Life’s Too Short
I was nowhere to be foundLocked up so tight never making a soundThe answer stuck in my headA thousand words always thought never saidGonna make it clear, this is me here, gonna let it go—Marie Wilson, Making It Up As I Go Along, 1999.I just scheduled my next...
Shame as a sin
We have all felt shame. It's a universal emotion. It's also something of a taboo. No one wants to talk about it because we all know what it feels like, and it's just . . . icky. It can make us feel worthless, stupid, ugly, judged.The thing about shame is that it makes...
Apologetics
Apologetics (Greek): to defend, explain, or justify a position, sometimes religious, often through writing.I've been on hiatus for a year. It wasn't exactly planned, but the longer I went without writing, the more it seemed like I should be 100% behind my decision to...
True healing
I am well. Not all well, but really well. I am still seeing my counselor. I have grieved my mother's death and dealt with much of the fallout. I thought my brother and I were getting closer after my mother's death, but when I made an off-hand reference to one of...
On Blanket Forgiveness Statements
Just before Rosh Hashanah I wrote about my aversion to blanket "if I've hurt you, please forgive me" statements as a method of teshuvah (which technically means "return" but is often used to mean repentance, as in a return to G-d). I am not alone.Maimonides first...
Teshuvah and Controversy: is the relationship causal or casual?
So here it is just before Rosh Hashanah and I'm about to create some controversy. Maybe. For the two people who still read my blog (Hi there!). But maybe this is good and well-timed, like so few other things in my life, so maybe it will work out.Okay, here goes. You...
Tips For Writing
Write the story within you. Most writers will tell you to write the book that's in you right now, the book you think about every waking minute, the book you have no choice about writing. Don't write the book your publisher wants, or the book your mother wants, or the...
Stupid Questions
Firefox no longer remembers this blog in its auto-fill history, so clearly a blog post is long overdue.I had a kind of stupid question earlier today and, as I am a quasi-Digital Native, I searched for the answer online. Because where else is one most likely to find...
“Sure could use / a little good news today”
I am sick today, but I'm not going to complain because I've been pretty healthy (physically, anyway) for a while now. I did, however, receive bad news. I found out that the father of one of my children's classmates died unexpectedly last weekend. He was only a few...
Moving forward
I'm sorry I have not written. I had no words. Everything was just numb.My mother died on Mother's Day, 2009. I was with her for the last two weeks of her life, and it was an emotional roller coaster that can only exist in a troubled, volatile, sometimes violent...