I just came in from mowing my lawn, and pulling up a mess of matted, withered, crunchy and dry flower stalks in the beds. It's almost fall, and though it hasn't turned cold and STAYED cold yet, everything is in the process of turning crunchy and withered. I could have let those splayed out viny… Continue reading Let’s Talk About Death, Baby… wait, should we? Shhh!
Author: aliveawakeuncomfortable
Through unlined eyes…
Some time over the course of this summer, my daily guilty pleasure eye-liner habit slipped into an every other day thing. And then a few-times-a-week thing. Until summer break drew to a close, and over a week went by with nary an eyeliner application.Was it having the kids home, and less time for myself? Nah.… Continue reading Through unlined eyes…
An Inadvertent Pause
Summer vacation somehow turned into a vacation from blogging at Alive-Awake-Uncomfortable. I know I'm not alone in this schedule, but... And it's not that there haven't been ideas and perspectives and experiences to share! As a mom of four who struggles to juggle it all, and sometimes truly struggles to prioritize, blogging and writing fell… Continue reading An Inadvertent Pause
Attachment, abandonment, and being a pastor’s spouse in the time of Covid
There's a lot swimming around in my brain right now, and for some reason it kind of came to a head last night as I tried to drift off to sleep. Isn't that always the way? For those of you who don't know me personally, I'm married to a Lutheran (ELCA) pastor. He serves a… Continue reading Attachment, abandonment, and being a pastor’s spouse in the time of Covid
We should be uncomfortable with this
I am feeling my blog title acutely, in the wake of ANOTHER mass school shooting. Alive: Well, in a country with a gun obsession that claims to be more about "my rights!" than worshiping guns, I made it another day in the USA without being gunned down in a supermarket, church, school, public park, or… Continue reading We should be uncomfortable with this
From the comfort of our own couch…
We've hit that (perhaps inevitable?) milestone in this pandemic. Or maybe it's a milestone in our marriage? I mean, we entered the exhausted end-of-day post-kid-bedtime-mindlessly-watch-TV-and-chill mode several kids ago (not to be confused with "Netflix and Chill"; we're too old for that nonsense). 😆 But we are suddenly finding ourselves watching some of Netflix's recent… Continue reading From the comfort of our own couch…
A Tearful Admission
I know it's hard. You may feel overwhelmed. Or attacked. Unfairly accused. Frustrated. Threatened. And tears may come to your eyes. They may spill over and leak down your cheeks. That is okay. Crying is okay, and is not a signal of weakness. (Not that there's a problem with weakness, either. Strength looks different from… Continue reading A Tearful Admission
The Myth of Ready
As a young girl scout in the mid-1980s, our motto was drilled into us: "Be Prepared." On my honor, I will try... That mindset has always been an ideal for me, and has - in my better moments - shaped me to always have a snack or extra tampon in my purse, a stick of… Continue reading The Myth of Ready
Do I believe my own message?
Confessions of an Overthinker: I'm not sure I believe my own message enough to wear the shirt. Ok, so yeah, I bought it and I'm going to wear the shirt. It's soft, gorgeous, the best kind of warm in wintertime, and... most of me believes the message it is (and I am) sharing. (And for… Continue reading Do I believe my own message?
When Avoidance Ties You up in Knots
We all have things we avoid, or resist, in hopes that if we just ignore the issue for long enough that... it might just go away. Big things or small things. We just seem hardwired from a young age to avoid the hard and uncomfortable things that would work out much better if they were… Continue reading When Avoidance Ties You up in Knots
alive. awake. uncomfortable. 