For You, When You Can’t See the Silver Lining: A Tale of Serenades, Special Needs, and the Best Surprise of All
Of all the surprises that my birthday held, the one I least expected was a stranger's serenade. Naturally, this requires an explanation. The week before my birthday, I'd dropped off my well-loved boots at a local shoe-repair shop to be re-soled. These boots have been my go-to footwear for two and a half years, ever since I acquired them during a freezing-cold vacation for which I was ill-prepared. (19 degrees in Alabama? When does that happen?) So, when the soles of the boots opened into holes, I determined that my friend Roberto would be the one to rescue them. Roberto...
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Welcome S-O-S (And A Free Ebook Link)
Welcome to the special Tuesday edition of A Wish Come Clear! I'm pleased to welcome guests from the "S-O-S for Parents" blog. What's S-O-S? "S-O-S for Parents is dedicated to supporting parents who have children with "invisible" special needs such as ADHD/ADD, autism, Aspergers, anxiety, sensory processing disorder, social skills deficits, play skills deficits, mental illness, and more." A Wish Come Clear is featured today in their 'Best of the Best' roundup, under 'Siblings.' Thank you, Danette, for this opportunity! Guests from S-O-S, I encourage you to look at posts in a category of your choosing. Also, subscriptions are most welcome....
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Seeing The Beauty In What Remains
There's an incredible poem I'd like to share with you tonight: Monet Refuses the Operation, by Lisel Mueller. It's about everything one can see when 'normal' sight is taken away; it's about seeing the beauty in what remains, rather than mourning what we have lost. As such, it's my favorite poem about physical disability. It also reminds me of a question I was asked at Vassar, by English professor Kiese Laymon: why do you write? It took our Composition class 2 one-hour sessions to answer it (we each had a turn to speak personally, and to respond to other people's...
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A Very Clear Idea (Loving My Brother, Part 1)
Hello everyone, First, thank you—I’ve been overjoyed by the response to ‘A Wish Come Clear’ so far. Next, I’d like to share good news with you—a post I wrote about minimalism and life at L’Arche is going to be featured in Francine Jay’s Miss Minimalist! The post won’t run until April 4 (I’ll post a link at that time.) Meanwhile, check out her site and look forward to reading about how minimalism and L’Arche meet and marry 🙂 I’m looking forward to crafting a contribution to Amy Julia Becker’s blog Thin Places as well (in the guest column, 'Perfectly Human'),...
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