The cartoonist, Lynda Barry, contends that most adults suffer from “play amnesia.” Living in these dark times, many overlook play...
The Language of Kindness
The Language of Kindness by Christie Watson is one of those rare books that make your heart come alive. After I finished it, I felt a surging love for close friends and family, even a deeper connection to strangers I passed on the street. Watson’s book is an account of her 20 years as a nurse in London hospitals. As a student nurse Watson [...]
Pat Taub
A Scary T-Shirt, “Motherland,” A Full Moon Ritual & an Inspiring Nun
A Troubling T-Shirt This week I was in an office parking lot, approaching my car after an acupuncture treatment when I noticed a tough-looking guy wearing this T-shirt. Its hateful, menacing message rattled me. I traced it to an Internet website with similar menacing shirts. The image is below. Motherland, new Sundance series [...]
Pat Taub
Breaking Free from Expectations
Guest Post by Emily Capelle I always heard that as you get older you lose your filter and start saying whatever comes to mind. Or behave in ways you wouldn’t have in the past. Well now that I’m 58, I have noticed it more and more. Growing up in an “in-between” time like the sixties and seventies, I suspect many young girls, like [...]
Pat Taub
Online Support, Sen. Collins, My Cottage Retreat & Weekend Plans
A Little Help from My Friends After blogging this week about my struggle to accommodate to my aging body’s inevitable decline with a focus on my newly visited sciatica, I received numerous helpful suggestions on the post’s comment section and on the WOW Facebook page. There was lots of supportive advice from others describing how they’ve [...]
Pat Taub
Bemoaning My Physical Decline
I’ve more or less accepted the changes aging brings to my appearance: wrinkles, a sagging jaw line, droopy breasts and a puffy tummy. The physical limitations are another story. I am frequently at war with the arthritis in my left knee and right shoulder. I curse my body when my long walks have to be curtailed because my knee swells [...]
Pat Taub
Summer Reads that WOW!
In these dark times slow reading or embracing books with paper pages can be a source of resistance and a place of refuge. I breathe easier when I turn away from the Internet to read real books in real time. Summer reading makes it possible to revisit a time when reading was leisurely. My picks of summer books runs the gamut from thrillers [...]
Pat Taub
Portland Rally, More London Photos, Serena Williams & More!
Portland’s Rally for Migrant Rights I joined the crowd of 2,000 at Portland’s city hall last Saturday, June 30th, to support migrant rights, which means family reunification and the end of indefinite detentions and especially the end of ICE. I was encouraged by the large crowds, especially the numbers of young families. I find myself [...]
Pat Taub
Creating A Vision For The Third Chapter
Guest Post by Stephanie Raffelock We arrive at the doorstep of older age without a plan. Often retirement isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. We often find our sense of self, tangled up with what “we used to do” instead of “who we are now.” THE PURPOSEFUL LIFE Life comes down to this at any age: we are [...]
Pat Taub
London Photo Journey
Having just returned from a family vacation in London, I’m dedicating this week’s “Short Takes” to a photo journey of our trip. Granddaughter Jane Our holiday was generated by my granddaughter’s Girl Scout troop’s visit. Her family, myself and my youngest son crammed in the usual tourist sites: the Tate Modern, The Tower [...]
Pat Taub
In Despair Over What the U.S. Has Become
Since taking office Trump has managed to sign one mean-spirited order after another, but ripping infants and children from their mothers and placing them in cages with little more than Mylar blankets tipped the balance for me, heightening my despair over the direction of our country. I can’t let go of the now iconic image of the toddler [...]
Pat Taub