hand wash cold

care instructions for an ordinary life

It’s easy to think that meaning, fulfillment, and bliss are “out there,” somewhere outside of our daily routine. But in this playful yet profound reflection on awareness, the compelling voice of a self-described errant wife and delinquent mother reveals the happiness at the bottom of the laundry basket, the love in the kitchen sink, and the peace possible in one’s own backyard. Readers follow the author through youthful ambition and self-absorption, beyond a broken marriage, and into the steady calm of a so-called ordinary life. Household chores and caregiving tasks become opportunities for self-examination, lessons in relationship, and liberating moments of selflessness. Miller shows that with attention, it’s the little things — even the unexpected, unpleasant, and unwanted things — that count.

momma zen

walking the crooked path of motherhood

The daily challenges of parenthood can become the most profound spiritual journey of our lives. Combining humor, honesty and plainspoken advice, Momma Zen distills the doubts and frustrations of early motherhood into vignettes of Zen wisdom. This compelling and wise memoir follows the timeline of early motherhood from pregnancy through toddlerhood. Miller takes readers on a transformative journey, charting a mother’s growth beyond naive expectations and disorientation to finding fulfillment in ordinary tasks, developing greater self-awareness and self-acceptance – to the gradual discovery of “maternal bliss,” a state of abiding happiness and ease available to us all.

“Realized with warmth and winning honesty” — Publisher’s Weekly

“Eloquently frames the everyday experiences of parenting as opportunities for spiritual growth” —Mothering

“An extraordinary book of practical wisdom offering peace and freedom in the midst of fatigue and doubt” — William Martin, author of The Parent’s Tao Te Ching