Tag: self

  • We Are the Story Keepers

    We are the story keepers. When I talk about story, I refer to the lines of meaning, the patterns of the universe that are perpetuated by the telling and retelling. As the conscious manifestations of the local area, we are the intentional tellers of stories. But we get it backwards, because we forget that we…

  • What I Thought About While Cutting Firewood

    Yesterday, I was out limbing fallen trees so that we can cut them up with the chainsaw without killing ourselves. It is good not to freeze to death. It is also good not to have logs fall on you while preventing freezing to death. What I was thinking about was this: When we first moved…

  • The Story That Needs Telling

    I signed up for the Trust30 writing prompts for the month of June. The first prompt was this: “We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of each other. Our age yields no great and perfect persons. – Ralph Waldo Emerson You just discovered you have fifteen minutes to live.…

  • PostADay is 1/3 done

    They tell me over at PostADay that we are 1/3 of the way there. Well, I’m 1/3 minus 2, or something. I think that there were a couple of days there with bonus posts, so it will all even out in the end. Also, if you’ve been with me for the long haul, you’ve probably…

  • Analyze This: On Not Giving Stuff Up

    This post comes with a caveat: It is an exploration of systems, the limits of agency, and the social constructs that  preclude giving up my car… yet. I am not looking for sympathy, nor am I beating myself up over my limitations in the face of the myths of Western civilization. I recognize that I…

  • One thing too many

    I have a recurring problem in my life, and it manifests everywhere. I happen to know that it is a common problem. I call it “one thing too many”. It works like this. I prune the contents of a room – any room, but lets assume my “office” since that was my most recent target.…

  • The Mythic They

    You probably wouldn’t guess it if you are newcomer to my world, but I am, by nature, a rules follower. I was that girl in school – didn’t cut class, got straight A’s, studied all the time, did the readings, followed all the rules. Let’s put it this way: I was the one that the…

  • Poem: Advice from the Inner Critic

    Advice from the Inner Critic Love?!? Love’s been done to death. Nobody’s had anything new to say In 60 generations. And how do you plan to avoid The cheese-traps, Running mouse-like through The maze of metaphors? No. Best to steer clear, Dance around the edges. Leave love to the experts.

  • On Pickles, Particle Physics, and Work-Life Balance

    When I started writing this post, I felt pretty good. I had a great day. I made the pickles that have been sitting in brine for the last 5 days. I wrote about nuclear physics for 2 hours, refreshed my memory on alpha and beta decay, and came up with a good analogy. I had…

  • The Story of Me Us

    Via Chris Brogan, who said that it is important to keep telling the story of you to new readers. And probably to old ones, too. Below is the comment I left in response to the original post on Chris Brogan’s site. I know? Bold, eh? Hey, he asked. I’m a relative newcomer to “New Media,”…

  • Talking Vaginas

    Oddly enough, this post is not the G-rated stuff of my normal daily routine. Please consider yourself warned. Although it’s almost entirely about acting, not sex. I went back onstage this week after a near-14-year hiatus. And what did I use to get my acting chops back in gear? Did I, perchance, go out for…

  • Morning with The Dilettante

    I am gazing out the window at my cat. He is doing something in the snow. Sniffing, investigating. He sits and stares across the river. I wonder. How does he decide what to do next? How does he choose which scent to indulge, follow, investigate? Can he be said to have will? I turn to…