Wynne Leon is an optimist, an enthusiast of endurance sports and a woman intent in charting her own path. Which is a combination that has led to an unconventional life. When she was younger a life of adventure meant climbing mountains, traveling the world and being an entrepreneur. More recently, it’s been starting a family as a single parent at age 46, having another child at age 50 and adopting a highly-strung kitten, even though she really is a dog person. Her writing projects include technical computer manuals, articles about meditation and parenting, and Finding My Father’s Faith, a memoir about spirituality, solace and her relationship with her beloved father.
My 7-year-old daughter asked me the other day, “You know how I want to be a teenager?” After a pause for me to nod my head she asked, “Do teenagers want to be kids?” I explained that teenagers want to be adults. This is just the latest of her big questions: Where will I go … More Waiting for the Big Answers
As I was writing my post last week, Good Mood of the Soul, I came across the research that joy and gratitude often result in an upward spiral. The more we focus on gratitude, the easier it is to perceive joy. And when in the midst of joy, we are more open to gratitude. So … More Upward Spirals
Recently, a friend sent me a printout of a sermon that my dad, who was a Presbyterian pastor, gave on parenting 36 years ago. She had a printed copy and kept it filed away. Now that her kids are long grown, she sent it to me. In it, my dad gives a quick synopsis of … More Good Mood of the Soul
Last weekend I was sitting around with some parents and telling funny stories about our kids. One mother dramatically acted out what her 7-year-old son has recently started saying about his 5-year-old little brother anytime he perceives there to be a partial truth on the air, “Liar! He’s a liar!” We were all chuckling about … More Conditions of Truth
A few weeks ago I had plans to take my kids to a wedding in Leavenworth, WA a couple of hours away from where I live. On the day we were to leave, my stomach hurt. I chalked it up to a deli sandwich that I’d eaten the day before and loaded the kids into … More Rose Colored Glasses
Last week I was driving in my car with my almost 7-year-old daughter at 8:29am when she said “Darn, I’m always a minute late for my favorite time.” She likes palindromic times – in this case 8:28. It made me think about what I’ve been working on lately. Life feels hectic – summertime means different … More The Quality versus Quantity of Time
The other day my friend, Eric was over and started telling a story that had us all rapt, including my almost 7-year-old daughter and her friend who usually dismiss grown-up talk as boring. The story was about a summer job when he was in high school as a tennis instructor at a little neighborhood beach … More Telling a Good Story
My kids and I went to a wedding out-of-town this past weekend. At the wedding, they gave out fortune cookies. My 6-year-old daughter opened hers and read “You will find a treasure soon.” The next morning we were driving around looking for an alternative to the planned hike because it was raining. I turned in … More Cookie Cutter Faith
The other day, my 6-year-old daughter and her best friend asked me what an optical illusion is. I didn’t have the Merriam-Webster definition, “something that deceives the eye by appearing to be other than it is” at the tip of my tongue so we talked about examples of when you think you see something but … More Creating Eyes That See
On my personal blog, I wrote a post about learning to stem a strawberry with a straw. It was a hack that my young daughter taught me and even though I’m quite habituated to using a knife to core a strawberry, I attempted this new method for the fun of it. In the process, I … More The Change Exercise
My 6-year-old daughter came home from school the other day and said she had a bad day. She explained saying that a kid on the playground was comparing her. Not understanding, I asked her to say more. She relayed that he was saying, “I can do the monkey bars faster. I can go longer. I … More Comparing Our Differences
My 6-year-old daughter mentioned that her uncle (my brother) told her about someone who could hold his breath underwater for 22 minutes. Thinking her young sense of time must be off, I checked in with my brother. Turns out she was right – 22 minutes. Breathing is an autonomic system function. We don’t have to … More Breathe, Just Breathe
My kids have been watching a lot of Superman at my house. I’m talking about the 1978 movie with Christopher Reeve, Magot Kidder and Gene Hackman. I love it because it brings me back to when I was 9-years-old and saw it the first time. Back when they did all the credits at the beginning … More The Superhero In Us All
I think every one of my dad’s sermons that I’ve heard or read opened with a bit of humor or personal story. It was his way of connecting – enticing the audience to want to listen and maybe even exhale a bit so they could take something deeper in. My dad was a Presbyterian pastor … More Pointless Overlaughing
“Enjoy this time, it goes so fast” is the single most repeated piece of parenting advice that I’ve heard since having kids. Since I chose to become a single mom at an older age than my friends, having my kids at age 46 and 50, I hear it from my peers not just the older … More A Piece of Advice
I was talking with some friends the other day about the movie Free Solo. One of my friends breezily remarked that Alex Honnold was crazy for climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, a nearly 3,000 foot ascent without ropes, anchors or any other protective gear. Before I watched the movie, I would have agreed. … More Scaling the Walls of Our Dreams
I recently bought my 6-year-old daughter day of the week socks. When I wrote a post on my personal blog about the system she spent an hour making to store them in a labeled shoe box, I loved the education I got in the comments. We spend a lot of time dreaming up systems to … More A Systematic Approach
We have a family story that has always fascinated me. When I was in my 20’s, my dad’s mom, Nana, told me the story of my dad’s first two years and how she prayed for his life. Following his birth, my dad contracted dysentery at the hospital and was sickly for two years, eventually resulting … More Talking with a Higher Power
This last weekend, I was out listening to live music for the first time in two years and suddenly the people, the place and the context overran me with a sublime feeling of community. I was with my brother and his wife and because the lead singer of the blue grass group we were listening … More Community
Shortly after I returned from Everest Base Camp in 2001, I went with my dad to hear Beck Weathers speak. Anyone that has read Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air or any of the other books about the 1996 disaster on Everest, is probably familiar with his story. Here’s my abridged version: Beck was a … More The Power of Stories