WITH VALENTINE’S DAY fast approaching, it seems like a good time to talk about the art of writing a love letter — an art that is in danger of becoming extinct, as is all letter writing, lost to the new communication norms of texting and email and social media messaging. […]
WELCOME TO A NEW WritingThroughLife SERIES about journaling into and through relationships! From the beginning of our lives, relationships form and inform us. From our parents or caregivers, to siblings, extended family, friends, teachers, and lovers, every interaction leaves its mark on our development as human beings. Whether we were […]
I FOUND MYSELF EMBROILED in a bloggers dilemma as I sat down to write this week’s post. Sunday is Valentine’s day — I should write a post about love and about writing about love. On the other hand, Monday is the Presidents’ Day holiday. I should gather great quotes from our presidents […]
OCTOBER is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Last October, I wrote about domestic violence and offered some journaling and memoir writing prompts to help confront the subject head on. But I wrote as someone on the outside looking in. Someone looking on with concern and compassion. Someone who had not personally experienced […]
Since October is Domestic Awareness Month, I want to help bring awareness to this issue while offering ways to write about how violence affects each of us personally. It’s not a subject we like to think about. And when it happens publicly, as recent viral videos have shown, those of us […]
The approach of Fathers’ Day, heralded by ads for colorful shirts, silk ties, barbecues, and heavy duty tools, makes me think about all the fathers I know and their importance to their children. My own fathers (I had two: one biological, and one the man my mother was married to), […]
My youngest son turned eighteen this week. Five days before his birthday, he left home, marking a significant turning point in both our lives—for him, the start of independence and life as an adult; for me, a sudden transition to “empty nester.” Now, I sometimes find myself standing still, looking […]
A week ago, I attended a surprise birthday for my little brother (I won’t say how old he is) and saw a number of family members I see too infrequently. It’s my own fault, of course. I’m busy, we’re all busy. At least that’s what I tell myself. Perhaps it’s […]
SO, YOU THINK you’ve just met the perfect boy, girl, man, or woman. Journaling through all the ups and downs at the beginning of a new relationship can help you understand your emotions and keep your head in the process. Journal writing gives you the opportunity to express and clarify […]
THIS AFTERNOON I pondered the subject of boundaries and all the ways boundaries serve us in life, both professionally and personally. Boundaries are, in essence, the lines that mark where the emotional and physical space of one person ends and another begins. They are invisible borders over which we should not […]
HAVING JUST RETURNED from my oldest son’s wedding in Florida, I’ve been thinking a lot about family this week. Images of the bride’s family and of mine keep flashing through my mind—a grand mix of ethnicity, language, and age. Traditional images of family are turned upside-down when our children and […]
