Learning New Languages
After publishing last week’s post, I received an email from a reader, asking for clarification. I sent a response and would like to share and expand upon it here. I mean that the language we use—literally and figuratively—creates the world…
Out of Captivity
I feel like, after a lifetime behind bars, someone has opened the door of my cell (and yes, it was locked by others) and let me walk free. I turn to look back, and I finally get to see my…
Confession
After a Lifetime of Lies, It’s Time to Face the Truth I have been avoiding this post, but doing so is taking a physical toll, and I can’t put it off. A small, shivering wave of anxiety comes over me…
Which Words?
I could fill your inbox with words, day after day. Most of the posts I write and publish now end up at about half the length at which they begin: and that’s just counting the words that I type. The…
Freedom is Hard to Hold
Explanations are for English Papers In the process of putting away Christmas decorations recently, I washed five cut crystal vases and two candlesticks and arranged them in pleasing groupings on the mantel. There’s still a big empty space in the…
Taking a Safety
I got to the computer yesterday by way of Stephen Harrod Buhner’s Ensouling Language, a book I am still s-l-o-w-l-y making my way through (and now that I’ve shared it with Dennis, it’s often in his office, where I don’t…
Late Nights and Bad Memories
It’s a gorgeous, sunny day with blue skies, white snow, and green trees out my window. The driveway could use some shoveling, so I’m sure I’ll be out in the fresh air before the dark descends around 5:00, which feels…
The Best I Could Give
I recently started following a poet on Instagram. His name is David Gates, and today he shared verse that stood out. It relates to the question, When do we, as humans, become afraid to ask for help? As Gates points out, we’re…
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
It’s a new day and a new year. Like the Roman god Janus, I am looking both ahead and back. As little as two or three years ago, this would have bothered me, because I knew that the past had…
Peace Travels Light
Alice Miller has made me a minimalist. All that’s left? Me and the truth. The agendas; the philosophies; the advice and instruction; the judgments, opinions, and ratings; the rules and the “this is the way it’s done”s; the excuses and…
One Piece Leads to Another
Well, goodness knows, I’m tenacious. I certainly wouldn’t be here writing if I weren’t. On my kitchen table right now sits a 28 x 22” slab of foamcore board and on it is a partially complete jigsaw puzzle. I wanted…
Still Going
This is where the road gets lonely. I thought that it looked pretty desolate back at the beginning of April, 2020, when I was sending friends and family videos of ambulances sitting idle and hospital parking lots that were just…
