Published inILLUMINATION·PinnedMember-onlyBeating Back Burnout with Small Moments of GraceI love a good to-do list. There’s something satisfying about building it and feeling the optimism that all the entries on it might be completed. The real payoff comes from crossing off the items, one by one, as each task is completed. Besides the physical list, I have a list…Burnout5 min readBurnout5 min read
PinnedMember-onlyPickleball’s Net Effect on My LifePickleball got me through the pandemic. Newly separated and consigned to working from home, the walls began to close in. A friend suggested learning a sport I considered reserved for geezers, and I caved. I had nothing to lose except my dignity. I began to play at the local park…Pickleball4 min readPickleball4 min read
PinnedMember-onlyHope Springs in the Autumn of My LifeI manifested a man out of thin air. On a warm, early-summer breeze coming through my car window, to be exact. It’s not as though I was pining away, looking for someone to complete me. I have a full life: a career, a house, some close friends, and a focus…Post Divorce Dating5 min readPost Divorce Dating5 min read
Published inHuman Parts·PinnedMember-onlyHow I Changed My Outlook on SexAfter having had the same sexual partner for 30 years, I find myself at a crossroads. When I was young, the options were fairly clear: wait to be in a loving, committed relationship before having sex or have sex when desire met opportunity. Reaching the age of consent at the…Older Sex6 min readOlder Sex6 min read
Nov 6, 2022Member-onlyI Welcome a Recession, and Here’s Why You Should, TooA plethora of economic pundits have predicted we’re headed for a recession. Whether it happens this year or next, despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to slow the juggernaut, it’s coming. But I’m not the tiniest bit perturbed. It’s not because I’m wealthy. I’m supporting my young-adult son and maintaining a…Recession3 min readRecession3 min read
Sep 20, 2022Member-onlyWhen the Sense of Self Becomes a TrapPlanting a flag about who we are doesn’t help anyone see us better. And it may only serve to constrain us. Our identities form along the road to adulthood. For some people, their identities fall into place organically. Others struggle to figure them out. …Self-awareness4 min readSelf-awareness4 min read
Jan 11, 2022If the Parent Wound Can’t Be Healed, Then What?I wasn’t parented the way I needed to be. I didn’t know it at the time and, like all children, I thought my parents could do no wrong. A series of unhealthy relationships led me to self-help books, deep introspection and eventually, therapy, all of which revealed a gaping hole…Emotional Abuse5 min readEmotional Abuse5 min read
Feb 10, 2021How I Stopped Achievement from Going to My HeadWhen I decide I’m going to do something, I almost always see it through. I’m the typical first-born — driven, conscientious and achievement-oriented — so the idea of neglecting a commitment feels very uncomfortable. Even when that commitment is to myself. To ring in the New Year, I committed to…Pain Management4 min readPain Management4 min read
Dec 30, 2020I was betrayed by my desires, not by my husbandDespite my husband’s dishonesty, the biggest lie was the one I told myself — Marriages end for a host of reasons. Mine ended because what I thought I wanted was not, in the end, what I needed. My blueprint for romance was drawn on the pages of fairy tales. I longed for a knight in shining armor to rescue me from my volatile family…Healing Emotions4 min readHealing Emotions4 min read
Jul 31, 2020An Unexpected Consequence of WFHIn the past decade I’ve worked from home on two different occasions, and the take-aways couldn’t have been more different. Up until four years ago, I earned my living through a marketing consulting business. That entailed working in my basement about a quarter of the time and spending the balance…Wfhcovid193 min readWfhcovid193 min read
