When I began writing my memoir, it was a bonfire burning brightly, my fingertips hot on a keyboard that had never revealed my thoughts or memories. To anyone. I looked down upon my small-child-self from a bird’s eye view, flying low, watching the small child whose introversion was created by responsibilities and fear. The small […]
Misfits
Misfits are all around us, sitting next to us on trains, wrapped in sleeping bags on wet sidewalks in doorways of businesses darkened for the night, taking deep cleansing breaths on adjacent yoga mats, directing us in traffic, speaking to us from the fronts of classrooms, handing us change at cash registers, sipping a mug […]
Writing the Body of the Book
Every morning I brew Folgers-nothing-fancy in my headboard bookcase so that I can begin writing fresh from my dreams. Pajamas or nearly naked, depending on the season. Darkness or daylight, depending on the moon. Before I feed my dog and cats. Before I rummage in the pantry for breakfast in bed. Before the bald eagle […]
Willpower
Willpower is not my strong suit. It’s not my weakest weakness, but I could do better. What are the biggest weaknesses in my willpower folder? Writing and Reading. Writing should not be an issue for a writer. When I get these ideas in the middle of the night, when I awaken with my teeth clenched […]
Anticipation. In the garden and in Life.
I’ve been watching the fruit and vegetables in the garden grow and mature. Weeding, watering and wondering. When exactly is the first tomato going to be perfectly ripe for the picking? Anticipation, I’ve always said, is a big part of any experience whether it be harvest or travel or concert or film or other highly […]
August and Oceans
It’s August. Summer vacations are drawing to a close. Did you ever see the ocean when you were little? The closest I came was a postcard from Cape Cod. From my godmother. She and her family had rented a cottage not far from the beach. I stared and stared at that postcard. It was the […]
Unexpected Triggers
Yesterday, Janet brought me a freshly-picked bouquet of August blooms accented with curly-topped white phlox. They were just like the phlox that were as tall as I in the days when I ran barefoot in dewy cool green grass. I was 3 or 4 years old in that memory and my grandmother’s phlox border must […]
Maslow Meets Fear
Three days ago, I posted about the fear of tap dancing. Well, there was a little more to it than that, but fear and hesitation pretty much sum it up. Received an email newsletter this morning from Holstee, with its editorial written by one of Holstee’s two brother founders. He referenced the psychologist Abraham Maslow […]
The Easy Way Out?
This summer, I’m taking a series of twelve tap dancing classes for adults at our local arts center. It was a last minute decision. I saw an ad in the local newspaper that triggered one my childhood desires. Remember Shirley Temple and Bojangles tap dancing up and down that steep flight of stairs? Shirley’s banana […]
Inspired by The New Yorker. Writer needs forever home. Adoption listing.
Meet Linda. She came to us with a BFA and MFA, but sadly, these degrees were not in Creative Writing. Her shame for advanced degrees in a field outside of writing has left her cowering in self-doubt but she no longer piddles when addressed in a loud voice and rarely bites back—providing she is given […]