Thursday, February 6, 2025
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Islander Essays

Writing from the Heart: A pretty face will fade

I swim down at the Mansion House almost every day, and in order to get out of the pool, I have to climb up three metal steps on a metal ladder. It’s very hard...

Voices: The next generation, passing the torch

As the Island marches forward into 2025, a new set of challenges and unknowns follow closely behind. Post-election emotions are still running at an all-time high, with many Islanders still not quite ready to speak...

Writing from the Heart: ‘Middlemarch’ redux

Dear everyone who read my last column about the classic book “Middlemarch” –– for those of you who didn’t read it (my column, not “Middlemarch”), thank God. Don’t. It’s one of those “I was...

Sometimes we need a little humor: Good enough

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The messaging we receive from advertisers, the entertainment industry, and sometimes even family members about what success looks like can be intense. If we aren’t amazing athletes, awe-inspiring chefs, or hotshot CEOs, we aren’t...

Writing from the Heart: Have you read ‘Middlemarch’?

You know in that book review section of the New York Times, the interview with a best-selling author? I always read them. When they ask what books are on their nightstand, I love it...

Writing from the Heart: Just yell, ‘Chicken!’

Joel and I were walking along State Road right near our house. We only have to be on the main road for about a tenth of a mile before we get to turn onto...

Writing from the Heart: Whatja get, whatja get?

It’s Christmas Envy time again. I know over the years I’ve complained about how left out I felt as a kid, how on Christmas morning everyone in the neighborhood would rush outside and practically...

Who needs a tree?

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An article in CNBC reported that “over 50 percent of surveyed shoppers with incomes of $100,000 or more said they can ‘easily afford’ holiday expenses in 2024.” But what do those who fall into...

Writing from the Heart: Fashionista

It makes sense that we are made up of many parts, and that those parts are all cohabiting under the one roof of our own complicated persona. I am a wife, a mother, an...

Big bad bamboos

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The emotions we experience during the holiday season sometimes feel eerily similar to how we experience a full moon. We’re erratic, sleep-deprived, on the verge of howling, and suddenly driven to make our holiday...

Writing from the Heart: Heart smart

I teach writing workshops and sometimes I start by saying, “We’re alchemists. We can turn hurt into gold. We can dance it, we can sculpt it, we can watercolor it. But in here, we...

Community Perspectives: ‘Not Waving, but Drowning’

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In a post on the social media platform X, far-right political pundit Nick Fuentes wrote, “Your body, my choice. Forever.” Some might argue that statements like these are being shared by just a few loud...

Writing from the Heart: Where should we begin?

A few months ago, a friend gave me Esther Perel’s party game, Where Should We Begin? It's basically a bunch of cards with questions that when answered, evoke personal stories. The questions go from,...

Writing from the Heart: For God’s sake, it’s Sunday

I’ve been thinking a lot about death these days. Maybe it's the dry and curling leaves on the side of the road. Maybe it's because on the obituary page, they give the ages of...

Writing from the Heart: Special healing powers

It's not just that my major addiction is candy that makes Halloween my favorite holiday, it’s the dressing-up part. It’s such a great excuse to be someone else, even if only for a night. Our...

Woodside Story: Advice for oldsters

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I don’t know if most of the elderly around me are as spacy as I. I’m spacy AF, but I need to add that I’ve always been that way, so it may not be...

Writing from the Heart: Interview with self and friends

One of the only sections of the New York Times Sunday paper I read is the book review. And one of the only parts I never miss is the piece right in the beginning,...

Writing from the Heart: De-rustifying

I thought I would never lose it. I thought once you could sing you would always be able to sing. I know I have (oops had) a good voice. In high school, even though...

Writing from the Heart: Steak out

I have always wanted to be a vegetarian. Not one of those rigid, announcing at a dinner party “oh no thank you I don't eat meat” kind of vegetarian. But someone who quietly takes a...

Writing from the Heart: Perception and perspective

Before my friend Richard retired from teaching at a fancy college, he was a consultant for a big firm where he worked with the top executives from a few of the Fortune 500 companies. On...