I'm writing this as the rain drums against my Los Angeles windows: a sound we don't hear often enough here. There's more weather coming, they say. But instead of feeling gloomy about it, I'm actually energized. Maybe it's because I just had a breakthrough on a project that's been stuck for weeks. You know that feeling when you've been pushing and pushing against something, getting nowhere, and then suddenly: click. The pieces fall into place. It got me thinking about storms,

I'm writing this as the rain drums against my Los Angeles windows: a sound we don't hear often enough here. There's more weather coming, they say. But instead of feeling gloomy about it, I'm actually energized. Maybe it's because I just had a breakthrough on a project that's been stuck for weeks. You know that feeling when you've been pushing and pushing against something, getting nowhere, and then suddenly: click. The pieces fall into place. It got me thinking about storms,

Yesterday, my 26-year-old daughter attended a memorial service for a friend from middle school. She hadn't seen these friends in over a decade. Some had gotten married. Some had kids. And one had just died—now, heartbreakingly, forever 26. During the memorial video, someone was singing "Happy Birthday" to her friend: that familiar tune we've all heard thousands of times. When they reached the line "and many more," my daughter felt something shift. He didn't get "many more" bi

When the bills pile up, creativity often hides under them. It's a familiar weight: that moment when you're staring at your bank balance and wondering if pursuing your creative dreams is just expensive self-indulgence. The art supplies sit untouched while practical concerns demand attention. Your brilliant ideas feel frivolous when rent is due. But here's what I've discovered after years of teaching and creating: this tension isn't your enemy. It's actually where your most inn

Let's get real for a minute. I've been there, staring at bills that don't add up, wondering if I could stretch pasta and creativity far enough to feed my kids another week. We have a joke in our family that I can make an entire holiday dinner from sticks and leaves I found in the backyard. While that's an exaggeration, some weeks our pantry was like an episode of the cooking show "Chopped." "Let's see. We have pickle relish, ramen, peanut butter, and canned pineapple. What ca

Let's be honest: tough love feels impossible sometimes. You know someone needs to hear the truth, but saying it feels like you're about to become the villain in their story. You know you need boundaries, but setting them feels selfish. Here's what we've learned: the problem isn't tough love itself, it's how we approach it. Creativity changes everything. When we get creative about boundaries and honest conversations, we stop being jerks and start being genuinely helpful. We fi

This week hit me differently than usual. Maybe it's the way the light falls through my office window in October, or how I caught myself...

A few years back, my ex-husband and I started a strange tradition that I like to call Revenge Gifting. You see, he was still really mad...

A few years back, a stern warning was circulated around the internet about the chemical dihydrogen monoxide. Dihydrogen monoxide: is the...

To say I am not an athlete is an understatement. I was picked last on every team throughout school ("Awww Mrs. Barsky, do we have to have...

(What's with all the burger pix, Traci? Are you trying to trigger us?) I became a vegetarian in 2008, a year after my oldest daughter had...

Several years ago, I was going through a divorce. Even though I was the one who initiated the breakup, I was struck with this...

As you're sitting here reading this and looking at the above image, I'm betting there are a few of you who just thought, "That burger...

I was online the other day, scrolling instead of sleeping, when I came across one of those Buzzfeed articles that was titled something...

In a previous entry, we talked about the foundational skill in healing your relationship with food--The Pause. It's the space for the...

Have you ever had a really bad day? You know the kind. Your alarm doesn't go off, you bang your shin getting out of bed, the cat barfed...

We've all had it happen. You're sitting there minding your own business, when a voice inside your head says, "You know what sounds good...

Kobe Bryant wasn't successful for the reasons people think he was.

Dear Aunt Traci, It's been two days since the US presidential election. We're all hearing the news people, celebrities, and people all...

Dear Aunt Traci, I'm worried about my dad. He's 72 years old (although he would hate me telling you that), and refuses to "slow down." He...