I have been concerned about the lack of motivation in my life lately ? at least, what I have seen as a lack of motivation. I simply haven’t felt inclined to really push to get a lot done in the past couple of weeks. I’ve also been having trouble sleeping, as many of my friends […]

In honor of May Day on Sunday (yesterday, for those who are keeping track), one of my gal friends here in Portland had recommended that we go see the Morris Dancers in Washington Park’s Rose Garden. Of course, they were performing at dawn ? ack! ? so I got up at 4:30 am to walk […]

About a month ago, I experienced an odd series of dreams. Very vivid and detailed, the story unfolded over three nights as so many acts in a well-structured play. It was both disorienting and exciting to be living this adventurous “alternate reality” in dreamstate, though it made my waking life — at least temporarily — […]

So we’re back to the name game. Have you ever felt disconnected from your own name, as though it wasn’t really you? My problem initially stems from having a fairly common name. While living in Virginia, I discovered that not only were their five other women in my city who shared both my first and […]

Below is a short essay I wrote more than eight years ago (on an even older experience), about the masks that we wear in our day-to-day lives, disguising us from each other and even from ourselves. I have found myself repeatedly challenged — with increasing frequency — to “speak my truth.” Such a simple directive […]

When I read on Thursday afternoon (Pacific Time), that Pope John Paul II had received last rights, I was both saddened and relieved. This man had suffered through numerous and chronic health problems in recent years, and had spent the past month with a tracheotomy tube in his throat. For a man of humble origins […]

When I graduated from college, I was part of an influx of new workers into an already depressed economy. Jobs were few and far between, and many of us took whatever we could get. My first couple of jobs after college were pretty dismal indeed. I was overly qualified and likely took these low-paying jobs […]