Maison Tranquille

  I have noticed something about myself, and once I saw it clearly, I could not unsee it. I have a tendency to over-consume…and under-commit. Not in a dramatic way.  Not in ways that anyone else would necessarily notice , but in the everyday patterns of life.  I will read, and save, and listen, and gather.  I will make plans and adjustments and improvements.  I will begin again, often with the very best intentions.  And yet, somehow, I do not always stay with things long enough for them to become part of me. I have done this with food.  With routines.  With ideas.  With learning.  Even with things I deeply believe in. I will find a beautiful way of eating and think, this is it!  I will gather recipes, make lists, imagine how it will feel to live this way.  And for a few days, sometimes even a few weeks, I do.  But then something shifts.  I begin looking again.  Tweaking.  Adding.  Replacing.  Impro...

A very common stress response to political or social conflict, especially when it comes from family, is a physical reaction, such as the stomach feeling like a claw has grabbed hold.  The” claw in the stomach” feeling is your fight-flight nervous system activating.  Biologically your brain is detecting a social threat.  The amygdala signals stress.  Adrenaline and cortisol rise. And blood shifts away from digestion to stomach tightness, nausea, or that gripping sensation.  It’s the same system that evolved to protect us from danger, but now it is reacting to emotional and relational threats. If you value community, family relationships, and thoughtful civic life, your body may react strongly when posts feel like a threat to those values.   When you see something like that try to understand that this is political performance on the internet.  It is not my family or friend relationship.  This separation can help your nervous system stand down. ...

  A few years ago, I was curious about devices that claimed to read the body through frequencies. I had one sitting right on my table.  Next to a glass of something nourishing and a bowl of fresh fruit.  It felt like I was doing everything I could to take care of myself. Exploring new ideas.  Staying open. Trying to learn. I believe curiosity is a good thing.  And I also appreciate something else just as much.  Discernment. We are living in a time where there is more information about health than ever before.  Some of it is grounded in careful research and measurable results.  Some of it is emerging and still being studied.  And some of it sounds convincing, but does not hold up when you look a little closer. Ideas about frequencies, energy scans, and quick ways to identify everything happening in the body can sound appealing.  Especially when they promise simple answers. But science, at least for now, works a little differently. Reliabl...

  The other morning I woke up with a strange taste in my mouth. It had been happening for a couple of weeks, and it made me curious about what might be going on. I had recently started eating a little more protein. I had read that people over seventy may benefit from a bit more protein to help maintain muscle. That small change sent me down one of my favorite paths. Curiosity. As I started reading and asking questions, I learned something fascinating about the gut microbiome. Scientists are discovering that people who age well often have very diverse gut bacteria. One large research effort, the American Gut Project, found that people who eat about thirty different plant foods in a week tend to have healthier and more diverse gut microbes. Thirty sounds like a lot at first. Then I realized it adds up quickly. Spinach in a smoothie. Garlic and onions in soup. Tomatoes in a salad. Beans, berries, herbs, nuts, potatoes, cabbage. Even the little things like cinnamon or parsley count. It...

  The name changed in February. The address stayed the same. For those of you who have been here a while, you already know the story. For those who are newer, the short version is simply this: I changed, and eventually the name had to follow. So here we are. A little quieter. A little more settled. Still curious. March feels like the right month to begin again. Not January with its pressure and its promises, but March, when the light is actually changing and the year starts to feel real. One morning recently I sat down and asked a very specific question. Not of a guru, not of a protocol, not of the particular certainty that drove me to Australia years ago. I asked Claude, the AI, what the science actually says about the healthiest way to eat for people in their seventies and eighties who intend to keep going. The answer was plant heavy, not vegetarian. Increased protein. Anti-inflammatory. Practical. So we are trying it. Four weeks of meals built on evidence rather than enthusiasm,...

Lately I have been thinking about what makes a life feel steady. There are times in life when you begin paying more attention to what is shaping your days. Not because anything dramatic has happened, but because you start to notice how easily your attention can be distracted and pulled in different directions. I did not set out to name my home. It happened slowly. Ordinary mornings began to feel like something worth protecting. Coffee at the same table. Music moving through the rooms while I practice flute. Books and notebooks left scattered around the house because I know I will come back to them. Family and friends showing up with friendly conversation and leaving joy behind. Somewhere along the way I began calling it Maison Tranquille. A quiet house. At first it was just a private thought. A phrase that felt comforting. A reminder that peace rarely arrives all at once. Most of the time it is built through small decisions repeated often enough to become a way of life. Many people hav...