When I think about what has made my life meaningful, it’s come from those experiences where I woke up. Events that rocked my world...
Waking Up
When I think about what has made my life meaningful, it’s come from those experiences where I woke up. Events that rocked my world when I was confronted with truths that ran counter to how I was living my life. As a young woman [...]
Waking Up
When I think about what has made my life meaningful, it’s come from those experiences where I woke up. Events that rocked my world when I was confronted with truths that ran counter to how I was living my life. As a young woman I was awakened as a result of living through the Viet Nam war and the second wave of Feminism. As the Viet [...]
Motherhood Revisited
GUEST POST by LISA SAVAGE Yesterday I read a novel that took me back to the fierce experience of becoming a mother under late-stage capitalism. Claire Kilroy perfectly captures the despair and precarious state of infant mothers where there is no mothering for them. The protagonist of SOLDIER SAILOR is at the end of her rope and very nearly [...]
Whom to Remember on Mother’s Day
I propose that we enlarge Mother’s Day to honor not just our biological mothers but our spiritual mothers as well. They are the teachers, neighbors, aunts, family friends and others whose generosity of spirit left an indelible impression on our younger selves. Often these women didn’t have their own children but lovingly nurtured and [...]
Courage Reimagined
The story of women journalists in Gaza requires a new definition of courage. Many of these women are under 30. Several are young mothers. Daily they risk their lives to document the horrors of the escalating genocide in Gaza. Last year, Israeli bombs killed five women journalists in 24 hours. It’s difficult for most Westerners to [...]
Do You Suffer From Play Amnesia?
The cartoonist, Lynda Barry, contends that most adults suffer from “play amnesia.” Living in these dark times, many overlook play as a valuable resource to diffuse stress and lighten one’s mood. For example, when your news feed becomes too much to take in, take a break, and turn to humorous writing, like Dorothy Parker or The New [...]
Missing Meaningful Connections?
I feel sad and misunderstood among family and friends who dismiss my deep despair over the genocide in Gaza. Several friends are down in the dumps over their disconnections with adult children, who hold grudges against them, or who simply don’t make time for them. Thousands of Americans are angry over Trump’s cuts to essential living benefits, [...]
Can I Live Without Email?
GUEST POST by JANET WEIL “It is possible that you do not receive many emails at all, in which case I am very jealous…” “A Simpler Guide to Gm@il by Ceri Clark “Could I live without email?” The question popped into my head as I was perusing “how to” computer books in the library. Why would I even think of such a thing? I first [...]
Aging – consciously, generously? ~ No, aging fiercely
GUEST POST by TOM SANTULLI “Age puzzles me. I thought it was a quiet time. My seventies were interesting and fairly serene, but my eighties are passionate; I grow more intense with age.” ~ Florida Pier Scott-Maxwell, playwright, author, psychologist; d. 1979 May Sarton asked, ‘What is the opposite of “growing old?” [...]
Struggling to Find Balance In A Deeply Troubling World
Chaos is a seductress, but peace is the real power.—Diamond-Michael Scott Chris Hedges, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, contends that Trump is intentionally creating chaos to unmoor us and advance his oligarchy agenda. The more we are stuck in shock and awe, the easier it is for Trump to advance his Right-wing agenda. Caitlin Johnstone [...]
“A Life in Light,” Mary Pipher’s Memoir
As we enter a new year punctuated with images of wars, climate emergencies and the alarming prospect of a Trump presidency poised to threaten our civil liberties, Mary Pipher’s memoir “A Life in Light,” is a beacon of hope. Pipher offers personal examples, honed through a lifetime of beating back darkness, to discover light and resilience. [...]