by Catherine Matthews | Jul 27, 2024
All of this made me think about how I am spending my time. I got caught on the phrase: spending time. If you think about it, spend is technically correct but indistinct. It doesn’t really say anything about value . . . The value of time is not like that of money. You can’t bank time, make more, or spend it later. Time is marching on. Whether with intention or not, we are going to spend it. How we spend it matters.
by Catherine Matthews | Jul 14, 2024
Years ago, I knew a talented young woman full of joy and promise. She was an artist. As I had primarily studied the sciences, I didn’t always understand her. We both had creative, flexible minds but her thought path was like a fast-growing vine covering a skyscraper....
by Catherine Matthews | Jun 5, 2024
It was 1989 and, looking back, my parachute was crimson. The ink on my Bachelor of Science degree in Biology had been dry a year and my teaching certificate had just arrived in the mail (the extra-postage-required, this-could-take-a-month kind of mail). I thought it...
by Catherine Matthews | Mar 13, 2024
As I do every morning, I got in my Jeep yesterday, buckled up, and drove off. I was maybe a block from the house when the seatbelt alarm went off. I jammed the tab in with no effect. I unbuckled and re-buckled. Nothing. And then I looked in the passenger seat where my...
by Catherine Matthews | Jan 18, 2024
Join me in acting like a big baby: Take a step toward what you want.
Even when it is scary, do it anyway.
Embrace yet.
Let go of the fear of appearing awkward or foolish.
Accept the crooked line as the perfect path for you.
Learn from falling down.
Use what you have and reach out for support.
Celebrate every moment—big and small—toward your goal.
by Catherine Matthews | Nov 11, 2023
She was a collector.
For hours on end, she would scour old barns with half-blind widows
who didn’t need a computer to know where she put that compote with the hobstar base
or dusty store fronts converted from grocery stores no one needed anymore…
by Catherine Matthews | Oct 22, 2023
This was not the plan. I had a plan. If you know me personally, you know it was a solid plan. Spreadsheets were made. Gantt charts catalogued the aggressive but manageable timelines of key activities and their dependencies in an intentional array of colors. Resources...
by Catherine Matthews | Aug 2, 2023
In the 1970s, my father owned an Army surplus oilskin tent. In my three-foot-tall memory, it slept ten people. I didn’t even know hotels were an option until I was in high school. Growing up in Washington State, I spent many rainy nights—and more than a few rainy...
by Catherine Matthews | Jun 3, 2023
Does this ever happen to you? It happens to me. Every. Single. Time. I’m working on my latest story or making a colorful graph depicting my predicted end date based on my ambitious daily word goals (also a work of fiction, by the way). In the corner of the...
by Catherine Matthews | May 13, 2023
What follows is an abbreviated version of a text exchange that transpired this morning—after the reality that my kid is all grown up and moving across the country in three months hit me right in the forehead, and I spent a sleepless night thinking about all the things...
