#4 – march 29: all the feelings

In the early days of the pandemic, when we all started cancelling plans, a therapist friend posted about having learned the importance of honoring all the feelings one is feeling about a thing, rather than judging them, or comparing them to others or to some abstract standard of how we should be reacting. Oh, so … Continue reading #4 – march 29: all the feelings →

#3 – march 21: we can still laugh

Friday morning, both our children reported having had bad dreams. My husband had to go to our younger son’s room in the wee hours to comfort him. We don’t have the news on and we try to keep our worry from them, but our kids are always listening and as most children are, they’re sensitive … Continue reading #3 – march 21: we can still laugh →

#2 – march 18: flattening the curve

“To live entirely for oneself in private is a huge luxury, a luxury countless aspects of this society encourage, but like a diet of pure foie gras it clogs and narrows the arteries of the heart. This is what we’re encouraged to crave in this country, but most of us crave more deeply something with … Continue reading #2 – march 18: flattening the curve →

Inventing Traditions

Last Christmas Eve, I wrote the following Facebook post: “Reading Eric Hobsbawm’s The Invention of Tradition helped me understand that all traditions are invented out of specific historic, cultural, economic, and political needs. And later, in preparing to teach a course, I read The Battle for Christmas, about the pagan roots of what became both … Continue reading Inventing Traditions →

The Making of a Queens Girl

When I tell people I’m from New York and they ask me whereabouts, I say, “Queens and Long Island.” I had spent six years in each locale before heading off to college out of state, so it somehow seemed important to acknowledge both places as where I’m from. But lately, I’ve come to embrace my … Continue reading The Making of a Queens Girl →