Category Archives: Advice
You’re Fine
Last year I wrote about Being Kind – To That Special Someone. Meaning YOU. I think in this difficult time – and in good times too, all time, really – we need to be a lot nicer to ourselves. Use the good china. Buy yourself flowers. Take a walk and look at the trees instead of your phone. And please, please, please – Don’t be …
Not Going First
Here’s a story: When my nephew was a little boy, he had a friend that he often played with. Every time they played a game, his small friend always started the game by saying, “I’ll go first!” I remember wanting my nephew to SAY something about this – to stand up for himself and say, …
Bird Droppings
When I was a freshman in high school, I had a pretty long walk to school. And I added to my long walk by meeting up with some friends who did not live near me. I had to walk several blocks in the opposite direction of the school in order to join them. I could …
Measuring Refuge
A wise friend commiserated with me about the frustration and anger that engulfs me in dealing with some of the awfulness in the world. I remember an old “Far Side” cartoon. I will not repost it here, because Gary Larson has asked that people not do that, and I respect him too much to go …
When Reality Disappoints
There is an author I greatly admire. She is a novelist and essayist, a columnist and, well, I guess although the word is out of fashion, you could also call her an orator. She is profound and brilliant. She is also on Twitter. And so I am following her on Twitter. I am a fan. …
Note To Self
Every once in a while I see an essay or blog or video that looks back to the author’s childhood – hoping somehow to make it better. Invariably, these stories are titled something like, “What I Wish I Could Tell My Younger Self.” I can see the appeal of it. From a decades-later perspective, when …
The Annoying Side of Good Things
A few days ago, while I was driving, I had an overwhelming urge for the piece of chocolate that I knew was in my purse. My mother had given me two Dove chocolates the day before, and I had eaten one immediately. But the second one was in my purse. And it was calling to …
Maybe I Was Right After All
I am a product of the Woodstock generation. I graduated high school in 1969 – the year of Woodstock. Not that I was even aware of Woodstock at the time. I was clueless (which was not even a word back then) of the concert/festival/free-for-all until after it had already occurred. But I wholeheartedly jumped onto …
Overcoming The Storm
One fascinating discovery for me, as I wrote my latest book, LUCINDA’S SOLUTION, was researching the Influenza Pandemic of 1918. What a horror that outbreak was. Do you know that more U.S. soldiers died of influenza than on the battlefield? And that the death toll was greater in one year than in four years of the …
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