Squeezed

“Like a snake is squeezing you, maybe?” I offered. My students are working on a project which requires them to create a symbol for a problem they have overcome. “Lots of people, when they get anxious, have tightness around here,” I gestured around my chest. “I definitely feel it there.” “Yeah, like I’m being squeezed,” […]

Families

Yesterday was the last day of holy carnival. Today is the beginning of keeping, as directed, “a holy Lent.” These two families, Mardi Gras family and church family, pull me in two directions in a way that is familiar. For many years, I had a mom and a dad who did not get along. Mardi […]

Legitimacy

“Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering.” – Jung The coming of cold weather, my birthday: both can render me barely eligible to participate in society. “My neurosis levels are high,” I warned my friend. Dying plants! Cold feet! Darkness! At my writing retreat last weekend, I spent a good part of the time […]

Like A Rug

I sang “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Then I took communion, and then I went to breakfast and lied like a rug*. Across coffee and bowls of Rice Krispies, a nun with white hair and an unabashed face asked, “Are you Catholic?” “Yes,” I lied. “Oh,” she said. My life flashed before my […]