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Value (noun): the monetary worth of something. Something intrinsically valuable or desirable: human values. (verb): to consider or rate highly. I value your opinion. We made it through another week without school: a couple of days with mini-camp, for which I’m grateful; a few days with little or no help, piecing together activities. Most daysContinue reading “Of Value”

Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter. If your mind isn’t crowded with unnecessary things, this is the best season of your life. -Wu-Men Mid-February and it’s good to come back to one of my favorite poems. It has been a mild winter and theContinue reading “the best season”

V turns 19 today, Sunday, February 9th. A birthday is a wonderful thing to celebrate . What could be better than appreciating the anniversary of someone’s time being alive and among us? Especially when you’re younger or older, birthdays get a lot of attention. In the middle somehow we focus more on the ones endingContinue reading “birth day/week/years…on staying present”

V Is having some small (but for him huge) success with job sampling. He’s started doing some woodworking; helping out in the school office; working one day at the horse farm where he used to do therapeutic riding; and as of this week, a morning with maintenance staff at a hotel. He’s also continuing withContinue reading “We work. And eat cookies (recipe included).”

Everybody passionately seeks to be well-adjusted. But there are some things in our world to which men of good will must be maladjusted.-Martin Luther King Jr That could have been written today (although I’d substitute “people” for men – lots of maladjusted women out here too) rather than in 1963 as part of a sermonContinue reading “On Not Quitting”

If you know someone moving into a new home, expanding rather than downsizing, and you have the means and interest in getting a substantial gift may I recommend a chair? That is the what my Great Aunt Anne offered when I left my 14th Street studio for the apartment with a view of the boroughContinue reading “Annie’s Chair”

Saturday morning I get up earlier than I’d like – though my body craves sleep my mind longs for peace and quiet, those fleeting moments when no one else is awake. I hear V stir and check in on him. He’s still sleeping but clearly was up during the night. I canvas the room, feelingContinue reading “Spiraling Up”

Wabi: the beauty of humble simplicity, and sabi, the passing of time and subsequent deterioration: everything grows and decays. In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi (侘寂) is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. Originating in Taoism in China before being passed onto Zen Buddhism, its current meaning embraces impermanence and melancholy.Continue reading “A Wabi Sabi Christmas”

I’m starting out with an old favorite – hard to believe it’s been 10 years since I wrote and lived this. I think it gives a good overview of some of the challenges we face, and how easily we underestimate those who are different from us. Much has changed: we’re all older, obviously. The grrrrlsContinue reading “a different kind of genius (12/24/09!)”

Hi I’m J, also known as Joan. I’ve sporadically posted writing on Grace and Dirt, my blog, for the past decade. I chose the name of the blog to address my ongoing effort to cultivate grace and acceptance through a life that is messy and chaotic. I have two kids and the younger one hasContinue reading “About Me”