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...
Writing from the Heart: Chances
Yesterday I was invited to a book talk at the Hebrew Center in Vineyard Haven. My cousin, the author (whom I only found out is my cousin about six months ago, when she did...
Writing from the Heart: To the heart of writing
I'm reading Carol Gilligan's brilliant book, “In a Human Voice.” It’s been 40 years since her landmark tome, “In a Different Voice,” the book that swept the nation and became the core curriculum for...
Writing from the Heart: MVP
Some years ago, I was one of three judges at the Chilmark library for a children's poetry contest. There were 40 entries, and after the three of us completed our reading and had made...
Writing from the Heart: ‘Who’s Tom?
In 1997 I was the recipient of the Artist in Residence award at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Prior to my interviews with the board and the director there, I had never been to...
Writing from the Heart: Out of the mouth of babes
Remember Bush Jr.’s No Child Left Behind?
It was a lofty idea that didn't work then, and with one in five children living below the poverty line today, it's obvious that 15 million children have...
Writing from the Heart: Make up now
Here’s why you have to make up with your siblings. Right before my sister died, we had the biggest fight we had ever had. I thought, She’s gonna die, and we’re gonna not be...
Writing from the Heart: Just the facts, ma’am
I love Mark Twain’s line, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” So here is a story of how I let a good story get in the way of...
Writing from the Heart: Accepting us
What other people think of me is none of my business, a mantra I repeat now and then just to remind myself to be myself. I only need to hear it when I'm feeling...
Writing from the Heart: Preferences
The great way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.
The first time I read that statement, I was perusing snippets of the third patriarch of Zen, Hsin Hsin Ming.
Before you scratch your...
Writing from the Heart: Grandparents’ love
The difference between parenting and grandparenting is as wide a gap as a farmer is from an ear of corn.
My grandmother reached just above my waist. It's true I am taller than most, but...
Writing from the Heart: Budding artist?
I hope you all get to age 82. For those of you who have passed this ancient number, you might know what I am about to say. It’s that if you live long enough,...
Writing from the Heart: Aging is a full-time job
Aging is a full-time job.
I thought of that as a title while trudging through the woods yesterday. I say trudging because hiking is a thing, a word, an activity of the past. I have...
Writing from the Heart: Different isn’t weird
The other night at a small dinner, one of our friends said she had just come back from Charlottesville, where she attended her 20th Dave Matthews concert this year. Someone said, “You traveled 20...
Writing from the Heart: Opposites attract
We've all heard the expression “opposites attract,” and I have to admit that my husband and I are almost the perfect example of that phrase. And it was never more obvious than what happened...
Writing from the Heart: Don’t jinx it
When I got married, my husband wasn't into sports — playing or watching. He didn't know the NBA from the NFL. And I loved that about him. When the men would gather in groups...
Writing from the Heart: Christmas envy
Every year at this time ever since I’ve been a writer, I have written about my Christmas envy. How I wished I could go to my attic or my basement and get out the...