted for one bright moment before she disappeared into memory again.
The Brood: Happy New Year (Really)!
by Holly Mohr I’m always a little leery of wishing anyone a “Happy New Year” with too, too much excitement, as though we know this year will be better than the last one. The reigning “New Year’s narrative” encourages us to throw last year away, as quickly and thoroughly as possible, as though there isContinue reading “The Brood: Happy New Year (Really)!”
The Brood: Christmas Edition
by Holly Mohr My dad’s face showed up in my dreams, off an on, a couple nights ago. He would just pop in, smiling, then pop back out. It was the earnest smile of my much younger years, the smile he had for me when I was three or four and he was getting readyContinue reading “The Brood: Christmas Edition”
The Brood: Silent Night, Restless Night
My conscious mind never stops running scenarios, trying to use this relatively peaceful time to somehow get ahead of any incoming disaster. I organize and re-organize the house. I make plans for how to earn more, to save more money. When I can’t stay on my feet a moment longer, I restlessly read the news, trying to identify where the next threat is coming from. Even my worries about sleep are part of this…I worry that when the shit goes down again (and how could it not?), I won’t have enough energy, enough focus, enough health to take care of the people I love.
Sick Pilgrim 