Author Archives: cyrein

If I were the Creator, could I have imagined a sky so blue with clouds so complex: some plump portions deeply white, some darkened and threatening rain, all in slow motion from the wind, some tiny wisps of white blown invisible into the vibrant blue? If I were the creator, could I have imagined treesContinue reading “If I Were the Creator”

Occasionally, when someone influences us, we know immediately, for example, watching someone on the news doing something spectacular, like rescuing a person from a burning building, or standing up against authority, like Malala Yousafzai. More often, we are not aware of the influence until decades later, as often happens with the influence of parents. Sometimes,Continue reading “Threads of One Person’s Influence”

I’m not writing about ‘fighting’ as in physically fighting, as that’s not actually something I’ve ever done. However, there is a fight that happens when something in you rebels against what the world expects of you, something that is different from the seed of you which is growing, stretching towards what it must become. Here’sContinue reading “What Have I Fought For?”

These horrendous shootings injure each of us like stabs in our hearts. It is senseless to imagine whether it is a worse experience for someone who has young children or older or none at all. Any needless death hurts each of us who witnesses it, even indirectly, through any form of media. I speak asContinue reading “Acts of Love”

Well, I wasn’t actually punched in the stomach, but it certainly felt like it, leaving me surprised, hurt, with the wind knocked out of me. It had been two months since their trial, my four friends and fellow activists. Their sentencing took place last Friday, delayed for multiple logistical reasons. Dozens of us showed upContinue reading “Punched in the Stomach”

(Please read Part I first.) The Camino: From Boston on September 23, 2017, six weeks before my 71st birthday, we flew American Airlines flight 8640 to Madrid, then took a train to Sarria, our chosen starting point. There was a little awkwardness between us, as we each anticipated the beginning of our pilgrimage the nextContinue reading “Walking the Camino, Part II”

Among the many stories of those who have walked the Camino de Santiago, that path in Spain that pilgrims have walked since the Middle Ages, is my own. Much of my story is shared by many and not so unusual; however, there is one particular occurrence in mine that I believe to be quite unusualContinue reading “Walking the Camino, Part I”

These two words have so much in common — four letters i, g, h, and t — and yet, so little, really. My life right now feels like a see-saw between both and must be examined. I believe that many others are also experiencing this in their lives, as well, because of the influence ofContinue reading “Weight and Light”

This picture was taken with a real camera, not a phone, probably twenty-five years ago. I think it was in Turkey, though possibly Croatia, where we visited three years later. It’s my husband, Paul, and I having lunch at an outside cafe while on vacation. Incidentally, visiting Croatia was also an ‘accident,’ unplanned until visitingContinue reading “An Accidental Picture”