Warning Signs An overwhelming feel of existential dread grips me. I feel my body tightening, my feet leaving the ground, such that there is. I clutch the wheel tightly. I am on a bridge. A long bridge....

Strawberries “Not like that, like this.” The sickly-sweet smell of strawberries, grease and sugar perfume the air. Regina takes the tip of her little paring knife, a groove for her finger worn into...

Seeing Clearly ​When I trace in my body where my need for perfection lies, I realize it’s in my eyes. It’s always been in my eyes. I need to see clearly. Perfectly, even. As a little girl, when my...

Preoccupations of a Body Sleuth ​Back in 2023, I dedicated the bulk of a writing series, “Slow Forward,” to processing my total knee replacement. The story of my surgery and recovery is peppered throughout...

Body Sleuthing I have spent more than half my life learning to be a Body Sleuth. As a card carrying, fully adult, highly trained Body Detective, here is the most important thing I have learned in all...

​The Middle of the End When you live with a narcissist for long enough, your world view slowly changes. Of course you have no friends. You shouldn’t have friends that the narcissist doesn’t like. You’re...

Dark Chocolate “And, oh,” our teacher said, “Don’t forget to bring dark chocolate with you next week. We’re all going to need it.” We’d been training for our level one Reiki certification for 6 weeks,...

The Beginning of the End Sometimes clarity arrives when you least expect it to. Picking up clothes that were strewn around the bed for the laundry, I lifted my husband’s white dress shirt to discover...

Once a Bully.... “Four-eyes!” “Teacher’s pet!” “Smarty-Pants” “Wuss!” RRRIIINNNGGG…… Saved by the bell. Literally. Again. Fourth grade was hell for me. If there really is a hell after death, and I...

Petrified Dreams This was beyond my expectation. Colorful rocks of petrified wood, large and small, were strewn everywhere as far as I could see. How does wood become a rock, anyway? I was 11, and...