Protests against the genocide in Gaza have become intergenerational on an unprecedented scale. When I marched against the war in Vietnam,...
Why Aren’t American Women Fighting Back?
This weekend I saw the powerful film, “Women Talking,” about life in a male-dominated religious community, where the women are powerless. Sexual assault by the men runs rampant. Women and girls are raped in their sleep, frequently becoming pregnant. When their victimhood becomes unbearable, a few of the women meet secretly to weigh their [...]
Pat Taub
Living in Scary Times
“I’m terrified the escalating war in the Ukraine will become nuclear.” “I’m frightened of the climate my children/grandchildren will inherit.” “It’s so depressing to see abortion rights being chipped away.” These are among the comments I hear from friends, who, like me, worry about the future. We live in scary times. [...]
Pat Taub
How I Learned to Embrace Poetry
Because of the way I was introduced to poetry, it took me awhile to develop an appreciation for poetry. In middle school I was forced to memorize classic poems like Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” I remember standing in front of my 8th grade class, woodenly reciting the poem, then sitting down and that was that. Frost’s poem wasn’t [...]
Pat Taub
Creating Love
“There is hardly any activity, any enterprise, which is started with such tremendous hopes and expectations, and yet, which fails so regularly, as love.” — The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm On this Valentine’s Day, let’s pause and reflect on love beyond exchanging Valentine’s cards, chocolates, and flowers. With intention and [...]
Pat Taub
Making Peace with Our Aging Bodies
Currently I’m vacationing in Key West, where I’m surrounded by young women, parading their toned stomachs in midriff tops. In response, I’m practicing positive self-talk to avoid falling prey to the cultural message that rejects the older woman’s body, which is no longer taut. Curious to learn how other older women feel about their [...]
Pat Taub
Adding Joy to Your Life
Human tensions are running high these days. We’re facing global warming, an escalating war in Ukraine, racial tensions, and economic hardships. While we can’t control how life challenges us, we can control how we respond. If we pause and put the world’s problems on the back burner, we can make room for joy. But how, you must be wondering? [...]
Pat Taub
When Your Adult Child Rejects You
“Out of the blue I received an email from my daughter saying she never wants to see me again.” “My son is very distant. When I reach out, he is verbally abusive, lobbing hurtful remarks that penetrate my very being.” “My daughter and I had a loving connection until she married. Now she makes excuses whenever I ask to visit her [...]
Pat Taub
Rest is Resistance
Tricia Hersey, author of Rest is Resistance, makes the bold claim, “Rest saved my life.” Hersey’s book was a Christmas present from my younger brother. We come from a family of workaholics, where our father labored in his office for long hours, while our mother exhausted herself with her endless household chores. We were taught that [...]
Pat Taub
I Cane, I Saw, I Conquered
GUEST POST by MICHAEL STEINMAN I’ve never been a sprinter. And in the past decade, some friends have commented on my odd forward motion. “You walk funny. Are you OK?” You could say I limp, or perhaps hobble. A woman I was dating told me that she was “concerned” about “my mobility issues,” to which [...]
Pat Taub
Trailblazing Women We Lost in 2022
January Maria Ewing, 71 Ewing, an opera singer in the ‘70’s and 80’s, helped to transform the role of opera singers by incorporating acting skills into her roles rather than simply stand and sing. Her daughter, actress and film maker, Rebecca Hall, referencing her mother’s racial ambiguity, made the critically acclaimed film, “Passing,” [...]
Pat Taub