Many of us are feeling like we’ve been plunged into a spiral of dark news. Daily we are deluged with stories of large-scale migrant...
Mary Robinson, “Women and Nature,” “Passing” & More
Mary Robinson at COP26, Glasgow This week at the Glasgow UN Climate Conference, Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and the current chair of The Elders at the UN, took aim at world leaders, who unlike poorer countries, are not in “crisis mode.” During a BBC interview she broke down, speaking through tears, beset with worry [...]
Pat Taub
Growing from Vulnerability
Brene Brown, the popular self-help writer and TED speaker, insists that not until we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, can we truly live. You might be scratching your head thinking, “But I feel vulnerable a lot and my life is hardly a bowl of cherries.” This isn’t the association Brown has in mind. She wants us to embrace our vulnerability [...]
Pat Taub
Halloween, Mia Mottley, “The Nutmeg’s Curse” & More
Halloween My spirited 17 y.o. granddaughter from Oak Park, Il. dressed as the Grim Reaper for Halloween. Her costume symbolizes the concerns of so many young people, who are desperately worried about their future during these times of climate emergency. Videos from Glasgow show throngs of young climate activists cramming city blocks around [...]
Pat Taub
Combatting Loneliness
“I hate coming home to an empty house. The silence can be deafening.” “I can go days without speaking to anyone except the clerk in the grocery store or my mail carrier.” “I rarely reach out to my friends when I’m feeling lonely because I’m too embarrassed to admit I’m lonely.” “My adult daughter tells me to [...]
Pat Taub
Badass Older Women Fed Up with Ageism
I’m seeing a new boldness among older women who are speaking out when ageist behavior is directed at them. These women are standing up for themselves and for all of us, when they challenge a culture that demeans them. Meet some of these badass women: Rachel, age 69, is a frequent traveler who at just 5’ struggles getting her suitcase into [...]
Pat Taub
Domestic Violence Month, Wes Anderson Film, Respecting the Homeless & More!
Domestic Violence Month October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, which coincides with a new Netflix series, Maid, about an impoverished young woman, who, with her toddler daughter, flees her abusive husband. Initially she rejects seeing herself as a victim of domestic violence because, while her husband smashed in walls and verbally abused [...]
Pat Taub
Help! My Time is Running Out!
As my birthdays pile up, I’m forced to face the fact that I’m running out of time. It feels scary. I’m healthy and financially secure, but no one lives forever. How much time do I have left: 10 years, 15 years? The last 10 years raced by. If the next 10 years are going to be equally accelerated, how can I make the most of them? [...]
Pat Taub
Sister Megan Rice, Writing Challenge, “Sex Education” & More
Sister Megan Rice, Celebrated Peace Activist When I tuned into “Democracy Now,” earlier this week and heard Amy Goodman announce the death of peace activist Sister Megan Rice at 91, I was jolted into remembering that Sr. Megan had stayed with me in my Portland home three years ago when she was in town as a guest speaker for Peace Action [...]
Pat Taub
It’s Never Too Late to Follow a Dream
I have a friend who’s been telling me for years that she’s going to take Italian lessons. Another friend has a long-standing dream to visit Japan. For just as long, every time I pass an art supply store I revisit my dream of taking up watercolors. We’re members of the late-in-life dream club whose engine is stalled. But it doesn’t [...]
Pat Taub
An American in Paris
It didn’t take much persuasion when my youngest son phoned and said, “Mother, you have a birthday on October 1st. You haven’t treated yourself in a while. What about a birthday trip to Paris?“ Jonathan offered to accompany me and be my travel guide. This is the son whose adolescence antics drove me up the wall. Maturity is a [...]
Pat Taub