About This Blog

So I began this blog several years ago, not really knowing what it would be about, but knowing that if I did not soon secure a cool domain name and that if I waited till I was ready, there would be nothing left for me. So in the spirit of my goal to began regular maintenance on a blog and this journey of self-discovery/pre-middle aged crisis I am having, I though it would be good to reexamine the name of this blog and take my cue from there.

Minerva was the Roman goddess of warriors, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, crafts, and the inventor of music. Minerva pretty much literally ruled all the things that I find myself most interested in these days. So, it therefore seems fitting that two years ago I choose the name Minerva's Atlas for my blog. I therefore declare that I shall chart my journey through all these disciplines and see where this particular atlas leads.

I've been thinking a lot about crafting lately and it seems that quilting is what I am truly drawn to, even though it scares beejeebers out of me. And it might also seem just a bit dull, and possibly involve way too much math for me to be successful. Nonetheless, I am going to keep it in mind as I move towards a place in my life where I can have creative outlets.

In This Moment

I'm thinking more about my writing these days. I'm thinking how delicious it could be to go get a MFA in writing, to to eek out a living teaching at community colleges and doing workshops while all the while coaxing my own slow writings along. I read somewhere that, "Writing is easy. You just sit down out a typewriter and open a vein." Wow, that struck me, because of course it's that easy. But...not for me. Slow to finish, but quick to start. That's me. So I try to start now. And I start with something else I've been neglecting. My spiritual practice.

Tonight I reflect on the gifts of today. I am grateful for time spent walking through the park with my mother. I am grateful to see the clear development of my new sixth grader into a "real" middle schooler. I am grateful for my partner who very thoughtfully left me a clean house to come home to. I am grateful for butternut squash and for the tiny (read: terrifyingly large) frog that was perched on top of my bedroom door tonight. And for my brother who carried the frog away from the excited puppy away to safety. These are the gifts of this day and in this moment I acknowledge them.