My Life as a Modern Matriarch
Spiral Dynamics and the Matriarch
This is an excerpt from the book, Boots: A thousand Miles on Foot and on Life, which will be published in the fall. In the book, I’m getting ready to board a plane to Geneva, Switzerland to hike around the base of Mont Blanc. The topic of Spiral Dynamics became more meaningful for me during…
Read MoreThe Saturday Morning Woman, Hobbit-like Doorways, and Transformation
This is an excerpt from the book, Boots: A thousand Miles on Foot and on Life, which will be published in the fall. I had just completed seventeen days on the Camino, averaging seventeen miles a day, and I’m worn and unsure about continuing. I edited the excerpt after leading a workshop on transformation, the…
Read MoreWell Built Relationships are like Dry Stone Fences
This book excerpt will be published in Fall 2021 in Boots: A Thousand Miles on Foot and on Life. I’m walking from the Irish Sea to the North Sea, coast to coast. across England and just spent the night at a farmhouse in Yorkshire Dales National Park, an area known for its dry-stones fences: The…
Read MoreWhat is a Matriarch?
The simple definition of a matriarch is that she is a powerful, influential woman in a community or family. Traditionally, being a matriarch is the last stage of a woman’s life. It comes after she has completed the day-to-day work and decision-making of being a mother which has now been taken up by the next…
Read MoreFrom Mother to Matriarch: making the transition
I’m a matriarch of a large and growing family. I love them all very much. More importantly, I like them all very much. Our children and grandchildren were recently here for “Christmas in January.” Christmas in January has become a common theme in our family; it’s almost a tradition. We laugh about celebrating Christmas mid-January…
Read More10 Pointers to Be a Loving & Active Matriarch
Summer is my niece. I love her more than the SUN and the SKY. Recently, at Summer’s son’s wedding, she introduced me to the parents of the bride by saying, “This is my aunt…don’t think of a distant aunt, we are tight.” Then she held up both hands and crossed her second fingers tightly over each…
Read MoreThe Value of Solitude
This morning I took myself to breakfast. I love doing things by myself. When I eat out alone, it it feels a bit like closet eating. It’s an indulgence that I’m learning to deserve. I used to think when I saw a woman alone at a restaurant that they must be lonely. Now, I’m on…
Read More