In an essay by Joan Didion that I go back to again and again, she writes: “there’s no getting around the fact that setting words on paper is the tactic of a secret bully, an invasion, an imposition of the writer’s sensibility on the reader’s most private space.” Takes a certain flair with … [Read more...] about Gratitude
Ain’t too proud to beg
I'm stretched out in bed, 9:30 p.m., a weeknight. A little early for me but it's the stretching out that I crave. To lie back, my neck propped against a trio of pillows. Recline. A word that hums, not so much directive as invitation: sink back. Let the shoulders relax, show the heart how … [Read more...] about Ain’t too proud to beg
Talk less, say more
I have a dream . . . in which I’m sitting at a kitchen table with my cousins—very close cousins, whom I love dearly—and we’re reminiscing, schmoozing, laughing about old times at another kitchen table, in a small Brooklyn apartment, as mythical as it was real. We tease each other about the kids we … [Read more...] about Talk less, say more
The road not taken
Last week I got lost on my way to synagogue. If there’s a metaphor here, getting lost also speaks literally to my uncertainty (not to mention the spike in anxiety) when driving someplace unfamiliar. Call me a Wandering Jew (better yet, Goldilocks), but the past few years have found me trying … [Read more...] about The road not taken
The holy or the broken
It’s taken me a long time but I think I’ve figured it out: my mom’s affinity for musicians who are good songwriters and poets but TERRIBLE singers has something to do with her being a writer. Let’s be real for a second … when you think of a “good” singer you think of someone like Etta James or … [Read more...] about The holy or the broken
The Circle Game
Change may be the only true constant but it always takes some getting used to. A few days ago it hit me—the shift in light that seems so sudden but really has been incremental, one day invisibly shorter than the one before. One more summer slipping away, autumn around the corner, ready or … [Read more...] about The Circle Game