The unpredictable power of our words
I was an animal rights activist in high school, and the very first article I wrote — for publication in our inter-high school newspaper — was a fiery piece about vegetarianism. A few weeks later, a girl from my school told me that after she read my article, she became a vegetarian! I […]
It’s not you
I’ve had a fairly tempestuous summer. There have been hours of fun, parties and reprieve, but for the most part, I’ve been in the trenches. Apparently, in case I was getting too comfortable (which I certainly was not!), I’ve been reminded that I have no lack of inner work to […]
The empath’s survival guide
The Empath’s Survival Guide If you haven’t heard of her, Dr. Judith Orloff is the rare thing: a scientist who is also an empath (and admits it!). Despite her career and professional stature, she is a personable and relaxed interviewee who has a pragmatic and original take on empathy and empaths. She is also […]
A mindful approach to writing about trauma
“Something terrible happened, and I wish I could leave it at that because as a writer who is also a woman, I don’t want to be defined by the worst thing that has happened to me. I don’t want my personality to be consumed in that way. I don’t want […]
Writing our remarkable futures
“Our abilities are limited only by our perceptions.”—Debbie Millman I discovered Debbie Millman by listening to a conversation with her and Tim Ferris on the Tim Ferris Show. It was hard not to fall in love with her! On the podcast, titled My healing journey after childhood abuse, Tim records himself talking with his […]
Writing late into the night: women write about trauma
“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”— Anne Frank French writer André Malraux wrote, “You did not come back from hell with empty hands.” Women writers from Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl) through Jeanette Walls (The Glass Castle) and […]
Writing to survive: My experience with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
For many years, I had Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), or extreme PMS. Imagine PMS on steroids, and you have a small sense of my monthly joy. If you possibly can, imagine up to half a month of this, every month. I felt like I was strapped on a circus carousel, […]
How writing communities can support your writing journey
When I was nine years old, my girlfriends, my sister and I wrote our own rendition of Grease, the musical. This was 1979, and the film was big. I hadn’t even seen it, and I wouldn’t have had the cultural sophistication to understand it. But the oldest in our group —and […]
Writing backwards: insights of intergenerational trauma
“The people we love and those who raised us live inside us; we experience their emotional pain, we dream their memories, we know what was not explicitly conveyed to us, and these things shape our lives in ways that we don’t always understand.” ― Galit Atlas, Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, […]
Living libraries: women’s bodies, women’s stories
“I have been afraid of trees. I have felt the Earth as my enemy. I did not live in the forests. I lived in the concrete city where I could not see the sky or sunset or stars. I moved at the pace of engines and it was faster than […]
Claiming our writing voices: moving from external to internal validation
Emily Dickinson famously defined a poem as such when she felt “as if the top of my head were taken off.” Notice that one of history’s most popular Caucasian American women poets did not reference others’ reactions in her definition. Instead, she actually referenced her own somatic experience! This was […]
Mama bears: protecting ourselves and our writing cubs!
It requires a wonderfully attuned system to channel creative works, and writers are highly sensitive people. That same precociousness also enables us to pick up on what others are feeling, and it can present as a porousness when it comes to other people’s responses to our work. Because the writing process often includes the sharing of our work, […]