A Fine Little Line

Who knew a whole twenty minute walk down the river in the same city could put you in a new universe? Moving less than two miles away from my old place has taken me out of my comfort zone. In the last two weeks I have had to rely on things that I can’t control and people who can sometimes be unreliable. I’ve had to organise myself in the middle of the chaos, establish a new routine, get acquainted with a new yoga studio, familiarise myself with how the new grocery store is organized. The most … [Read more...]

A Need to Know

A question has been holding me hostage for some time now. It follows me down the street, trails behind me down the river, folds itself into my yoga practice. Every time I come close to an answer I’m left unsatisfied; I still wander around it. Maybe it’s a joint effort and I haunt it as much as it haunts me. My question is: How do we do something that we don’t know how to do? The answer, cleverly embedded into the question is, we just do it. Yes, I say to myself stuck at my desk … [Read more...]

Tiny Resurrections

When the sunlight shows itself in London, wise people get out and enjoy it; one never knows when it'll return. I've caught on quickly, only after regretfully missing precious rays, destined to wait out the rain who knows how long before having the opportunity again. I try not to limit my outings only to the light, but I tend to forge ahead despite the weather, exploring the many paths along the Thames, near my place. Past Hammersmith Bridge, past the rowing clubs that dot the river as often … [Read more...]

So Someone Called Me a Narcissist

My name is Regina Tingle and I write memoir. According to a recent statement by a fiction writer who will remain unnamed, this makes me an “attention-seeking narcissist.” Fine. I’ll step up to that. In fact, I’ll indulge my narcissistic self by sharing a story from my own experience. I don’t find it coincidental that the first time I recall writing with intent was the first time I experienced heartache. I was fifteen when I first found the power in taking a pen to paper. Sitting alone … [Read more...]

This Is New York

Walking through Times Square the other day, I happened upon a gaggle of people huddled together, smiling, looking up, holding their smart phones up to snap a photo. They looked so perfectly poised, like a flashmob awaiting their cue. I turned to see what they were looking at and saw they were looking at themselves projected onto a gigantic jumbotron screen which, if you stand in the right place, in front of and underneath it, you can see your face in supersized proportions. If this doesn’t sum … [Read more...]

Making Love Last

"We're not looking for perfection in our partner but a mutual exploration of imperfections." --David Whyte A dear friend of mine recently wrote me and confided with me how hard it is to be married. Like many of us, I’ve been there and I wanted her to know she’s not alone. I also wanted her to know that in order to make the changes she needs to make so that life can get better, she doesn’t have to end her marriage. With her permission, I have shared my response to her. … [Read more...]

Power Flow

Two unexpected things happened in my yoga practice yesterday. The first unexpected thing happened toward the beginning of power flow yoga. I'd just started to sweat and was concentrating on everything the instructor was saying as though my life depended on it. There's no stopping, just flowing; plank, high push up, chaturanga, up dog and finally, at the end of each sequence we rest in downward dog. That's where I am, sweating, panting, breathing in my downward facing dog. The instructor … [Read more...]

Forever

When I arrive, I knock. My grandmother is surprised to see me when she opens the door. "Whale, Ree-gee-nuh," she clucks, "I thought you were comin' next week. Not this week." Two calendars hang on opposite walls. One is still stuck on August but the other one is flipped to the October page. My name is written then scratched out this week, circled for next week. I fix the August page and make it October. Above that calendar is where the clock hangs. A gift from my dad, it governs this … [Read more...]

Tuscany – No Filter

One thing I didn't expect as an organizer / facilitator of a retreat was to actually also simultaneously be participating by writing and reading. The courage of this group, their willingness to be vulnerable and write bravely turned out to be an enormous inspiration. We not only wrote together but we read, listened, laughed, cried, ate, drank, did yoga, chanted, danced, hiked up the hillsides, through villages at dusk, bought leather boots, climbed towers, made our way through the dark … [Read more...]

Save the Letters

Back in the days when I lived in Oklahoma City, when every Friday on the bus ride home from Wiley Post Elementary School I would pour through the Weekly Reader Mrs. Hensley passed out and meticulously circle each book I longed to order, back in the days when I received Highlights Magazine and National Geographic's World, back when I would pretend to be sleeping but really staying up to watch M.A.S.H., back in the days when I was slowly torturing my beloved hermit crab by neglecting to fill its … [Read more...]