THE JOURNAL
Ideas for feeling more at home in your life.
Thoughtful explorations of home, wellbeing, food and the ordinary things that shape how we live—grounded in curiosity, useful research and real life.
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Latest from the Journal
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The Pleasure of a Day That Doesn’t Need to Become Anything
Some days don’t need to make us healthier, wiser or more productive. A reflection on movies, bookstores, undefended time and the pleasure of enjoying…
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The Little Things That Make a Life Feel Like Yours
The routines that make a life feel like ours are rarely remarkable. Hot cocoa. An open curtain. A made bed. Two Yorkies reporting to…
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The Things We Learn Over Dinner
George ate a mushroom on our first date. Years later, I learned he hates them. A story about Italian food, marriage and the ordinary…
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Mindfulness Is Simpler Than You Think
I can give an antique cabinet my undivided attention and lose my breath within seconds. Maybe mindfulness isn’t about perfect focus after all. Maybe…
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I Love It. But Does It Belong Here?
I go into antique stores with measurements, a tape measure and a plan. None of these protects me from squirrels. A story about collecting…
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Enough to Know
Sometimes belonging comes from people who know only one small corner of our lives. A story about two beloved dogs, a veterinary office and…
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The Garden We Weren’t Going to Plant
We weren’t going to plant a garden this year. Then spring came, George bought plants, and apparently that was the end of that. A…
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When Life Is Too Much: What Is Still Yours to Choose
There was water under the basement floor, one dog was throwing up, the other pooped in the pet store and I was late for…
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My Meatball Recipe Comes From a Former Mob Boss
I found my meatball recipe the way all respectable home cooks do: from a former mob boss. Somehow his grandmother’s Christmas Eve meatballs became…
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A Home Collected Over Time
A home can’t really be collected all at once. Mine has accumulated through antique stores, different states and different versions of me—and somewhere along…
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The Earth Beneath Our Feet
I talk to my plants, hug trees and prefer gardening with my bare hands. What I’m less certain about are some of the claims…
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Spirituality Without a Script
I’ve been Southern Baptist, sort of Unitarian. I’ve experienced something I can only describe as divine—and I’ve also lost my shit. Maybe spirituality doesn’t…