How to Get Past the Guards and Breathe Again — I’ve never been much of a gambler. A strategist, a risk-taker, yes, but the only odds I liked to play were ones I could control. My wife and I lost an unborn child last winter. Pregnancy and life itself is full of such low-frequency risks that we forget about: driving…

In these uncertain times, the most difficult trouble to navigate is how the shutdowns and restrictions will affect our kids. A little social and culinary privation is tolerable, and the missing work will ultimately be a speed bump for us. But the whiplash from the day-after-day changes is frustrating for…

Don’t lose track of education in the midst of the school-closing chaos — With schools closing this Fall, it’s easy to be frustrated about everything you are suddenly responsible for as a parent. Take heart though: Without the status quo and the daily grind dulling their sense, your child will really be paying attention to you, their first and most impactful teacher. …

Systems break down, but our children don’t need to miss out — Times are not easy, and with the elections just around the corner here in my home country, I doubt any comprehensive solution will present itself soon. …

Promposity’s April contest is about drawing hope from this gray time — With thanks to Natalie Frank, Ph.D. for the prompt and opportunity this month. Read more about it here and join in! This pandemic has dredged up the tremendous fears and put-away thoughts of death and loss I buried when my wife and daughter nearly died to toxic mold in our…

Here are the results of the last challenge: The State of being by Anna Rozwadowska, a lovely poem that blends sensation and nature with the moving of the inner soul. Saving my First Love on Valentine’s Day by Ivvie Ivanova, a humorous and gentle twist of prose about finding love…

Promposity invites you to contribute as we enter March — About a year ago I moved from the city I had called home for twenty-five years to a foreign place. A strange climate, a new community, and an alien role as the wide-eyed newcomer. …

Waking is alarming when you don’t remember falling asleep. One moment and he was back in the panic of the night, crawling out under the loose flooring his brother had pried up to sneak out and the next in pitch black. Dead? Alder heard no more screams. Was it night…

It’s hard to believe it, but the first month of 2020 is already history. As such, we’re following up our prompt about your dream writing group with one about an important day. February’s theme is Anniversaries, remembrances of important days in your life or in the lives of a few…