I recently discovered that my foot has grown a full size. I’ve decided to blame it in the pandemic since that’s not all that has increased in size, if you get my drift. I needed new tennis shoes/sneakers for my daily walks, and that’s when I found out about my shoe size. The pleasant young man informed me that I now wore a size 9. What?? I’ve always been an 8. Okay, I did slide up to an 8.5 once or twice, but I blamed it on poor manufacturing. Though maybe this was why my big toe hurt so much… Read More
Category: Lifestyle
My “One Little Word” for 2021 – Listen
“We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less.” ~ Zeno of Citium as quoted by Diogenes Laertius My “One Little Word” for 2021—LISTEN—grabbed me and held on since last summer when I created my vision board. Usually, my vision boards are filled with words and writing goals, but not this one. There are few words, and somehow, “listen” showed up on it twice. In addition, last night I opened two books of poetry to read, and “listen” grabbed me again. In the first poem by the late Jon Tribble, “The Divine,” the Read More
Can I Just…?
I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted—mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I feel this primal thrum of fear and anxiety due to the pandemic, the political divisiveness in our country, and the social unrest around the world. I keep waiting for the next shoe to drop. Practicing self-care is vital, but sometimes I don’t even have the energy to get up and get a glass of water. However, I got a great piece of advice the other day. A new approach called “Can I just…” I give full credit to Derek Doepker. I’m currently taking a class in audiobook Read More
So, What Am I Afraid Of?
Okay, today I’m going to talk about fears because, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been pretty afraid lately. Spiders. Full stop. Now while this might seem like an ordinary fear, let me explain why I’m so freaked out by spiders. When I was sixteen, my parents took me along on a vacation in the Catskill Mountains in New York State. I shared a room with Eileen, the ten-year-old daughter of my parents’ friends. She went to bed early, and her mother left the light on for me. When I opened the door to the bedroom, the walls and Read More
Did I Really Say That?
I’ve been thinking about language lately. Maybe because we’ve just celebrated Pentecost, maybe because I’m at the point in the revision of my book where I’m word-smithing. Every. Single. Word. Maybe because with all the social justice marches taking place, I realize more than ever how much language matters. When I taught high school literature classes there was always the inevitable lesson on conflict, and I would write on the chalkboard (yes, I’m that old) the following: Man vs. Man Man vs. Nature Man vs. Supernatural Man vs. Society Man vs. Self Man vs. Technology It was a standard basis Read More