Sep 7, 2020Learning to Love those Family SecretsGrammie asks me to promise I’ll never grow old, stroking my blonde hair reassuringly, as if I’m a reluctant dog. She tells me I remind her of her youth, but she doesn’t specify why. I know very little about Grandma Ivy’s early life, and even less about who she was…Family11 min read
Published in An Idea (by Ingenious Piece)·Jun 11, 2019What I Learned about Masculinity from my Father“It is not as if what is true, right, urgent, and necessary is a light, and what is harm is darkness. They are both darknesses; they are both lights.” ~ Anne Boyer There are only a few phrases my father has ever spoken aloud to me. “I love you” is…Fathers Day5 min read
Apr 8, 2019What’s Savasana For?“A healer is someone that triggers healing powers within you” ― Thabiso Monkoe Several years ago, I began practicing yoga at a local gym. I was a busy woman, juggling a full-time ascending career and a burgeoning bundle of children’s activities. I was also battling chronic back pain, so I…Yoga5 min read
Feb 1, 2019Over DinnerSome women get erased a little at a time, some all at once. Some reappear. Every woman who appears wrestles with the forces that would…Ruth Bader Ginsburg5 min read
Jan 15, 2019To Be Seen“It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” — Thoreau Buddhist teachings invite us to accept suffering as foundational to human existence. But sometimes it’s easier to acknowledge other people’s pain than our own. …Art3 min read
Oct 21, 2018Strike Your Note“Pathmaker, there is no path. You make the path by walking. By walking, you make the path. ” — ANTONIO MACHADO At the end of 2017, I made a promise to myself that I would join a conversation I’ve been listening to for 30 years, a conversation between writers who…Creativity4 min read
Jul 19, 2018Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You DownThe reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself. — RITA MAE BROWN I have been watching The Handmaid’s Tale. Even if (especially if) you’ve read the 1985 book by Margaret Atwood, I encourage you to give the series a try. Because this creation is more than speculative…Pussy Riot5 min read
Jul 18, 2018What I Learned from my Uber Driver on a $69.04 RidePerhaps, after all, we shouldn’t take our lives so personally, shouldn’t think of them as the monologue of busy and insistent and separate selves. …True Story10 min read
Jun 23, 2018What I Learned Pole DancingWhat I Learned Pole Dancing For the past few months, I’ve been training with a woman we call J. She’s an accomplished athlete, dancer, performer and business owner, and every time I see her, she pushes me out of my comfort zone. Last fall, I agreed to dance burlesque and…Yoga6 min read
Jun 17, 2018Hold My HandGayle died when we were fourteen. We were roommates in the Hematology/Oncology ward in Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles the spring of our thirteenth year, both theoretically in the eighth grade, though neither of us actually went to school. We kept up a constant chatter about blood counts and needle…Cancer5 min read