Who I am.

I write about the landscape of grief, nature, and the wisdom of fools. The author of four books, my essays, poems, and reviews have been published in over 50 journals, including in the Huffington Post and Colorado Review. I’ve won the River Teeth Nonfiction Book Award, the Chautauqua and Literal Latte’s essay prizes, and my work has been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and named a notable by Best American Essays. My account of hiking in Yosemite to deal with my wife’s death, Mountains of Light, was published by the University of Nebraska Press. http://www.markliebenow.com.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Sharing a Cup of Tea


We fill New Year’s Day with resolutions, or attempts to do so. We set up plans for self improvement, ideas for what we could do every day to make ourselves better and better until we’re perfect. Forget them.

We’re never going to be perfectly realized human beings.

Too much happens to us and our loved ones that is out of our control. As for reaching a state of complete happiness, that’s not going to happen, either. There will always be something else that we think we need. And just as we’re about to reach our goal, a stupid little health issue pops up, or our best friend moves away, or dies.

* If you would like to read the rest of this post, let me know and I’ll send it to you. *

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