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If Empathy Can Be Taught, It Should Be
The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism.~Hannah Arendt Close your eyes. I imagine myself saying those words to my college writing students. After giving them an assignment and reminding them of the importance of planning and pre-writing in the composition Read more
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What Ina Garten Doesn’t Understand about a Writer’s Audience Awareness
I love her Company Pot Roast recipe. Her cocktails are delectable. And her desserts — well, her Outrageous Brownies alone should earn her a standing ovation. On her Food Network show, The Barefoot Contessa, her casual, conversational instructions for preparing dishes that are both simple and elegant delight her many fans. And her repeated declarations of Read more
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Retired Women: Snow Us In, But Don’t Count Us Out
January’s selection was Celeste Ng’s novel Little Fires Everywhere. As I read it, I anticipated what some of our book group members might say about the story. When women in a book group get to know each other through the texts they read, their reactions sometimes become predictable. Eloise, a former concert cellist, might identify with Read more
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Memories Like Shooting Stars
A few days ago, I heard from my old friend, Jake. We last talked when we were high schoolers, probably in 1977, in the school cafeteria. We were part of a lunch bunch then, known among our classmates as The Family. Now, after all these years, Jake contacted me online. That made me smile. Texting with Read more
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To What Extent Can I Control My Health?
I closed my eyes and imagined myself at the edge of a glistening brook. A bare breeze rustled the leaves on the trees surrounding me as water gurgled gently over smooth stones. The sky’s cloudless blue cast a pastel peace over the scene. Here in this imaginary place, I felt my face, my shoulders, my Read more
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Aunt Dinny’s Hair
When Aunt Dinny stood with her bun undone, her wavy auburn hair hung down to her ankles. As a child, I once watched as she sat at the vanity in her bedroom dividing the long tresses into segments and brushing each one vigorously—her bedtime ritual. Between segments, she took dainty bites of a cucumber finger Read more
Do you write about yourself and your experiences? Do you write about traumatic events in your life? Or, do you struggle to find time and motivation to write?
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