Name: Email: The phrase “Time heals all wounds” is attributed to the Greek poet Menander (300 BCE). He was half right. Time is a component of healing. But healing does not happen with time alone. Healing requires both time and attention. *** Something traumatic recently happened to me in Harmony, North Carolina. And, because […]
Attention to (Southern) Discomfort Read More »
Son, When I asked you to “close all the windows” after using my office computer, I was not referring to the glass and wood, three-paned window situated above the large Acer 45” monitor. No, I was talking about the full-page, Google chrome windows you opened on the large display and were using to watch Breaking
My friend. I often refer to the person or people with whom I’m talking as *my friend* or “my friends.” I like that it proposes the relationship I desire to have. I see truth in the saccharine phrase attributed to both poets Guest and Yeats, “There are no strangers here. Only friends
About time — Even if the stopwatch tells you they are the same length of time, five minutes at a party you are not enjoying and five minutes at a party you are enjoying, are not the same length of time. Of course, they are the same length of time.But, still, they aren’t. Compare five
Fred Rogers told me that he liked me just as I am. And I believed him. Why not? I was a kid. He sang about it. About him liking me “exactly and precisely,” “without a doubt or question” just as I am. Why would he lie? *** I’m about 15
I’m sitting on the Eames chair in the living room. I’ve written to you from here before, but I don’t think I’ve told you that. This tan lounge chair and ottoman—a gift from my mother and the only piece piece of furniture we have—is a lovely place from which to write. Sparky, our small pandemic
We begin, like my newest friend, Fiona, loved for exactly who we are.At two months old, nothing is expected from Fiona except for her to be as she is. She is not asked to “do others,” “try harder,” or “be better.” The rest of us, old enough to read, live with shame. — Shame
Is it Kosher? *** Two quotes from author Robert Brault:“Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.”and“Life becomes easier when you learn to accept the apology you never got.” *** We are
02 — An apology An overdue apology from organized religion. We lied. Those of us who work in organized religion lied to you. We also might have shamed you. Some members of the clergy might have even physically abused you. That these things happened is unconscionable. Unconscionable. We lied. We shamed. We abused. We hurt
— It opens up a bit of compassion to think of the people who are the hardest to like as needing the most love. — Love is unconditional positive regard. Its attributes are recognition, acceptance, understanding, and response. — Certainty means you are certain. Not that you are right.