Monthly Archives: September 2021

I had postpartum depression after the births of my three children. It was the worst after my second child, because I am an only child and had no clue how to manage the needs of two children. When I had two-year old Eleanor wanting me to draw with her and newborn Dietrich needing to beContinue reading “Walking each other home”

My life has been circumscribed by music. Roseanne Cash Every significant memory I have is steeped in music. “Silver Bells” calls to mind childhood Christmases. I was humming “You are My Sunshine” just before a drunk driver ploughed into our car when I was ten, sending us all to the hospital. “Nothing Compares to You”Continue reading “The Path”

We all have stories that need to be expressed. Some of us dance our stories, others sing their stories or cook their stories or paint their stories or yogasize their stories. Me? I write my stories–mostly as poems, sometimes as blog posts, and now and then as an essay or memoir. When we express ourContinue reading “Hey, you got a minute?”

Why? Why did I have such a hard childhood? Why did one of my best friend’s die in her early forties, just as she was beginning to discover who she really was? Why has the Corona Virus become our new reality? Why do innocent people sit on death row? And why don’t my adult childrenContinue reading “It’s like this…”

I’m tired of feeling like I have to fulfill some expectation of how I should look or feel or express myself. I am tired of being ashamed of my past, my trauma, my pain. I am tired of being anything other than little old authentic me. At the end of Marge Piercy’s poem “What areContinue reading “What are we made of?”

The ten days in between Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are referred to as “The Days of Awe”. It is during these days when Jews reflect on their conduct, make amends for past wrongs, and set intentions for the year ahead. As I prepare for Yom KippurContinue reading “Awe”

A friend recently shared that she was reading “Wintering”, the beautifully written memoir by Katherine May. Every now and then it just so happens that the planets align, the skies open, and you are convinced that a book was written specifically for you. “Wintering” is one such book. I rarely recommend books, but go getContinue reading “Wintering”

We’ve all seen the “Let your light shine” memes, bumper stickers and fridge magnets. But what does that mean? What is this light? And what keeps us from shining it? I think our light is what Elizabeth Gilbert calls creative entitlement, which is “believing that you are allowed to be here and that merely byContinue reading “Light”

Trust is something I have struggled with most of my life–swinging between the extremes of naive adoration and cynical suspicion. And big thick boundaries. I grew up with a Hobbesian belief that life was “nasty, brutish and short” and expected that life and people would let me down. At the same time, I was hardwiredContinue reading “Trust”