Julianne Harvey

Our moods are flighty things.  They change in a breath or a whisper, with no advance warning, from happy to sad and everything in between.  I am sick right now, with a painful sore throat which I thought was strep but turned out to be just viral, and perhaps that's why I feel extra sensitive and at the mercy of my charged emotions.

I prefer to remain in charge of my mood and n...

This is my last blog post of 2012, so I thought I'd do a short review of the year, and end with an announcement about the future of my blog.  In January 2012 I decided to blog every other day instead of every day so I could focus more on the other writing projects I had on the go.  This small change helped a lot, as did William's transition into grade one in September.  Suddenly I had more time in each weekday to write, which felt ...

This week I have become aware that I am not prioritizing my tasks very well.  All of a sudden I realize that I am not spending my time the way I would like to be.  It's frustrating that I just reviewed where my time was going in mid-November and developed a workable plan to be more productive doing the writing I most wanted to be doing.

It worked for a while, and then suddenly...

We took our kids to see The Amazing Spider-Man at a drive-in put on by our town, and one line jumped out at me.  It was delivered by Sally Field, playing Spidey's aunt, and she said, "Secrets have a cost.  They aren't free.  Not now, not ever."

In AA and Alanon materials, one of the slogans is, "You are only as sick as your secrets."  This goes hand-in-hand wi...

I know that the phrase, "You are worth it" tends to bring up cheeseball references to L'Oreal products, but don't let that deter you from thinking through those four simple words.  They can change your life if you will let them.

As women, we often feel that we must be all things to all people.  We learn in our culture that women are supposed to be givers.  I'm not saying ...

The kids have been in school for two weeks now, and I am still soaking in the silence.  It is settling over me like a warm blanket.  The tears are behind me, and the sense of loss, and William has taken to grade one like a duck to water so the relief I feel is overwhelming and intense.

It's beginning to feel real.  My weekdays have a new shape and rhythm.  I am figur...

For nine and a half years, I have been at home full-time with a small child in the house.  In March 2003 I went on maternity leave with Ava, expecting to return to my Human Resources position when the year was up, never dreaming that I would decide shortly after Ava was born to stay home with her until she went to school.

William came along three years later, and during those early...

I just finished the memoir Wild by Cheryl Strayed.  I loved it.  This kind of piercingly honest rambling is what I most love to read, and deeply long to write myself. 

It's about her three months on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995 when she felt emotionally broken after her mother's death and her recent divorce.  The story is all about letting go of your exp...

I am taking more risks right now.  I'm speaking out where I used to remain silent, too afraid of what people would think, or worried that my words would be misconstrued.  I'm learning that there is a price to standing up for yourself or for someone else, and I'm reaching a point in my life where I am finally willing to pay it.

Being liked should never be our highest goal. ...

I have mixed feelings about June.  On one hand, I look so forward to the lazy days of summer with no more school backpacks, lessons and routine.  On the other side, I am mourning the quiet time I have for working when William is at kindergarten in the mornings and Ava is at school all day.  I have accomplished so much in this school year, more than any other time since Ava was born 9 years ago, and I'm not quite ready for a tw...