If you live alone, if your family is scattered far and wide, if you recently lost a partner or spouse, if you can’t afford the plane...
Activism Post Trump10
Coping with Political Despair
During my church’s coffee hour this past Sunday I found myself in conversation with a politically concerned young woman who was eager to discuss Michelle Goldberg’s New York Times op-ed, “Democracy Grief is Real.” The gist of the essay is that Trump has induced profound political despair among liberals. My companion felt validated [...]
Pat Taub
Impeachment Hearing’s Stars, Rethinking Gifts, Family & More!
Impeachment Hearing’s Stars Hats off to Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and Dr. Fiona Hill. Both women testified this week in the impeachment hearings. They were professional, calm and collected, speaking in respectful tones as they described Trump’s corrupt, mishandling of US- Ukraine polices. Trump was true to form as he tweeted [...]
Pat Taub
Goodbye Susan, Hello Lisa!
Lisa Savage, 62, a public school teacher from Skowhegan, Maine had been contemplating her upcoming retirement in the standard ways–a chance to travel, take up a new interest, and more time with the grandkids–when she received phone calls from several Green Party activists asking her to consider a run for the US Senate in 2020 against [...]
Pat Taub
Friday, the 13th, “The Testaments,” Hospice, Apple Pies & More
The Real Low Down on Friday the 13th Here’s a little known fact, which I learned during my studies of Women’s Spirituality: the number 13 was originally a lucky number. Thirteen was considered the most essentially female number — the average number of menstrual cycles in a year is 13. Thirteen is also the approximate number of [...]
Pat Taub
When Standing Up and Speaking Out Gives You Hope
GUEST POST by MARY DUNN When one retires, the world around us often shifts in unexpected ways which can cause confusion and doubt. That was true for me. When I retired from teaching, I struggled with what direction my life would take and what I would do with my time. I began to notice friends going about their lives as they always did. Many, [...]
Pat Taub
Politically Overwhelmed, A Swedish blogger, Nina Turner in Portland & More!
Stop the World I Want to Get Off! This week I’ve been identifying with the ‘60’s musical, “Stop the World I Want to Get Off,” rattled by the news of the blazing fires in the Amazon to reports that the world has experienced the hottest summer ever to the rolling out of Trump’s increasingly meaner migrant policies, like keeping [...]
Pat Taub
Struggling with Feeling Powerless
A dear friend bolted through my front door on Sunday morning, distraught, blurting out, “I have this awful knot in my stomach. Two mass shootings in 24 hours with 29 dead! If I hear one more official respond to the tune of ‘you’re in our thoughts and prayers,’ I think I’ll lose it.” I tried to console her but I was as shell-shocked [...]
Pat Taub
Magic, Remembering James Baldwin, My Garden & More!
A Bit of Magic I still believe in magic, like this sighting from my downtown Portland window. Imagine my surprise when I pulled my blinds the other morning to spot a bunch of polka-dotted balloons tied to a fire hydrant right outside my window. I’m sure there’s a rational explanation but I prefer to believe, since I love polka dots [...]
Pat Taub
Practicing Kindness to Lift the Darkness
Each new racist tweet from the Orange Monster, each new horrifying account of migrant children in detention, each new dire climate change warning plunges me deeper into despair. To survive I go about my days pushing my despair underground. Last week a stranger’s simple act of kindness pulled me into the light, shifting my perspective. My [...]
Pat Taub
Combatting Helplessness
I belong to a welcoming church in downtown Portland, Maine led by a socially conscious minister who unflinchingly embraces difficult issues. Last Sunday, she took to the pulpit to voice her outrage at the inhumane treatment of imprisoned migrant children. I was surrounded by rapt, concerned faces, many visibly moved, but once the service was [...]
Pat Taub