#independence

#independence

I left New York and moved back to Florida without a plan. My younger daughter offered me a mobile home on her property to stay in while I figured it out. I moved in and didn't move out. It felt just right. It is small and easy for me to take care of. It's the perfect size to fit the things I hold dear. I call it "The Teapot."

But even as I was hitting delete, I started to wonder what that would actually be like: being somewhere different, without anyone to please except myself, without anything to do except exactly what I wanted. Plainly, it would be amazing. So I said yes and it turned out they meant the other Zoe Williams, the one who is a doctor and used to be a Gladiator, and is incredibly fit already, and yes, in retrospect, that should have been obvious all along.

"Shoshin" means both beginner's mind and heart. It's often difficult to give up "expert" status at a later age. Comfort can keep us locked in old, unhelpful patterns.

Mabel Wells - or Memmie, to her family - lived her entire life in rural Kentucky. During the hourlong drive to her house, my younger sister and I counted cows and tried to guess which field went with what crop. Mabel was born in 1909, at a time when the Titanic was being built, World War I was still five years away,

On Aug. 15, 2003, cities from the Midwest to Manhattan restored power to tens of millions of people following the largest blackout in U.S. history.

Throughout my life, even as a child, my desire was for independence and dignity. I have always wanted to make my own choices, from what I eat and wear, and where I live, to who my friends are, and even who I vote for.

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In a sense, coloring on themselves is not all that different from using face paints or when little girls sneak into their mom's makeup.

The camp's rules limit communication to foster independence and engagement in activities, allowing children to immerse themselves in the camp experience without distractions from home.

Call it the Just Enough relationship. These are long-term, committed relationships - often marriages - constructed with just enough togetherness to make each partner feel loved, supported, and less alone, yet not too close that intimacy collapses into fusion.

"I know that they would've been very disappointed that we have lost our way... All we need to do is manage ourselves in a better way, O'Neill said."