Writing
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Five Things I Love about My Aging Body
First, a confession I’m known to whine about my weight, lament my diminishing strength, grumble about aches, and otherwise hate on my physical self. If you spent much time around me, you’d probably laugh at my claim that I love my body. I know that when I thought about it, I laughed. What is there… Continue reading
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Write on the Back Burner
A Meditation for When You Feel Stuck in Your Writing I grew up surrounded by my mother’s big family in the northeastern reaches of Appalachia. Mother and her eight siblings were products of the Depression — hard-shelled, thrifty people who remembered what it was like to go hungry and live without warm clothing and well-fitting… Continue reading
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Why We May Doubt Our Memories of Childhood Trauma
When I was growing up in my mother’s large, tightly-knit extended family, I was subjected to sexual abuse. Mother warned me not to tell anyone what was happening to me. Instead, she made up a story — a tale of a child nurtured and cared for by a kind, loving family — that she instructed… Continue reading
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The Trouble with Writing about an Abusive Parent
If you had to sum up your relationship with one of your parents in a few words, what would you say? I struggle to find a way to convey my childhood experiences with my mother quickly and clearly, so that you, my reader, will have a sense of what happened to me. Where is the… Continue reading
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Why Writers Should Meditate
Dear writer: In a few moments, I’m going to ask you to close your eyes. Sometimes, the best way to be successful at doing something is to not do it for a while. Imagine you’re tackling a persnickety home maintenance task, for instance. You’re trying to fix a dishwasher that refuses to wash or figure out why… Continue reading
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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… Continue reading
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?
If so, this blog is for you.
Person on the Page 