Initially my plan in interviewing Penny Rosenwasser, a founding board member of Jewish Voice for Peace, was to highlight the work...
Relationships
New Year’s Resolutions for Soulful Living
Many of us toasted 2018 with resolutions for improving our everyday lives, focusing on losing weight, eating healthier, and strengthening our close relationships. But what if we departed from the standard pledges and instead made New Year’s resolutions that cater to the soul? Think about it, if we all made just one soulful promise and kept [...]
Pat Taub
I Hate Asking for Help!
Guest Post by Walker Thornton I hate asking for help. There is no one specific reason—a mix of not wanting to seem weak or vulnerable, and fearing I’ll be turned down. I was raised in the South, by a very traditional mother who wanted a pretty, sweet daughter. I was taught boys didn’t like girls who were assertive or too talkative. I [...]
Pat Taub
Diving Into Food Memories
If I had a time machine, I’d revisit cherished food memories, entering into those moments where food connected me to love and warm hospitality. I first invited someone to the table at age three. I had a ritual of tugging my just-home-from-work father into my playroom where a miniature tea set was centered on a child-sized table. My father [...]
Pat Taub
My Online Dating Saga
If you’re an older woman who’s contemplating joining an online dating service be prepared for a lot of rejection, way too many boring dates, men who are unbelievably self-absorbed and ribbing from friends with asides like, ”Where are you hiding Mr. Right?” Given the blows to my self-esteem delivered by online dating. why haven’t [...]
Pat Taub
#MeToo
Guest post by Mary Beth Danielson I’m not usually cranky. Then I got a cold. I rarely get colds. What’s going on? Of course I have #metoo incidents. Like most women I have several stories of harassment and, yes, one of assault. As self-aware women do, I’ve been poking at my crankiness. Why am I mad? Why does this rankle? I have [...]
Pat Taub
Positive in My 70’s
As another birthday approaches I have basically two choices: to agonize over my advancing age OR to look at the glass as half full and take stock of what is positive about being in my seventies. While there are unwelcome aspects to aging, like diminished energy and physical agility, sleep problems and occasionally missing a companion, I refuse [...]
Pat Taub
Why Do Mothers-in-Law Get a Bad Rap?
“A mother-in-law should be blind in one eye and deaf in one ear.” —Armenian proverb Without going to this extreme, many contemporary mothers-in-law make conscious efforts to monitor their behavior, but often to no avail. Once a woman becomes a mother-in-law she’s typically the butt of mother-in-law jokes and pejorative labels. [...]
Pat Taub
Learning a Different Voice: Feminism for Males
by Ed Mooney, guest blogger In my 20’s and 30’s, feminism seemed to open the door to reflections about being a male. It was the early seventies. Wanting to be close to the action, my wife and young son and I moved to Berkeley. It was a period of social upheaval and political violence marked by the Civil Rights struggle and the Free Speech, [...]
Pat Taub
I Can Play Too? …if only I knew how
by Gwen McCauley, guest blogger It was 1995. I was 47. I had recently received the biggest promotion of my life through hard work, dedication and a strategic mind. And I discovered in a moment of devastating insight that I was unable to play. What the hell was wrong with me? My executive team had one of those team-building events so popular [...]
Pat Taub
Expanding Mother’s Day to Include Our Spiritual Mothers
I propose that we expand Mother’s Day so that we honor not just our biological mothers but also our spiritual mothers. Our spiritual mothers are the teachers, neighbors, aunts, family friends and others whose influence made an indelible impression on us. Frequently these women didn’t have their own children but lovingly nurtured and guided [...]
Pat Taub