Below you will find a collection of my most recent essays, novel segments, and other assorted pieces. I post entries of topics based on personal interest and inspiration. Access to my older work and previous posts are available using the menu on the left. Feel free to comment on any entry you want. Constructive criticism and your own personal experience is more than welcome. Read more….. »
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Book review: “Why Good People do Bad Things” by Debbie Ford
Scandals are full of them. Gossip tries to root them out. There are so many stories of good people going bad it is almost a stereotype. It’s as old as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, if not older. Even so, it can still be a shocker to someone when a person of honor suddenly falls into some trap of vice. Maybe even more so if that someone is one’s self. Read more….. »
Intro to Requiem
Many of you are aware that I am working on memoir. It’s been an interesting creative process for me. To write this work, I have let go of the usual regimens that I used with essays when I ran my e-zine, and allowed that creative process to go where it wants to go. Read more….. »
How to deal with anniversaries of tragic loss
Dealing with loss is difficult. I know this from my own life. The stress from the impact was tremendous, and to say it altered my perspective on life would be an understatement. So, when it comes to anniversaries of tragedies, I speak mostly from my own experience with the subject. Read more….. »
Book review: “The Grieving Teen” by Helen Fitzgerald
Experiencing the death of someone is always a tough time in a person’s life. Teenagers, oft touted as thinking they are invincible, and unshaped by life, have special struggles that tend to be overlooked, written off as adolescent angst. But death does have an impact on this cohort. With the twin tragedies of September 11 and the overseas wars on top of all the other circumstances of death, this issue seems timely and relevant. Author Helen Fitzgerald has written “The Grieving Teen”, which is a handbook for both grieving teens and those who are concerned about them.
Read more….. »
Book Review: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers
Grief is supposed to come in a neat package. You can’t believe something bad happened to you, you get ticked off, you wail at God to change things so they go back to normal, they don’t so you get sad, really sad, and when the sadness gets too boring you get over it and then it’s all good. Or at least, the so-called five stages of grief give the deceptive illusion it goes so smoothly. Read more….. »
Another day of memoir and novel writing.
Just to keep everyone updated on the work I am doing: I have recently posted a couple of book reviews on the Helium site related to the memoir I am pursuing. One of them is “Cherry”, by Mary Karr, and “The Grieving Teen” by Helen Fitzgerald. In addition, I have linked some of my articles to the Helium group on Linked In. My one novel has finally settled itself on a plot and a new title, Read more….. »
Another article added
So in continuing this memoir journey, I have added an article this morning on the Helium site called “What it means to make amends”. Read more….. »
Hello, I am back and welcome to my site
Hello to everyone who has visited in the last couple of months,
I am sorry that I have been remiss in posting here for awhile. It’s been a busy couple of months, starting with my new journey in linking up with the website Care2. For those of you unfamiliar with the site, Read more….. »
“Finding Flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Get into the groove and just enjoy the ride. Sounds like a great deal if you can get it. In fact, says psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, if you want to really feel good about your life, then getting into the flow is a real requirement. In his book, “Finding Flow”, he discusses what it means to get into the flow and what it will mean for your life if you do. Read more….. »
“Half the Sky” by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
The condition of the developing world usually gets strange treatment in the media of the developed one. Read more….. »
“Blue Gold” by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke
There is no question that providing fresh water for a population that is growing in not only numbers but civilization is a pressing problem in the twenty-first century. What are the best means to provide this precious resource to the masses? Read more….. »
“After the Ice” by Alun Anderson
When discussing how the Arctic is in peril, it seems the polar bear gets all the attention. The predator of the North may be in trouble, but that is not the only thing that is at stake. Read more….. »
“Blue Zones” by Dan Buettner
If you could live a healthful, active life into your nineties or even beyond, would you want to know how? Creating a formula for a successful trajectory into the later years seems more than taking a magic pill. Read more….. »
“The High Price of Materialism” by Tim Kasser
Money can’t buy us happiness, we are told. And yet, the culture of consumerism that we find ourselves residing in tells us otherwise. This sets up a contradiction that is bound to make most of us miserable. So says psychology professor Tim Kasser in his short book, “The High Price of Materialism”. Read more….. »