Suzy’s doctor was hoarse this morning. He apologized, explaining it wasn’t a medical issue—just “sports related.” We were a little puzzled at first, but when we asked again, he confessed he’d spent the weekend watching his favorite team lose to Texas. I told him he finally knew what it was like to be a Razorback…
Distractions
I was finally set to write the piece I’ve wanted to address for a long time: the conflict between a game I love—football—and everything that troubles me about it, particularly CTE. People ask me about it constantly, but finding the right words has been a slow, heavy process. Anyway, the weekend arrived, the desk was…
We’ve Got To Get Better
Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to get better. — Flannery O’Connor No matter how well our team played on Saturday, our football coach would sit us down on Sunday, look around the room, and tell us we had to get “better.” Except, carried by a deep Georgia drawl, the word sounded more like…
Once Upon A Time
Once upon a time, there was a little boy who lived in a house full of mirrors, yet he had never truly seen his own face. When he brushed his teeth in the morning, he kept his head tilted down toward the running tap. When he combed his hair, he tracked the movement of the…
Enough
Last Sunday, Maria Popova wrote in The Marginalian about Wendell Berry and the concept of “enough,” quoting Emily Dickinson: “Enough is so vast a sweetness, I suppose it never occurs, only pathetic counterfeits.” Just a day later, the phrase resurfaced in a book I was reading: “More was never enough.” That was my cue. It…