Smuggling Grace

Making a Fist by Naomi Shihab

For the first time, on the road north of Tampico,
I felt the life sliding out of me,
a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear.
I was seven, I lay in the car
watching palm trees swirl a sickening pattern past the glass.
My stomach was a melon split wide inside my skin.

“How do you know if you are going to die?”
I begged my mother.
We had been traveling for days.
With strange confidence she answered,
“When you can no longer make a fist.”

Years later I smile to think of that journey,
the borders we must cross separately,
stamped with our unanswerable woes.
I who did not die, who am still living,
still lying in the backseat behind all my questions,
clenching and opening one small hand

I was interviewing an educational leader about ways to advocate for children in the classroom. While chatting about best practices for communication with teachers and administrators, she said,

“I always tell people, ‘Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.'”

I immediately thought, “Oh, I’m keeping that!” Only a few days after that interview, I’ve already had two different occasions to share that phrase and give her credit.

Has someone said something helpful that you’ve brought into your vocabulary?

— Renee Roederer

I was wearing a dress (On Brand) on a summer day. In fact, it’s my favorite one. Additionally, I was riding my bike around town (On Brand) enjoying the weather and the scenery. I pulled off onto the sidewalk so I could take a picture of a gorgeous flower (On Brand).

When I got up to go, the wrap-around-tie of my dress became untied, and once I began to pedal, it became caught in the chain of the bike. I stopped, literally tied to my bike. And then I spent some time trying to untangle this tie, and myself, from my own bike. It felt equal parts silly and frustrating, because I was having no luck with this task.

A person was walking down the street, and I asked if he could help me. A bit embarrassing, but I had a feeling he would be willing, and I thought it might be fun to give us both a story (On Brand). It took us a while but then together, it worked!

Once I was riding down the street again, I found myself thinking about how lovely it is to have help and a sense of neighborliness (On Brand) and I thought I would blog about it (On Brand).

So I did. 🙂

Has anything very On Brand happened to you lately?

— Renee Roederer

We will have many ups, downs, winding roads, and surprises during this election season. This may come in handy.

— Photos by Renee Roederer

Yep, there’s a species of fish in the eastern Atlantic that is called Boops Boops.

This means that Boops Boops Boops Boops Boops is a sentence.

— Renee Roederer

Dust Devil, by Christian Wiman

Mystical hysterical amalgam of earth and wind
and mind 

over and of
the much-loved

dust you go
through a field I know

by broken heart
for I have learned this art

of flourishing
vanishing

wherein to live
is to move

cohesion
illusion 

wild untouchable toy
called by a boy

God’s top
in a time when time stopped.

When you have a chance to complete a super long goal, it is super satisfying. After 558 days, I finished German Duolingo. I put so many hours of learning into this, and I didn’t miss a single day. This was a long streak.

And it’s going to pay off because I’m headed to German-speaking parts of Europe soon. I’m excited to put this into action.

Have you completed a long goal that you’re especially proud of? Or do you have one underway now?

— Renee Roederer

Why do I find ways to share beauty every day — both nature and stories?

Frankly, because I enjoy them, and I value the process of discovering them. And people tell me they enjoy them too.

But beyond the most obvious levels of enjoyment, I find, share, and lift up these experiences to remind us that beauty is still there in abundance. This adds resilience to us. And this stands as a reminder that there are human connections, forms of life, and a whole world worth our striving, protecting, and delighting.

— Renee Roederer