Have you ever compared your version of events with a good friend? A false narrative is a mental framework you use in order to interpret events that upon deeper investigation turn out to be untrue or skewed. The father of cognitive psychology, Ulric Neisser, wrote in the compendium Self-narratives: True and False, "Human beings exist through time, just as everything else does: One thing happens after another. But unlike anything else, people remember what happened to them – some of it, anyway. This is a remarkable achievement. The remarkable thing is not just that past events influence the … [Read more...]
Writing Anxiety: Feeling Feral Writing Prompt
If I said to you, "he is a dog" you would know what I mean, right? Or that she eats like a horse. That kid has the strength of a lion. We use animals at metaphors for qualities that exist in both the animal and human world. We say, he crushed his workout like a beast, or she runs like a gazelle. It is a useful repertoire of metaphors, but there is a dark side to it also. A lot of our anxieties have to do with what I would call our "animal selves." We share our biology with animals - chimpanzees and humans share 99% of our DNA. We share biological functions - the need to sleep, eat, excrete, … [Read more...]
Write the Change
It is very easy to feel like each day brings fundamental changes. In February 2020 I was in New York City enjoying my husband's birthday. In March 2020 I went into my job and was told not to have meetings in the conference rooms. The next day we were told to work from home. Today, the desk I sat at still has my name placard and personal items in the drawers but I may never go back. It is a moment frozen in time of a world with different rules. The Write the Change Challenge was created to document the changes you have noticed in your physical surrounding, attitudes, emotions, and make … [Read more...]
Write the Change Challenge: Prompt #4 INSIDE & OUTSIDE
In times of massive change it is always interesting to look back at the ways things have been in the past. One aspect of life that has changed dramatically is what is considered "Public" vs what is considered "Private." With the advent of larger homes, kids have their own rooms. With the internet, suddenly the inside of those rooms can be broadcast to everyone online. Traditionally the home was private, but with new technologies and the advent of Covid everything is scrambled. Previously, kids wouldn't know what all their classmate's homes looked like if they weren't in a Zoom classroom. … [Read more...]
Write the Change Challenge: Prompt #3 MIRRORING
The English word "mirror" comes from the Latin mirari, to wonder or marvel at. We see our reflection, and this prompt is an opportunity to write from that gaze. We spend time combing, powdering and plucking in an attempt to control our image. The mirror can be a tool with which we work to tune our reflection before stepping out of the house. It takes very little imagination to consider a woman's makeup to be her, "warpaint." There are large changes in culture right now - a second look at the presentations of the past, a pull to reconfigure our lens of the present, demands for new … [Read more...]
Write the Change Challenge: Prompt #2 RELATIONSHIPS
How have you decided who to socialize with this summer? Whether you are deciding who is in your bubble, or figuring out how to see aging or immunocompromised relatives, has Covid changed who you trust? Some examples I have heard from friends is the couple who decided not to attend a family reunion because they could not come up with a set of health guidelines that everyone would agree to enact. There have been numerous times where my relationship with my 75 year old mother has reversed and I have been the "gatekeeper" and had to voice my concern about some of her decisions to see her … [Read more...]
Write the Change Challenge: Prompt #1 AMBITION
It is truly amazing to me that the changes we have been experiencing this summer have been slow to sink in. The gentle creep of time where suddenly I notice it is time to trim back the hedges again. To reshape what is overgrown. To take a look at the roots and decide what needs a touch-up, what is still relevant, and what can be discarded. In this series I am going to be focused on writing prompts that are rooted in the here and now, but that also allow us to consider the past and dream into the future. The first writing prompt is AMBITION. Our desire and determination to … [Read more...]
Dharmalebrity: Celebrity and the Dharma
This is a short story called "Dharmalebrity" I wrote in 2017 and performed last year at Sacred Storytelling here in Los Angeles. The story centers around a Buddhist drug and alcohol recovery program and the intersection between celebrity (a religion in Los Angeles without tax-exempt status) and the dharma (the teachings of the Buddha). Listen to the audio recording on Soundcloud here, or below. … [Read more...]
Audio Personal Essay: Should I be sitting down?
Try this writing prompt: Look at one of the most harrowing experiences that have happened in your life from three different perspectives. I chose to write about the cancer I had in 2007. I picked the perspective of myself at the gynecologist, visiting a spiritual "medical intuitive" and watching the surgery performed on someone else via YouTube. I was fortunate to be able to read this piece recently at a literary salon and it inspired me to try to record it. Using just the simple tools on a Mac and uploading the file to Soundcloud allows you to create an audio essay that anyone can listen … [Read more...]
10 Books to Inspire Your Personal Maps
As a personal mapping enthusiast, I have been collecting books that inspire me to keep drawing detailed pictures, even though I would not consider myself a visual artist. The pen to paper, having no idea what forms will come out, thrills me. It is pure emotional drawing....much like we did when we were children. The colors, shapes, images and words all come from a very deep and personal place. It feels good to have an intimate map of my internal state - it gives me a release and it is a "visual aid." I have explained my pictures to friends and suddenly we have a glimmer of understanding and … [Read more...]